Chicago Startup Taking its Big Idea to a Small Town

Chicago’s Every Last Morsel, the Etsy of local food, has been accepted into a 10-week accelerator program in Northern Michigan.

Coolhouse Labs is located on the main street (literally, it’s on Main Street) of Harbor Springs. What has been traditionally a resort community of summer homeowners, vacationers, and the brave few who call this place home during the winter months, is being turned into a place that 5 tech startups are calling home for the summer. The teams have access to an exceptional group of advisors and mentors, a newly furnished co-working space, and the fastest internet the city has ever seen.

So, what makes this city better for acceleration than the more familiar northern Michigan cities of Charlevoix, Traverse City, or the Upper Peninsula? It’s small. Really small. As the name implies, the city has a beautiful harbor, which was once an epicenter for travel and trade due to its status as the deepest natural harbor in the Great Lakes. Surrounded by beaches, bluffs, and forests it’s just the sort of environment someone would seek to get a new perspective on things and find focus.

And that’s exactly what Every Last Morsel and the four others of the inaugural cohort of Coolhouse Labs are here to do. Jordan has brought together five teams that are solving real problems. All companies with the potential to make an impact in small cities like Harbor Springs. The Every Last Morsel team will be spending the summer getting to know local farmers, exploring the food culture of a new city, and building a product that meets the needs of their customers — some of whom they hope to find right on Main Street.