Nidec Pledges $2 million to Minnesota State Mankato for Maverick Innovation Gateway, Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship
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Mankato, Minn. – Minnesota State University, Mankato President Edward Inch announced that Nidec Corporation has pledged $2 million over five years to the University for a new Maverick Innovation Gateway and Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship programming.
The Maverick Innovation Gateway is the future home to several high-impact programs within the College of Business that are intended to provide students interdisciplinary and hands-on learning opportunities through direct engagement with faculty and industry experts.
Nidec’s pledge includes two components, the first being $1.5 million for the Maverick Innovation Gateway, which will be located at 230 Stadium Road in a renovated building that previously housed an independent campus bookstore. The second is $500,000 for programming at the University’s Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, which will be housed at the same location.
Inch said Nidec’s gift pledge will be instrumental in fostering innovation, collaboration and real-world competencies among students, faculty and industry professionals.
“We thank Nidec for this gift, which will provide the University and its students a location at which to work collaboratively with the regional community and industry,” said Inch. “It will be a place for students to build diverse professional skills and for companies to identify talent to meet their organizational needs. It will also enable academia and industry to collaborate and work together to solve real-world problems in innovative ways.”
The Maverick Innovation Gateway is under construction and will open during the spring semester in 2025.
“Nidec is proud to support the University and College of Business in advancing its capabilities to prepare our next generation of leaders with the right knowledge, experience, relationships and resources in hand to be successful,” said Kevin Newman, president of Nidec Power Americas. “By doing this, we can create mutually beneficial and lasting partnerships with private, public and non-profit sectors to provide solutions for today and tomorrow’s global challenges.”
About Nidec Corporation
Nidec Corporation is the world’s leading electric motor manufacturer with 2023 revenues of over $18 billion. Founded in 1973 and headquartered in Kyoto, Japan, Nidec is a global company comprised of over 300 group companies and 100,000 employees with operations in more than 40 countries. A pioneer in electrification, Nidec is integral as a world-class global technology provider, localized manufacturer and development partner in industries ranging from information technology, automotive, appliance, commercial and industrial machinery. Nidec enables positive global change through innovative problem-solving.
For more information, visit Nidec’s website at www.nidec.com.
About Nidec Power
As part of the Nidec Motion & Energy Business Unit, Nidec Power keeps life’s key players up and running. Headquartered in Mankato, Minnesota, with operations across North America and over 2,000 employees, the Nidec Power business segment keeps the power on where it matters across data centers, healthcare, oil and gas, and military.
About Minnesota State Mankato’s Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Minnesota State Mankato’s Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship is part of the University’s College of Business, but it serves the entire University as well as alumni and private and public businesses and organizations. The Center’s mission is to facilitate the launch of the next generation of entrepreneurs, innovators and dynamic organizations through education, research and outreach.
Minnesota State Mankato, a comprehensive university with 15,251 students, is part of the Minnesota State system, which includes 26 colleges and seven universities.
