Which macro trends are driving changes in Colorado’s small business economy? And what do those trends look like at the ground level? These are some of the key questions that Colorado Governor Jared Polis asks of the economists and business leaders who serve on the state’s Revenue Estimating Advisory Committee (GREAC).
I’m honored to announce my appointment to GREAC as of October 2021. Housed under the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budgeting, the committee is led by Luke Teater (Chief Economist, Governor’s Office) and Lauren Larson (Director, Governor’s Office of State Planning and Budgeting). I’m delighted to serve alongside Energize Colorado’s Brian Lewandowski, Executive Director of Business Research at CU Boulder, as well.
I look forward to joining these and other outstanding committee members and to contributing insights gleaned from the 20-plus months I’ve led Energize Colorado. It’s my hope that what I’ve learned in serving Colorado’s small business community—particularly rural-, minority-, women-, and veteran-owned businesses—will help economists not only predict revenue, but influence policies and programs that can bolster Colorado’s small businesses over the long term.
Miami University and the Farmer School’s John W. Altman Institute for Entrepreneurship has been named winner of the 2020 NASDAQ Center of Entrepreneurial Excellence Award. Since 2019 I have had the honor of serving on the institute’s advisory board, helping to fundraise for the Institute, develop new programs to differentiate the Institute’s curriculum, and support its branding/communications strategy. This new award places them among the top U.S. universities for entrepreneurs.
Headed by Professor Tim Holcomb with support from the university’s president, Greg Crawford (formerly of Notre Dame), the program far exceeds the impact and reach you might expect from an Institute located at an undergraduate institution in the Midwest. I met Greg when serving as CEO of Cintrifuse in Cincinnati. His background as an entrepreneur and leader of innovation at Notre Dame was well aligned with the work I led in the Greater Cincinnati Region. Currently President Crawford serves on the Cintrifuse Board of Directors.
The Institute offers year-round programs that develop the next generation of entrepreneurial talent. In addition to the popular RedHawk Launch Accelerator and annual RedHawk Pitch Contest, the Institute coordinates the growing Altman Summer Scholars Internship program which has placed more than 250 students at internships with over 50 companies across the U.S.—from hot startups, to venture capital and innovation firms, to prestigious BigCo corporate innovation programs. Among students placed in internships, 56% are female—I applaud them!
Given annually by the Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers, the NASDAQ award recognizes programs that advance entrepreneurship as a force for economic growth. Centers at the University of California, Berkeley; MIT; Columbia; Stanford; and Cornell are among those previously recognized. Congratulations to the institute and to President Greg Crawford and Professor Holman as they continue to innovate by tapping into their alumni and ecosystem leaders to ensure they are keeping their curriculum standards high and student momentum strong.
And as we say #LoveandHonor!
Returning to Boulder in 2019 gave me the opportunity to reconnect with Big Green’s mission and team. Founded by Kimbal Musk and Hugo Matheson of The Kitchen Restaurant Group in 2011, the organization aims to get underserved kids in urban schools and communities excited about growing fresh food and eating healthy—we refer to it as #RealFood. Big Green provides resources for Learning Gardens and educational programs that reach 300,000 kids every day in Denver, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, Memphis, Pittsburg, and Indianapolis.
I first met Kimbal when he was an entrepreneur at The Kitchen and also leading a startup called Medium. When he was seriously injured in a skiing accident, Kimbal realized that his true passion was food. Although he already had opened The Kitchen restaurant, he made a conscious decision to embrace a larger mission around real food. As he was recovering from the accident, he visioned Big Green. His hypothesis was to connect children in underserved communities with healthy foods. Big Green’s program now operates in public schools where children learn about the power of fresh food through gardening and Big Green’s healthy food curriculum.
