Denver to expand innovation services for entrepreneurs, help realize their dreams

Entrepreneurs are vital to a strong economic system, and they create 40% of the jobs across Colorado. Denver Mayor Michael Hancock recently announced a new center to help budding entrepreneurs get their ideas off the ground.

"Literally you can come in, get some free Wi-Fi, free coffee, find an open desk space," said Michael Bevis, Denver's innovation and entrepreneurship director.

 Shared workspaces are nothing new, but The Commons on Champa is a bit uncommon in how it helps entrepreneurs thrive.

"We connect them to programming, resources, funding, mentorship, advisory," Bevis said. 

This innovation center opened 7 years ago — a collaboration between the City of Denver and the downtown Denver partnership.
It offers work space, collaboration and anything else someone hoping to start a business may need.

"If those resources don't exist, then, I get to create them," Bevis said. 

Countless dreams become reality here. "Since its inception, there's been thousands of businesses that have come through here and received free services and programming," Bevis said. 

But the city wants to help more entrepreneurs, so it's expanding its reach and opening another innovation lab much like this on and one that will help entrepreneurs of color.

"We want to create a resource that's more accessible for those communities."

Bevis says it can be a challenge for many people to get downtown, so this next center will be in an east Denver neighborhood. While he won't say exactly where, he did say it'll be three times the size of this spot.

"We're looking at a space that's close to 20,000 square feet," Bevis said. 

And it'll offer more resources like tech programming and space for entrepreneurs making physical products, designed with the types of businesses that community is building in mind.

"[Black, Indigenous and people of color] founders are some of the most resilient founders of all," Bevis said. "And they continue to strive and create great businesses in that space, and we want to be supportive of them in that role."

It will help Denver thrive and continue to be one of the best places to start something new.

"It will be a great place for founders to call home," Bevis said.