Institute for Innovation and Economic Development brings local startups together.

A few dozen entrepreneurs, and those who aspire to become one, gather at the Press Club in Seaside and nibble on sweet potato pie. In front of them stands Percival “Percy” Lammie, who tells them about his business model for his burgeoning company, Percy’s Pies.

His presentation is a part of the Startup Monterey Bay Tech Meetup monthly gathering organized by CSU Monterey Bay’s Institute for Innovation and Economic Development (iiED) and is one of four startup programs developed by the institute to energize entrepreneurship in the Monterey Bay area.

The other three are the Startup Hackathon that takes place every fall, the Startup Weekend that will take place Jan. 27-29 and the Startup Challenge Monterey Bay. (TheWeekly is a sponsor of both the Startup Meetup and the Startup Challenge.)

“This plays a vital role in getting entrepreneurs out there.”

“This plays a vital role in getting entrepreneurs out there,” says Lammie, a Marina resident who also participated in the 2016 Startup Challenge.

“I’ve seen people with good ideas who are sitting on them, but having something like this, people put themselves out there.”

As seen with the presence of Percy’s Pies, while the meetup has tech in the name, it isn’t exclusive to entrepreneurs involved with computing, robotics and the like.

“We have tech in the name to denote a bent toward innovation, whether it’s food, retail or technology,” says Brad Barbeau, a professor at CSUMB’s School of Business and executive director of the iiED.

The meetup is the newest of the institute’s programs supporting entrepreneurship in the region. The first gathering took place in February 2016 with just a handful of people, and after a summer recess has met the second Tuesday of every month with more and more participation.

Every meetup includes a presentation by an entrepreneur describing their business model and plans for success to a crowd of peers followed by a Q&A.

“Most of the feedback comes from offline conversations,” Barbeau says. “That’s the goal of the meetup, to allow entrepreneurs and those interested to get together, share ideas and to learn.”

For Lammie, Percy’s Pies is still a side business, but he sees it growing to the point where he’ll be able to quit his full-time job.

At the next Startup Monterey Bay Tech Meetup (Jan. 10), Brent Virgin (another Startup Challenge Monterey Bay alum) presents on the Wine Experience, his business which lets people create their own wine blends at his Cannery Row location.