Amplifying stories from the Rochester, MN entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Collider is Hiring!
Collider Foundation is a Rochester, MN based nonprofit that activates, connects, and empowers early stage entrepreneurs. We believe in a community with zero barriers to entrepreneurship for anyone with a strong business idea and the passion to see it grow.
Collider is seeking two individuals who are passionate about the entrepreneurial community of Rochester to fill the roles of Collider’s Community Manager and Director of Navigation.
Community Manager:
Collider Foundation is now hiring a part time Community Manager for our location in downtown Rochester, MN. In this role, you’ll lead our coworking services, managing the day-to-day activities in the coworking space and serving as the main point of contact for our coworking members. This is a great opportunity for someone who is passionate about community and feeds off of interaction with others.
This position is 25 hours a week, Monday through Friday, 5 hours a day during normal business hours.
Job Description:
Operate the day-to-day activities in the coworking space, including giving tours, answering questions about the space, and problem solving any issues that arise during the course of the day.
Onboard and welcome new members to the coworking space.
Maintain monthly invoicing and payments from coworking members.
Co-create community building activities and events with coworking members.
Work with the Executive Director to develop messaging and outreach strategies to recruit and retain coworking members.
Important Attributes:
Strong attention to detail.
A passion for customer service.
Basic experience with Google Workspace tools.
Basic experience with point of sale software.
Prior sales experience (nice to have, but not required)
Pay range for this position is $15-17/hour based on experience and qualifications.
Director of Navigation:
Collider Foundation is now hiring a full time Director of Navigation position for our location in downtown Rochester, MN. In this role, you’ll lead our resource navigation services, a critical part of our organization, and connect Rochester entrepreneurs into community business resources to remove or reduce barriers they are facing. This position is 40 hours a week, primarily during normal business hours.
Job Description:
Meet 1:1 with local entrepreneurs to understand their needs and quickly connect them into community resources.
Keep a finger on the pulse of gaps and opportunities in the Rochester entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Maintain the day-to-day operations of our resource navigation work, including managing contractors and maintaining hourly logs and data entry.
Develop internal and external resources to support these services.
Serve as a liaison between the community and our organization.
Important Attributes:
Strong communication and organizational skills.
Prior management experience.
Basic experience with Google Workspace tools.
Strong active listening skills.
A passion for small business and entrepreneurship.
Prior grant or contract management experience.
Strong data entry and data management skills.
Ability to work independently and as part of a small team.
Prior business experience. (nice to have, but not required)
Bilingual. (nice to have, but not required)
Pay range for this position is $48,000-55,000/year based on experience and qualifications.
Collider is a young nonprofit with a growing team. If you are excited by the opportunity to work alongside entrepreneurs every day and want to make a real impact, this is the right place for you.
Applications will be accepted until the positions are filled. Interested individuals should send their resume and cover letter to hello@collider.mn.
Apply to join the Collider Team in serving
entrepreneurs in Rochester!
Photo by William Forsman.
Collider Has Moved!
The team here at Collider is excited to announce that we have grown and officially moved into a new coworking space! We are now located on the 6th floor of the Minnesota BioBusiness Center and share the space with several other organizations such as Rochester Area Economic Development Inc. (RAEDI), the Southeast Minnesota Small Business Development Center (SBDC), the African Development Hub, SCORE, Southeast Minnesota Capitol Fund, and the Black Entrepreneurship Team.
We have been eagerly awaiting the opportunity to expand into a larger space to better accommodate and serve the Rochester entrepreneurial community and anticipate that a lively and collaborative spirit will thrive here, surrounded by many like-minded individuals and organizations.
We hope that you will take the time to visit, join us for upcoming events, and enjoy the new space as much as we do! If you wish, please reach out with ideas and feedback regarding the space. We will always strive to create an inclusive, supportive, and welcoming space for all that come through our doors, whether that be as an entrepreneur seeking business assistance or someone looking for a coworking community!
Thank you for your ongoing support of Collider’s mission, team, and growing community!
If you’re interested in scheduling a tour or learning more about our coworking options, you can email us at hello@collider.mn!
Q&A with Kyle Glowa of A World of Scents Candle Co.
Collider is passionate about sharing the stories of entrepreneurs and small business owners in Rochester! Check out this Q&A with Kyle Glowa who makes and sells homemade candles through his business, A World of Scents Candle Co.!
Photo contributed by Kyle Glowa.
Q: What brought you to Rochester and what keeps you around?
A: I grew up just 20 minutes away in Mantorville, so I’ve spent most of my life in the Rochester area. After being away during college and for a job post college, I ended up moving back to be close to family and to enjoy the amenities Rochester has to offer. It’s pretty nice living in a city with very little traffic and small town, friendly vibes.
Q: In what year did you launch your business?
A: I technically launched my business in 2018 while living in Crookston, Minnesota. However, my first sales event was at Mantorville’s Marigold Days in 2017.
Q: How has your business grown and changed since first opening?
