265. How Colorado Fuels CPG Startup Growth With Michael Bevis, City County Of Denver

265. You don't need to build your CPG brand alone—but if you try, you'll burn cash, waste time, and miss critical growth opportunities. Most founders assume government resources are slow, bureaucratic, or irrelevant. That mistake costs brands runway. In this episode, I sit down with Michael Bevis, Director of Innovation & Entrepreneurship for the City of Denver, to unpack how Denver is quietly building one of the strongest entrepreneurial ecosystems in the country—especially for food, natural, ag-tech, and emerging CPG brands. We discuss free co-working at The Commons on Champa, pre-accelerator and ScaleUp programs, gap financing from $50K–$400K, access to Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), global landing pads for international expansion, and the development of a massive innovation hub with shared labs and food incubators. If you're bootstrapping, raising capital, scaling distribution, or looking for infrastructure to accelerate growth, this conversation could change your trajectory. Download the free episode guide and explore additional episodes to go deeper into retail strategy, capital access, and category leadership. Get instant access on the show webpage: RetailSolved.com/session265