This week, FORGE Director, Brian Ellerman took some time to put context around what it means to rethink ROI as a society and the role that FORGE can play in growing an entrepreneurial mindset and making systemic, societal change.

The University of Arizona has been working hard to ensure the safety of our students, faculty, and staff, while Research, Innovation, and Impact (RII) has been rising to meet the challenges of this disruptive event with resilience, ingenuity, and a dedicated focus on supporting important research to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, FORGE has not skipped a beat, moving our operations online to continue supporting our entrepreneurship community, near and far.

On February 22nd, FORGE celebrated the graduation of the first cohort of startup teams to complete our signature Accelerated Entry Program. From this first cohort, three teams were selected to move into FORGE at Roy Place and will receive customized incubation services to guide their entrepreneurial journey.

This week, we are celebrating our biggest milestone to date! Our very first round of Forge’s signature Accelerated Entry Program starts this Friday. In case you missed it, check out the 12 startups we invited to participate. On this important week, we are honoring one of our champions, Fletcher McCusker, by sharing a bit of his story and the critical role he has played in making Forge possible. 

As 2019 closes, we are reflecting on how much we have accomplished in our first year! From breaking ground on construction at our first location to hiring our first team member and hitting the ground running, to now finishing the year strong by inviting our first cohort of Forge startups!

The TENWEST Impact Festival has wrapped, but our work in building a thriving and diverse entrepreneurial ecosystem is just beginning! The 10 days were packed full of so many valuable (and varied) sessions from storytelling workshops to the future of workforce. Huge shoutout to our friends and partners at Startup Tucson and TENWEST. Great work!

Anna Darian comes to Forge with over 10 years of global project management experience in community and economic development. She will oversee the business incubator programs, including recruiting startup teams and mentors and coordinating educational services. 

With over 25 years of industry experience, Brian Ellerman comes to UA having spent the last 15 years at Sanofi, a Global 500 biopharmaceutical company, where he held numerous roles from site head overseeing the technical construction aspects of a 110,000 square foot drug research and high-performance computing center to digital health partnering and corporate strategy. In 2013, he created the technology scouting and partnering group within R&D and spent the next three years traveling the world to connect the top incubators, accelerators, startups, and venture firms to critical business problems.  

Construction is officially underway and you're invited to get a sneak peek at what we're creating and how YOU can get involved!  As part of the University of Arizona's growing network of research and innovation initiatives, Forge will serve as a unique entrepreneurial ecosystem model that combines student project-based corporate innovation labs with business startup incubators.