A: I started my business with a VERY small amount of money, so my operation and supplies were very limited at the start. Since then, I have snowballed everything back into the business, allowing me further testing of products, new fragrances, growth into local shops, and better supplies and branding. During the pandemic I had the time and drive that it took to create a website for myself as well!
Q: What are some challenges you faced while starting your business and during the pandemic?
A major challenge I faced starting my own business was becoming an amateur professional at everything. A small business owner that’s just beginning usually operates on a tight budget, so you learn to do a little bit of everything to save a dollar. Need labels? Learn some graphic design and printing. Need to charge taxes? Learn the laws and tax rates. Need a website? Learn how to build one. Every little decision and hurdle takes time to learn about and navigate. It can be quite a challenge to take on!
The pandemic was an interesting time for me. Sales really slowed down, luckily not having a storefront meant I did not have rent to pay or have operating expenses while not doing business. Being affected by the pandemic in a more minor way definitely opened my eyes to the struggles that our local businesses went through. I couldn’t imagine the stress on local shop and restaurant owners with monthly overheads! It was this that pushed me to support local more than ever during the pandemic, and I feel for all the businesses that unfortunately didn’t make it through.
Before the shutdowns, I only ever sold at in person shows and events. The pandemic pushed me to grow by creating a website for myself and promoting online sales. Since shows have started again, I have run into another interesting side effect… COVID can affect and change the sense of smell. At nearly every show over the last two years, I have met people who cannot smell my candles due to total loss of smell, or since getting COVID have not been able to find a candle that doesn’t smell like burning plastic, chemicals or some similar acrid smell.
Q: What initially drew you to candle making and inspired you to make it a business?
A: Candle making really came to me as a hobby while I was job hunting after college. I wanted to find a hobby for myself where I could create something tangible and usable. I was between soap making and candle making, but I’m glad I decided to go with candles. My whole life, any time I found candles in a shop, I had to smell every single one before I could leave. It was a natural choice I suppose!
Once I began creating candles, however, I found that I couldn’t burn them fast enough. My stock kept building and building, so for the first year I gave away as many as possible to family and friends. Eventually I decided that it was time to try to sell them, as I still had too many. Turns out you can’t really sell most products legally without registering with the state and charging taxes. So I unknowingly stumbled into becoming a business!
Photo contributed by Kyle Glowa.
Q: Tell me about the process! What are the steps to making a candle?
A: Share my trade secrets?! Well… okay, if you’re going to twist my arm. It’s a pretty straightforward process, but it does take a lot of testing to get it right consistently. On a basic level you are taking your raw wax and heating it up until completely melted, then adding your fragrance blend and dye (if you choose to use it), letting it cool a bit while mixing it all together, pouring it into your vessel, and finally letting it cool completely.
The testing comes in with needing to find the appropriate wicks for your vessel size, fragrance load and dyes. Every variable added can affect how the candle burns. You also need to adjust your mixing and pouring temperatures depending on the wax. The wax quality can vary quite a bit box to box when it comes to soy wax, so that part can be a little frustrating as well! We test-burn a lot of candles at home, and I’m constantly monitoring them and taking notes to make sure they’re burning properly and throwing the fragrance well.
Photo contributed by Kyle Glowa.
Q: How do you design your scents?
A: I take a unique approach to designing some, but not all, of my fragrances. I really enjoy pulling inspiration from my personal travels and experiences. While hiking, camping, or sightseeing, I will occasionally pick up on a unique fragrance and become inspired. Once home, I will blend oils trying to replicate the memory of the smell. My biggest success with this so far is my North Shore Nights fragrance, it was actually inspired by a camping trip spent in the Finland State Forest on the North Shore of Lake Superior. It’s a unique blend of pine, fir, cedar, and smoke that has become my top selling candle year after year.
Q: Where can people find your candles?
A: They can be found year-round on my website, www.worldofscentscandle.com which offers local delivery and pick up, as well as shipping. I also do many in person events throughout the year, mostly between September and December. Follow my facebook page for info on upcoming events, or check out the Upcoming Events section on my website!
I also rotate fragrances through a few local store fronts:
Threshold Arts - Downtown Rochester
Kismet Consignment - Downtown Rochester
The Cre8tive Place - Plainview
Q: Any big plans for the future?
A: Absolutely! I’m currently testing a whole new line of more premium candles that will differ completely from everything I’ve offered thus far. I’m also looking to expand into more stores in and around Rochester in the very near future!
Photo contributed by Kyle Glowa.
Q: What do you like to do outside of work and running your business?
A: When not working at Thesis Beer Project or making candles, I like to get outside for hiking, kayaking, and snowboarding depending on the season. I’ve also picked up rock climbing at Roca, which is an amazing climbing gym that we have right here in Rochester. I’ll admit that I spend more time playing video games than I probably should as well, I’m a pretty big gamer. We also got a kitten a month or two ago, so between cuddles and playtime, Obi eats up a pretty good chunk of my time.
Thanks so much for reading about Kyle and his business! For more information on his candles and upcoming events, click the link below!
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.