035 - Heidi Knoblauch Explains the Capital Region Finance Ecosystem Capital Region Business Podcast

Heidi Knoblauch, Venture and Growth Relationship Manager at Pioneer and Owner of Plumb Oyster Bar in Troy, joins the show to explain the finance ecosystem in the Capital Region. This is an episode you don't want to miss...

Episode Highlights:

Heidi shares her background. (3:14)


Heidi shares how she got a Ph.D. and small business financing. (6:51)


Heidi explains what happened to the seed fund. (9:37)


Heidi shares why people should take advantage of working capital programs. (11:53)


Heidi explains why that connection between investors and entrepreneurs is significant. (17:06)


Where does Heidi find investors? (19:27)


Heidi mentions one of the exciting things about the gaming accelerators. (23:45)


What does Heidi think of established people versus new people starting businesses? (32:41)


Heidi mentions one of the good things that RPI does. (37:28)



Key Quotes:

“People say…’How do you do a bunch of stuff? How do you get it all done? What are you doing?’ And to be honest, it’s around one single thing, which is promoting the region through small business development.” - Heidi Knoblauch

“If I didn't have the ability to make that change during the pandemic, I think I would have felt really hopeless, if that makes sense. But, I got to connect with a ton of small businesses across the capital region and hear about what was going on in their lives... and, kind of scramble to get this government money.” - Heidi Knoblauch

“We are in a place where all the pieces are there. It's just about putting them together. And it's about finding the right people who can do that right now. I think if you look across the Capital Region, there are a lot of smart people who are like...Okay, how do we make this happen?” - Heidi Knoblauch


Resources Mentioned:

Heidi Knoblauch LinkedIn

Pioneer

Plumb Oyster Bar

Reach out to Ryan Hanley


Reach out to Michael Field