Nonghshim noodle company underwrites innovation lab at Cal State L.A.

Los Angeles—Cal State L.A. has launched construction of the new Nongshim Innovation Lab in Simpson Tower.  The lab is being built thanks to a gift from global food giant Nongshim America, which has committed a $300,000 investment to the College of Business and Economics toward entrepreneurship.

Nongshim started in 1965 in Seoul, Korea, and became the top snack and noodle manufacturer in that country before expanding across Asia and into the United States.

The Nongshim Innovation Lab will provide a work and learning space that will be used to educate, train, launch and mobilize student entrepreneurs in pursuing outreach activities under the umbrella of the College’s Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center.  Additional student-centered marketing and business projects, campus entrepreneurship events, student competitions, and faculty research will also be supported with the Nongshim gift.

“The faculty, staff and students at the Cal State L.A.’s College of Business and Economics as well as the entire University, are very excited and grateful for the generosity and vision provided by Nongshim America, led by President Edward Shin, and look forward to the privilege of partnering together to accomplish our common goals of encouraging students and faculty in entrepreneurship activities,” said James A. Goodrich, dean of the College of Business and Economics.

Nongshim America was established as part of an expansion plan to reach out to U.S. consumers. In 2005, Nongshim built a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Rancho Cucamonga in Southern California. 

Today, Nongshim products are available in most retail outlets throughout North America, including the Cal State L.A. bookstore, and more than 80 countries around the world.