Trading Ideas. Building Logan.

The #StartupRendezvous is here

This last year, I started the Rendezvous Startup Series. Rendezvous features and recognizes founders, creatives, and makers who are making Logan a better place to live. It grew out of the realization that a growing interest in tech and entrepreneurship in Provo and Salt Lake were creating an ecosystem of passionate and innovative individuals. Logan has had similar successes as other cities, but needed a way to recognize those who were building the community. Rendezvous exists to bring together a network of individuals who love Logan and want to make it better through innovation. We celebrate creative success in our community and encourage others to do the same. Check out who has spoken already.

If you’re from Utah, you may know Logan for a few select reasons (all of them valid):

• Rowdy sports fans, courtesy of the Hurd student section at Utah State University 🏀🏈⚾️⚽️
• “Squeeky cheese” curds from Gossner’s…or as we call it, the Little Switzerland of the Rockies 🧀🧀🧀
• The world class Utah Festival Opera, which even if you’re from Logan, you may not know that it owns and operates two functioning theaters with one more on the way 🎭
• It’s that city you pass through on your way to Bear Lake 🐻🌊

I have to admit, those were the only things I knew about Logan and the Greater Cache Valley area before I lived and breathed life here.

In those four years, I discovered Logan’s hidden gems; the qualities of a town on the rise, growing, and ready for an entrepreneurial boom. Consider the following:

• Logan Canyon🌲🌳🌿 — (need I say more? Well, yeah. The canyon is 5 minutes from your office.) If you enjoy mountain biking, climbing, skiing, snowboarding, fishing, or camping, this is the place. Hiking trails linked here.

• Business 💼 — Logan has always been home to influential entrepreneurs. The Sardine Curtain (a theory that business development in Logan is slow going due to distance from SLC and the Sardine Canyon dividing them) and distance are poor excuses for slow growth. Numerous companies are proving you can build a business wherever you want to live and enjoy a higher quality of life while you’re doing it. And why wouldn’t you choose somewhere like this?

I’m looking at you Cache Valley Electric⚡️, ICON Health and Fitness🏋, iFit🚴, Malouf💤, Conservice🖨, and Pepperidge Farm🐟 (to name a few).

• Utah State University — Top talent and energy flow from this Land Grant University. Whether it’s milking goats for spider silk🕷, developing new majors (Outdoor Product Design), or training the next generation of founders through the Huntsman School, Jeffrey D. Clark Center for Entrepreneurship, USU is the lifeblood of the Valley.

• Downtown — The downtown revival is hitting Logan, and people are returning downtown once again. Iconic restaurants, boutiques, and other businesses are bringing life back to the old brick of this beautiful downtown area. (Don’t get me started on Logan’s restaurant scene. Foodies, Logan is the place.) Some of my favorites include: Morty’s🍔, Logan’s Heroes, the Waffle Iron, Herm’s, and Even Stevens (coming soon!).

• Startups — The startup community in the Valley is growing due to all the factors above. Old and new startups bring life to this movement. Some of my favorite businesses that are growing and making a difference in the Valley include: Lightning Kite⚡️, Denik📓, Infuze Hydration💧, Strata🍃, Atomic Jolt🖥, ASI🤖, MUGG☕️, Habitat Logan🏠, Latter Day Home🎨, Little Unicorn👶🦄, ZAGG📱, the Parlor✂️, Queen Farina🐝, Hack USU💻 (love our growing hacker community). We are excited to continue and recognize Cache Valley founders.

All in all, Logan may seem a little distant, but it’s just where we want to be. Off the beaten path, building the life we want to live. Help build a better Cache Valley and join us. Trade ideas and let’s build together. 💪💪💪