Tech Biz

EntrePaducah, Paducah's central source for entrepreneurial business development, now offers services designed specifically for business start-ups focused on technology.

Through a partnership with the Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation and Murray State University, EntrePaducah's Technology Concierge offers hands-on business counseling for tech-driven businesses, especially those in the crucial start-up stage. In addition, EntrePaducah's Tech Concierge program will have access to loan, grant and private investment funds allotted specifically for technology companies.

Richard Davis joins the EntrePaducah staff as Technology Concierge. Davis, of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, is a recent graduate of the Whitman School of Business at Syracuse University. He majored in the school's highly regarded Entrepreneurship and Emerging Enterprises degree program, and, received a second degree in Information Studies.

"EntrePaducah's vision of promoting small business, especially tech-driven companies, is both exciting and challenging," Davis said, "I'm particularly proud to return to Kentucky and work with entrepreneurs in all areas of emerging technology."

"The Paducah/McCracken County area is ripe with ideas for innovation," EntrePaducah Advisory Board Chairman Phil McIntosh said, "we see tremendous entrepreneurial growth potential particularly in the areas of marine transportation, medicine, the arts and local Department of Energy initiatives."

As Technology Concierge, Davis will work with entrepreneurs to help them achieve commercial success using the resources and support of the Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation (KSTC). The KSTC is an entrepreneurial company that, along with the Kentucky Economic Development Cabinet's Department of Commercialization and Innovation, helps build and promote technology-driven and research-intensive companies.

"KSTC's shared goals with EntrePaducah are to create high-tech job opportunities and develop clusters of commercial innovation throughout the state, including the Paducah area," said KSTC Vice President Matt McGarvey, "we're glad to now have a full-time presence in Paducah working with our tech-driven entrepreneurs."

KSTC's funds are administered by the state's regional universities, including Murray State University. MSU serves as the Regional Innovation and Commercialization Center (ICC) serving clients in 20 Western Kentucky counties. Loretta Daniel serves as Director of the Western Region ICC.

EntrePaducah, and its Technology Concierge Program, serves entrepreneurs as a central source for small business development resources. In addition, EntrePaducah offers programs and services designed to promote entrepreneurial education and growth. The agency's services and programs are offered at no cost to its clients. EntrePaducah's strategic and financial partners are the City of Paducah, McCracken Fiscal Court, Paducah Area Chamber of Commerce and Greater Paducah Economic Development Council.