Consequently, despite the pandemic, the Foundry has now helped the highest overall count of startups in its history.Previously, its primary educational program, Firestarter, required 2.5-3 months for entrepreneurs to complete, and was conducted on campus now the program requires only one month and has no geographic limitations.Within two weeks of Purdue’s “work from home” decision, the Foundry Grounds became Foundry Grounds Remote – meeting online with Foundry members to discuss raising money, market research, and valuable experiences. The Purdue Foundry helps emerging entrepreneurs leverage their education and research skills so their dreams can be fully realized in the marketplace.This is driven by APLU’s four simple ideas summarized as “know, measure, tell, engage,” with a focus on expanding on talent: To Purdue, being designated an “economically engaged” university means that we have relationships in place to anticipate, prepare, and rapidly respond to our community’s needs. This team has freely distributed nearly 50,000 pieces of PPE to health care facilities thoughout Indiana. Since then, a team of nearly 40 faculty and staff members have been using Purdue’s unique roll-to-roll manufacturing equipment and 3D printers to develop face shields and other PPE. In March, 3M donated 17,000 square yards of transparent material to Purdue. One such example is Purdue’s partnership with 3M to develop personal protective equipment for first-responders. Every member of Purdue University is dedicated to this challenge. Learn more at Now more than ever, communities are looking to land-grant universities for inclusive engagement for economic development, flexible education, and responsive research - particularly in response to COVID-19. Read other articles around strategies, programs, and impact of APLU's IEP designees at Earn APLU’s IEP designation. This article is included as part of APLU's Innovation and Economic Prosperity Universities Designation and Awards Perspectives Blog.