Rooted in Connection: Lessons in Community-Driven Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship is about more than building businesses — it’s about building community.
Our Grassroots Growth Learning Report captures insights from local entrepreneurs, ecosystem builders, and community supporters on navigating uncertainty, leading with authenticity, and fostering resilience in Rochester’s business ecosystem.
Across every conversation, one truth stood out: human connection is economic power. When we share knowledge, make introductions, and give before we get, we strengthen the foundation for an inclusive, thriving local economy.
Collider Foundation, as part of its Grassroots Growth Annual Celebration, focused on the theme of ‘Entrepreneurship in Uncertain Times.’ As part of this event, we held a series of engagement stations that featured in-depth discussions with entrepreneurs and ecosystem builders about navigating unclear situations and fostering resilience in the local business community. Community supporters, funders, civic leaders, and small business owners participated in these stations. The following observations represent the major insights that emerged from these highly engaging conversations centered around local support, pivots and macrotrends.
Local Support
Overall Trend: Community members tend to see local support as a social movement, not just a spending choice. The key opportunity is to make “buying local” emotionally rewarding and culturally habitual.
Key Barriers:
• Convenience & Cost: Online shopping is faster, cheaper, and more convenient — a major hurdle for local businesses.
• Cultural Shifts: Modern consumers value speed, comfort, and variety over community ties.
• Awareness Gap: People often don’t recognize the true social cost of non-local consumption.
Breaking Down Barriers:
• Sell the Experience: Local businesses can compete through personalized service, storytelling, and community connection.
• Educate Consumers: Help people understand the broader economic and environmental impact of their choices.
• Community Acceleration: Collective action and awareness can strengthen local ecosystems faster.
Motivations to Support Local:
• Human Connection: Relationships with business owners and shared community identity drive loyalty.
• Values-Driven Choices: Supporting sustainability, reducing carbon footprint, and reinvesting in community wealth.
• Pride of Place: Desire to preserve local character and small-scale entrepreneurship.
Individual Actions:
• Word-of-mouth referrals, reviews, and social media promotion.
• Intentional spending — “treat yourself locally.”
• Invite others to local spaces (“power of invitation”).
• Support businesses that give back and align with community values.
Rochester’s entrepreneurial ecosystem is shaped by both challenge and opportunity. While local businesses face strong competition from the speed, affordability, and convenience of online shopping, they hold a unique advantage in their ability to offer authentic, human-centered experiences that digital platforms cannot replicate. The path forward lies in transforming the consumer mindset from one focused solely on convenience to one that values connection, impact, and place. By educating customers about the broader social, economic, and environmental benefits of local spending, and by fostering collective community action, Rochester can strengthen its local economy and preserve its distinct character. Every individual plays a role — through intentional spending, storytelling, and advocacy — in sustaining a thriving, values-driven local marketplace where entrepreneurship and community grow together.
Pivots
Overall Trend: Entrepreneurs increasingly view pivots as strategic evolution rather than reactive change. Emotional intelligence, adaptability, and curiosity are vital entrepreneurial tools.
When and Why Pivots Happen:
• External Shocks: COVID-19, supply issues, or sudden staff loss.
• Internal Triggers: Burnout, misaligned values, or fading passion.
• Recognition After Struggle: Entrepreneurs often realize the need to pivot only in hindsight.
Mindset Shifts for Growth:
• Customer-Centric Thinking: Let customer needs guide evolution.
• Emotional Detachment: “Keep it in your head, not your heart.”
• Growth Through Curiosity: See change as a learning opportunity, not a failure.
• Courage & Conviction: Pivots require confidence and belief in purpose.
Opportunities Through Flexibility:
• Use challenges as launchpads for innovation.
• Balance passion with pragmatism.
• Maintain financial reserves to stay agile.
Pivots reflect both resilience and adaptability in the face of change. Whether prompted by external shocks like the pandemic or internal factors such as burnout or shifting values, successful pivots emerge when entrepreneurs embrace curiosity, self-awareness, and customer-centered thinking. The process often transforms struggle into strategic insight, a chance to realign purpose with opportunity. By balancing passion with pragmatism, maintaining flexibility, and building the financial and emotional capacity to adapt, local entrepreneurs can turn disruption into innovation. Ultimately, the willingness to pivot is not a sign of failure but of evolution, and a testament to the courage and conviction that fuel sustainable growth in Rochester’s dynamic business community.
Macrotrends
Overall Trend: Businesses that lead with transparency, diversify smartly, and nurture relationships internally and externally are best positioned to thrive amid macroeconomic uncertainty.
