Business resources in Lawrence
Community & Workforce Partners
Collaborating With a Diverse Range of Organizations
Our goal is to provide our company tenants with the best resources. We work with several community and workforce partners that keep KU Innovation Park moving forward.
Community Partners
Connectivity to the Park's Main and Phase 3 facilities is a 10Gb fiber link into KanREN’s backbone with a 1Gb dropout to the tenant’s router or network equipment. This KanREN connectivity provides internet connectivity and direct Internet 2 connectivity to thousands of research universities and laboratories worldwide. KanREN is the only Internet 2 provider in the state of Kansas. Connectivity is redundant and supports multicast, Quality of Service, IPV6, MPLS, jumbo frames, and other advanced protocols and services. By allowing everyone full access to the KU Innovation Park connection with KanREN, tenants will achieve a better end-user experience that is faster, more robust, and capable of absorbing high-volume transient use.
Venture360 simplifies the back office across entrepreneurs, fund managers, and investors—from application to exit.
The partnership's goals are to grow an entrepreneurial environment supportive of business startups and expansions, engage and develop entrepreneurial resources to meet community and business needs, and provide matching loans to entrepreneurs and small businesses through a revolving loan fund. The locally administered revolving loan fund provides gap financing to entrepreneurs within the E-Community.
Kansas has recently implemented its first comprehensive economic development strategy since 1986, which was developed with input from regional stakeholders, including the Park. KDOC’s ‘Framework for Growth,’ grounded in four pillars (Talent, Innovation, Community Assets, and Policy), aligns directly with the KU Innovation Park’s strategic initiatives. KDOC has indicated its strong support and commitment to the continued partnership through existing funding mechanisms and policy initiatives that will benefit innovation-focused companies.
That award has helped to lay the groundwork for the formal creation of the Park. In 2021, the Park was the recipient of a $1.5 million Build to Scale award, which has allowed the creation and formalization of an accelerator program focused on fostering the development of strategic industry clusters that leverage the strengths of the University of Kansas. The EDA has strongly supported the KU Innovation Park vision, making it a fundamental partner in the organization's growth.
BioKansas provides meaningful content, connections, and advocacy to advance the state's bioscience industry. They also provide Bio Business Solutions, which pools the purchasing power of thousands of life sciences companies to negotiate bulk pricing and favorable terms. Companies large and small can enjoy the great rates and benefits that come with having close to $724 million in purchasing power behind them
The KC Animal Health Corridor offers networking, specialized education and training, research collaboration, legislative advocacy, specialized tax and incentive programs, and business relocation assistance.
Connecting Our Companies With Skilled Employees
KU Innovation Park partners with regional workforce development organizations to develop targeted workforce training designed to connect Park companies directly with skilled workers.
SkilledKC
SkilledKC is a technical institute offering certificate programs in Software Development, Biotechnology, and Advanced Manufacturing. It is focused on providing a student-centered experience that allows students to learn in-demand skills and earn a certification that will set them on a successful career trajectory. SkilledKC employs a ‘campus-within-a-campus’ model, partnering with the private sector and postsecondary institutions to offer direct-to-career training.
A 501(c)(3) affiliate of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, SkilledKC focuses primarily on the adult populations and overlooked groups of individuals to graduate participants debt-free. SkilledKC currently operates a location in Wyandotte County at the Park’s KU Medical Center incubator facility. KU Innovation Park and SkilledKC have discussed expanding the program to Lawrence as part of the project. This will allow the Park, SkilledKC, and KU to coordinate around targeted workforce training to support the bioscience and technology industry clusters through a direct pipeline of talent while helping re-skill underserved and overlooked populations and direct them to high-paying jobs.
Dwayne Peaslee Technical Training Institute
Peaslee Tech is a technical training center in Lawrence and is the largest provider of apprenticeships in Kansas. Peaslee Tech offers technical skills training to a diverse group of learners. It is a combined effort by business and industry, the Economic Development Council of Lawrence, the City of Lawrence, and Douglas County.
Peaslee and KU Innovation Park will partner to develop targeted workforce training to support the Park’s Industry Clusters, initially through CAD training and apprenticeships designed to help connect Park employers in the Transportation, Infrastructure, and Logistics Industry Cluster directly to skilled workers.
Interested in partnering with us?
Reach out to learn more about becoming a regional network partner of KU Innovation Park.