Amplifying stories from the Rochester, MN entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Celebrating Emerging Rochester Entrepreneurs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Corrie Strommen
Collider Foundation, Director of Community
Celebrating Emerging Rochester Entrepreneurs
CO.STARTERS Graduates To Showcase Ideas at the Collider Cup
Rochester, Minnesota
September 6th, 2022
Rochester 501(c)3 nonprofit Collider Foundation is honored and excited to announce the inaugural launch of the Collider Cup, an event designed to celebrate our CO.STARTERS graduates, give them the unique opportunity to share their business ideas with the Rochester community, and compete for a cash prize, provided by CO.STARTERS sponsor, Minnwest Bank.
Our 12 CO.STARTERS participants have spent the past 10 weeks completing a rigorous training program through the CO.STARTERS curriculum, which Collider is proud to have launched in Rochester for the first time this year. This program cost $150 per participant, which included the curriculum, facilitation through Rochester-based certified CO.STARTERS Core facilitators, and access to a community of support. Our CO.STARTERS participants have worked hard within the program to fine tune their business ideas and determine next steps they need to take to move forward.
The Collider Cup will take place on Tuesday, September 13th at the Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota’s Rochester Campus from 5:30-7:30pm. This event will serve as a business pitch competition as well as a community celebration for emerging entrepreneurs in Rochester. A panel of judges will determine the winner of the pitch competition and the public will be asked to vote for their favorite idea. All ticket proceeds will be awarded to the “crowd favorite” winner.
Collider Foundation believes that the support, education, and growth of our entrepreneurial ecosystem is a pathway to a more prosperous and inclusive future for the Rochester community. We as an organization aim to identify and assist local innovators in overcoming barriers to success by empowering an impactful, inclusive, and entrepreneur-first ecosystem. We are excited to have had the opportunity to fulfill our mission through CO.STARTERS and offer assistance to 12 unique entrepreneurs through this cohort.
CO.STARTERS at Collider is supported by Think Mutual Bank, Fredrikson & Byron, and Launch Minnesota.
To attend, purchase a ticket at the link below.
For additional information contact Amanda Leightner at amanda@collider.mn or call (507) 722-0306
Collider Foundation Board of Directors Names New Executive Director
The Collider Foundation Board of Directors is pleased to name Amanda Leightner as the new Executive Director of the organization. Amanda transitioned from an interim to permanent Executive Director role in April 2022.
A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Amanda has been a long time member of the Collider community. She worked at the Mayo Clinic Office of Entrepreneurship before joining the Collider Foundation staff in 2019 as the Director of Community. In this capacity, she helped to develop and run Collider’s educational programs and headed the organization’s pilot Ecosystem Navigator program from 2019 to early 2022. Amanda also spent five years running Rochester Rising, a platform to amplify stories of Rochester entrepreneurs.
Amanda currently lives in Rochester with her husband, two dogs, and pet turtle. She brings her own small business experience to Collider through her work with Rochester Rising and a family business she runs with her husband. Amanda is excited to work with people on their journey of business ownership to help them create a different path for themselves and their families.
“All of us on the Board feel so excited to have Amanda take on the role of Collider’s Executive Director. Her passion for helping Rochester grow its entrepreneurial community and belief that starting a business should be open to everyone makes her perfect for this position. We can’t wait for all the wonderful things to come,” said Traci Downs, the Collider Foundation Board Chair.
Q&A with Maxwell Haydon of Mauxvelli
Collider is passionate about sharing the stories of entrepreneurs and small business owners in Rochester! Check out this Q&A with Maxwell Haydon, who runs a clothing store out of local creative studio and shop, Treedome, as well as his own fashion line!
Photo by Corrie Strommen
Q: In what year did you launch your business?
A: In 2018 (4 years old in October!)
Q: What brought you to Rochester?
A: I am a lifelong resident here! Although I have definitely thought about venturing out somewhere else, I saw so much potential in the Rochester area after I was done with school that I naturally gravitated back to the city. It’s a great place to make home!
Q: How has your business grown or changed since first opening?
