Jaime Billesbach

The Queen of Showing Entrepreneurs the Way and Woman Who Rocks the Rockies

by Anna Winger

Entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart. From waking up with an inkling of an idea, to pushing past all the reasons you probably shouldn’t go out on this proverbial limb, to committing to the idea, is a journey in itself. The people and programs that come into your life to help you understand how to get an idea from your brain, to paper, to a bank, to real life are the true heroes in the uncomfortable, invigorating, sleepless, and addicting world of creating something awesome for the world.

Jamie Billesbach, Executive Director of the CMSBDC (Central Mountain Small Business Development Center), is an actual Queen of showing entrepreneurs the way. As she approaches retirement this fall, we’re so happy to have the chance to write about all of the ideas she’s helped get out of the brains and into our small mountain communities, leading to thriving and healthy business environments.

In a career spanning over 30 years, Jamie knows she was born with the gene to see the big picture and create. Raised by interior designer parents in Chicago, she started working in a 5,000 square foot western retail store when she was 14, and by the time she was 16, she was taking night-school and managing the entire store. The grit and love for hard work came to Jamie in a time many early teens groan at getting out of bed.

When her first daughter was 6 weeks old, Jamie began working at a coffee shop in a mall, part-time, for holiday help. Within a couple of years, she had worked her way up to Vice-President of marketing and purchasing, and helped the chain grow from 9 stores to 100 stores. She calls this time of her life her “Camelot Years”, “To me, I was creating this business, I was on top. We were in 14 states and we had around 120 stores, I got to travel internationally for the specialized coffee trade, and I just got to create,” remembers Jamie.

After 20 years of consulting for brands such as Clif Bar and Hershey’s, it was a natural jump when the job came up at the CMSBDC. The job description was literally what Jamie as doing as a job, and to be a local source in a community she loves, was a dream come true. When she arrived at her new job, there was not much to go off of, a skeleton curriculum if you will. “I got to create things. There was nothing – am empty office. I called the director and said ‘What do I do’? and he said, ‘Do what you do best’! That was music to my ears. I started doing that, “ Jamie said. “They just let me do it, and that was a true gift.”

In a few years, she built the program from almost nothing to 2 staff members and over 14 consultants. “If you build it, they will come”. And come they did, Jamie’s work at the center has brought preschools, restaurants, affordable housing, physical therapy centers, and so much more, to Chaffee County.

Anna Winger and Jaime Billesbach Tellling Their Stories at the final WE Gather 2025 Series

Jamie has also created irreplaceable curriculums to help small businesses get from point A to open. From 2022 to 2025, she created and implemented the LeanUP & Scale business planning series. This series is held twice a year, spring and fall. She also customizes it for in-person entrepreneurial training at the Buena Vista Correctional Facility. “We have helped many businesses with this simple, yet very strategic business development process that they will and can use continually for all stages of their business life cycle.”

In addition, Jamie also created and ran “The Power of WE (Woman Entrepreneur) Conference from 2020-2024. This inspirational conference gathered women from all different types of backgrounds as keynote speakers and quickly became a sold-out event that truly helped women gain the confidence to move forward with their ideas and dreams. “It has truly been a passion project with a heart center focus for attendees and me! The positive energy and inspiration for those conferences has been like nothing I have ever done or experienced,” Jamie says.

“My whole life I have been fighting for the underdog and/or wanting to be of service. I love, love, love knowing all of the businesses in our community that we have helped and have that inner knowing that we really have made a difference, not just assisting to enable their dreams of running a business come true, as we have also given them the tools to manage their business. To me, our clients are awe-inspiring. I feel connected to most of them. There are many I consider friends,” she remarks.

Jamie is planning on a “preferment” after she retires from the CMSBDC. This fall She hopes to take on clients at a slower rate and in avenues she “prefers”. Any entrepreneur that is lucky enough to work with her, will undoubtedly gain an immense toolbox of tricks and tips to scale, grow, get financing, and make their vision come to life.

“I cannot think of a better end of a career job than being the Executive Director of Central Mountain SBDC. It has allowed me to explore the way, see the big picture, create things, facilitate change, and empower others,” states Jamie.

So many of us gritty mountain business owners owe Jamie and her team the world, so from Mountain Women Magazine, THANK YOU, Jamie, for all that you’ve done and continue to do!

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