New Entrepreneurs Celebrate Completion of Collider’s Community Incubator Course

Published June 20, 2024

ROCHESTER, Minn. – It was a graduation day of sorts for entrepreneurs, but without caps and gowns.  Five business beginners are celebrating the completion of Collider’s first-ever Community Incubator program.

Over the past 12 weeks, budding business owners learned what it takes to set up shop.  The course covered important topics like marketing, finance and the best networking practices.  Entrepreneurs had the opportunity to work along side an experienced mentor.

On Thursday, the foundation held a Demo Day, giving the grads a chance to talk about their growing businesses.  The event kicked off with remarks by Dr. Allisa Song, the CEO of Nanodropper, a Rochester-based company that manufactures waste-reducing eye droppers.

Amanda Leightner, executive director of Collider Foundation, says there is one big issue most first-time business owners face.

“I think one of the biggest hurdles is access to capital and access to markets.  Knowing who your customers are and knowing how much money you need to get off the ground and the projection of how long it’s going to take to start making money,” she said.

KIMT News 3 caught up with one of the graduates at the event, Dinalynn Rosenbush.  She founded Language of Play, which supports parents of children who have speech delays and helps them to communicate better.  Rosenbush says the incubator was hugely helpful.

“I haven’t ever done business and tech.  What is the language?  How do you implement this?  How do you put your thoughts to a piece of paper?  How do you do financials?  All of those things they have explained, so now I have a framework to go with,” said Rosenbush.

If you are interested in starting a business, but don’t know where to begin, Collider offers ‘CO.STARTERS‘ to help get your ideas on paper.  The next Community Incubator course begins in October.  You can find more details on Collider’s website.