East Carolina University officials cut the ribbon Thursday on a new space made for bringing people on campus together to brainstorm ideas and solve problems.

The Isley Innovation Hub has transformed the former university bookstore in the Wright Building into a multi-use, 15,000-square-foot area for entrepreneurial-minded students, faculty and staff to ideate, collaborate and create ideas and products. “Mark my words: amazing things will happen in this space in the next five years,” said Mike Harris, interim dean of the College of Business.

In addition to open space, the hub offers a One Button Studio to record high-quality videos, a technology lab with software for design and testing, the Wornom Makerspace, 3D printers and scanners, an automated cutting machine, power and hand tools, and a sewing machine for hands-on idea experimentation.

The innovation hub builds on the success of the college’s Miller School of Entrepreneurship, the first named school of entrepreneurship in North Carolina. Eleven new businesses have been created since the Miller School opened, said Van Isley, ECU Board of Trustees member who with his wife Jennifer provided funding for the innovation hub. “We don’t necessarily need home runs; a few base hits can make a big difference,” he said.

Mike Harris, interim dean of the ECU College of Business, welcomes students, faculty, staff and friends to the Isley Innovation Hub.

Isley thanked Stan Eakin, former dean of the business school; Jim Westmoreland, former College of Business administrator; ECU alumnus and trustee Fielding Miller; and Harris for their focused efforts over several years to make the space a reality.

“At Isley, we’re about action,” Harris said. “In here, we want you to be loud. Any student, any faculty, any staff — this space was created for the entire campus,” Harris said. “If you have an idea, if you have a problem you want to solve, we want Isley to be your first stop.”

The official opening and ribbon cutting came at the end of the first day of the regular meeting of the ECU Board of Trustees. Chancellor Philip Rogers said “the power of partnerships” was one of the themes in the University Affairs Committee meeting on Thursday. “I don’t know that there’s a better depiction of how a new facility like this one can come together through the power of partnerships to advance our mission and advance our goals as an institution. And I think the power of partnerships is what’s going to sustain this place, now and in the future,” Rogers said.

Rogers recalled visiting the Isley Hub the first week of classes and watching a senior engineering student mentor a freshman in the makerspace, named for the late Sam Wornom, a dedicated alumnus who served on numerous ECU boards. “And that was a special moment in just a couple of days of this place being open, to really see that power of partnership and the power of our mission in action. The mission that we have at ECU really does drive this work,” he said.

Provost Robin Coger, who has participated in creating similar innovation areas on other campuses, said she is excited about this important space that she thinks is “a physical manifestation of cornerstones that are extremely important to our university: teamwork, partnership, innovation.”

The value of multidisciplinary collaboration translates to more than a facility, Coger said, but “an entrepreneurial-mindset ecosystem designed to force out-of-the-box thinking for the College of Business, the College of Engineering and Technology, and for every college and school at East Carolina University.”

During Friday’s trustees meeting, Rogers said innovation is an area that he will challenge the campus community to prioritize as part of a refresh of ECU’s strategic plan. “In coping with the complexities of a changing higher education landscape and charting a course for the next five years, I believe we must embrace a culture of innovation and be nimbler and more adaptable across our organization,” he said.

The work will happen at the same time as the UNC Board of Governors updates the system’s strategic plan. “We now have the opportunity to shape ECU’s future over the next five years in ongoing alignment with the system’s goals and metrics,” he said. Officials are designing the process and timeline for the plan and will provide updates in the coming months.

With the start of the fall semester, Rogers has seen “a sense of renewed energy and enthusiasm” on campus in providing a full in-person student experience for the first time in two years. “I can’t think of a better moment to embrace our collective responsibility to deliver on our commitments and provide our learners with a high-quality educational experience,” he said.

In other business, ECU trustees:

The next board meeting will be Nov. 3-4.

ECU officials and friends celebrated the official opening and ribbon cutting for the Isley Innovation Hub.