A Small Business Owner’s Guide to Rutland’s Makerspace “The MINT”

Our friends at The MINT – Rutland’s Makerspace – offer so much more than workshop tools and a space to work. Since the very beginning, The MINT has been a “place for tinkerers, makers, and small businesses to have space, contacts, and equipment to thrive.”

Last year, The MINT offered a new opportunity for six entrepreneurs to take part in OnRamp, an Entrepreneurship Development program thanks to the support of the Think Vermont Innovation Grant and other various partners.

This month, the WBON Rutland Chapter will be hearing from The MINT’s Chief Maker Evangelist, Executive Director, and OnRamp Instructor Karen McCalla as well as Erica Zimmer, one of the six OnRamp students and is in the process of starting her own Corporate ID business. Karen and Erica will both share their experiences with OnRamp, resources for small business owners at The MINT, and updates to the next OnRamp course offering for a new group of aspiring small business owners!

Let’s learn from Karen and Erica on how The MINT and all of its various resources can help shape all of our businesses in our next phases.

Click Here to Register

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Karen McCalla

Karen McCalla grew up in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont and did her undergraduate work at Castleton University, earning her BA Summa Cum Laude in History and Secondary Education, then moved on to the University of Michigan to earn her Summa Cum Laude Masters of Library and Information Science. Karen has been the teacher-librarian and tech integrationist at Mill River Union School since 2002. At Mill River, Karen enjoys finding just the right book for every student, as well as getting kids passionate about STEAM – Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math, in the Library Makerspace. In her spare time, Karen coaches robotics for upper elementary, middle and high school students through the FIRST program. Karen has been involved with The MINT: Rutland’s Makerspace from the first organizing committee meeting, and loves her work helping people discover their inner-maker as The MINT’s Chief Maker Evangelist and Executive Director.

Erica Zimmer

Erica is a founding MINT member who has spent 12 years working in K12 and HigherEd as a teacher, instructional coach, and instructional designer before making the leap to corporate instructional design in October landing a role as Senior Instructional Designer for Cox Automotive. She attributes part of that success to the OnRamp program. She is now working on starting her own Corporate ID side business as well as partnering with industry leaders to help transform the scope of Learning and Development in the corporate environment. Outside of her professional life, she is a founding MINT member where she dabbles in woodworking and refinishing furniture. Her core values are kindness, equity, compassion, and creativity, and she loves bringing out the best in people to help them find their potential to achieve their goals.

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Provided by the Rutland Chapter Coordinators. Due to concerns around COVID-19 all WBON chapter meetings will be held virtually through Zoom. An email containing the link will be sent prior to the event date. If you have any questions or concerns please contact Christine at info@wbon.org.