Letter: Aspen needs a strong entrepreneurial ecosystem

Aspen is known for a lot of things — regrettably, a strong ecosystem that embraces and supports its entrepreneurs is not one of them.

Sure, entrepreneurs are celebrated at awards ceremonies, and the Aspen Young Professionals Association, the Aspen Chamber Resort Association and the Young Presidents’ Organization have meetings in town, but at its core, there is not a vibrant entrepreneurial community that helps C-level execs in both digital and brick-and-mortar businesses thrive.

We must fix that problem.

For five months now, we’ve been quietly growing a community of entrepreneurs and interested parties who want to make Aspen a great place to build a new business. We’re going to take it to the next level on Nov. 4 by starting the Old Guard Meets New Guard Entrepreneur Showcase. Each month, we will visit a new site in Aspen to highlight accomplishments, best practices, lessons learned and — most importantly — why Aspen is a great place to be for entrepreneurs old and young, storied and new.

On Nov. 4, we will kick off our entrepreneur showcase at the Aspen Brewing Co.’s brewing facility in the Aspen Business Center with Aspen Hall of Famer George Stranahan and Aspen Brewing Co. owner Duncan Clauss in a moderated, 40-minute format followed by Q&A from the audience and a networking session over beers. We’ve confirmed our second showcase event on Dec. 2 at Encoding.com, and we’re looking forward to working with Aspen Skiing Co. on a 2016 kickoff event in early January.

Won’t you join us in building a vibrant and sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystem in Aspen?

Email dave@technicalintegrity.com with questions.

Dave Mayer

Aspen