Tenwest, a six-day convention for businesses and entrepreneurs, is bringing about a thousand people to downtown Tucson to connect, learn, and boost the local economy. The festival features mixers, classes, and a pitch competition. The event runs through Sunday.
Now in its 11th year, TenWest features at least four sessions every day, guest speakers, and a pitch competition that awards over $50,000 in prizes.
"It’s part party, part conference," Liz Pocock said.
Pocock, the CEO of TenWest and Startup Tucson, has been involved with the event since its second year. She said the pitch competition is a crucial opportunity for attendees.
"An elevator pitch, or what you kind of convey in that process in your story, really can make or break your first years as an entrepreneur," Pocock said.
The convention brings together entrepreneurs, businesses, and people from across the country.
"People that are curious about the innovation ecosystem gather to connect with each other, to learn from experts," Pocock said.
"When you start to meet entrepreneurs from other communities, you start to see collaborations for them, and the economic impact and potential of that is endless," Pocock said.
In 2023, TenWest generated a $1.6 million economic impact for Tucson. The event exclusively uses local venues.
"We’re all working with all local partners and entrepreneurs in that way and then we have hundreds of people that travel in and stay downtown, spend money at our restaurants all week," Pocock said.
The conference helps local entrepreneurs like Colby Elliott, owner of Last Word Audio. Elliott writes and voices audiobooks and provides voice work for local businesses and festivals.
"You get a chance to sort of live inside the books," Elliott said about his profession.
Last year was Elliott's first time attending TenWest. He said the event helps him connect with businesses in and outside of his own field.
"Talking with someone else who was in my similar circumstances, talking about how my business could develop, how I could do things a little bit more efficiently," Elliott said. “Don’t be afraid to cross-pollinate something that you see in another industry that might be something that you could include in your industry because it’s not necessarily a one size fits all thing.”
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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Andrew Christiansen is a reporter for KGUN 9. Before joining the team, Andrew reported in Corpus Christi, Texas for KRIS6 News, Action 10 News and guest reported in Spanish for Telemundo Corpus Christi. Share your story ideas with Andrew by emailing andrew.christiansen@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, or Twitter.
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