Believing the traditional clinic model was missing a big section of the population, Dr. Susan Hansen created The Essential Project in late 2020 during the pandemic. The company’s mission is to deliver health and wellness services to communities across rural Eagle County through an innovative mobile care approach. Providing soft tissue therapy, therapeutic exercise, and chiropractic care, The Essential Project makes quality care accessible.
Through her work with the Northwest SBDC, Dr. Hansen completed her business plan and funding projections, and devised marketing which targeted employers in the region in order to bring healthcare services to essential employees on-site; the very people for whom the business is named. She’s an ardent supporter of the five-year Demystifying Entrepreneurship Rural Colorado Workshop Series facilitated by Northwest SBDC in partnership with CU Boulder and the Leeds School of Business, attending three years in a row.
Beginning with pop-up clinics early on, the Essential Project always had the goal of creating a mobile clinic van and it was finally achieved in 2023. Dr. Hansen’s new goal is to further spread this kind of health equity by opening chapters nationwide. The Northwest SBDC will continue to be there offering support and resources.
