Feature F COLLIDER: SUPPORTING LOCAL ENTREPRENEURS
By Maura Keller
M arketing executives use it as a key tool for their success. Financial consultants use it to obtain new clients and often make it a key part of their overall business strategies. Entrepreneurs see it as a necessary effort to obtain insights into their visions and expand their business opportunities. What is it? It’s networking, and thanks to the founders of Collider, Rochester-based entrepreneurs now have a unique space to connect with others and catapult their entrepreneurial vision to the next level. As a 501(c)3 nonprofit established in October 2019 in Rochester, Collider activates, empowers, and connects
Photo by Corrie Strommen
Collider provides a space for area entrepreneurs to connect with others and catapult their entrepreneurial vision to the next level. (Pictured from left to right: Amanda Leightner and Manasseh Kambaki)
early-stage entrepreneurs. As Amanda Leightner, interim executive director of Collider explains, the organization’s vision is a community with zero barriers to entrepreneurship for anyone with a good business idea and a passion to see it grow. “All of our services are aimed at removing barriers for entrepreneurs and supporting a community where business ideas can grow and thrive,” Leightner says. While Collider was officially established as a nonprofit in 2019, the organization started as a for-profit co working space in 2016. The space was where entrepreneurs and other creatively minded people could get together to provide a community of support for each other, and to provide accountability, community, and shared knowledge. “Collider was originally started when Hunter Downs and I renovated the now Conley-Maass-Downs building,” says Traci Downs, board chair at Collider. “We had co-started Cafe Steam and loved the connections and relationships that were made by running into people while getting coffee. We wanted to see if we could help take things to the next level by having these connections turn into business relationships and startups.”
Jamie Sundsbak was a local entrepreneur instigator that had a morning BioAm coffee meet-up. As Downs explains, he had been passionate about helping Rochester grow an entrepreneurial ecosystem for many years and he agreed to join the charge to get Collider Coworking going. “Amanda Leightner joined the team and things evolved from a coworking space to a non-profit that included memberships that have access to co-working space, but now so much more,” Downs says. “This includes classes to help startups, pairings with mentors, connections to other community resources, events, and a focus on reaching less represented groups within Rochester to make sure that the barriers to entry are removed for anyone with the passion and great idea for a new business.” Today, Collider offers low-cost coworking space to help entrepreneurs connect and collide with other business owners and people who can support their growth to spark new ideas. The organization also offers storytelling in the form of weekly articles and a monthly podcast, called Rochester Rising.
| Advantage Magazine 4
September 2022
Made with FlippingBook - PDF hosting