Technology veteran Rich Foreman plans to ask the Folsom City Council at its meeting Tuesday for city support of Startup Folsom, a tech entrepreneurial group in the city.
Since October, Startup Folsom has run two events per month to foster the startup scene in the city, and Foreman wants city funding to support more events and fund an accelerator program.
Foreman will make his presentation during the part of the City Council meeting reserved for comments from the public. He hopes that the effort can get onto a council agenda in the coming months as the city begins its budgeting process, Foreman told the Business Journal.
Foreman is CEO of application development company Apptology. He is also the local director of Startup Grind and a board member of StartupSac, both networking and support groups for entrepreneurs.
Startup Folsom hosts two events monthly in Folsom featuring fireside chats with successful entrepreneurs and Beer & Geeks, which is an informal networking meeting for technology entrepreneurs.
In addition to Foreman's role with Startup Grind and his board position with StartupSac, he’s also a mentor at the Growth Factory’s accelerator program in Rocklin.
He said Folsom is falling behind other cities in efforts to grow local startups, citing programs in Rocklin, Roseville, Sacramento, Elk Grove, Woodland and Yolo and El Dorado counties that support startup communities.
Foreman plans to ask for $300,000 for the local effort, adding that the city could then also seek state and federal grants to fund programs.
Foreman launched the effort to bring Startup Grind’s fireside chat series to Sacramento in 2014. The hallmark of a Startup Grind event is a fireside chat with a featured guest, usually a successful entrepreneur.
In recent years, local cities have been building economic development programs to support startups. Elk Grove for four years has offered startup businesses cash. The city of Roseville last year pledged more than $1 million and office space in its newly opened Roseville Venture Lab, supported by the Growth Factory. Yolo County and Woodland support the Lab@AgStart, a coworking laboratory space in Woodland. Sacramento supports multiple efforts for entrepreneurs, including its Economic Gardening program that supports companies with free consulting.
