October EDC Newsletter - Attend Global Entrepreneurship Week

UK EDC News | October 2026

Attend the November EDC Convening

Talent Update

EDC to participate in upcoming Lexington Global Entrepreneurship Week

Global Entrepreneurship Week 2026 takes place from November 16–22, 2026, uniting participants across 200 countries with the official theme "The World Needs What You Build."

Dozens of local organizations, small business networks and academic departments team up to host workshops, pitch competitions, and networking mixers across different cities.

This year the EDC will be participating as the November Convening is listed in the week's lineup of events.

The core mission of the week is to inspire people to explore their potential as entrepreneurs, connect them with mentors and investors, and help build stronger local business ecosystems.

See All Events Here

Innovation Update

DOE visits UK to explore mining innovation, workforce development

Assistant Energy Secretary Audrey Robertson visited UK earlier this month as part of an initiative to partner with the country’s premier mining institutions to improve workforce development.

UK’s Department of Mining Engineering is nationally recognized for its innovative research enterprise and efforts to develop the workforce needed to support the nation’s growing demand for critical minerals and energy technologies.

That work includes UK’s participation in the Energy Department’s “Building the Mine of the Future: A Real-World Proving Ground for Autonomous Operations, Connected Systems & SI-Driven Mining Innovation.

Place Update

UK student manages new Lexington development, 'The Rail Yard'

On a vacant, roughly one-acre lot on Delaware Avenue, a former industrial site is becoming 32 apartments, a dozen of them income-restricted, and two commercial spaces. The project manager keeping the day-to-day of it moving is a University of Kentucky College of Design student.

Neil Dees is a University of Kentucky Master of Architecture student, a Project Manager at Studio A, a Lexington firm, and a project manager on the Lexington Rail Yard, the Delaware Avenue infill development now taking shape.

Being part of the Rail Yard project has proved to be foundational for Dees. A studio assignment can teach a student to design a building. Managing an actual one, with an actual budget and an actual client, teaches something a syllabus can't: how different the classroom is from a real, funded development.

Meet the EDC Steering Committee

Part of a monthly series to introduce the Economic Development Collaborative Leaders

Ian D. McClure, J.D., LL.M., is vice president for innovation at UK HealthCare and associate vice president for research, innovation and economic impact and executive director of UK Innovate at the University of Kentucky.

In this role, he leads efforts to translate discoveries for the public good, secure equitable returns on intellectual property, strengthen institutional investments in innovation, catalyze entrepreneurship and expand industry and collaborative research partnerships. From 2024 to present, he has led the design and launch of the university’s comprehensive artificial intelligence strategy, the Commonwealth AI Transdisciplinary Strategy, or CATS AI, and serves as interim co-director of the initiative, overseeing implementation across campus and UK HealthCare.

His portfolio includes oversight of five units that make up UK Innovate: Ecosystem, Health Care Innovation, R&D Partnerships, Technology Commercialization and the TRUST Hub, Translating Research through Universal Solutions Together. Previously, as executive director of the Office of Technology Commercialization, he led a team of more than 25 staff managing intellectual property, licensing and startup portfolios, increasing commercialization metrics by up to 400 percent under his leadership.

See the full committee here

Business Engagement

Tool Spotlight:

The Mini Grant Program

The Office of Business Engagement is accepting applications for its new pilot Mini Grant program, which offers up to $500 awards toward business engagement activities.

The program is designed to promote a culture of business engagement across the university by supporting projects that connect UK faculty, staff and students with outside industry and community partners. The deadline to apply is Nov 20.

Apply Here

EDC Communication

The news featured here does not exclusively represent the work of the EDC, but rather highlights economic development happening through the university. We are honored to showcase the remarkable achievements taking place across the University of Kentucky.

The EDC Mission:

The EDC seeks to bring the university together by connecting people, sharing knowledge and leading efforts that advance economic impact in alignment with UK’s Advancing Kentucky Together initiative and regional and state goals.