Posts tagged entrepreneurship
Programming is Open for Business, Building is Next

We bet a good number of you reading this newsletter are asking yourself, “Shouldn’t Distillery Labs be open by now?” There are days when we ask ourselves the same thing! When we started 2022, we were looking forward to starting to swing some hammers in the summer. Our design was done, and the plans were looking great. All the finances were lined up and available. All we needed to do was gather bids from construction companies, sign some contracts, and get to work. But if you know anyone who has tried to build something – from a backyard shed to a state-of-the-art cancer therapy center – you’ll have heard their woes of skyrocketing prices. That is exactly what hit us.

Read More
gBETA accelerator celebrates the launch of 15 startups in 2022

When gBETA Distillery Labs first kicked off late 2021, the question lingered — Would there be enough entrepreneurs in the Peoria area ready to take part in a startup accelerator? Three cohorts and 15 companies later, the answer is a resounding “Yes!” The startup accelerator received more than 60 unique applications in its first year – an incredible number for a mid-sized city. Those 15 selected startups received the support of not only the Distillery Labs and gener8tor networks, but from more than 40 unique mentors from Peoria and throughout the country. gBETA Distillery Labs hosted at least five mentor collision events (what we call Mentor Swarms) per program.

Read More