Hirshberg Institute makes Boulder its permanent home

BOULDER — The Hirshberg Entrepreneurship Institute, a two-day, case-based seminar for natural-food companies, is making Boulder its permanent home.

“I’ve run it in many places: Auckland, Vancouver and moved it around the country,” said Gary Hirshberg, founder of the institute and the founder of Stonybrook Farms, in a phone interview with BizWest on Monday. “I’ve had one in New Hampshire, where I’m based…. My intent here is to make this (Boulder) the permanent home. I may very well run an East Coast version, but I intend  to make this the first annual institute in Boulder.”

Hirshberg said the decision is already paying off: With more than a month until the event will be held, 100 attendees have already signed up.

Hirshberg said moving his institute to Boulder makes sense: It’s a city that is easy to get to from the West Coast and a trip to look forward to for those on the East Coast. It’s also easily accessible through Denver International Airport.

This year, the Hirshberg Institute collaborated with Naturally Boulder on the timing of when it would be held. The two-day seminar ends June 15, and Naturally Boulder’s members-only Spring Fling — a networking event that expects to host 800 people — will be held later that evening.

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Having the Hirshberg Institute, created by one of the leaders of the natural-food industry, relocate to Boulder is a huge benefit to the city, said Arron Mansika, executive director of Naturally Boulder.

“We’re thrilled,” Mansika told BizWest. “It’s such a reputable institution and he is such a celebrated entrepreneur with an incredible entrepreneurship story. He remains so accessible and is so visionary not just in organics but in what the industry can and should be doing to lead in social responsibility. It’s tremendous for this community to draw other visionaries to Boulder, and the significance of that is not lost on us.”

Mansika said Hirshberg already is having an impact, even sitting in on a monthly education panel Naturally Boulder had while Hirshberg was in town.

Unlike other natural-food seminars, Hirshberg said he structures his institute in a different way. When attendees register, they are asked if they would like to submit an issue they are having to be a case that will be discussed. Organizers then select which cases will be discussed, about two per panel, and give the final selections to the experts and panelists who will be speaking about a week before the event to prepare.

Local experts, such as Alex Bogusky, a founder of Crispin Porter + Bogusky, and Tom Spier of Boulder Food Group, will be panelists. There will also be some new topics, such as how to run a natural-food startup while maintaining a family life and how to work with the ever-changing e-commerce landscape.

With Boulder being the permanent home of the Hirshberg Institute, Mansika said he expects Boulder’s stature as a natural products city to grow.

“I expect continued and expanded magnetism,” he said. “Boulder is already very magnetic in attracting out-of-state companies to be relocated here. This will continue that magnetism.”

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