Northern Innovation Startup Center director: center helped 56 entrepreneurs; pitch competition June 29

Bee Smith, director of the Northern Innovation Startup Center, told the Aberdeen City Council the center has grown into a regional entrepreneurship hub and has helped 56 entrepreneurs so far, with 30 actively building businesses in northeast South Dakota. "When the Startup Center was launched the goal was advancing the ideas of 25 entrepreneurs and launching 10-plus startups," Smith said, "and as of the end of May we've blown it out of the water."

Smith walked the council through the center's year‑over‑year programming: quarterly networking events (including a "fail fest" that reframes failure as first attempted learning), tech workshops (36 sessions this year with an average attendance of 26), idea workshops (42 participants), and an Idea‑to‑Market incubation taught by Northern State University faculty. She said 54% of recent participants came from outside the Aberdeen ZIP code and that the center expects to report job creation numbers this fall after surveying program participants.

Smith also promoted two upcoming events: the Aberdeen Business Pitch Competition (finalist event June 29 at Engles Event Company, $10,000 prize sponsored by the Aberdeen Development Corporation) and the technology and entrepreneurship summit on Sept. 30 at the Johnson Fine Arts Center (in‑person and virtual attendance options). She thanked the City of Aberdeen for early grant support and for ongoing collaboration with regional partners.

Councilmembers had no substantive questions and thanked Smith for the presentation and the center's work. The council encouraged attendance at the June 29 pitch event and expressed support for the summit planning.