In 2019, Rebecca Undem launched Growing Small Towns, a nonprofit focused on supporting entrepreneurship, economic development, and growing arts & culture in rural North Dakota. She set out to launch a coworking space in Oakes, North Dakota, and was connected to the Rural Ideas Network Coworking Accelerator at the perfect time.
Rebecca had a solid vision for her space and what she wanted it to accomplish but her barriers were the logistics. A website, door access, furniture, etc., were all things that she was able to figure out way faster thanks to the plug-and-play solution that the Accelerator program provided. With a solid framework and support team behind her, Rebecca was able to open her space in 2021 and the response has been amazing thus far.
Community members are thrilled with the newly restored business downtown, entrepreneurs are signed up for coworking, and it's already providing an economic impact to the community through meetings being hosted in the space.
Check out the video to learn more about Rebecca's organization and her experience with the Rural Coworking Accelerator.