Itasca Economic Development Corporation's Executive Director Tamara Lowney joined us last week along with the ILT Academy's Nick Tietz to talk about growing businesses and business ideas in NE MN. There's a new cohort starting up for Innovate 218....with a free 10 week virtual training program for people interested in starting a new business or bringing an idea to fruition. Deadline for signing up is Wednesday September 29th.
Outside of coastal cities and metropolitan areas, including Minneapolis/St.Paul, there are minimal world class resources available to today’s new innovators and entrepreneurs in Greater Minnesota. West Central Minnesota and the Greater St. Cloud Region have undertaken a bold effort to make the region the go-to region in Greater Minnesota for entrepreneurs and startups who seek a robust ecosystem and support structure to grow their ideas into successful startups. Through Innovate 218, we are hoping to do the same. Innovate 218 is a regional Launch MN group that was created to help innovators and entrepreneurs located in Greater Minnesota by providing a comprehensive set of supports and expanding the ILT Academy program that has already been running in St. Cloud, MN and Red Wing, MN. The programming and services brought forth through Innovate 218, will assist in the building and expansion of the startup ecosystem for entrepreneurs in the Northeast Development Region through education, training, networking, access to nationally ranked accelerators, access to risk capital and technical support services.