Resilience in Uncertainty:
• Acceptance of Change: Normalizing uncertainty as constant.
• Human-Centered Leadership: Team trust, transparency, and small wins sustain morale.
• Community & Mentorship: Collective problem-solving and emotional support are resilience anchors.
• Storytelling & Authenticity: Building customer loyalty through shared values and meaningful narratives.
• Diversified Revenue: Multiple income streams as buffers against instability.
Hybrid & Remote Work Shifts:
Opportunities:
• Broader talent access and flexible structures.
• Passion-driven projects improve engagement.
Challenges:
•Loss of personal connection and spontaneous “watercooler” moments.
• Need for intentional team-building and relational spaces online.
Solutions:
• Retreats, informal chats, and “no work talk” sessions help restore connection.
Economic & Supply Chain Pressures:
Rising Costs and Tariffs Force Creative Responses:
• Redundant supply chains and local manufacturing.
• Early IP protection and new sourcing strategies.
• Knowledge-sharing across industries.
• Recognition that global instability requires proactive, informed decision-making.
Rochester is a macro environment defined by uncertainty, yet its strength lies in adaptability, connection, and creativity. Businesses are learning to normalize change, lead with empathy, and build resilience through trust, transparency, and collective support. In this climate, authenticity and storytelling have become tools for deepening customer loyalty and reinforcing community values. Hybrid and remote work have expanded access to talent and flexibility, but they also demand intentional efforts to preserve human connection and team culture. Meanwhile, economic and supply chain pressures are driving innovation — from diversifying revenue streams to localizing production and sharing knowledge across sectors. Together, these trends reveal a clear truth: resilience in Rochester’s business community is not about avoiding uncertainty, but about embracing it with foresight, collaboration, and purpose.
Themes Across All Sessions
Human Connection as Economic Power: Relationships and storytelling drive loyalty, adaptability, and resilience.
Values Alignment: Community, sustainability, and authenticity underpin decision-making for both consumers and entrepreneurs.
Adaptive Mindset: Flexibility and curiosity are essential entrepreneurial competencies.
Community as Infrastructure: Local ecosystems thrive when individuals act intentionally—buying local, sharing stories, and supporting each other through change.
Maintaining momentum- How can you support the ecosystem?
Collider advocates for a ‘Give Before You Get’ mentality, moving past short term transactions to long term relationships built on trust. Below are some suggestions of ways you can practice ‘Give Before you Get’ to help foster a more inclusive, diverse, and robust entrepreneurial ecosystem in this community.
Share Knowledge and Experience Freely. Spend 30 minutes over coffee with a new entrepreneur. Offer practical workshops without strings attached. Share insights on navigating city, country, and state systems, or open up access to public resources.
Make Meaningful Introductions. Connect a peer to a potential customer, supplier, or mentor. Introduce startups to programs, investors, or service providers they may not know about. Connect entrepreneurs to decision-makers or community champions who can help them navigate policy or partnerships.
Create Visibility for Others. Highlight another startup on social media or recommend them for an opportunity. Nominate entrepreneurs for awards, grants, or speaking slots. Recognize entrepreneurs publicly at events or in council communications.
Offer Resources Without Expectation. Share tools, templates, or even co-working space for a day. Provide access to grant-writing support, market data, or research that would normally cost money. Make underused spaces available for entrepreneurial meetups or learning sessions.
Grassroots Growth showcased the resilience, creativity, and community spirit that define Rochester’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Through candid conversations about uncertainty, adaptation, and opportunity, participants reaffirmed that entrepreneurship is not just about surviving change, but thriving through it.
Across all discussions, one message was clear: human connection is the foundation of economic strength. Whether through local consumer support, strategic business pivots, or navigating macro-level challenges, relationships, trust, and shared purpose remain the driving forces of progress.
Entrepreneurs and community members alike recognized that adaptability, authenticity, and values alignment are essential for sustainable growth. Local businesses have the power to transform everyday transactions into meaningful exchanges that reinforce community identity. Likewise, embracing curiosity, empathy, and collaboration enables entrepreneurs to view uncertainty as a catalyst for innovation rather than a barrier.
As Collider and its partners look ahead, the call to action is simple, “Give Before You Get.” Building an inclusive and vibrant entrepreneurial community requires generosity, shared learning, and intentional connection. By mentoring emerging founders, amplifying others’ successes, and fostering open collaboration, Rochester can continue to grow a resilient ecosystem rooted in trust and collective impact.
