This is the year of the startup in Golden, gauging from a handful of efforts focused on supporting entrepreneurs and their innovations.
“It shouldn’t be a niche thing — entrepreneurship — everybody can benefit from it,” said Kylen McClintock, vice president of the Entrepreneurship Club .
The club has organized the school’s first Startup Showcase taking place April 27, when ideas for around nine startup companies will be pitched on stage, competing for a $1,000 prize.
McClintock said the event also has attracted startups from around Golden and the Denver metro area that will network with representatives of other industries — lawyers, accountants, Web developers — in the startup community.
McClintock said his school’s culture has traditionally focused on a path from college to a career with a corporation. He hopes the showcase introduces an alternative path, one that helps Mines join the startup culture that has taken hold in other cities along the Front Range.
Among the event’s sponsors is Traxion, a startup accelerator launched at the beginning of the year that is gathering investors and taking applications for a 12-week program starting this August.
“Golden is an amazing community — we are more than just a ‘two-hour vacation,’ ” said Jen Thoemke, co-founder of Traxion, alluding to the city’s promotional slogan. “Between Mines and residents of Golden, it just seems like a prime place to be able to bring innovations.”
Thoemke sees a lot of entrepreneurs in her co-working space, Connects Workspace, that began in June 2015 in and has since expanded to two other shared-office locations on Washington Avenue in downtown Golden.
will serve as workspace for the five to 10 companies Thoemke and co-founder Chris Cone hope to bring into the first accelerator program. By the end of the program, the goal is to match strong startups with accredited investors.
Cone started his own Web hosting company in the early ’90s and has held a variety of startup and corporate positions and now is on Golden’s Economic Development Commission.
The commission granted Traxion, a for-profit company, a sponsorship from the city for its first year.
Steve Glueck, the city’s economic development director, said the sponsorship is in line with the commission’s own 2016 goals to support primary employers in creating jobs and entrepreneurial startups.
“Even though (the commission’s) primary focus is on primary employment, it’s been determined that our efforts are probably better spent on a couple layers down, growing entrepreneurial and innovative culture in the community — that would be startups that would evolve into primary employers over time,” Glueck said.
Likewise, the commission’s goals also include building stronger relationships with Mines and its Entrepreneurship Club, as well as Red Rocks Community College’s Idea Lab and the area’s middle and high schools, where students also are diving into innovation and entrepreneurship.
Josie Klemaier: 303-954-2465, jklemaier@denverpost.com or @JosieKlemaier
