Articles

HCC’s West Houston Institute, Urban Manufacturing Alliance to host manufacturing resiliency event

Oct 13, 2022

Houston Community College’s West Houston Institute and the Urban Manufacturing Alliance will bring national, state, regional and local economic and community development leaders to Houston from Nov. 1-3 to promote urban manufacturing programs, policies and models that can creating more resilient economies.

More than 150 manufacturers, practitioners and civic leaders are set to attend the event, “Manufacturing Resilience: Ecosystem Strategies for Building Community.”

Jordan Carswell, WHI director at HCC, said workshops and presentations centered on resiliency practices in manufacturing that target building local economies from the bottom up will be featured. Organizers expect that a regional network will be formed to support and promote the small businesses involved in manufacturing.

“We welcome both Houston-based and national practitioners to the West Houston Institute,” said Jordan Carswell, WHI director. “We’re thrilled to partner with UMA to showcase leaders, policies and initiatives that promote small- and large-scale manufacturing.

HCC’s WHI is the college’s hub for strategic innovation. It opened in 2018 with a vision to reimagine and reinvent higher education by providing students and the community with ideas and skill sets needed to thrive today. WHI offers several signature programs, including IDEAS Academy, Innovation Fellows, Teaching Innovation Lab, and Learning Spaces Institute. It also offers educational spaces to foster creativity and collaboration including IDEAStudio, a 10,000-square foot makerspace; the Collaboratorium solution design center; a modern library, and advanced science labs and space for life and physical sciences research.

Several organizations are sponsoring the gathering, including the Lumina Foundation; Goldman Sachs’ 10,000 Small Businesses program; City of Houston; Connect Community; Urban Partnerships Community Development Corporation; TXRX Labs; East End Maker Hub; Local Initiatives Support Corporation;  the Minority Business Development Agency and ImageNet.

For additional information, please contact Jordan Carswell at jordan.carswell@hccs.edu or Kimora Brock at kimora@urbanmfg.org.