Innovate Alabama recognized 13 West Alabama recipients of the Innovate Alabama Network grants in a ceremony at Marion Military Institute on Thursday.
Grantees from Selma, Uniontown, Thomasville, York, White Hall, Marion and Tuscaloosa received varying funds as part of the third round of grants that totaled $30 million.
After the ceremony, Main Street Marion gave a tour to show off the new Harris Technology Hub downtown that was created with funds from Innovate Alabama Network.
The Innovate Alabama team will make five more stops to honor more of the 168 grantees from other regions of the state that got funding in the third round. Funds go toward helping with access to resources, talent development and recreation. Organizations given funds are nonprofits, municipalities and universities.
Innovate Alabama was established in 2022 as a public-private partnership to focus on entrepreneurship, technology and innovation to help innovators grow in Alabama.
Sen. Bobby Singleton, who represents parts of the Black Belt and is an Innovate Alabama board member, said he was thrilled to see winners from his region because “innovation can happen here in small rural communities.”
Marion Mayor Dexter Hinton said the grant gave momentum to improvements in downtown Marion, especially with the opening of the technology hub on Washington Street.
“We’ve got momentum going in Marion – you can feel it downtown with new businesses opening and projects going,” he said. “It has brought vibrancy to the city. Marion is alive again.”
CHOICE CEO Emefa Butler used Innovate Alabama funds to bring a traveling Smithsonian exhibit to Uniontown on Nov. 11 and for hot spots that provide WiFi for small businesses.
Innovate Alabama Founding CEO Cynthia Crutchfield said many ideas executed with the funds, like the Harris Technology Hub in Marion, are examples other communities can copy successfully.
“The magic is happening when you execute those dollars and build that capability” that others can follow, she said.
Cindy Fisher is Publisher of the Black Belt News Network and Selma Sun. You can reach her by emailing cfisher@blackbeltnewsnetwork.com.
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