By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Jackson Swearer with StartUp Hutch talked to the County Commission Tuesday about the rebranding of the Qwest Center and the emphasis that has changed since he got there.
"This is all a bit of an experiment," Swearer said. "This is year one of five years of an action plan that's built around trying new things and working to improve our community incrementally in small steps and that means not being afraid to try things that don't work."
One of the things that hasn't worked as well recently is in person events, though Swearer believes that is mainly because of the pandemic.
"I don't like this word fail," Swearer said. "Nothing ever fails if you learn something from it. A couple of our in person meetups maybe weren't as successful as I'd like. Maybe we can learn a little bit about that, lean into some of our virtual offerings and circle back to some in person things when we can get outside next spring or when the pandemic has finally passed us."
Swearer believes that when life is different than it ever has been before, it's time to innovate.
"I just want to encourage the community to try new experiments," Swearer said. "This extends into entrepreneurial activity, as well. We need to try different things. Jump out there, give it a shot and see what works. With a little bit of planning and a little bit of willingness to try something new, I think we can create great things."
StartUp Hutch fosters an entrepreneur community through online and in-person activities and helps entrepreneurs navigate the business start-up process. It also provides services such as loan assistance, business plan review and succession planning.