MARQUETTE — A program that serves the community in more ways than one celebrated their anniversary earlier tonight.

Invent@NMU is celebrating 5 years in the community as an “idea incubator,” while benefiting everybody involved, whether they’re a student or not.

“Invent@NMU is a program of Northern Michigan University that helps people with their product and small business ideas,” said Kylie Bunting, Marketing Manager. “People walk through our doors or give us a call or submit ideas online, and we help them through the process of starting a business or launching a product, and we’ll help them step by step.”

A major part of the program is having NMU students on staff, for everything from business to marketing, graphic design, mechanical engineering, and many others, giving students real–world experience and networking.

Since its opening, Invent@NMU has had 575 ideas, whether for products or businesses, brought before them.

Although not every idea comes to fruition, the insight received is invaluable.

If you have an idea or would like to know more about Invent@NMU, visit their website here.