1 Million Cups moving to Plaza Towers event center

A networking event that's been connecting entrepreneurs with potential investors since 2014 is relocating to a new space.

Sterling Huff Jr., co-founder of 1 Million Cups Springfield, said the event would relocate to the Sunshine Event Center within Plaza Towers, 1736 E. Sunshine St., starting Jan. 7. It's been held for the past four years at Bambinos Cafe's southeast Springfield location, he said, noting former hosts have included the Efactory and the Springfield Art Museum.

"Every once in a while, it's good to repot yourself," Huff said. "It's just one of those things where the Sunshine center was going to get opened up, and we thought it might be a good place to see if we can help them and they can help us with a new venue."

Huff declined to disclose the financial terms of the arrangement at Plaza Towers.

Held every Wednesday morning, 1 Million Cups provides a stage for entrepreneurs to share their business ideas over a cup of coffee. Huff said more than 700 entrepreneurs have pitched business ideas through the event to date, though he noted the metric of how many successfully connect with investors is not tracked.

"There have been several that presented at 1MC that had gone through fundraising rounds," Huff said. "Most of our presenters, most of our companies, are being boot-strapped by the owner.

"It's just something we like to do to help businesses scale."

1MC is a program started by the Kansas City-based Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.