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SALT LAKE CITY — It has been two years since some economic evangelists set up shop in a century-old downtown Salt Lake church. Since then, membership in the Church and State business incubator has shot up. The flock is flourishing under the gospel of inspiration and hard work.
Inside the 121-year-old former Central Christian Church, they are streamlining the immigration process at Simple Citizen. Sam Stoddard is CEO of the start-up company. "Over the course of the last year, we've saved immigrants well over a million dollars in legal fees," says Stoddard
Upstairs at Mavenlink, employees are helping fast-growing businesses navigate digital obstacles. Andy Leavitt of Mavenlink describes the company's mission this way: "Anybody who bills for a fee, we want those businesses to come to us."
Simple Citizen and Mavenlink are just two of the flock of start-up companies that have put their faith in the hands of Church and State.
Ron Heffernan is a managing partner at Church and State. He says, "We interface with other people in the community, get ideas and help start-ups develop their businesses."
Leavitt says, "Church and State gave Mavenlink a chance to get a foothold here in Salt Lake City."
Mavenlink's roots are in California, but the company quickly expanded into Utah to find the tech talent it needed to help clients manage projects all over the world. "They want to make sure that they have the right people on the right job at the right time regardless of where they may live," says Leavitt.
At Church and State Mavenlink has prospered. "What really makes me proud is when I see a company succeed and I see them actually grow," says Heffernan.
Stoddard agrees saying, "They (Church and State) were very helpful in kind of catching the vision of Simple Citizen."
Stoddard started up what he calls the Turbo Tax of the immigration process after he and his Korean-born wife spent months and lots of money getting her citizenship.
With Simple Citizen, Stoddard says, "You are guided quickly through the paperwork that's needed to become a citizen or get a green card."
Now, Church and State is helping Stoddard take his idea to new levels. He says, "We are very much a globally focused or globally minded company."
Dr. Branden Rosenhan, founder and CEO of PenBlade, was an early believer in the business incubator. He set up shop in the old church to market a safer scalpel that retracts like a pen. "Now we're selling scalpels all over the world," says Rosenhan.
In fact, PenBlade experienced 300 percent growth in 2016. "The entrepreneur in me would say I could have done it myself, but realistically we all need a huge support network," says Rosenhan.
"These collisions, these unexpected interactions and networking that we have here, that's what leads to innovation," says Heffernan.
Stoddard is also a believer, saying, "Surrounding yourself with other business owners and people that are working hard and sharing ideas is a huge value to us."
It is the Church and State model of nurturing an idea from infancy to strength to spread the good word about Utah's workforce to the world.
"Church and State has a community that we care about in our business," Leavitt says. "We care about tech and we care about talented people that are interested in technology."
Church and State has also launched a global initiative. The incubator has already signed agreements with entrepreneurial groups in France and South Korea.