A: Our first pop-up shop was October 6th, 2018. My roommate and I literally moved all of our furniture out of the living room of the Winona house we were living in at the time, set up clothing racks and opened up shop! We didn’t have any of our own designs at our first pop-up, it was just some streetwear and vintage pieces that we had collected over time. Soon after that, we started the official Mauxvelli line and introduced those collections to our pop-up. Going from setting up shop in our living room to having a (somewhat) official storefront has been such a crazy, fun experience!
Photo by Corrie Strommen
3. What are some challenges you faced while starting your business?
A: I would say the biggest challenge with developing what we wanted as a clothing brand was the whole research and development process. I didn’t want to be just another brand printing a bunch of logos on Gildan tees. We spent the better part of 2018 into 2019 trying to find a blank garment distributor that reflected the quality and materials we were seeing from brands based in LA and New York. Because why not bring that appeal to more of a midwestern environment?
Photo by Corrie Strommen
Q: What initially drew you to fashion and the idea of starting your own business?
A: Growing up with two business owners as parents, I knew I wanted to start my own at some point. I was always drawn to the intersection of fashion and skateboarding, with the big poppy graphic tees and unique styling. I thought it was amazing that so many clothing brands were tying their brand image with the experience and culture of skateboarding, and that kind of led me into what I wear and do today! When I started learning more about vintage fashion in college, it went hand in hand with what I liked to wear already, so it just made sense to me, both in curating vintage wear as well as designing our own collections
Photo contributed by Maxwell Haydon
Q: Why vintage? How is your business affected by considering the environment and sustainability?
A: Vintage to me is such an important element to fashion today in a few different aspects. For one, everyone wants to have that unique style, that one T-Shirt or hoodie that nobody else has, and sourcing vintage helps a lot with that. On the other hand, sourcing vintage fashion has made me grow an appreciation to the way things were made “back then”, because they are durable enough to have a second and third life to them! The whole concept of garment recycling is so cool to me, because that 70’s Carhartt jacket that you’re wearing might’ve served its purpose on a cattle farm, in a manufacturing facility, and as a fashion statement before it landed in your wardrobe. It’s interesting to see a garment get so many different types of wear out of it without getting anywhere near a landfill where a lot of modern fast fashion ends up.
Q: Where do you get the clothing for the store?
A: My sourcing for the shop has really grown since we’ve been open. Where I used to spend a lot of my time in thrift shops digging through clothing racks, I have enjoyed finding different sources for cool vintage things. I love going to antique shops like Old River Valley Antique Mall in Stewartville because you just never know what you are going to find on a given day, and a lot of those shops keep a nice selection for clothes. We also run Buy/Sell/Trade in the shop, so a lot of our inventory comes from another’s collection. That’s probably the coolest part of sourcing, because you see that garment lifecycle in action, leaving one owner’s collection and ending up in another.
Q: Any big plans for the future?
A: In the next year or so, I would love to start focusing on “upcycling” for our Mauxvelli collections. I definitely need to get better on the sewing machine, but I really want to start trying to create unique, 1/1 pieces using vintage textiles that sometimes get overlooked, like blankets and military surplus duffle bags. This will help continue that progression of sustainability into our main brand offering.
Q: What do you like to do outside of work and running your business?
A: In my free time, I love to fly fish and camp and just do anything outside. Being out in the elements really helps me hone in on what I want to produce as a clothing brand, and it helps me focus on the utility of what we wear. I want our clothing to look nice when people are wearing it, but I also want it to be able to stand the test of time and activity. Ideally, a Mauxvelli hoodie should look elegant in a city atmosphere, but should be built well enough to be the perfect camping hoodie as well. It’s awesome being able to tie what I love to do in my free time with what I’m actively doing for my business.
Photo contributed by Maxwell Haydon
A special thank you to our storytelling sponsor, Fredrikson & Byron, for their support! Their Midwest-based law firm is known as the firm “where law and business meet.” Their attorneys provide practical legal advice and advocacy that help people achieve their business goals. Just as Collider amplifies the voices or Rochester’s business community, Fredrikson & Byron helps new and growing businesses with a full range of services, combining a common-sense approach with decades of experience. to get things done for clients.
