Focus
Entrepreneurship
As a University located in Charlottesville with one of the fastest-growing venture capital ecosystems in America, UVA contributes to the city’s culture of collaboration and innovation and supports entrepreneurs throughout the Commonwealth.
UVA supports development of new entrepreneurs and fosters an entrepreneurial ecosystem in our region. After incubation in the i.Lab and a successful company launch, Tsampa Tsnacks now stocks product within the local small business community.
UVA, the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, and Virginia Community Capital offer the Resilience Award to companies in Virginia's economically challenged communities. Winners receive a scholarship to a Darden Executive Education program.
UVA and UVA-Wise are considering recommendations for improving challenges faced by rural Virginians. The initiative is engaging additional Virginia colleges and universities, government agencies, and stakeholders across the state.
The Appalachian Prosperity Project is a collaborative partnership among the University of Virginia, UVA’s College at Wise, the Coalfield region, the private sector, and the state to advance education, health, and economic prosperity in Southwest Virginia.
The University of Virginia advances economic prosperity through high-impact engagement with companies, communities, localities, non-profits, and education partners. As we begin our third century, we reaffirm our commitment to service to the Commonwealth. Explore our strategy for amplifying economic impact across Virginia.
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Industry Cluster DevelopmentIndustry clusters are groups of firms that gain a competitive advantage by co-locating in a geographic region and sharing assets, networks, knowledge, workforce training, etc. The Office of Economic Development partners with allies to help support existing and emerging regional industry clusters.
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UVA was named a National Science Foundation I-Corps Site—one of 89 such sites at universities in the nation—to help entrepreneurs consider customer feedback in developing ideas that are relevant to society and exhibit applications for commercialization.
UVA supports regional commercialization, investing directly in companies that take the University’s research and intellectual property to market and increasing the pace for new medical products that improve the health of Virginians and beyond.
Les Haughton, director of supplier diversity at UVA, works to help small, minority- or women-owned businesses become certified vendors.
Devoted to a diversity of thought and the power of collaborative research, UVA unleashes 3 Cavaliers, a program for high-risk, high-payoff research projects.
The University supports the emerging bioscience industry in Charlottesville by connecting projects to regional resources and priorities. The Office of Economic Development provided a letter of support for a recent grant awarded to the Charlottesville BioHub.
IMPACT
Measuring ImpactThe University of Virginia is committed to a tradition of service as a leading generator of economic and employment activity throughout the Commonwealth.
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