Photos by Ralph Freso
Since the fall, Grand Canyon University's startup business accelerator, Canyon Ventures, has been undergoing a remodel to showcase its success stories to prospective students and investors.
At the centerpiece of that remodel is one of its greatest success stories, Lux Precision Manufacturing, an aerospace machine shop founded and operated by alumnus Weston Smith.
Should students and prospective investors need any more convincing about the potential growth of businesses founded by GCU alumni, they merely need look at Lux, which started in Smith’s residence hall room more than eight years ago and is now a major player in not only teaching and training the university's students, but employing them, too, mostly as computer numerical control machinists.
“I like to say we're blessed to be part of the hands-on application,” Smith said of giving students those hands-on opportunities. “Students can learn in a classroom. They can learn well. GCU will do a phenomenal job.
"But when we pair education with application, the product's beautiful. They really get it. They really get a chance to understand, ‘Hey, this is how things work. This is where things are created. This is how things are created.’"
Lux expanded its 10,000-square-foot space to 30,000 square feet in the back of Canyon Ventures, with no wasted space. The company, which provides parts for the aerospace, defense, medical and semiconductor industries in Arizona, has gone from 15 to 35 machines after the purchase of Dillon Manufacturing. It also slightly more than doubled its workforce to 35 and employs from 20 to 30 GCU students.
Construction at Lux’s expanded facility is expected to be completed by the end of February.
“Once the place is done, this may be the nicest manufacturing facility in Arizona,” Smith said. “I'm biased, but it’s also definitely the most unique ecosystem.”
Already completed is one classroom at Lux with large windows that enable students to watch work in progress.
“We want every Canyon Ventures visitor to hear an inspiring story, one focused on the way God blessed GCU’s campus with an entrepreneurial gift that allowed such extraordinary Christian impact throughout the world," said Canyon Ventures Acting Director Connor Vicary, who founded multiple businesses as an undergraduate.
He's hoping those stories will inspire prospective and current students. “The changes that are already underway will help current businesses ... and student entrepreneurs with resources to drive economic development right here in the West Valley.”
Vicary said there were 1,400 tours at Canyon Ventures last year.
“And this year, when we speak to students, we’re not going to just talk about the products these businesses create, like, ‘Here’s a NineteenTwenty jacket.' (Instead, we want to) focus on the life-changing experiential learning opportunities directly from a business owner (Ashley Sankar), who in NineteenTwenty’s case, creates millions of monthly organic social media impressions, designs her clothes and was a fan favorite on 'Shark Tank.' Job opportunities like these are only available at one college, here at GCU.”
GCU has produced two winners on "Shark Tank," the popular reality TV show in which entrepreneurs pitch their ideas to investors.
There's NineteenTwenty, a company that makes jackets that convert into tote bags and pillows, and Noggin Boss, an oversized athletic hat business co-founded by alumnus Gabe Cooper, which gained attention at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris and is a hit at NFL and college playoff games.
Other startups housed in Canyon Ventures might not have been on 'Shark Tank' "but have the ability to grow here by hiring our students,” Vicary said.
NineteenTwenty operates along a row of businesses at Canyon Ventures that includes Aluee Haircare, Flash Path Golf (both founded and operated by GCU senior RaSean McMiller) and Car Chap, which was featured in Car and Driver magazine. Car Chap owner Caleb McCandliss is on track to graduate this spring with a bachelor’s degree in engineering.
“A new initiative we are building on is equipping athletes with avenues to take their NIL (name, image and likeness) dollars and create entrepreneurial businesses,” Vicary said. “This will allow them to generate revenue even greater than their current NIL and possibly support them after graduation for many years to come.”
For example, Uncontainable, the women’s activewear business founded by graduate student Maria Sartin, is strategically located near the front of the Canyon Ventures entrance. The hope is that even more student athletes, like Sartin, a hurdler on GCU’s women’s track and field team, can maximize their NIL opportunities, which have intensified the recruitment of athletes in college.
“The bridge we are building between entrepreneurship and athletics is something that (Vice President of Athletics) Jamie Boggs has been supportive of, and we’re so blessed to work harder this year on supporting GCU’s student-athletes through entrepreneurship,” Vicary said.
Just past Uncontainable is Lectric eBikes, founded by GCU alum Levi Conlow.
It is making a significant impact at Canyon Ventures, with a plan to hire 35 GCU students this spring for its Customer Delight Facility and remodel 1,500 square feet once occupied by Aluee, Car Chap and Big Time Jerseys (which moved to an off-campus location).
The expansion and success of businesses at Canyon Ventures – led by Lux and Lectric – fuel President Brian Mueller’s vision to prepare GCU students for employment opportunities – especially in the manufacturing sector – that are expected to expand rapidly in the Valley over the next decade.
That mission already is enhanced by GCU’s partnership with Lux and the College of Engineering and Technology and its trade pathways and vocational training programs through the Center for Workforce Development.
“President Mueller has an incredible vision for this area of the city,” Colangelo College of Business Dean John Kaites said. “He wants to ... revitalize the area by bringing manufacturing opportunities and teaching the citizens of this area the skills that they need in order to achieve high-paying jobs with the hopes that they stay in the area and can continue to contribute to the economies of the Maryvale and Alhambra neighborhoods.”
Added Smith, “I think what we’re doing here for the workforce and underserved populations out of Maryvale, with an average household income of $36,000, is bringing them into this program, graduating them, (so they're) walking into jobs that are paying $50,000-$67,000 a year. That's huge. That changes generations.
“We don't want to prepare a workforce that's academically strong but application short. We want students that are really effective on day one. And that's part of what we're doing here.
“We're just blessed to be a part of it and excited about the (GCU and Canyon Ventures entrepreneurial) ecosystem. It's just been a wild ride to what we're doing now.”
GCU News senior writer Mark Gonzales can be reached at [email protected].
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