I’m delighted to support Big Green by serving on its board, and I have the good fortune to work closely with Tighe Brown, the CEO of Big Green. Tighe is recognized as an emerging leader in the youth wellness movement. After finding her passion for food and agriculture at the University of California Berkeley, she moved to Boulder to investigate the role of the for-profit sustainable food systems, specifically in the natural products industry where she supported early-growth, start-up companies.
In 2011, Tighe joined Kimbal Musk as a founding member of Big Green. As President, Tighe leads the organization with the vision that every school-age child in America has the opportunity to learn about and have access to Real Food. She has worked with Big Green to create, build, and implement a scalable and successful outdoor educational program for schools with Learning Gardens over the past seven years. Tighe grew into her role from intern to President. Under her leadership, Big Green has continued to grow, delivering their passion. During COVID, the organization found unique ways to stay connected to their communities of students all over the U.S. and developed a number of new products. With the right mix of smarts, passion, and creativity, Tighe has made the organization stronger than ever.
On March 24, 2021, Energize Colorado officially marked its one-year anniversary as an organization powered by inspired innovators, all working together to build a resilience and equitable small business ecosystem.
As we were putting the final touches together for our one-year celebration another crisis was occurring just a few miles from my home in Boulder, Colorado. A gunman killed 10 innocent people in a grocery store. Shaken and overwhelmed, I was doing my best to process it all on the morning of March 24th as our community of volunteers gathered with our co-founder and Chair Brad Feld to reflect on our wild and crazy first year.
To mark our one-year anniversary, our partners and volunteers shared personal stories and we reviewed our impacts across Colorado’s diverse small-business community. Our Gap Fund efforts alone provided $26M to over 2,000 businesses across Colorado, 97% of which belong to underserved communities.
Coloradans helping Coloradans
As I reflect on year one, I carry deep respect and immense gratitude for the hundreds of volunteers who came forward to listen, learn, build, execute, and iterate our programs (all in record time) to help small businesses navigate economic upheaval triggered by COVID-19. As Aaron Clark of Justice Reskill reflected, “Energize Colorado has been resilient in learning and moving forward and helping the people who need it most.”
Our volunteers—“Coloradans helping Coloradans”—never wavered. As Marc Nager of the Greater Colorado Venture Fund said, “What a shining example of bottom-up leadership. To go out and listen and understand first and foremost.” “The mindset was: We don’t know what’s happening next. But we’re going to fight for what we want and we’re not going to do it alone,” said Jesus Salazar of Prosono.
A few of my top learnings from year one
#1 The significant role the small business sector plays in Colorado’s economic viability.
#2 The experience and expertise of a range of entities across Colorado that are dedicated to supporting small businesses, including small business development centers, community development financial institutions, technical assistance organizations, entrepreneur support organizations, workforce development councils, and economic development organizations.
#3 The learning required for me to understand my own equity journey so I can be a culturally responsive and inclusive leader for Energize Colorado.
The power of building a state-wide volunteer model that delivered consistent impact
Above all, though, I’m particularly mindful of the new lifelong relationships I’ve created (virtually) across the State. The people I’ve met along the way have gracefully taken me “under their wing” as we built and iterated our strategy and structure to drive towards a more resilient and equitable future economy.
As Chris Erickson of Range Ventures reflected during our anniversary gathering, the people and partners working together through Energize Colorado helped us have “a significant impact across the state, really quickly. It’s incredibly unique for a state to have people and organizations that are willing to volunteer their time to have impact.” Yes, I’m mighty grateful for our volunteers, and I am eager to collaborate with our community and our ecosystem partners to map out the next phase of our contribution to Colorado’s small business economy.
As Energize Colorado passes its one-year mark, I am proud that our efforts—our model, our comprehensive statewide strategy, and our successful approach—have gained national recognition. In a recent analysis by Brookings Institute, “Overcoming Bias in Small Business Relief in Colorado,” authors outline the Energize Colorado Gap Fund’s successful approach to serving Colorado’s sizable small-business community—particularly rural, black, hispanic, women, and veteran-owned businesses.
