Amplifying stories from the Rochester, MN entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Collider is Hiring!
Collider Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that activates, connects, and empowers early stage entrepreneurs in Rochester, MN. We envision a community with zero barriers to entrepreneurship for anyone with passion and a strong business idea. Putting our entrepreneurs and small businesses first is what we do best.
Website: https://www.collider.mn/
Collider Foundation is now hiring a full time Director of Community position for our location in downtown Rochester, MN. This position serves as the front door to Collider Foundation, creating a space where people want to be, building community, amplifying stories of entrepreneurship taking place both within the ecosystem and within Collider Foundation, and being a first point of contact for Ecosystem Navigation. This position is 40 hours a week, primarily during normal business hours.
Responsibilities:
Unlocking the coworking space at the start of operations.
Maintain the day-to-day operations of the coworking space.
Maintaining relationships with coworkers and providing strong customer service to existing coworking members.
Growing the coworking revenue and number of memberships.
Schedule, assist, and maintain drop-ins
Serving as the primary Ecosystem Navigator to help historically underserved and under-resourced entrepreneurs, including BIPOC, LGBTQ+ and BIPOC starters, in Rochester grow or scale their businesses through connection to community-based resources.
Assist in the development of any programming and services needed to assist entrepreneurs, as informed by the Ecosystem Navigation work.
Assist with data collection to gage the impact of the Ecosystem Navigation work in the community.
Uncover and interview starters and established business owners in Rochester, MN for the Rochester Rising podcast.
Produce and edit two series of Rochester Rising podcasts.
Develop and implement marketing strategies for Collider Foundation.
Maintain the social media profiles for Rochester Rising.
Prior business experience is preferred but not required. Candidates must have strong communication and organizational skills and be able to work independently and in a small team. This position also requires basic experience with Google Workspace tools. Experience with Airtable, Hubspot, or similar systems are a plus.
This is an exciting opportunity to play a key role in a growing nonprofit. Additional responsibilities could be added for the right candidate.
Pay range for this position is $40,000-50,000 based on experience and qualifications.
Applications will be accepted through December 15, 2021. Interested individuals should send their resume and cover letter to hello@collider.mn.
Big News
Recently, the Collider Foundation board announced that I would be stepping down as Executive Director of Collider on December 3rd.
I have accepted a fantastic opportunity to be a part of a new and exciting initiative at Mayo Clinic called Mayo Clinic Platform Accelerate.
Five years ago, I reignited my passion for entrepreneurship and helping others. We started with Collider Coworking, a great space to work, connect, and build. The launch of the Collider Foundation in 2019 was a massive stepping stone to assist early-stage entrepreneurs in this community. In just two years, we have helped 100's of entrepreneurs reduce or remove barriers they were facing with their businesses.
I'm now turning the reins over to my fabulous colleague, Amanda Leightner. Under Amanda's leadership, Collider Foundation will continue to grow and change as it continues its mission to activate, connect, and empower Rochester's early-stage entrepreneurs and small businesses. I'm excited to see what's coming next.
Thanks so much to all of you for helping to contribute to the entrepreneurial ecosystem of Rochester. As always, if there is any way I can help, please let me know.
Jamie
Executive Director's Note - August 29th, 2021
For the past two years, we have been fortunate to be supported by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation's Inclusion Open grant. This program allowed us to accelerate our work to create zero barriers to entrepreneurship for all in Rochester. This work allowed us to launch our listening sessions with organizations and entrepreneurs in our community and develop our Ecosystem Navigator Program, assisting black, LatinX, and female entrepreneurs.
Unfortunately, our funding will run out in December of this year, so we are hard at work pursuing grant opportunities to keep our work moving forward at Collider.
We want to continue supporting our local entrepreneurs with navigation, education events, space, and storytelling. To help us accomplish this mission, we are hard at work in pursuing three areas of support:
Grants - there are several new grant opportunities that we are pursuing in the next few months.
Community Supporters - we are always looking for organizations that believe in our mission and want to help out.
