​The Rural Innovation Matchmaker + Breakout Sessions

​📅 Tuesday, August 25th | 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM
📍 Emergent Campus, 215 Maple Avenue, Florence, CO

​Great ideas grow faster when the right people connect.

​Join us at Emergent Campus for an afternoon designed to spark meaningful conversations, new partnerships, and real opportunities for rural entrepreneurs, innovators, investors, and ecosystem builders.

​Set inside the award-winning Emergent Campus, housed in the beautifully restored historic Florence High School, this interactive session showcases how rural communities are building thriving innovation ecosystems. Listed on the National and State Register of Historic Places in 2022 and honored with the Stephen H. Hart Award for Historic Preservation in 2024, Emergent Campus is helping shape the future of entrepreneurship in rural Colorado.

​Schedule

​2:00 – 3:00 PM | The Rural Innovation Matchmaker
Participate in a fast-paced networking experience designed to create intentional connections between entrepreneurs, startup founders, industry leaders, resource providers, investors, and community partners. Whether you're looking for collaborators, customers, mentors, or your next big opportunity, this session is built to help you make meaningful connections.

​3:00 – 4:00 PM | Breakout Sessions
Continue the conversation in smaller, focused discussions where you can dive deeper into topics, exchange ideas, ask questions, and collaborate with fellow attendees on the opportunities and challenges facing rural innovation.

​Whether you're launching a startup, growing an existing business, supporting entrepreneurs, or exploring what's next for rural economic development, you'll leave with new relationships, fresh ideas, and practical connections that extend well beyond the event.

​Come ready to connect, collaborate, and help shape the future of rural innovation.