WR Foundation Awards $35k to EAST Initiative, Innovation Hub for Entrepreneurship

Ronald Dedman (center), director of external affairs for AT&T Arkansas, presented the symbolic check to EAST students with Innovation Hub director Warwick Sabin (far left) and EAST president and CEO Matt Dozier. 

The Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation has awarded a $35,000 grant to the EAST Initiative and the Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub to support efforts to develop and encourage entrepreneurship in central Arkansas.

The matching grant, announced Wednesday, will complement a $35,000 donation from AT&T and assist with the procurement and setup of technology and equipment to be used in the EAST Initiative’s STEAM Lab at the Hub’s Argenta Innovation Center in downtown North Little Rock.

EAST will use the lab in partnership with the Hub to provide technical training for local students. In addition, the lab will be open for community use.

EAST (environmental and spacial technology) is the Little Rock-based educational model that offers a project-based, service-learning oriented program with a focus on high-end technology. Since its launch in 1996, EAST has established programs in more than 200 schools in five states — Arkansas, Iowa, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania. 

The Hub is the nonprofit organization behind the Argenta Innovation Center and its components — the Launch Pad maker space, the STEAM Lab (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics), the Silver Mine coworking space and the ART Connection, which fuses art and entrepreneurship.

“The EAST Initiative is so very excited about this opportunity to enhance the education that the students of the region are going to be able to have at the Innovation Hub,” said EAST Initiative president and CEO Matt Dozier said in a news release. “Just as in the beginning of EAST, the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation sees the value and vision of what we can do in our partnership with the Hub.”

The STEAM Lab will include Apple iMac computers loaded with professional software, HP Plotter large-format printers, Arduino microcontrollers for coding, plus professional photography and videography equipment.

“We deeply appreciate the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation’s willingness to provide the support to complete the STEAM lab at our Innovation Hub,” said Warwick Sabin, executive director of the Hub. “This generous investment allows us to move forward with the EAST Initiative to offer the kinds of advanced education and programs that will increase opportunities and broaden horizons for so many people in our state.”

Sabin said the the WRF support will enable the Hub-EAST partnership to expand the EAST learning opportunity and encourage entrepreneurship. especially innovation centered around technology and engineering.

“Our students must have access to advanced technology and high-quality instruction in order for our state to increase the number of Arkansans prepared for high-skill careers in science, technology, engineering and math related fields,” said Sherece West-Scantlebury, WRF president and CEO. “We applaud the commitment of the EAST Initiative and Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub to build new entrepreneurship and innovation opportunities in Arkansas.”