Collider Quarterly Report
To our friends and supporters in the Rochester community, thank you so much for your continued support of Collider and the work we do here. As our second quarter of the year draws to a close, we wanted to take a moment to share with you our mission and the work we’ve been doing in the community for the past few months.
Collider Foundation is a Rochester, Minnesota based 501(c)3 organization. Our mission is to activate, connect, and empower early stage starters in Rochester, MN. Our vision is to create a community with zero barriers to entrepreneurship for anyone with a great idea and a passion to see it grow.
How do we do that?
Resource Navigation.
We connect early stage entrepreneurs to the resources they need with a highly personalized approach to help overcome business barriers for local starters. We especially seek to serve BIPOC and female entrepreneurs in Rochester, individuals who face the most barriers in starting or scaling their business.
Through this work, we’ve served 67 unique starters between April and June over the course of 105 hours of communication, support, and relationship building. Out of these 67 entrepreneurs assisted, 50% of them were women and 40% of them were BIPOC starters. 87% of these individuals had some barrier they were facing removed through this work to help move progress forward with their business.
Ecosystem Navigator, Manasseh Kambaki
Some exciting milestones reached over the course of the last few months have been completing our first successful 4 month contract with the SBDC as well as serving as navigators for DMC’s Main Street Grant.
Thank you so much to Mayo Clinic, Rotary Clubs of Rochester, City of Rochester, Small Business Development Center, Altra Federal Credit Union, Destination Medical Center, and Premier Banks for supporting this work in the Rochester entrepreneurial community.
2. Education and Peer Support.
Collider facilitates the meeting of two local peer networks, one for different food business founders and one for women founders, which each meet on a monthly basis to provide ongoing support and advice for these communities of business owners. These meetings provide a space to reduce the isolation associated with running a business as well as provide starters with an opportunity to connect with other business owners to learn from each other, celebrate their successes, and work together to think through challenges their businesses are facing. This quarter, this work supported 14 different starters.
We are grateful to both Rochester Area Economic Development Inc. (RAEDI) and The Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation (SMIF) for directly supporting our work with these support groups.
During May and June we were able to host four Critical Conversations panel discussions in collaboration with Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota School of Business and Technology to provide educational opportunities to the Rochester entrepreneurial community. These discussions were led by local starters and discussed topics key to all entrepreneurs including: buying a business, finding co founders, mental health, and hiring your first employees. Across all events we had 46 registrants, nearly all of which indicated through surveys that they found the events to be helpful to their business.
Critical Conversations: Buying a Business
We are also thrilled to be launching our CO.STARTERS programs this week! CO.STARTERS is a program that helps starters move from idea to action. This quarter our team spent a lot of time preparing to facilitate this program in the community, including being trained as certified CO.STARTERS facilitators. Starting July 5th, we will be launching CO.STARTERS Core, a ten week, cohort based education program to give starters the tools and support they need to take their ideas into action. We have ten local starters registered to participate in the program and we are so excited to work with each individual entrepreneur and help them move their business plans forward.
CO.STARTERS is specifically supported by Think Mutual Bank, Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota School of Business and Technology, Launch Minnesota, Red Wing Ignite, and Fredrikson & Byron.
3. Storytelling
Our storytelling efforts have continued this past quarter. This work helps provide inspiration capital that shows that entrepreneurship consists of many different things and that there is not one pathway to get there. It also provides visibility to local small businesses and the incredible individuals who made their dreams a reality.
Over the past few months, we have released 9 articles and 3 podcast episodes, with many more in the works! It has been exciting connecting with so many different entrepreneurs from different backgrounds and walks of life. So far this quarter, we have had the opportunity to connect with 10 different business owners who are either women or BIPOC members of the Rochester community and are excited to share each of their stories.
Entrepreneurs whose stories we shared this quarter.
