New High Country Accelerator program hopes to help Yampa Valley startups get off the ground

The Routt County Economic Development Partnership is launching High Country Accelerator, a groundbreaking initiative designed to support entrepreneurs at every stage of their journey from concept to early stage growth.

“This is something where we’re all building something and it’s visible, and because of that, it creates this collective enthusiasm around new ideas and a new community that can develop out of this as well as build investor excitement about what’s happening,” said Aaron Walls, manager of the economic development partnership’s Yampa Valley Entrepreneurship Center.

“Traditionally, all this has been done behind closed doors, and this is really the first time that we’re going to have this open to more folks and from the public eye,” he added.

This new initiative is a collaborative effort between the development partnership, Startup Colorado, National Science Foundation Innovation Corps and the Summit County Economic Partnership. The goal is to foster innovation and business expansion in the region with three components tailored to meet the needs of entrepreneurs at different stages of development.