Twin Cities Startup Week Highlights Accessibility with City Hubs

With the goal of making Twin Cities Startup Week more accessible, we are proud to introduce our City Hub locations. For the first time, TCSW will have a physical presence with office in IDS Center in Minneapolis and the Osborn370 building in Saint Paul.

City Hubs will serve as a congregation point for TCSW attendees, speakers, volunteers, and anyone who is interested in learning more about our startup community. With staff and resources on-site, community members are encouraged to stop in and learn about all the great things happening in the Twin Cities Startup community.

“The Hubs are spaces that allow us to invite people in to learn about Startup Week, grab a T-shirt, discover events to participate in, and to meet their fellow attendees,” says Reed Robinson, executive director of BETA (the operators of TCSW). “It’s the physical manifestation of what has existed for the last five years of the festival.”

Both Hubs are easily accessible by mass transit, highlighting the walkability and inclusivity of this year’s TCSW weeklong festival. “The Twin Cities Startup Week Community Hubs will serve as the epicenter for TCSW activity,” says Casey Shultz, director of TCSW.

“Not only are these beautiful event spaces, but they’re also gathering places for attendees who need to stop in to ask a question, pick up some swag, or put their feet up and connect with other attendees,” she says.

The Minneapolis Foundation, St. Paul’s Full Stack initiative, and The Bush Foundation have all contributed to this year’s City Hubs. The Minneapolis Foundation is especially dedicated to sponsoring outreach to entrepreneurs of color, says R.T. Rybak, president and CEO.

“Our foundation is focused on building a better future in which we can all thrive, and that includes working today to grow tomorrow’s economy,” he says.

The Bush Foundation has also provided Startup Week with support to ensure that all events and spaces are inviting to minority and majority communities alike, says Robinson.

Caroline Karanja of 26 Letters, a local startup focused on inclusion in the workplace, is heading up the City Hubs programming. “The goal of Twin Cities Startup Week City Hubs is to visually highlight all of the incredibly talented startups that are taking place here,” says Karanja.

Supporting local businesses and highlighting a diverse realm of startups, each city hub will have a gallery showcasing the innovation happening across the Twin Cities metro and greater Minnesota. “It’s a great opportunity to showcase all the different things going on in the cities,” says Karanja.

If you’ve heard about TCSW but never known how to plug in, join us at one of these hubs. Come with a friend and we will help you build out your schedule for the rest of the week:

City Hub Locations:

• Minneapolis: IDS Center — IDS Center, 80 S. 8th St. Suite 160, Minneapolis, MN 55402
• St. Paul: Osborne370 Center — 370 Wabasha St. N. Saint Paul, 55102

Register for Twin Cities Startup week here.