The goal of Arch Grants is to create an entrepreneurial culture and infrastructure to build successful companies in St. Louis. By creating this entrepreneurial culture and bringing companies to St. Louis, Arch Grants has been able to aid in the economic development of downtown St. Louis. In order to continue the economic development of St. Louis, startups brought to St. Louis by Arch Grants need to be sustainable.
In attempting to help build St. Louis and position it as an innovation and entrepreneurship hub for the future, Arch Grants has raised a question about how they could best fund entrepreneurs.
We, as a team, are helping Arch Grants make an informed decision on this question. We intend to integrate rather scattered data on what St. Louis can offer startups from four different perspectives: financial, human, infrastructural support and customer base. Through this asset mapping, we hope to address community needs and whether it is desirable for Arch Grants to take the industry-focused approach as a community development accelerator.
The team is incredibly grateful for the opportunity to work with Arch Grants in conjunction with Washington University in St. Louis and hopes to contribute to putting St. Louis on the map as the entrepreneurial heart of the Midwest.
CELect Team: Olivia Jones, JD; Victor Li Wang, BS; Tom Smith, PMBA; Hyeseung Suh, JD
Background: Arch Grants accelerates economic development and community revitalization in St. Louis through entrepreneurship and philanthropy, and most notably by providing $50,000 equity- free grants to early-stage entrepreneurs.
Project: Work with Arch Grants Staff to provide Staff and Board of Directors with the necessary evidence and economic landscaping needed in order to make the decision to move to a more industry-focused competition and program.
Guest blogger: Tom Smith
