PLATTEVILLE, Wis. — A candidate has been hired to lead an innovation hub that aims to develop additional high-tech jobs in southwest Wisconsin.

University of Wisconsin-Platteville and Southwestern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission selected Jeremiah “Maia” Donohue as the first director of the new Innovation Driving Entrepreneurship Accelerator Hub, according to a press release.

Donohue previously served as a program manager with 3 Day Startup, an Austin, Texas, nonprofit that provides entrepreneurship education and training.

The hub — funded in part by a U.S. Economic Development Administration award totaling more than $500,000 — will open in early 2021 and offer short courses in app and database development along with training on business plan development, marketing, patent protection and prototype creation. Entrepreneurs will have opportunities for mentoring, networking and consultation with staff and UW-P faculty.

In the IDEA Hub’s first three years of operation, UW-P officials intend to spur the creation of 30 new businesses and 55 new jobs across a five-county region.