Northern Kentucky University (NKU) officially opened the Global Business Solutions Tech and Innovation Center on Wednesday, Nov. 2.
The innovation center will provide NKU students with real-world experience, top-of-class information technology, cybersecurity, and sales and marketing training.
The center also acts as a training ground for NKU’s cybersecurity and IT students. Through paid internship positions, students will gain the IT-based software, hardware, and client-support knowledge Greater Cincinnati’s technology jobs require.
“Global Business Solutions has been an outstanding community partner for NKU, offering opportunities for our students to excel, both in and out of the classroom,” NKU President Ashish Vaidya said. “The Global Business Solutions Technology and Innovation Center will allow our students to take advantage of unique opportunities and gain real-world experience working with leading IT experts, so they are ready for success in our tech-enabled world.”
Global Business Solutions Service Desk Manager Phil Toombs will serve as a manager and mentor for students. Toombs said the GBS Tech and Innovation Center would help the Greater Cincinnati area retain its top talent from NKU.
“Our long-standing relationships we have here in the Tri-State, the number of Fortune 500 companies we have, the international connections that students can make here without leaving the area, is one of the biggest impacts we want to show them,” Toombs said. “A lot of times, students think start-up or Fortune 500. There’s still everything in between. We are going to give them exposure to see all the different variables there are in the IT world.”
Global Business Solutions founder, Gaby Batshoun, is an NKU alum from the Class of 1992. He founded the company in 1994 to put his passion for IT and cybersecurity into practice—serving small and mid-sized firms in Cincinnati.
“NKU has always been close to my heart, and I want to give back and show the students that if you work hard and if you put in the effort, you can achieve all kinds of things,” Batshoun said. “My vision was always how can we invest more in our area and regional needs to make sure that we prepare these students for real-world applications but also keep them in our area and invest in our area and help make it a better place to live. The Global Business Solutions Tech and Innovation Center will help us achieve that vision.”