Our model and our approach to overcoming bias in small-business relief funding included three keys areas:
1. Comprehensive outreach efforts designed to engage small businesses in underrepresented communities that are typically less connected to technical assistance and capital access.
3. We centralized the application process through our website and partnered with the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority (CHFA), and a network of community development financial institutions (CDFIs), and other nonprofit lenders across the state to successfully underwrite and deliver funds to businesses who often times do not have relationships with traditional banking institutions.
To date, Energize Colorado has given $26M in funds to over 2,000 businesses across Colorado. 97% of our Cares Act funding went to priority groups. As the Brookings piece highlights, 80% of recipients were women-owned entities, 37% were rural entities, 24% were Latino- or Hispanic-owned enterprises, and 16% were Black-owned enterprises.
It is my hope that Energize Colorado’s approach and our learnings can inspire and inform other efforts to serve diverse small businesses across the U.S.
Historically, capital hasn’t been easy to come by in the Midwest. Cultivating the startup ecosystem in Cincinnati required a new strategy to attract the capital needed to catalyze growth for founders eager to disrupt big markets with big ideas. Cintrifuse’s fund-of-funds strategy (modeled after the Renaissance Venture Capital Fund in Ann Arbor, MI) was a big bet. The strategy was beautifully executed with the incredible talent and dedication of people like Tim Schigel. Tim and I have remained close friends and colleagues ever since.
After leading the investment committee for the Cintrifuse Syndicate Fund, Tim went on to found Refinery Ventures, a Midwest firm that invests in early-stage companies and offers mentorship to founders between post-seed and Series A funding. Last year Refinery Ventures launched a new podcast series, Fast Frontier Podcast, which explores “how innovation frontiers are emerging in surprising places.” It was fun sharing my story with Tim. We explored chapters in my entrepreneurial journey and personal success strategies, particularly the importance of taking risks, maintaining a beginner’s mind, and building relationships. Along with insatiable curiosity, fast learning, the right support from others, and willingness to try something new, my drive to forge new relationships has been a theme throughout my professional life.
Make Potential Your North Star
For me, success started with something my mother told me: “You’re in charge of your own potential, so make that potential your North Star.” In fact, entrepreneurship wasn’t my focus when I started out. I was highly inquisitive, filled with a thousand ideas, and loved to make genuine connections with lots of people. I still do! I was also crystal clear about one thing—my independence. As I told Tim, “My North Star, even as a very young woman graduating from university, was to be independent. I did not want to be dependent on family or friends for wherever I was headed. I wanted to pave my own way [and] be self-directed in the pursuit of my professional goals.”
A tough sense of independence has served me well. I advise my mentees with that insight in mind. Through the many pivots in my career, I’ve continually succeeded by answering key questions: What is my potential? How can I learn from others and build relationships toward realizing that potential? Answering those, I’ve been clear in mapping my professional path.
In the summer of 2014, while serving as the CEO of Cintrifuse in Cincinnati, I met Steve Case and the Rise of the Rest team when they visited Cincinnati on their bus tour. Launched in 2014 to promote investment in ecosystems and startups outside of Silicon Valley, Rise of the Rest has now “raised $300 Million to invest in early stage startups across America — startups that we believe will be successful at driving local economies by yielding successful returns for investors.”
Our regional Cincinnati startup ecosystem had been growing through the efforts of entrepreneurial ecosystem support organizations The Brandery and CincyTech, as well as Cintrifuse. During the Rise of the Rest visit, top-tier startups presented to a panel of investors and entrepreneurs, including Steve, and the winning startup received a $100K investment. A fun first experience with Steve and his Rise of the Rest team—and the beginning of an important collaboration!
Since then, I have been honored to accompany them on several Rise of the Rest tours (I’ll always remember Green Bay, WI!) and to participate in several annual meetings with Rise of the Rest portfolio companies in Chicago and Washington, DC. I have gotten to know the amazing Rise of the Rest team—Anna Mason, Mark Rucci, and now Jamie Rodota—and as part of their Expert Mentor Network, I have worked with and learned from many outstanding founders across the Midwest.
