Just a reminder…tonight’s Golden Beer Talk will cover the Upper Colorado Endangered Fish Recovery Program. Should be good! Learn more….
The Jeffco Innovators Workshop is a joint venture between the Golden-based IX Power Foundation and the City’s Economic Development Commission. It’s designed to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship in Golden by providing aspiring business owners with opportunities to meet each other and to learn from people who have built successful companies.
Last month’s Workshop featured Sal Glesser, the founder of Spyderco. The group got to learn how the business got started (he and his wife lived in a van for several years, traveling the country selling knife sharpeners at fairs and home shows), why they settled in Golden (it was time for their kids to go to school, and they liked Golden), and the keys to its huge success and sterling reputation (treat employees very well and insist on unimpeachable quality in every aspect of production). Sal told about a shipment of knives they received that were made with sub-par steel. Rather than sell them as “seconds,” they poured concrete over the whole batch and sent them to the Jefferson County landfill. The icing on the cake came when everyone who attended was given a Spyderco knife!
Tomorrow night’s Jeffco Innovators Workshop sounds good too. This month we’ll meet Rob Bender–yet another successful, Golden-based entrepreneur–and learn about his innovations in the oil & gas production field. Rob founded his company, Well Master, more than 30 years ago. He identified a weakness in oil production equipment and developed superior solutions, which allow drillers to operate 50-100% longer between parts replacement. Rob holds numerous industry patents. Tomorrow night’s workshop will be your chance to hear how he built good engineering ideas into a solid business.
The meeting starts at 6:30 at City Hall (911 10th Street). You can sign up to attend here: http://www.meetup.com/Innovators-Workshop/events/224855572/?a=me1_grp&rv=me1&_af=event&_af_eid=224855572.
