ROCHESTER — A new leader is taking the wheel at the nonprofit
which he describes as “the front door for entrepreneurship” in Rochester.Peter Burghardt was recently named as the executive director for Collider, which is based in the
He is filling the role that opened up when
left
the position in January to work with the city of Rochester.
Pam Bishop served as the interim director until his hiring.
Burghardt, who leads a team of three, sees the Collider as serving a support role for people who are considering starting a business or are in the early days of launching a start-up.“We have the co-working facility. We have our programs, like Co-Starters and the Collider Incubator. These are bringing entrepreneurs together and helping them develop their ideas and build their businesses,” he said. “We get that first look at who they are and see the potential as kind of a ‘sorting hat.’” The Collider’s roots date back to 2016, when Traci and Hunter Downs opened Collider Coworking at 14 Fourth St. SW in the historic brick Conley-Maass building that they renovated. Collider evolved to add a business incubator program to support start-ups and then transitioned into its nonprofit form in 2019.Collider still provides co-working space, incubator support, in addition to its Co-Starts cohort classes for people at the very beginning of the entrepreneur journey.“We are sort of a clubhouse. We’re building relationships inside of those peer groups, which are layered upon each other and then snowball,” said Burghardt.Collider shares
the sixth floor of the Minnesota Biobusiness Center
at 221 First Ave. SW with the Rochester Economic Development Inc., Southeast Minnesota Region Small Business Development Center, Black Entrepreneurship Team of Rochester and the Southeast Minnesota Capital Fund.While all of the organizations promote business and economic development, Burghardt sees Collider’s role as working with entrepreneurs taking their first steps.
That fits with his background working at start-ups, being an entrepreneur and providing venture support in California and South Dakota. From 2016 to 2024, he worked with early-stage companies at The Batchery, a Berkeley, Cali.-based startup accelerator, where he helped more than 200 founders navigate product development, market entry and capital strategy. In 2024, he founded Stringtree, an online marketplace for vintage and high-value musical instruments.Now Burghardt, with his wife and children, is returning to his home state to join his parents, who have lived in Rochester since 2019.“Peter brings a unique combination of entrepreneurial experience, creative thinking and deep understanding of what it takes to build and support early-stage companies,” stated Pamela York, board chair of Collider and general partner at the venture capital group Capita3, in the announcement of his hiring. “His passion for community-driven innovation aligns perfectly with Collider’s mission, and we’re excited for the energy and vision he will bring to Rochester’s growing startup ecosystem.”Looking at the current economic boom surrounding Mayo Clinic’s “Bold. Forward. Unbound. in Rochester” project, he thinks this is a potential inflection point” for Southeast Minnesota to thrive as a true business center and for Collider to grow along with it.“Collider’s work is in line with my passion for helping start-ups get going — and get going right,” Burghardt said. “I’m a builder by nature and I love supporting people as they figure out how the puzzle pieces fit together for a successful business.”
Post Bulletin illustration
Jeff Kiger writes a daily column, “Heard Around Rochester,” in addition to writing articles about local businesses, Mayo Clinic, IBM, Hormel Foods, Crenlo and others. The opinions of my employer do not necessarily reflect my opinions. He has worked in Rochester for the Post Bulletin since 1999. Send tips to jkiger@postbulletin.com or via Twitter to @whereskiger . You can call him at 507-285-7798.
