Scaling the Summit

This year, 1 Million Cups took its organizer summit to scale. Volunteer organizers from more than 100 communities convened to collaborate, learn from each other and create plans for building their communities, as well as growing and strengthening the #1MCnation.

PLEXPOD, a co-working campus in the heart of Kansas City (that was once Westport Junior High School where Mr. Kauffman attended school in the 1930s), set the stage for the 1MC Organizer Summit Sept. 6-8. The goal for 1MC organizers was to roll up their sleeves and together develop a vision for 1MC, discuss evaluation and explore how collaboration with communities can better support entrepreneurship.

Bigger yet is the goal to grow 1MC communities from 140 to 500 in the coming year. This means inclusive, diverse communities in places large and small—urban and rural—all over the country to create more opportunities for people in all stages of business creation to learn together as entrepreneurs to drive the engine of the American economy.

Startup Life in One 1MC Community

Members of the now 1-year-old and thriving 1 Million Cups community in the small, rural town of Sedalia, Missouri, Brad Wikstrom and Alex Heimsoth discuss starting businesses in small town America.

For Wikstrom and Heimsoth, they could have started businesses anywhere, but they say there are advantages to founding a company in their hometown. Wikstrom, who moved back to Sedalia from startup-hub Austin, Texas, sees the support of the 1MC community, the opportunity to help revitalize the downtown economy and the low cost of living, as major incentives.