Opening The Door To New Businesses in Colorado.
Jul 21st 2010Pete CarrBusiness Development & Commerce & Economy & Labor/Employment & Uncategorized
Hello Coloradans,
The main theme of this year’s election is jobs. We currently have an 8% unemployment rate in Colorado, with no quick fix in sight.
I believe that while the state should continue to pursue large employers, we need to be realistic in our outlook. Right now, no one has the Millions of dollars necessary to build a major factory in Colorado, or in any other state. Every other state is competing for what essentially will not happen in the foreseeable future.
Rather than wait until something comes along, we need to look within to boost employment. Most economists agree that small businesses are the heart and soul of an economy. Let’s work on getting more small businesses off the ground.
When I lived in the Northern Virginia, DC area, I belonged to Netpreneur.org a tech incubator and much more. The general premise was to connect fledgling startups with people in finance, networking and a host of other services and networking opportunities necessary to lift a new company from bare ground to success.
Another “incubator” gaining popularity is coworking.
From Wikipedia:
“Coworking is a style of work which involves a shared working environment, sometimes an office yet independent activity. Unlike in a typical office environment, those coworking are usually not employed by the same organization. Typically it is attractive to work-at-home professionals, independent contractors, or people who travel frequently who end up working in relative isolation. Coworking is the social gathering of a group of people, who are still working independently, but who share values, and who are interested in the synergy that can happen from working with talented people in the same space.“
I propose a merger of private entrepreneurs, coworkers, state business development officials and venture capitalists that will establish and maintain an incubator/coworking center in every county in Colorado. If you currently work in Denver or Boulder, I would encourage you to spend some time at a center, Colorado is a great place to see, and a week’s working vacation wouldn’t hurt. I”m a firm believer in “Pay it Forward”.
The centers would afford existing entrepreneurs currently working at home the ability to meet others, share ideas, and work in a far more conducive atmosphere.
There are a lot of people in Colorado that have great business ideas but are unable to afford to come to Denver or Boulder in order to get their idea up and running. These centers can give those businesses the boost they need to take their product or service frim idea stage to a fully operational business, and for far less than a move to another part of the state. By not going out into the counties we are missing ideas that can be translated into new businesses, and jobs for local residents.
Venture capitalists/angel investors are losing out on a potential “hit”. They need to become involved in funding the new ideas out there waiting.
By incorporating the Netpreneur and coworking models into accessible centers, we can get Colorado entrepreneurs producing their products, putting people back to work and improving the economy.
Lets make it happen!
Peter J. Carr
[...] posted about this a week ago. Peter Carr, independent candidate for governor of Colorado, has added coworking as a plank in his platform. [...]
Thanks for a platform that makes sense. Growth does come from small business development as we all know. The more flexible locations that can be established to develop innovation will benefit all communities.
Darryl Howard
Founder – Space Logix
Greensboro, NC
Hi,
Thanks for the shout out for coworking centers in Colorado. As a current coworking space owner in Fort Collins, I agree that coworking centers will become (if they aren’t already) hot beds for innovation. We’d love to host you up here at Cohere for a tour and chat with members about your plans to foster and grow coworking in the state of Colorado.
Angel Kwiatkowski
Owner, Cohere Coworking Community
Fort Collins, Colorado