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“Supporting companies like Akademos is an important part of our overall strategy to grow jobs and accelerate our economy,” Malloy said in a statement. “Small businesses make up well over 90 percent of Connecticut employers, so ensuring they are able to compete in a global marketplace is critical. Partnerships between state government and the private sector allow businesses and industry to grow, and most importantly, hire more staff.”
Akademos, an online retailer, offers services to students and faculty at hundreds of educational institutions across the country. The state will provide a $100,000 grant and a 10-year $300,000 loan at 2 percent interest to support the company’s Norwalk expansion and its plans to build new software services that lower the costs of textbooks and other educational materials.
Akademos created the Textbook Adoption Tool, a free portal that helps faculty select the right textbooks based on quality, affordability and faculty reviews. It also launched TextbookX, an e-commerce site that helps students find the lowest priced textbooks.
“This funding will allow us to expand faculty awareness and student access to lower-cost educational materials as well as enable us to continue to develop and introduce new textbook delivery options,” said John Squires, CEO of Akademos, in the statement.
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