On
October 16, local business leaders, community members, and city government
representatives gathered in Old Town Goleta for an
open house hosted by the Goleta Valley Chamber of Commerce. The purpose of the
gathering was an attempt to raise funds and awareness for the Goleta Entrepreneurial Magnet (GEM), its
partnership with the City of Goleta and UC Santa Barbara to attract and nurture
local tech start-up businesses. Those that are still
wondering what GEM does were given a
glimpse of a physical space the small-business incubator could soon call home.
GEM is a
collaboration of business, government and education to strengthen the local
economy by supporting new and growing entrepreneurs. The Goleta Entrepreneurial Magnet provides resources and support to
science and technology businesses, whether they focus on bio-medical, software,
infrared, semiconductor or other markets.
GEM’s lone
employee, executive director Doug Lynch, welcomed supporters into a 2,000
square foot space that could become a conference room if enough donations could
be gathered to lease the building. Lynch also said the Goleta Chamber and UCSB
would match any funds supporters could provide.
UCSB Executive Vice Chancellor
Gene Lucas and Goleta Mayor Roger Aceves offered words of encouragement,
referring to a physical GEM space as
a major milestone. Startups, many of which would come out of UCSB, could
ideally use the incubator space for one to two years before growing out into the
Goleta community.
For more information on the Goleta Entrepreneurial Magnet, please visit: http://goletaentrepreneurs.com/
Guest blog
contributor: Ignacio Gallardo, Director of Career Services
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