Grant to fund new eFactory staff position

Public-private partnership Missouri Technology Corp. awarded a $140,000 grant to downtown business incubator The eFactory for a new staff position.

The two-year grant pays for an entrepreneurial specialist at The eFactory, which operates inside Missouri State University's Robert W. Plaster Center for Free Enterprise and Business Development, according to a news release.

"The entrepreneurial specialist position will assist in the development and coordination of new programs that focus on early-stage capital investment and business mentorship in addition to supporting cooperative partner programs, such as 1 Million Cups,” eFactory coordinator Brian Kincaid said in the release.

After the second year, the position will be continued through revenue.

The grant is funded through MTC's Missouri Building Entrepreneurial Capacity program, designed to support entrepreneurial efforts statewide, the release said. Created by the General Assembly, MTC is governed by a board of directors appointed by the governor, the speaker of the House and the president pro tem of the Senate, according to its website.