Tech, Startup, Popup, Create

Tech, Startup, Popup, Create

July 9, 2021

A Tech Ecosystem in the Mountains
In Truckee, a culture that is passionate about balancing live, work, and play welcomes newcomers who share the same values. This kind of community support creates the perfect atmosphere to think, connect, create and be productive. Business concepts that grow local jobs, and are not seasonally dependent are particularly viewed with special interest. Developers will find App beta testers in the local marketplace for just about any idea–from healthcare to trail wayfinding.

In fact, a rapidly growing Tech Ecosystem from Truckee to South Lake Tahoe, Incline Village and Reno includes startup, entrepreneur, and networking groups. At meetings and events, people are serious about business and ROI, yet also collaborative, helpful, and connecting–born from a shared desire to recreate in fresh air and stunning mountain scenery.

“The entire tech community is very interested in working together–networking for the greater good,” says James Stafford, co-founder of Elevate Blue, a startup studio in Incline Village also home to a coding school.

Truckee’s remote worker population exploded as a consequence of COVID-19. Many people seeking the outdoors, healthy environment and small mountain-town community relocated to Truckee, many of whom are in the tech industry. And if working at home gets a little lonely or is not adequately set-up, co-working spaces like The Lift provide a great alternative. Here you benefit from networking and collaborating with other like-minded community members, access to hi speed internet, and conference room space.

But a startup doesn’t need to be digital, or created behind a computer screen. In 2015, Bike Truckee (bike rentals) popped up within easy pedalling distance of the Legacy Trail, a beautiful paved 4.1 mile path running along the Truckee River. Getting set up and operating quickly is easy to figure out with help from the Town of Truckee, offering an online tool to help entrepreneurs determine what it takes to open a business that requires are physical location. Check out OpenCounter on the Town of Truckee’s home page.

A Creative Culture
Complementing a growing tech scene is a creative side to Truckee that blends art, cuisine and mountain living. Truckee Roundhouse is a 3400 sq ft community makerspace that supports teaching, learning, and practicing a wide variety of crafts, skills, technologies, and art.

Historic downtown Truckee is home to galleries and art supply stores offering creative workshops. And, if you’ve got a creative at-home idea, the Sierra Small Business Development Center partners with Etsy to offer training that will help you get up and running online. Sierra College’s Tahoe-Truckee Campus offers photography, welding, drama classes and more.

Truckee’s culinary scene includes farm-to-table popups that range from elegant dining/open kitchen experiences to ski area dinner events held in grand lodges, and food trucks at Truckee Thursdays (popular summer street festival). The Kitchen Collab, Truckee’s first shared kitchen commissary, is available to rent for caterers, private chefs, food trucks, and is a culinary incubator for entrepreneurs in Tahoe-Truckee.

The Tahoe Food Hub works with small, diversified, family famrs and ranches to go beyond traditional direct to consumer models by participating in a regional marketplace where they can ensure fair prices and equal representation.

Slow Food Lake Tahoe connects our community to the enjoyment of good, clean and fair food by inspiring a self-reliant food culture. They educate the community about growing, preparing and accessing local and sustainable food.