Impressive things about Catalyst Campus Utah - an honest review

I recently got to visit the Catalyst Campus in Ogden, Utah and I was IMPRESSED.

This trip was not planned, I was actually in the area for another reason and reached out to get coffee with my friends Jenna and Jess. Well Jenna had to bail due to covid, but I went up to meet up with Jess Rees and was not disappointed when I came upon Catalyst Campus in Ogden, Utah.

What is Catalyst Campus?

The first Catalyst Campus was created in Colorado by founder, Kevin O'Neil, all because of a frustration from the lack of collaboration happening between government and industry partners and how hard it was to get information on what government organizations were up to and how industry experts could help achieve the nations goals. (At least thats the version I heard of where it came from.) I haven't been to the Colorado campus yet, but thats a different story. This is about the Utah location.

Why Utah?

I was the first to say "Utah, why the heck would you put a technology and department of defense collaboration eco-system there. Especially in Ogden!"

I was wrong in my limited thinking. My status quo knowledge came from growing up 10 miles south of ogden from 1985-2008. So my knowledge of what was happening in Utah was not current. I was definitly ignorant. Also growing up there, I had no desire to pay attention to what happened in Utah because there is a whole big world out there.

Well, whats going on there now?

In the new downtown, or what I think is the downtown of Ogden, there is a lot of innovation and collaboration happening. Things coming from Hill Air Force Base, a few miles away, as well as Startup Ogden at Weber State University Downtown, which is a software-focused co-working space and accelerator program, developed in partnership by Ogden City and WSU.

This is where Catalyst Campus is working out of while they build their side of the building out, located right next door.

Walking into this space feels like Google has stepped into Utah. The feel was modern, the energy was flowing and the air was ripe with crepes and coffee. And if you are feeling like supporting local business, there is a lot of locally owned products inside that place, as well as Ogden Made a local business that to my knowledge is an outdoor lifestyle brand.

The upper three floors are full of collaboration spaces, hot desks, and on any given day full of founders, startup teams and now Department of Defense innovators making the world a better place. There are many groups putting teams in this Collab space, another of which is the Oteemo sponsored Ski Camp, which is cool to see happening as well.

Oh it also happens to be the home of Silicon Slopes Ogden Chapter. Silicon Slopes

But thats not what IMPRESSED me!

It wasn't the space, which is cool and they are building more incredible spaces out that will be a great environment for serendipity collaboration.

It was the PEOPLE.

The People are what impressed me. Aniza Brown and Jees Reese were the two local Catalyst Campus people I spent time with; plus Tyler from Start Up Ogden; and so many other Utah innovators, too many to name but the energy of the people is what sparked my eye and kept my attention. We also had a special guest Bernice Vigil, from Catalyst Campus Colorado who was there helping with an event that week. Jess and Aniza were excellent hosts and if you actually read this far, you are the first to know we will be collaborating on some fun things in the future.

They were welcoming yes, but their willingness to be change agents, start things, fail and adapt until it works is what I got during my two day SURPRISE visit. They are truly working to make a difference and bring great things to the worlds of tech, government and Utah.

The SUPRISE is how I know it was real and not staged. They didn't know I was coming, it wasn't like they put on a show to show off, I was able to catch them in their natural state, which is awesome to witness.

Accidentally went to the Venture Capital Summit

I also happen to fall into town during an event being held there, the Venture Capital Summit hosted by Silicon Slopes and Catalyst Campus. Which was amazing to be able to witness and learn more about the great things happening in the area.

Because of this event, I also got to meet more Catalyst Campus warriors and some great folks from the O'Neil Group; plus got to reconnect with some awesome humans from the DoD innovation world.

I could go on and on about what happened there and maybe I will in a LIVE stream soon, but make sure you pay attention to the Northern Utah area when you are thinking of Tech and DoD innovation, I know I will be.

Thanks to all who welcomed us gave me something new to think about. Who knows where I will end up next.

Check out https://catalystcampus.org/ to learn more and connect to the team.