Founded in FoCo’s incredible community shows up every year and it’s an absolute honor to provide this platform. We had over 500 creatives, entrepreneurs, artists, small business owners, nonprofit professionals, and freelancers with us this year at the Fort Collins Senior Center. Over 80 local speakers presented on 100+ topics this year. What normally would have been a jam-packed schedule was balanced by purposeful breaks for connection, networking, and coworking time, resulting in a distinctly chill event.

One respondent on our survey called Founded in FoCo “[the] best way to get a pulse on what’s really going on in our community.” Another said: “For me [the value of FIFC is] the relief of being in a space with people experiencing the mind f*** it is to be an entrepreneur… there is something about the camaraderie of people in a similar space that helps you feel a little less crazy, a little more brave, and a lot more confident.”

Mayor Emily Francis contributed to community-created art alongside transplants to our community who’d been here for weeks. Folks were actively practicing newly learned skills side-by-side with newly made friends.

And how often do you get to hear the Mayor tell you that the work you do as a small business owner, freelancer, creative, artist, or entrepreneur is vital to the City?

This event simply is not possible for any one individual to put together; I had a lot of help from talented geeks like Addie Jackson, Gus Vieweg, Brian Hanning, Ben Barra, Sharon Pitkin, and Ben Clark (each of whom took turns as the hilariously named “Head Nick In Charge” this year). Beyond this core team, we also had dozens of volunteers willing to share their passion, experience, and kindness with our community to make sure that folks had a great experience while checking in, finding a session, or looking for lunch.

We took our theme of Organizational Mutual Aid very seriously – after all, 152 of you said this kind of support was vital and necessary to your survival in business and beyond.

So many partners joined us this year to back up that mission, including Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce, City of Fort Collins Economic Health Office and Senior Center staff, Colorado SBDC serving Larimer County, FRCC, Aims, Institute for Entrepreneurship at CSU, BBB Serving Northern Colorado and Wyoming, She Goes High, Sage Advisors, and Ent Credit Union.

Cohere Community offered follow-up Coworking sessions to get everyone together in the same spot and continues to provide accountability partners for all the work left to do.

FoCo Cafe joined us as our incredible catering partner this year. Did you know that FoCo Cafe’s revenue is largely driven by catering? We were super happy to support this incredible institution in our community. As the “pay what you can” lunch option for Fort Collins, they provided over 9,100 in-kind meals in 2024 alone. Any left-over meals from FIFC were refrigerated and taken to the Community Pantry at FoCo Cafe so others can enjoy fresh food without having to worry about how to pay for it.

Arboretum Coffee is addictive, and while brewing a perfect cup, they also serve up a great mission. Arboretum provides a paid Apprenticeship Program to give immigrants and refugees a hands-on job training experience. Their program builds career skills, confidence, and community through real work experience in a supportive, welcoming environment.

And… if all that weren’t enough, here’s what we learned from the early surveys:

• 82% of extended-survey respondents made at least one professional connection they expect to maintain; 14% made more than 5
• Average self-rated access to entrepreneurship resources rose from 3.68 → 4.36 out of 5 after attending
• 2 respondents already report $10,000+ in measurable business impact; 12 more describe the impact as meaningful but not yet quantifiable

I’m thankful every year that I’m trusted to do this work alongside such talented people. I’m thankful that the community and our partners keep showing up and telling us what they need. And I’m thankful that we’re able to facilitate this platform to share so much knowledge, kindness, and consideration for our local economy. Thank you to everyone who keeps showing up.