Coworking Memberships - memberships in our coworking spaces are also a great way to support Collider.
Donations - individual donations are also welcome.
You will hear more about our fundraising efforts in the coming months.
If you are a current donor, coworking member, or Community Supporter, thank you so much for your generous support and belief in our work.
Have questions about ways to give to Collider? Feel free to reach out to me directly.
Have a great week, everyone.
Jamie
More than a Desk with Collider Member Tim Welle
Meet our Collider member Tim Welle, co-founder at DXD Ag Insights!
Where are you from? How did you get to Rochester?
I grew up on a dairy farm near Freeport, Minnesota, which is a small town 25 miles northwest of St. Cloud. After high school, I went to the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN, and then lived in the Twin Cities for a few years before moving to Durham North Carolina while my girlfriend (now wife), Sarah, was in Graduate School. Mayo Clinic brought us back to Minnesota when Sarah started a job in the Informatics department at Mayo Clinic Health System in Mankato. We arrived in Rochester in 2019, when Sarah took a position in Rochester, so we are fairly recent transplants.
What are some of your interests and hobbies?
I love baseball and fast-pitch softball. Throughout my 20’s, I would play softball multiple days a week as well as at least a few weekend tournaments through the summer. While I don’t play near as often anymore, I still try to make a guest appearance for a weekend tournament every year or so on my little brother’s team. Another big interest of mine is History Podcasts. I have about a dozen history podcasts that I subscribe to. A few of the best examples would be Dan Carlin’s “Hardcore History” and Mike Duncan’s “Revolutions” podcast. History podcasts describe the people and personalities involved in historical events, and sometimes how personality quirks changed history. The podcast format also allows the storyteller to explore seemingly innocuous events that, in hindsight, started a chain of events ultimately leading to seismic changes years later.
What do you do?
I am one of the co-founders at DXD Ag Insights (http://www.dxdag.com). We are building products and services that enable agronomists to use their field observations to learn from their data and improve crop management decisions. (Agronomists are experts in crop production that are hired by growers for their advice). My focus is on the business side, and my partner Lori Wiles is a data scientist living in Colorado.
Why did you choose coworking?
I have been working from home going back all the way to 2012 when I was in my last position, and I was looking for a change in scenery. I missed being in a space with other people and having a place to go for work, instead of just getting dressed and walking down the stairs. Also, the teams I have worked with have been spread throughout the country- so my work life hasn’t had much in the way of socializing. I appreciate the opportunities that coworking provides me to chat with interesting people doing interesting things, attending happy hours, and other events like our Fourth and Toast meetings.
What value do you find in the Collider community?
One valuable aspect is learning about ideas and perspectives that people are applying within their business that are relevant to your own company, even if they are solving a different problem in a different industry. I have also been involved in Fourth and Toast over the last few months. This program has given me a venue to practice and improve my public speaking skills. It has been great to start each Wednesday in a comfortable space to give speeches and hear different perspectives from the group on a wide array of topics. The Collider staff has been extremely helpful to help me identify and access resources available to support early-stage companies. This saves me time, stress, and is helping me advance DXD Ag Insights faster than I would have been able to do on my own.
Any memorable moments at Collider that you want to share?
There are so many members at Collider that have a genuine interest in what you are doing and are willing and able to provide helpful perspectives. It has been a welcome change to emerge from the isolation that we all experienced during the COVID pandemic to join a community that is helping entrepreneurs, and the overall community, push forward into the future.
Collider's Q2 Impact in 5 Infographics
Our Q2 just ended here at Collider Foundation. We have been hard at work serving entrepreneurs and helping to contribute to the entrepreneurial ecosystem of Rochester.
Instead of writing a long report, we decided to share our results in five key infographics.
A very special thanks to our hardworking team for helping to generate a huge impact in our ecosystem!
If you have any questions or wish to chat more about our impact, please contact me.
Jamie Sundsbak
Executive Director
Collider Foundation
