Startup Sioux Falls officially opens downtown headquarters
June 22, 2023
A big crowd helped officially open the new headquarters of Startup Sioux Falls.
The organization, which supports entrepreneurs at all stages of growth, moved into a city-owned building at Sixth Street and Phillips Avenue that most recently was an office for the Parks & Recreation Department.
“Together, we have reinvigorated a community of founders and starters who have a strong desire to learn, to investigate and to build upon the hard work and innovation of the entrepreneurs who came before them,” said Brienne Maner, executive director of Startup Sioux Falls.
“Starting a business is hard, no matter your background or education. Startup Sioux Falls exists to empower founders by offering resources to network, launch and grow their ventures. That said, those we serve must be willing to do the work, even when it’s hard. This journey is long, but the perseverance to continue is what separates the wantrepreneurs from the entrepreneurs. And that’s what makes entrepreneurship great.”
In recent years, Startup Sioux Falls has evolved its approach to serve the city’s community of founders.
“We were an organization without a sales funnel and without product market fit,” said Matt Paulson, founder and CEO of MarketBeat, who joined the board of directors six years ago.
“The needs of startup founders and small-business owners had changed, and we needed to change with them. We needed to shift our focus away from flexible office space and more toward education and training programs that empower founders to build and scale their businesses. We needed to relocate from the edge of the city to the heart of downtown. We needed to rebuild our staff from the ground up. We needed to foster community and create networking opportunities for founders to engage with each other and engage with the startup ecosystem. We needed to rebrand our organization to something that made a little bit more sense. Frankly, it was a pretty tough challenge given the hand we were dealt, but we got it done.”
Today’s startup infrastructure here is world class, he said, pointing to a nationally recognized accelerator program that’s offered and will be expanded in the next year, a network of 50 mentors to help startup founders, and education and networking events geared toward business owners.
The modern downtown facility, created within a historic building with the help of a $1 million lead donation from Paulson, “is just the beginning,” he said.
“We now have a platform to build resources to serve startup founders, small-business owners, creators and entrepreneurs of all kinds.”
The building includes a mix of co-working and collaborative space that also offers some private offices.
There are larger areas for holding events, including a newly finished deck looking out toward Falls Park West. Lead donors on the project included Poet, Lloyd Cos. and First Premier Bank/Premier Bankcard.
“In less than six months, we’ve had nearly 250 people register for memberships to co-work, host events and meetings in the new facility,” Maner said. “The new space has been active with startup activity, remote workers, drop-ins from across the country asking for day and weeklong passes to work out of our facility and over 100 local businesses who have already booked our meeting rooms and event space.”
Business founders can click here to learn more about membership in Startup Sioux Falls.
