LUBBOCK, Texas — The board of a newly-formed non-profit associated with Texas Tech University met to discuss potential programs to boost innovation and job creation in the Hub City.
The Texas Tech Research Park Inc. was created to help bring innovation to Lubbock.
“[Lubbock] tends to get the lion’s share of the resources, so we are organizing so that we bring resources to West Texas an opportunity to be here to support our citizens in West Texas,” said Kimberly Gramm, Vice President of Innovation & Entrepreneurship at Texas Tech.
Gramm said although Lubbock is not a major metropolitan area, there is high potential for growth and success. She said city and Texas Tech leadership recently visited Purdue University in Indiana to compare the potential for growth.
“They’re surrounded by corn, we are surrounded by cotton,” she said. “The difference — if you look at the demographics — is there is half the the people living there and yet they have 220 high tech companies.”
She said companies like Cook Medical, Rolls-Royce and Mercedes-Benz have locations near Purdue because of the proximity to the University and the potential for hiring recent graduates.
She said the new center will help cultivate talent in the area and put Lubbock in a positive spotlight.
“We want the world to know that we are innovative and that innovation is in our DNA in West Texas,” she said.
