Red Wing Collaborates to Support Tech Start-Up Companies

Live.Give.Save success is an example of how Red Wing is embracing entrepreneurs as part of its community and economic development mission

It’s may not be Silicon Valley, but the historic Mississippi River town of Red Wing has been taking some important steps within a local partnership to support entrepreneurs and start-up tech companies.  

Susan Langer is the founder and CEO of Live.Give.Save.  Her start-up company created a mobile solution designed to improve the economic health and well-being among consumers by effortlessly boosting retirement savings and increasing charitable giving.   Live.Give.Save seeks to address the problem that 62 percent of Americans don’t have an emergency savings account (for $1,000 hospital visit or $500 car repair) and the 50 percent of Americans not saving for retirement.

The company’s home is in the Red Wing Ignite building, the local business accelerator located in downtown Red Wing.  In April, Live.Give.Save won first place in the second annual Ignite Cup business competition.  They now move to the MN Cup in October as a semi-finalist, which is the largest statewide start-up competition in the country.   

The Red Wing Port Authority previously supported this business with an initial investment of $35,000 to help fund the creation of a prototype of the software platform.  The Port has since provided an additional $18,000 to support the company’s work to enhance and expand its system.  Funding is provided as low-interest loans through the Port’s revolving loan fund program.   

“We think there is a special connection and energy in our community that can be an important resource for people who are trying to see if they can turn a new idea into a new business,” said Dan Rogness, Red Wing’s Community Development Director.  “The Port Authority and Ignite are both providing support to Live.Give.Save as a new business initiative with hopes of it being a long-term success in Red Wing.”

“Being able to be part of a supportive community environment has been really important to us,” said Susan Langer.  “It helped us create relationships with people that we needed to help us grow.  Red Wing’s willingness to support an idea and our company really made an impact on what we have been able to accomplish.”

About Red Wing Port Authority

The Red Wing Port Authority leads the economic and industrial development efforts within the Community Development Department of the City of Red Wing by bringing public and private sector resources and partners together to fund and advance key projects.  Its mission is to help Red Wing create new economic opportunities and good paying jobs that benefit the entire community through industrial and commercial development. For more information, please visit www.redwingportauthority.org.

About Red Wing Ignite

Red Wing Ignite is a community-funded innovation center and business accelerator.  It provides a place where creative individuals can build their ideas. Red Wing Ignite enables entrepreneurship and technological innovation for the Red Wing community by offering collaborative space for co-working space and private offices, events to learn and connect, resources for all stages of businesses, regional and national networks, and gigabit Internet access. It creates a unique ecosystem for the Red Wing community to share ideas, resources, and expertise. For more information, please visit www.redwingignite.org, or check them out on Facebook or Twitter.