Enabling Partnerships to Increase Innovation Capacity Program
The University of Northern Colorado's Monfort College of Business has been awarded a landmark $400,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (Award #2331218), a move that promises to revolutionize the entrepreneurial landscape and workforce resilience across Colorado's Front Range, particularly benefiting UNC, MCB, and the broader Greeley community.
The Enabling Partnerships to Increase Innovation Capacity (EPIIC) grant aims to build a stronger, more inclusive ecosystem for innovation by enhancing education, fostering long-term partnerships, and accelerating startups, with a keen focus on agtech, biotech, and other locally significant industries. For UNC and MCB, this grant not only marks the largest NSF funding received to date, but also sets a newbut also sets a new precedent for community engagement and economic development efforts, directly addressing the needs of underrepresented communities within Greeley and beyond. By empowering local entrepreneurs and businesses with the resources and support needed to thrive, this initiative is poised to create lasting economic growth and social mobility, reinforcing UNC's role as a key driver of innovation and opportunity in northern Colorado.
Goals and Outcomes for the EPIIC Program
1
Advance entrepreneurship education and workforce programs for UNC students and the broader Front Range community. This includes designing and delivering programs to upskill or reskill the regional workforce and advancing career-readiness in innovation and entrepreneurship in northern Colorado.
2
Develop and strengthen long-term partnerships with regional stakeholders and local investors to foster economic development by advancing technology commercialization in agtech, biotech and other locally driven industries.
3
Accelerate local ventures and startups by providing technical advice, funding and scaling to support regional entrepreneurship from ideation to commercial success, a key factor in innovation and workforce growth.
Grant Leadership Team
Faculty Innovation Fellows
Activities and Announcements
Dive into Greeley's Entrepreneurial Ecosystem at Innovation Talk
Innovation Talk is a proud collaboration between the Monfort College of Business and the City of Greeley to bring together business leaders, entrepreneurs and UNC faculty and students to elevate Greeley's status as a destination for innovation and business growth.
NSF Grant to Focus on Entrepreneurship, Workforce Resilience and Development along Colorado's Front Range
The ecosystem for entrepreneurs and innovators in the fields of emerging technologies along Colorado’s Front Range just received a major investment in the form of a new stream of federal funding and the collective brainpower of researchers from four universities. Read More
