More Than a Business: How Entrepreneurship Can Strengthen a Community

A business often begins with a personal idea: a recipe someone wants to share, a service neighbors need, or a skill that could become a source of income. With the right support, that idea can grow into something that matters to an entire community.

That’s the opportunity behind Elevar, Eagle Valley Community Foundation’s entrepreneurship program. Elevar supports local entrepreneurs—particularly BIPOC and Latine community members—with training, mentors, grants, workshops, and connections to help them move their ideas forward.

Small businesses have a big place in the economy

Across the country, small businesses account for 99.9% of U.S. businesses. They employ 62.3 million people—45.9% of private-sector workers—and contribute an estimated 43.5% of U.S. economic activity. Those national figures show why helping entrepreneurs build and sustain businesses matters to the wider economy.

The impact starts before a business hires its first employee or reaches a major milestone. It starts when someone gains the confidence and tools to turn an idea into a plan.

Through Elevar, participants build practical skills in areas such as marketing, sales, financial management, and business planning. In the past year, Elevar offered 153 hours of workshops—nearly four full workweeks of learning. Entrepreneurs can also draw on mentors and peers who understand the challenges of starting and sustaining a business.

That support can help participants make informed decisions, test an idea, reach customers, and build a business at a pace that works for them. Each step can create new possibilities for a household: additional income, greater financial stability, or a path toward goals that once felt out of reach.

When local businesses grow, community benefits can grow with them

A small business can have effects well beyond its owner. It may create work for others, meet a need close to home, or give residents another reason to shop locally. When businesses buy supplies and services nearby, and customers choose to spend in the community, more economic activity can stay in the region.

These outcomes take time and are different for every business. National statistics describe the role small businesses play across the country; they don’t predict the results for any one entrepreneur or community. But investing in entrepreneurs helps build the conditions for those results: knowledge, relationships, access to resources, and the chance to learn from experience.

Elevar’s Startup Elevar initiative launched in July 2026 and has supported 30 new businesses. This fall, a cohort of 12 entrepreneurs is preparing to graduate—the program’s largest cohort yet. Each business has its own purpose and path, but together they represent the creativity and determination already present in Eagle County.

Opportunity is part of community wellbeing

A community’s economy is strongest when more people can take part in shaping it. Entrepreneurship can create a route for people to contribute their expertise, culture, and ideas while building greater opportunity for themselves and their families.

That matters in a place like Eagle County, where the people who live and work here help shape the character of the community. Supporting local entrepreneurs means supporting the people who are building livelihoods, sharing their talents, and imagining what could come next.

Through Elevar, Eagle Valley Community Foundation is helping make those next steps more possible. The long-term impact will be measured not only in businesses started, but also in the skills gained, relationships built, families supported, and opportunities created across the Valley.

The place we share is shaped by the people who call it home. When they have the tools and support to build, the future we shape can include more voices, more possibility, and a stronger local economy.