The College of Business purchased the Off Campus Bookstore Feb. 2, allowing the expansion of innovation activities to help benefit students as well as the university.

The Off Campus Bookstore will move to an unknown location within the next two months, said Brad Nichols, Store Manager of The Off Campus Bookstore.

Gregory Carnes, dean of the College of Business, said a series of projects is in the works to allow the College of Business to serve as a platform to help encourage economic development.

The Generator, which is in a house on Pine Street, is under lease, Carnes said. When the property where the Off Campus Bookstore sits went up for sale, the College of Business began looking into making the house a permanent home for the Generator.

“We really needed, as a university, to provide students an opportunity for the next step, which is actually trying to help get a business started, and that’s called an incubator,” he said. “In 2015, we launched what we call the Generator, which is our student incubator, over on Pine Street.”

Carnes said the bottom floor of the house is where the Generator will move.

“The house will not all be the Generator,” he said. “It will take up most of the house, but we will probably move the Innovation Engineering classroom over there. We are thinking of having the upstairs be a very nice, professional conference room, which will be something for everyone on campus to use.”

Executive-in-Residence for the College of Business Janyce Fadden said there is a lot of planning to do to decide how they will renovate the Off Campus Bookstore to fit the Generator in there and what else will be done with the house.

Carnes said there is not a timeline for when the move will occur.

“We want to apply for grants, and there’s some fundraising opportunities for donors who believe in supporting these types of efforts, and we’ve already started working with an architect to develop what we need to do to have the building in function for what we are going to use it for,” he said.

“The goal is to try to get some grant money and do some fundraising so we can make the building the best it can be and really reflect the quality of UNA,” he said.

Senior Kaitlynn Jones said she thinks the purchase will be good for the business department, especially if the Off Campus Bookstore can remain in business.

“I love how much the College of Business is expanding, what with all the NASA expansion and all,” she said.

Graduate student Moussa Ye said it is beneficial for students who use the Generator because it would be closer to campus, but he expressed concern for the Off Campus Bookstore.

“It’s definitely bad news if (the Off Campus Bookstore) will move away,” he said.