2021 Playbook: Supporting Startups Through COVID-19
Rise of the Rest’s support of startups hasn’t wavered through this global pandemic. In January, they published a series of case studies, Responses to COVID-19: How Cities Across America are Supporting Startups, that includes a look into Energize Colorado’s successful model, highlighting three primary areas: funding, navigation, and founder support. What the report points out has been true: “While the pandemic has wrought extraordinary public health and financial hardships, it will accelerate innovations in critical industries.”
Now approaching the one-year mark, Energize Colorado’s tested model is now ripe for replication in other regions or at national scale. As I share in the report: “Energize Colorado was designed in such a way that it’s a blueprint which can be adopted by others. We are in active discussions with multiple states, and envision a future where there’s an Energize America effort. There are the tactical elements that others can implement: funding, mentorship, mental health support, and reopening guidance. Each of these products can then be adapted to serve different types of organizations, from startups to nonprofits, in both urban and rural settings.”
Since 2019, I’ve been honored to select two female-led entrepreneurial ventures from the Greater Cincinnati area as the recipients of the Wendy S. Lea Grant for Female Founders. Funded by the Robert A. and Diane J. McDonald Family Foundation and the social impact firm Main Street Ventures, the grant provides female founders with capital to launch and grow their businesses.
Growing Healthy Roots
The first grant in 2019 was awarded to Healthy Roots, a company founded by Yelitsa Jean-Charles in 2014. Healthy Roots produces dolls and books that celebrate natural hair care for young girls of color. The company has made huge strides and has now raised an institutional round of funding. Yelitsa is a crazy smart entrepreneur and is also completely courageous. In 2020, she was recognized in Forbes’ “30 under 30,” and the company was recently featured on the Today Show.
Healthy Roots’ 2020 Recap.
Next up: InnoVation Girls
I kicked off 2021 with an investment in InnoVationGirls, a training and mentorship platform for girls founded by Rita David and Richard Zreik. Through the platform, girls between the ages of 10 and 18 have the opportunity to solve “real problems for real companies using systematic inventive thinking” and “gain the confidence to explore their own ideas and ventures.”
Watch InnoVation Girls in action.
It has been the honor of a lifetime to have this grant given in my name. I’m so grateful to my mentor, Bob McDonald, his wife Diane, and his family for instituting the grant and to Main Street Ventures for their support. In selecting to invest in and mentor these female founders, I will pay forward the support I’ve been given throughout my own entrepreneurial journey.
Each time I’m interviewed about my work, the back and forth of the interview reveals new insights. As I lens my answers through memories and experiences, insights rush forward from learnings. And, as in this new podcast, I recall leaders who have significantly influenced my professional choices and guided me through many chapters of my entrepreneurial journey. It was fun to record this interview with Gregg Garrett of Corporate Growth Strategy (CGS) Advisors for the You, Me, and Your Top Three podcast, which focuses on “exploring leadership in the connecting world.”
In the episode, I share what I’ve learned from my most influential mentors, including Randall Murphy, a business owner who took a chance on me when I was young; Brad Feld, Managing Director of Foundry Group and co-founder of Techstars; and Bob McDonald, former CEO of P&G.
Highlights of our conversation include:
Why a “student of the game” mindset is essential in the entrepreneurial space.
How a teaching mindset helped me navigate the tech industry.
Risk and VC investments—and the importance of getting comfortable with risk.
Why social impact matters in for-profit business.
How to leverage key experiences into new opportunities.
Why embracing fear is necessary to learning and success.
I was delighted to discuss Energize Colorado’s recent progress with Ryan Frazier, Business Brief host at 9 News. We spoke about the important role of small businesses in Colorado’s economy, plus Energize Colorado’s core efforts to stabilize and rebuild this critical segment and how to get involved.
