Colorado is a state that loves its entrepreneurs. An entire ecosystem to support startups - from business and , to and even a dedicated to the cause - has developed along the Front Range. Now, a growing movement is encouraging more new businesses in rural parts of the state.
Sarah Berkeley is riding that wave. On a recent Wednesday evening, the entrepreneur from Leadville mounted the stage in an auditorium on the campus of Northeastern Junior College in Sterling to make the case for her fledgling business as a participant in second .
鈥淢y name's Sarah Berkeley. I'm founder of ,鈥� she greeted the audience. 鈥淲e make backpacking gear for people with boobs.鈥�
If you鈥檝e never experienced a pitch competition, they make for good entertainment: giddy founders publicly vying for investment. It鈥檚 entrepreneurship as spectacle, and a in the buzzy startup world.
Of course, the hard numbers are important - sales, margins and projections. Berkeley went over all the typical business stats in her pitch deck, projected on a large screen behind her. But up on the stage, it鈥檚 compelling storytelling that captures imaginations and investment dollars.
Berkeley鈥檚 presentation began with a selfie, taken in the woods. In the picture, she鈥檚 engulfed in a thick-strapped black backpack and looks exhausted from long days on the trail.
鈥淚 was hiking the Pacific Crest Trail when I took this photo, with this particular backpack squishing my boobs,鈥� she said, to titters from the audience. 鈥淎nd that motivated me to do something about this problem.鈥�
The thing Berkely was motivated to do was design a better backpack for fem bodies. The straps on her signature line are narrow and S-shaped, solving that chest-squishing issue. It鈥檚 designed to be highly adjustable.
鈥淚t accommodates a really wide range of body shapes and sizes,鈥� Berkeley said.
Berkely founded the company in 2022, after failing to find any similar products on the market. She moved to Leadville last year to be closer to the mountains and trails that inspired her business.
The nonprofit Startup Colorado, with its mission to cultivate rural entrepreneurship, launched this rural pitch competition last year to tap into small town ingenuity like Berkeley鈥檚.
鈥淓ntrepreneurship is not just for metro areas,鈥� said executive director Brittany Romano. 鈥淚n rural (areas) we innovate out of necessity. So, rural is a great landscape for finding great founders and great ideas and great companies.鈥�
Romano and her team invited four finalists from far-flung parts of the state, like Frisco and Montrose, to pitch their ideas in front of a panel of judges with expertise in rural economic development.
鈥淭he pitch competition demonstrates that you can find local capital,鈥� Romano said. 鈥淵ou can accomplish your business goals within the region that your business operates.鈥�
In Colorado, startups and small businesses make up of all enterprises, employing nearly half the workforce. That's why rural communities are pouring resources into new entrepreneurs. According to Romano, it鈥檚 a strategy to build more resilient local economies.
The last contestant of the night was James Mataczynski, founder of , a startup in the small Park County town of Bailey. He is in the early stages of getting his business off the ground and was still developing a prototype for his product 鈥� an innovative device he invented for packaging beer.
鈥淲hat's cool about this technology is (the beer) actually will stay carbonated, start to finish,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o, you get draft quality beer at your house.鈥�
Like all good entrepreneurs, Mataczynski has grand visions for his project. He said his technology has the potential to change the way we package not only beverages, but cosmetics and even medical supplies. He wants to 鈥渂uild Craft Crate to be a global powerhouse of not just beer distribution, but all liquid distribution,鈥� he said.
But no matter how big his fledgling company ultimately grows, Mataczynski said he plans to keep his headquarters in Bailey and draw from the local workforce in the small Park County town.
鈥淚 see Bailey as a really viable option to grow and expand cause there's a ton of hard workers, there's a lot of great people,鈥� Mataczynski said. 鈥�(It would) put Bailey on the map. Really boost the local economy there.鈥�
Rural communities are the true hotbeds of entrepreneurship, according to Colorado State University Professor Stephan Weiler.
鈥淩ural areas have proportionately more entrepreneurs than urban areas,鈥� Weiler said.
In fact, his shows that the more rural the county, the higher its rate of entrepreneurship.
鈥淚n rural areas by and large, if you want a job, you have to create your own,鈥� Weiler said.
That鈥檚 not to say that rural entrepreneurs don鈥檛 face significant challenges. Smaller local markets and workforces, and less access to capital and investors, are a common rural struggle.
鈥淧artially out of necessity, (rural entrepreneurs) have to be nimbler,鈥� Weiler said. 鈥淭hey have to be more strategic.鈥�
But rural startups also enjoy real advantages - like tight-knit, supportive communities.
鈥淩ural areas are justifiably lauded for having large amounts of social capital,鈥� Weiler said. 鈥淭he communities are tight-knit. They support each other through crises.鈥�
And that seems to give them a better shot at staying in business. Weiler has found that rural entrepreneurs have a 5-year survival rate than their urban counterparts.
鈥淭he economy is in pretty uncertain shape right now,鈥� Weiler said. 鈥淚'd like to believe that rural entrepreneurs can be a bright spot again in pulling us out of a potential downturn.鈥�
At the very least, the cohort of rural entrepreneurs at the Sterling event impressed the competition鈥檚 judges, who awarded prizes including legal consulting and marketing and branding help to all the participants.
Mataczynski walked away with an advisory session with the board of Startup Colorado.
鈥溾�奍 cannot wait for the day that I can with a hazy IPA,鈥� said Scott Romano, chief operating officer of Energize Colorado, referencing a popular drinking game. He was one of the evening鈥檚 judges and announced Mataczynski鈥檚 prize. 鈥淪o excited to see where the prototype comes out. And excited to see where you guys go.鈥�
Berkeley and her "boob-friendly" backpacks were the big winners of the night, earning $5,000 in cash towards a zero-interest microfinancing campaign on , a crowdsourced microloan platform. She鈥檒l raise the rest of her $15 thousand dollar ask from her community and supporters.
鈥淚'm so excited,鈥� Berkeley said. 鈥淚t sounds like there's gonna be a lot of support.鈥�
She鈥檒l take this support back to Leadville, where she plans to spend the money developing new prototypes to build out her product line.
