Laramie City Council approves funding for startup weekend

Josh Boudreau, Laramie Chamber Business Alliance vice president of economic development, said Techstars has put on similar events across the country. The weekend will involve entertainers pitching ideas for a product or a business. Teams are formed, and ideas are voted on the first night. On Saturday, think tanks develop to work on the projects with mentors until Sunday when they will present their projects and receive rewards from judges.

The idea is when the weekend is complete, three businesses would be considered ready to launch, Boudreau said. They aren’t expected to take off immediately and become full time jobs. He said, people shouldn’t be expecting to quit their day jobs

Techstars have partnered with the University of Wyoming College of Business, Albany County, Laramie County Community College and the Albany County Board of Tourism already for funding of this event. The event is planned to take place on the first floor of the UW College of Business, Boudreau said. Doors are open to everyone, and the fee to participants will be nominal, Boudreau said. According to the event’s website, the price of an early bird ticket is $35, and a ticket purchased after Sept. 1 will cost $55.

The expected number of participants is 125, drawing people from the city, university and the surrounding geographical area. Spots will be limited for university students, Boudreau said, because there are already so many opportunities like this provided to them. Councilman Joe Shumway asked if the event doesn’t fill up, will students be allowed to exceed their allotted slots? Boudreau said students over the limit will be considered in such a situation.

The money from the council is expected to be used for marketing and speakers for the event. Boudreau said they are hesitant to ask local businesses from the town for contributions. He said there are frequent requests made to businesses throughout the year from several sources for donations to a plethora of events. He said they have partnered with a couple restaurants to provide food for the participants at a reduced cost for the event.

Boudreau said they hope a successful company will come out of the event and hopefully stay in Laramie. Laramie Mayor Andi Summerville said in her experience these events fill up quickly, are popular, and very competitive. Similar events she had been to had teams working till 2 a.m. and coming back to continue at five to six hours later. Vice Mayor Jayne Pearce said in her experience there are interesting ideas that pop up and it is a great experience for everyone involved.

Boudreau said if this event is successful, they will hopefully be able to host more of these events in the future with different focuses.

Summerville said this fit under the council’s goal for economic development and hopes for the future there is a yearly September startup weekend in Laramie.

Klaus Hanson said he was worried about the title, that only technology would be welcomed. Boudreau assured him that it will be open to more than just technology, and they will be clear in their advertising other ideas are welcome.

The money will be coming out of the Laramie City Council travel budget, and the request for funding was granted on an 8-0 vote.

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