The Central Region Ecosystem for Arts, Technology, and Entrepreneurs (CREATE) – formerly CRICC – aims to facilitate the creation, recruitment, growth, and retention of scalable companies in the region. Their main goals are to create new wealth, opportunities, and jobs in Central Kentucky. CREATE has offices that provide experienced, expert entrepreneurial support in both Bowling Green and Elizabethtown.

In addition to being a regional KY Innovation Hub, CREATE partners with the Western Kentucky University Innovation Campus (Center for R&D, Small Business Accelerator), the City of Bowling Green, Warren County Fiscal Court, Hardin County Fiscal Court, the Bowling Green Chamber of Commerce, the Hardin County Chamber of Commerce, Elizabethtown Community and Technical College.

As part of its longstanding relationship with region’s flagship university, CREATE co-manages both the WKU Center for R&D and the WKU Small Business Accelerator and Smart Space, which have 285,000 and 75,000 square feet of available space, respectively. Programs managed or supported by CREATE include the “Building Brilliance” and Start-up Garden entrepreneurial event series. The organization works with the Gigonomics Research Laboratory, providing local data science and mining resources, and is developing a confidential talent database of individuals with potential to relocate to the area. CREATE also recently launched its Virtual Management Organization to provide C-Suite executive talent for startup companies.