When Steffany Butts-Boucher opened her sound healing and meditation business, ECHO Frequency Studio LLC, in 2020, she was terrified. She had a little money saved, but it wasn’t exactly a realistic amount to open a business with. And besides, she’d decided to set up shop in the middle of a global pandemic. But as she was opening her business, her friend advised her to label her terror as excitement.
Five years later, Butts-Boucher offers that same advice to the business owners of the Manitou Art Center’s (MAC) recently opened Launchpad program.
The Launchpad program, which opened on June 6, offers temporary space, education and resources to up-and-coming retail business owners. Usually, the greatest challenge in opening a business is finding an affordable physical space for it – an especially difficult challenge in Manitou Springs, where real estate is hoarded by the haves and hungrily sought after by the have-nots.
The Launchpad program features three businesses on a three-year basis. The current businesses are Hart & Horn, a menagerie of all things occult; Mythical Bird Boutique LLC, a vintage paradise; and Obaid Afghan Treasures LLC, an array of authentic Afghan fashion, jewelry, rugs and other goods. Each business offers something unique and, rather than competing, they learn and grow together.
Upon the reopening of the Manitou Springs Carnegie Library, the staff of the MAC brainstormed creative ways to use the space that had temporarily been used by the library during the remodel of its permanent home. The resulting Launchpad program is a return to the MAC’s roots as the Business of Art Center, which also served as a launchpad for business owners.
The full name of the program is the “Manitou Made Launchpad & Incubator Program.”
But what exactly is “Manitou Made”? The answer is complicated – Manitou Made has evolved a lot over the past seven years.
PHASE ONE (2018-2020)
In autumn of 2018, leaders from the Manitou Springs Creative District (which became Creative Alliance Manitou Springs, or CRANE, in 2022) and Leadership Pikes Peak sat around a bar and conceptualized Manitou Made, a marketing program to help local businesses sell their locally made items.
They sketched a logo, and merchandise followed: stickers, window clings, displays, coasters, hang tags and more.
The group, headed by Natalie Johnson, executive director of the MAC, launched the program with a press release and by dropping off bags of merchandise around town.
Not long after Steffany Butts-Boucher had set up shop at ECHO Frequency Studio LLC in Aug. 2020, Becca Sickbert, former executive director of Manitou Springs Creative District, showed up at her door to explain Manitou Made.
“I felt like I was part of this really special collective of business owners and makers in Manitou, having that label of Manitou Made on my store window,” Butts-Boucher recalled. “It felt like I was offering people a special experience that was unique to Manitou.”
PHASE TWO (2020-2024)
After Becca Sickbert joined the Creative District in 2020, she conducted a survey of business owners and residents with the Manitou Springs Chamber of Commerce. She found that business owners, regardless of industry, felt disconnected from each other and from residents and weren’t comfortable using technology.
After obtaining $156,000 in grant funding from El Paso County through the CARES Act, the Creative District and Chamber of Commerce created in-person and online opportunities for business owners to become educated about digital marketing and e-commerce, all while adopting the Manitou Made brand.
The website ManitouMade.com was created so Manitou Springs business owners could establish a digital presence without having to develop a website on their own. It was a digital encyclopedia of sorts, allowing visitors to become familiar with the businesses and experiences offered in Manitou Springs.
We want it to be owned by the community and supported by the community. – Audrey Gray, executive director of CRANE
ManitouMade.com also included a digital marketplace allowing participating businesses to sell goods online without being beholden to the greedy commissions of mainstream marketplaces like Etsy. Taxes were also subsidized.
In autumn 2024 – a little over a year after Sickbert, the champion of the project, left CRANE – ManitouMade.com was shut down.
Audrey Gray, the current executive director of CRANE, explained that the digital marketplace was successful through 2022, but began being utilized by artists less and less in 2023 and 2024, which she attributed to the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.
After Sickbert left her role as executive director of CRANE, the Chamber of Commerce was given stewardship of the marketplace.
“Manitou Made was a costly, costly venture and it wasn’t sustainable for us to keep going, especially without the staff resources to manage it. We are a staff of four people,” said Jenna Gallas from the Chamber. “Without [Sickbert], the program would not have even carried on as long as it did.”
Sickbert fully respects the decision to take down the costly-to-maintain digital marketplace, but has her reservations about taking down the entire website.
“So many thousands of dollars went into developing it,” Sickbert said. “It was a great platform that didn’t ever require anyone to use it for transactions. It could have been a place [where] people could showcase their latest offerings, and send the traffic to where they would like to receive those visitors.”
The Manitou Art Center is currently working on recreating a Manitou Made webpage within their website.
PHASE THREE (2025-)
Now housed by the Manitou Art Center, the Manitou Made program is reinventing itself once again.
Made up of a committee representing the MAC, the Chamber of Commerce and CRANE, Manitou Made aims to tackle issues faced by Manitou business owners and creatives that are not being addressed by other organizations.
For now, the Manitou Made committee is focusing on projects that are immediately doable, such as the Launchpad program. They’ve also held a wellness fair, and the Manitou Made co-working space is available at the MAC for those needing a comfortable, free place to work.
Leilani Coleman will be relaunching the Manitou Springs Farmers Market as the Manitou Made Market starting on June 26. The market runs every Thursday evening through Aug. 28, 5-8 p.m., outside the MAC. The market takes place at the same time as the weekly drum circle at Memorial Park, right across the street from the MAC.
A Manitou Springs studio artist tour is also being planned. On July 8, a call to artists will be put out, with the tour taking place on Saturday, Oct. 11, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Even more ambitious projects are in the works.
Amy Kerr is planning affordable group health insurance for Manitou Springs creatives, freelancers and small business owners. The Manitou Made committee has already met with a few brokers, with the next step being community outreach.
Audrey Gray mentioned a new black box theater as one of the many ideas that’s come up during brainstorming meetings.
But Manitou Made isn’t just by and for the committee. Any Manitou Springs resident is free to approach the committee and ask to adopt the Manitou Made branding for a project.
“We want Manitou Made to be something bigger than just an organization or two organizations,” explained Gray. “We want it to be owned by the community and supported by the community.”
