“Students of Yogyakarta State University (YSU) are encouraged to involve actively in not only academic aspects but also non academic ones. They can use this Enterpreneurship Laboratory for meeting the demand of stakeholders as well as servicing communites” says Prof. Dr. Rochmat Wahab, M.Pd., YSU Rector in the Soft Opening of YSU Entrepreneurship Laboratory, on Wednesday 13th January 2015. The building is located on Affandi – Gejayan street, near the Post Office, and occupies an area of 9.325 m2. As he suggested, YSU graduates must be proactive, inspiring, creative, and having the spirit of entrepreneurship. “At this point, students are prepared to be young entrepreneurs,” the Rector said.

At the soft opening, there are several tenants namely Corporate Store of Students Cooperation (Koperasi Mahasiswa/Kopma UNY) which sits in the first floor, situated side by side with Pusat Layanan Test Indonesia (PLTI) (Indonesian Research Service Centre); both open everyday until 22.00. Based on the statement of Prof. Dr. Edi Purwanta, M.Pd as the Director of YSU Management and Business Development Unit, entrepreneurship is one of Indonesian National Qualification Framework goals. Thus, the laboratory is an arena for students to practice entrepreneurship. Prof. Dr. Edi Purwanta, M.Pd adds “The building consists of 4 floors”.

In the 1st floor, there are Kopma UNY and PLTI. In the second floor, 21 students already exist, designed to facilitate students in showcasing their entrepreneurial products. In the 3rd floor, there would be several nation banks’ branches, namely BNI (Bank Negara Indonesia) Life, BRI (Bank Rakyat Indonesia), BPD (Bank Pembangunan Daerah Jogja), and BTN (Bank Tabungan Negara). Then, the 4th floor will be functioned to accomodate 12 business space for fashion, and 6 counters for food and culinary.

The soft opening began with ribbon cutting. After that, the Rector and Vice Rectors started to shop at the Cooperation, followed with the Dean and all the invited parties. (dedy)