Last week, nMotion announced that it is expanding its offerings to include a stronger Omaha connection. This is an excellent move by Omaha community leaders to bolster the local ecosystem. nMotion has been a critical component of driving business creation and growth in Lincoln. Other communities would be wise to consider an accelerator as a means to jumpstart and improve innovation.
But, my take regarding why nMotion matters is a little different than many other researchers and ecosystem builders. I strongly believe that the biggest benefit is not in the program itself and its graduates but in the way it weaves multiple components of the ecosystem together such that they become tighter knit. Accelerators do help facilitate the creation of a few businesses. In a pool of five, maybe two will exist in a similar structure after three or four years, and occasionally one of these businesses will grow well.
But, every accelerator class brings mentors together. This means that corporate venture people meet with entrepreneurs who are acting as mentors. This means that local Chambers and entrepreneurial support organizations see each other during the cohort on a regular basis. And, this means that there is a culmination event where five to eight businesses give a pitch of their business. This reinforces many attributes of the pitch for them and others, but it also acts as a regular community gathering event.
The community aspect of an Accelerator is the key – not just that there are five new at-bats in the ecosystem. nMotion’s events have been important in bringing people from Omaha and Lincoln together for the last half decade and acted as a keystone for communication and regular engagement. This continuity and consistency is often under-valued by ecosystem builders and entrepreneurs. The fact that the ecosystem centers on the entrepreneur does not lessen the importance of the support structures talking, meeting, and community building together on a regular basis.
In short, nMotion will now provide a second Eastern Nebraska event, but the critical component is it gives the region an excuse to see each other regularly, work together with purpose, and enjoy each other’s company consistently.
Read the press release here!