Through our storytelling efforts, we’ve also connected with Rochester Women’s Magazine to share the story of Paige Jehnke, local entrepreneur and owner of Janky Gear, for their June/July issue. We love the work that Rochester Women’s Magazine does to share the stories of women in our community and it was wonderful to be able to participate in that work this quarter.
We’re so grateful to Fredrikson & Byron for becoming an annual sponsor of our podcast this past quarter!
4. Coworking
Along with Collider’s work with the local entrepreneurial community, we also provide a coworking community to the Rochester area. Collider manages a low cost space for starters to connect and collide to spark new ideas. We currently have 48 members and are looking forward to seeing growth in our community in coming months as we plan to expand into a larger space (more details to come!). We also provide member specific programming, such as peer networks and other member-only activities, as well as networking and social opportunities for anyone in the community.
And a big thank you to our sponsors CliftonLarsonAllen, Hill Capital Corporation, Schad Tracy Signs, Noble Health, and our newest sponsor Cozen O’Connor for helping to fuel all of our work.
A big thank you to all of our sponsors!
We could not do any of this work without the help of our donors and by great community members LIKE YOU who give back to this community in many different ways.
If you find value in the work that Collider is carrying out in the Rochester community, consider supporting us in one of these ways!
Like and share our social media content! This helps more people see what Collider is doing and spreads awareness about our work in the community.
Come to an event! We would love to connect with you!
Leave a review! If you’ve had a positive experience with Collider, leaving a review on Google can really help increase visibility of our non-profit.
Volunteer your time or share your skills! Please reach out to us if you feel that you can personally assist our organization with your time.
A monetary donation! Donations of any amount help us continue to serve the Rochester entrepreneurial community. You can donate through 4giving.
Thank you so much for reading about our work over the past quarter and for your support of Collider!
Much thanks from the Collider Team for your support!
Q&A with Peter Bianco
Check out this Q & A with one of our coworking members, Peter Bianco!
Q: What brought you to Rochester and what keeps you here?
A: I was born and raised in Rochester. I’m a Mayo High School graduate. My parents stayed in Rochester after my Dad retired from Mayo Clinic and I have a sister and three brothers that live here as well so as much as I left Rochester for a long time, there has always been a strong pull back to my roots. I started working on OsteoApp.ai just before the announcement of the establishment of the Mayo Clinic AI Platform. As soon as I heard that, I reached out and started working with their team on how to access the data we needed to advance our artificial intelligence driven x-ray based bone mineral density tools. Its been a perfect match and a terrific partnership and has enabled our ability to develop our products with the most comprehensive training data sets in existence. We’ve been gearing up to begin active development and we are just about ready to go. I’m adding to the local team and we are coming to critical mass quickly. It’s the relationships with the Mayo Platform and our Clinical partners at Mayo Clinic that make Rochester the only real choice for OsteoApp.ai to become the groundbreaking effort its destined to be.
Q: What are some of your hobbies and interests?
A: I’ve been a guitar player since I was a wee lad. I played in bands in Rochester all through High School. As I’ve gotten older, I developed an addiction for vintage guitar collecting, which is a deep passion of mine. It’s a true sickness for which there is no cure, and I love it. I also started playing tennis and paddle tennis since I’ve lived on the east coast. Paddle tennis is a great outdoor cold weather sport and It helps keep me in shape and my brain sharp. It has a whole culture and community that has been fun to be part of.
Q: What do you do for work?
A: I'm the Founder, President, and Board Chair of OsteoApp.ai. that’s enough for the moment.
Q: Why did you choose Collider for your workspace?
A: Collider has been instrumental and extremely welcoming in providing a landing site for Osteoapp.ai. Everyone I’ve encountered there have been truly accommodating and bent over backwards to help us as we begin the gradual migration towards establishing the company’s human and physical infrastructure in Rochester. I’m not sure I could pull off this phase of the company’s formation in Rochester without it. We are just getting started but Collider has already been a huge reason why I’m so adamant that OsteoApp.ai will be recognized as a proud, cutting edge Rochester, MN based start-up that is poised to have a significant impact on the detection and early intervention for millions of patients with low bone mass who are at risk for debilitating bone fractures.