New CU Boulder partnership to grow entrepreneurship in Las Animas county

The City of Trinidad and the CU Leeds School of Business are hosting a public reception June 7^th to kick off a new five-year collaboration to support small businesses in the region.

The City of Trinidad and the Deming Center for Entrepreneurship, CU Boulder's Leeds School of Business, have announced an exciting new collaboration to support local small businesses. The CU program is a targeted effort to grow rural economies by delivering workshops and mentoring to CU partner communities.  The City of Trinidad is inviting the public to celebrate this new five-year partnership on June 7th, from 6:30-8:30pm at Brix Sports Bar and Grill. The first workshop for the Trinidad area, Demystifying Entrepreneurship, will be held June 7-8 in Trinidad. 

In announcing this new relationship, Erick Mueller, Executive Director, Deming Center for Entrepreneurship, commented, “We’re thrilled to bring CU’s expertise to Trinidad and the surrounding communities to elevate entrepreneurship and innovation, and help drive economic vitality and increased quality of life.” Mueller is the project lead for this rural outreach, bringing his extensive resume of entrepreneurship and teaching to our local business community.

Trinidad City Manager, Greg Sund, having once worked as Regional Director for the South Dakota Small Business Development Center, understands the value of a relationship like this. “The health and growth of small businesses is vital to our economic vitality and the City is excited that we were able to secure this partnership for our region.” 

One important aspect of the CU program is that they are not constrained by state lines. Entrepreneurs from northeastern NM are welcome to participate in the workshops. Geoff Peterson, Executive Director for the Center for Community Innovation in Raton and board member of the Trinidad Creative District, is organizing and coordinating the upcoming workshop. 

The first workshop on June 7-8, Demystifying Entrepreneurship, is a valuable program for a diversity of businesses. It’s a great refresher to recharge innovation and find new growth for existing businesses while providing the perfect primer for new businesses that are navigating their way through start-up. The workshop starts with a brief intro session on Friday, June 7th, before the public reception and then continues for a full day on June 8th. Cost for the workshop is $75 with some scholarships available. Registration, location info and agenda can be found on the website for the Center for Community Innovation at www.centerci.org.