Moonshot at NACET Announces Collaboration with Amazon

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz., Oct. 22, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Moonshot at NACET, the entrepreneur development program based at the Northern Arizona Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology, is collaborating with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to make Flagstaff the first U.S. city to offer the AWS "CloudStart" program to startup businesses.

AWS CloudStart, originally designed to assist whole countries in accelerating their digital economies, provides a suite of services new businesses can deploy to reduce cost, drive efficiencies, and increase innovation, said Moonshot President & CEO Scott Hathcock. The cloud-based services include data storage, database management, analytics, machine learning, the "Internet of things," game development, and more.

"This is a pioneering first step to bring this program to U.S. businesses," said Hathcock. "These enhanced tools, trainings, and learning environments are being offered to Moonshot clients to help them quickly bring their ideas to the marketplace."

As the first U.S.-based AWS CloudStart program partner, Moonshot has been awarded AWS Cloud credits that Moonshot member companies can receive to work with AWS Cloud tools and services that will enable them to scale their companies securely and cost-effectively.

"The City of Flagstaff is excited to see Moonshot at NACET collaborating with AWS," said Heidi Hansen, Economic Vitality Director for the City of Flagstaff. "Entrepreneurs not only have great facilities and staff support here, they will receive a digital toolkit to help further assist them in their work."

The CloudStart program, however, goes beyond helping new enterprises. It is also a workforce development powerhouse, providing training and certification programs in cloud computing for individuals to meet the ever-increasing demand for these skilled workers.

"It addresses the old 'chicken or egg' dilemma in economic development," Hathcock said. "Which comes first: attracting or building new businesses, or creating the workforce you need to sustain those businesses? With this collaboration, we can do both."

Moonshot at NACET is currently working with community partners to finalize a workforce development deployment model from college students to underserved communities with limited access to high-paying technology jobs.

Hathcock noted that while this collaboration makes Flagstaff the first AWS CloudStart city, startups not based in northern Arizona can also access the AWS tools as long as they are qualifying members of Moonshot at NACET.

To learn more about this collaboration, visit moonshotaz.com/awscloudstart.

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