Looking to Start a Rural Business?!

Applications are OPEN for the Cooperative Business Incubator for Rural Entrepreneurs, designed to help rural entrepreneurs explore and develop their business ideas into the beginnings of a business.  

Over the 8 weeks of the Incubator, the Start.coop team will help you:  

• Identify the problem or gap your business will address 
• Brainstorm and test solutions and business models 
• Build a plan to drive sales and grow your revenue  
• Explore different types of financing for your business 
• Develop a cooperative ownership model   

Who is the Fall 2025 incubator for? 

With support through the USDA, Start.coop will provide guidance during this training to rural cooperative entrepreneurs whose Founder groups include women, African Americans, Native Americans, Alaskan Natives, Hispanics, Asians and/or Pacific Islanders. 

This training is open to all kinds of rural projects, including but not limited to those interested in starting food-related cooperatives, childcare cooperatives, home care cooperatives, and housing cooperatives.  

• Applications Close: July 14, 2025 
• Decisions Made: August 8, 2025 
• Program Dates: September 10 – October 29, 2025 
• Join an information session:  July 8, 1:00 pm MDT OR July 10, 11:00 am MDT 
• Apply to the free business incubator program HERE