2026 Rural Entrepreneurship Symposium

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Colorado Mesa University, located in beautiful Grand Junction, Colorado, is excited to host the 2026 Rural Entrepreneurship Symposium in June! This comes after a successful 2025 symposium at Iowa State University. Seen as the signature event for USASBE’s Rural Entrepreneurship Special Interest Group, but open to all who are interested in entrepreneurship and innovation in rural areas, the symposium is June 9-11 (Tuesday through Thursday) in and around the western Colorado region.

With a recognition that rural communities have unique needs, roadblocks, and opportunities when it comes to community development and entrepreneurship, the USASBE Rural Entrepreneurship Symposium was created as a way to convene people across the country that were focused on researching, teaching, and supporting entrepreneurship in rural communities.

The USASBE Rural Entrepreneurship Symposium will bring together educators at the K-12 level all the way to higher education, community and economic development organizations, entrepreneurs, and the larger community ecosystem to share best practices, discuss issues, highlight solutions, and build community and networks.

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Invited Tracks

We are inviting the following submission types:

• Research in Rural Entrepreneurship
• Teaching Entrepreneurship in Rural Areas
• Ecosystem Programming for Rural Entrepreneurship
• Case Studies of Rural Entrepreneurs

Focus Areas

Additionally, the 2026 USASBE Rural Entrepreneurship Symposium will feature the unique ecosystem around Grand Junction and Western Colorado. We are encouraging submissions around the following themes, which will be highlighted during our tours during the symposium.

• Agriculture
• Outdoor Recreation
• Community Partnerships

About Grand Junction and Colorado Mesa University

Named for the confluence of the Gunnison and Grand (later renamed Colorado) rivers, the community was one of the last settled in Colorado when it was opened up to settlement in 1881. It has seen a number of boom and bust cycles based in energy extraction in the region from uranium mining to oil shale development to natural gas drilling. According to the Grand Junction Economic Partnership: Nestled between the snow-capped Rocky Mountains and the stunning Moab desert, Colorado’s Grand Junction area embraces western work ethic and new-age innovation. Grand Junction is where small-town hospitality meets big-city accessibility. It’s home to a flourishing economy, a nation-leading labor supply, seven federally designated opportunity zones and an attainable cost of living.

Grand Junction is the largest community between Denver, Colorado, and Salt Lake City, Utah, both of which are 250 miles away. The metropolitan area is home to over 100,000 people and serves as a regional hub for a population exceeding 300,000. The local economy is diverse and key drivers include tourism, agriculture, manufacturing, health care, energy development and retail.

There is no other place in Colorado where you can experience the outdoors so close to town: Mountains. Rivers. Canyons. Lakes. High Desert. Forests. The powerful rivers course through the valley and are the perfect playground for paddlers, anglers and rafters. The surreal canyonlands and high-altitude alpine forests provide thousands of trails and striking scenery that captivates hikers, bikers and OHV riders in Grand Junction, CO. With over 1.5 million acres to explore and 76 percent of the area being public land, Grand Junction boasts unforgettable Colorado experiences within a short drive time and without the crowds!

Colorado Mesa University is celebrating it’s 100^th year as an institution. With 10,000 students, 200+ programs and 100% of classes taught by dedicated faculty (not teaching or graduate assistants), this is a Human Scale University. CMU serves as a model of the world we want to create — a world where people aspire to love, extend dignity, choose courage, demonstrate humility, develop resilience, celebrate curiosity and use power for good.

Learn more about CMU