Ronn and Karin Gookin are not new to the entrepreneur world. They bought their first business, a flooring store years ago. With no food service background, it was an idea presented to them by their partner, John Nelson, to start producing and selling Italian Ice in the Grand Valley. In New York City, where John is from, it is not unusual to see an Italian Ice cart on every corner and in every park. However,

Teri Thomas, owner of Angels in the Making, LLC, has always had a passion for working with animals. She trained her first dog at the age of 8. As a child she spent her summers at her grandparent’s ranch in New Mexico, there she raised and trained chickens to do a variety of tasks much to everyone’s surprise. Born and raised in Colorado she attended CSU in Fort Collins for 1 year and Mesa College

When Grand Junction’s only quilting store closed it’s doors in the Fall of 2013, the local quilting community was devastated. With the closest quilting venue hundreds of miles away, avid quilter, Bea Root, and long time quilting buddy, Tracy Miller, decided that something needed to be done. The idea began forming late last year, and Bea, after being referred to the Small Business Development Center by a close friend, signed up for the Pumping up