Innovators of today can lead to economic development not only tomorrow but for years to come.
That is the main goal of a new program at UTM called the Ned McWherter Institute.
“It’s the brainchild of Clayton McWhorter. … He wanted to do something to honor his friend Ned McWherter and something that would, on a macro level, impact the economy in a positive way, and on a micro level, change the lives of a select group of students,” said the program’s Interim Director Ashton Jennings.
The ultimate goals of the Ned McWherter Institute are to lead to cultural change and economic development. The Institute seeks to bring together innovators from the five colleges on campus together to work towards a common goal: job creation in northwest Tennessee.
“It all stems from a culture of innovation, which means finding new or better ways to do anything in any field. It’s problem solving. If you can solve a problem with a creative solution, then you can commercialize that and start businesses,” Jennings said.
Jennings says that rather than having one large corporation in the area provide the largest percentage of jobs, the institute aims to create multiple small to medium sized ventures that will be able to create the same number of jobs in the area.
“We want to recreate the economic landscape. … You get your 2,000 jobs back, but you also stabilize the economy. When you stabilize things, that attracts other larger companies to the area,” Jennings said. “It also increases the quality of life for everyone.”
The Institute, which is a three-year program, has been designed to provide students with an experience outside of the classroom. The first year is designed for personal and professional development.
“The first year is a lot more structured. We’ve done time management seminars, team building seminars and we have had numerous, high-profile speakers [present] with us. We take them to dinners and cocktail parties with state senators and congressmen and business leaders. They are training for the real world,” Jennings said. “They are learning how to network and market themselves.”
The second year of the program is comparable to the popular TV show, Shark Tank. The students participate in idea workshops and begin developing plans for possible ventures.
The third and final year of the institute is spent building the venture.
“This is something we are building out as we go. Right now, we’re in year one. We’re adding year two in, and then we will be adding year three in. At the end of year three, we will be at full capacity,” Jennings said.
Currently, the Institute is set to reach full capacity at 30 students – 10 students in each of the Institute’s stages.
In addition to the McWherter Institute, a student organization called McWherter Innovators has also been created. The student organization is open for all students to join.
Jennings says he hopes the ideas behind the Institute will ignite across the campus. He says the program aims to attract the best from all facets.
“It’s kind of like a bunch of Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerburgs and Bill Gates, not that it is technology specific, but those kind of people … those kind of creative minds. … Those are the kind of people we are trying to attract,” Jennings said.
“The individuals who want to do something and are passionate, creative and driven.”
The program is one that was built from scratch for UTM students; Jennings says there are no identical programs like it in the country.
“I would go as far as saying there is no other program identical to it in the country because it was completely built from scratch; there are very few programs at any university that are even anything like this at all. I think that will attract more students to UTM. It’s not just a university where you can come and get a degree, but it’s also a launching pad for you to go where you want to go, do what you want to do and be the person you want to be,” Jennings said.
To learn more about the Ned McWherter Institute, contact Ashton Jennings by email at ajennings@utfi.org.
