This morning, nearly 100 entrepreneurs from across North Dakota gathered at the North Dakota State College of Science for the Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Road Tour, to learn how one can gain access to the 2 billion dollar seed fund warranted for growing small businesses.

US Senator Heidi Heitkamp kicked off the event with some encouraging words for the small business owners of North Dakota.

“You are part of that innovative energy that is moving across North Dakota,” she said, addressing the attendees. “Let’s talk about how to take that startup culture we have and innovate.”

She outlined three key tips that she sees are crucial to growing the startup culture in North Dakota.

1. A welcoming spirit.

   “We have to be a place that welcomes everyone,” she said. “We cannot send out the message that discrimination is okay in North Dakota.”

   She addressed specifically how the state must prove itself to be a place where young people want to live – “and that means being more accepting than maybe my grandfather was,” she said.

2. Build a culture of risk.

   

   Nearly 100 people gathered to learn how their small business can access federal support.

   Senator Heitkamp encouraged entrepreneurs to take risks when building their small businesses.

   “Sometimes in North Dakota, we aren’t very prone to take risks,” she said. But, she said, the capital exists, as does the innovative brainpower that is clearly illustrated by the startup culture growing statewide. In order to continue that innovation, we must be willing to take risks with our money as people and as a sate, she said.

   “If we don’t take a risk, that innovation goes away,” she said.

3. Support the startups.

   With 94% of all businesses in North Dakota being small businesses, it is necessary that its citizens continue to support the startup culture, Senator Heitkamp said.

   “If we ignore the foundation of our state, we’re destined for failure,” she said. “What you [small business owners] do, is critically important.”

Senator Heitkamp closed by thanking the audience. “Thank you for believing in North Dakota,” she said.

 

You can learn more about the SBIR Road Tour event, here!