MOORHEAD — Tuesday was the second day on the job for Evan Balko, a Moorhead entrepreneur just starting a business.
Balko is starting a marketing and multimedia business called Motion North. On Tuesday, May 5, he was camping out in the Loop, the new Moorhead library and community center, waiting for an entrepreneurship class to start.
Balko was among the first people to take a class provided by the Spark Center for Entrepreneurship, a part of the new community center where fledgling business owners will be able to access resources and network. Balko hopes the classes at the Spark Center will help him learn the ropes of starting a business.
“Like a lot of entrepreneurs, I’m just starting out, I don’t have all the answers,” Balko said. “I need to figure out how to get this business going.”
The class marked the start of programming for the Spark Center. The entrepreneurship center has a physical location in the middle of the library, with tables and booths for people to work. Construction of the center was funded by a $1 million federal grant.
The Spark Center is working with other organizations that support entrepreneurs, like the West Central Minnesota Small Business Development Center and North Dakota Women’s Business Center, said
Founding Director Laura Caroon.
The library location gives entrepreneurs a new place to connect with those resources.
“This kind of just takes away all of those barriers for people, because it’s really accessible, inclusive and people know what a library is, and they know that they can go there,” Caroon said.
Laura Caroon, founding director of the Spark Center for Entrepreneurship, introduces herself at the first entrepreneurship class hosted by the Spark Center for Entrepreneurship on Tuesday, May 5, 2026, inside The Loop in Moorhead.
Alyssa Goelzer / The Forum
To start, the center will offer a series of free recurring classes. Monthly Spark School classes will be 90-minute workshops for deep dives on topics. Monthly Spark Bites, a 45-minute lunch class, will teach business owners something they can implement immediately. The Bright Side Book Club will feature books on entrepreneurship.
Caroon said the center also plans to collaborate with other organizations to host multi-week, in-depth courses on business topics. Those classes will have a minimal cost, she said.
Josh Sowl, business consultant with the West Central Minnesota Small Business Development Center, speaks at an entrepreneurship class hosted by the Spark Center for Entrepreneurship on Tuesday, May 5, 2026, inside The Loop in Moorhead.
Alyssa Goelzer / The Forum
Small businesses make communities vibrant, exciting and interesting, Caroon said. The Spark Center provides a physical space for business owners to work, other than their kitchen table or bedroom, she said.
“We’re hoping that this will be a space that people will want to meet up and work together,” Caroon said. “You’re seeing the same faces over and over, and getting to know people who are working on the same kinds of things that you are.”
Ian Carlstrom, regional director for the West Central Minnesota Small Business Development Center, said the Spark Center provides a community space where business owners can connect with each other and navigate the business ecosystem together. You never know who you might meet in a class.
“They could be your next customer or collaborator,” Carlstrom said.
Eric Bailly and Amy Anderson chat at the start of an entrepreneurship class hosted by the Spark Center for Entrepreneurship on Tuesday, May 5, 2026, inside The Loop in Moorhead.
Alyssa Goelzer / The Forum
Moorhead will change over the next decade as downtown Moorhead is redeveloped, Carlstrom said, and the Spark Center will be at the center of it.
At Tuesday’s class, Balko hoped to learn more about Google business profiles, the box of information about businesses that shows up when you search for something on Google. The boxes have photos, addresses, contact information and reviews for businesses.
The type of information provided in classes will help him and other entrepreneurs hit the ground running, he said.
“I honestly feel quite happy, lucky, if you will, that this is available as a resource for someone like myself,” Balko said.
Information about Spark Center classes is located on the city of Moorhead’s website at
moorheadmn.gov/business-development/spark-center-for-entrepreneurship
and the
Spark Center for Entrepreneurship Facebook
page.
Ingrid Harbo joined The Forum in March 2024.
Harbo reports on Moorhead and Clay County news.
Readers can reach Harbo at 701-241-5526 or iharbo@forumcomm.com.