Phil Castle, The Business Times

Dalida Bollig has worked in a variety of jobs involving everything from social work to government strategy to university fund-raising.

She also opened a cafe and introduced not only Swedish foods, but also a part of Swedish culture, to Mississippi.

Bollig expects to draw upon all those experiences and more in her latest job as the new chief executive officer of the Business Incubator Center in Grand Junction. “A little bit of everything I have done will help me in my new role.”

That includes her familiarity with government bureaucracies and entrepreneurial endeavors, her international connections and her first-hand knowledge of what it takes to succeed in business. 

Bollig says she’s eager to continue the mission of the center and its programs and services to support new and existing businesses and economic development. “I’m thrilled. To me, this is a great opportunity.”

Bollig started July 20. She succeeds Jon Maraschin, who led the Business Incubator Center for 10 years before retiring a year ago. Helen Roe served as interim executive director.

While Bollig grew up in Sweden, she says the move constitutes something of a homecoming. Her husband, Brian Bollig, grew up in the Grand Valley as a member of a pioneering family in Western Colorado. “We very much feel this is home.”

They relocated from Hattiesburg, Miss., where Dalida Bollig worked as a development officer at the University of Southern Mississippi Foundation and helped with fund-raising for scholarships and other academic needs.

Until the COVID-19 pandemic broke supply chains of essential products from Europe, she owned and operated Fika, what she says was the first and only Swedish cafe in the American South. The cafe served a variety of Scandinavian foods and treats. But the cafe also offered a place in which to partake in an important part of Swedish culture after which the business was named — to share time with friends and colleagues over coffee or tea and a little something to eat.

While the cafe served far different fare than traditional southern foods, Bollig says customers welcomed the venture. “It was such an amazing experience.”

Prior to that, Bollig held a succession of positions with national and local governments in Sweden, including executive strategist in public diplomacy, communication strategist in digital diplomacy and European liaison officer. She also worked in family and senior social work in Malmo, a coastal city in southern Sweden.

She studied a variety of subjects at Malmo and Lund universities in Sweden, including sociology, political science, international relations and Arabic. She says she can converse comfortably in six languages, but understands portions of five other languages.

She says she aspired at one time to work in diplomacy, but observed over the course of her career the ways in which business and entrepreneurship help not only individuals and their families, but also communities.

That’s why she says she’s so excited about her latest role with the center and the business of helping businesses.

The center serves as a one-stop shop of sorts in offering a range of services and programs in a single location. The Small Business Development Center located there offers free and low-cost counseling and classes. The incubator program and commercial kitchen offers low-cost space and shared services for businesses. A revolving loan fund offers access to capital to small businesses. The center also oversees a program offering tax credits for capital projects.

Over the past year, the center played a role in the launch of 26 new companies, which in turn involved a total of nearly
$9.7 million in revenue and 244 jobs. The center also extended almost $1.5 million in funding to 18 businesses.

Bollig says she expects that mission to continue even as other ways to assist businesses are considered and the center collaborates with other local organizations to promote economic development.

She also expects to play a role in bringing to her duties a diverse background and different perspective, but also an appreciation for American entrepreneurship. “That spirit is just amazing to me.”

The Business Incubator Center is located at 2591 Legacy Way in Grand Junction. For more information about programs and services offered here, call 243-5242 or visit https://gjincubator.org.