Red Wing Ignite

In business or aspiring to be?

You'll want to read on! Red Wing Ignite has been able to significantly expand its programming for the next 14 months. They have 47 workshops and programs on the calendar for 2022-2023! Stacy Nimmo, Executive Director states, "It is geared toward entrepreneurs, small business owners, people with ideas, and people who just have an interest and wonder if it is something that they could ever do themselves beyond what they might be doing today."

There's a lot of jargon that surrounds entrepreneurialism that is misunderstood. Entrepreneurs are thought of as somebody who resides on the West Coast and lives in Silicon Valley creating apps, but small business owners should certainly consider themselves entrepreneurs. For example, existing business owners who have felt the impact of the last couple of years are reevaluating how they do business and looking to become more sustainable, better businesses. So what has the last two years taught us but to have the ability to be flexible, find new ideas, and ways to be able to implement them. We are working with a lot of businesses right now that don't have a web presence, or who are looking to put an E-commerce plugin or profile on their website. They could potentially expand the footprint of their business beyond our community and they're looking to export their goods elsewhere. That's what we're here for, to support these existing business owners."

Red Wing Ignite has supported many aspiring business owners and what they know is that the journey of turning your idea into a business is never a straight line. Shannan Harris, Operations and Program Manager states, “There's this whole process that an idea has to go through. An idea has to be ideated and continually modified in order to flush out what it really is and whether it is viable with a customer base.” Stacy adds this, “Our programming supports ideas for the best opportunity for success. When early steps are skipped over it can cause frustration further into the process. It really is a journey of personal growth. A big thing that can hold a lot of people back is the fear of the unknown..fear of ‘can I really do this?’ and ‘I don't know if I have what it takes’ and ‘I don't know if I have the knowledge, support, and tools there to help me.’ These are real obstacles, and we are here to help you navigate through this journey.”

Within their program offerings in 2022, there is a wide variety of topics and opportunities for connection to like-minded people. Shannan Harris, Operations and Program Manager shares that the new e5-Entrepreneur evening sessions are low-key and exploratory, "a little bit of education, a little bit of entertainment, and a little bit of networking." When speaking about the experience of participating in the educational classes she adds, “There's often as much education happening in that side conversation as there is with whoever's presenting the workshop.”

It'd be silly to think that any one of us knows everything we need to know to be a successful entrepreneur. And I also think that it's really important that they realize that failure is part of being an entrepreneur,” states Shannan Harris. Red Wing Ignite can provide connections and relationships with people and organizations that can provide coaching and mentoring. Chances are pretty great that if you would walk into their doors, they would have exactly what it is that you're looking for or help connect you to the right person.

We asked them this, “If there's an entrepreneur (existing or aspiring) looking to launch or expand who would be their first main contact?” Their answer, “Reach out to our new Entrepreneur Specialist, Randii Waddell. You can reach her at randii@redwingignite.org or 651-327-2626. She will be a friendly face and will be able to have an open conversation, working to assess where you are in the process and what services and supports you are looking for.” Give us the opportunity to share how we might be able to help!

Walk in.

Call.

Confront those fears.

Show up.

We’re here to support you.

Phone number: 651-327-2626

Email address: randii@redwingignite.org

Check out their calendar of events: https://www.redwingignite.org/the-latest/We thank Red Wing Ignite for being such a valued Partner!

We are so fortunate to have this resource in our community.