Last week, Elevator celebrated its official grand opening on April 28th, 2023. The company which offers co-warehousing and community spaces has been a new, instrumental player in the Nebraska ecosystem, welcoming tens of companies from around the region (see graphic below from Elevator’s Facebook page).
The company has built momentum over the last year by being a regular participant at the Mug.News community event, Millwork Commons events, Startup Grind, and One Million Cups. They have also hosted regular office hours and are becoming instrumental in the social network around this region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.
In addition to their official grand opening, the company is currently raising money to open locations in at least two new markets, as Phase 1 of an expansion plan to 20 new markets.
This will help the company grow along its mission. Last year, CEO Shannon Lerda was interviewed by News Channel Nebraska (https://rivercountry.newschannelnebraska.com/story/47060100/electronic-commerce-continues-to-grow-in-the-united-states) and she stated a couple of things that illustrate the company’s value proposition.
“This business is going to provide e-commerce companies, makers, and any small businesses with physical goods that are having trouble finding the right-size space for their business to grow,” Shannon Lerda, owner of Elevator said. “And we’re going to do that by offering flexible, monthly memberships with all-inclusive pricing, so the spaces are move-in ready, they’re small, so you can size up or down as you need to.”
“Our goal is to help them grow their business, get it out of their house and ideally they will become more successful being here,” Lerda said. For example, Peeq Industries, an Omaha startup (operated by the same team that operates Mug.News), was able to rent flexible space at Elevator to warehouse items – but also to build out its booth for a trade show. This allowed the team to practice their trade show plan and activities without limiting their activities due to tight office space constraints.
Lerda continued, “that they will be able to get their own warehouse, larger warehouse space on a longer-term lease. But in the meantime, we want to offer the flexibility that they need in order to be that stepping stone to grow their business.” Small or flexible warehouse space is in tight supply in the region currently – due to multiple factors – including expansion of e-commerce (still lingering from the pandemic), a shift to very large warehouses because of the economics, and other local/national factors. Together this means that Elevator entered the market at a valuable time for many burgeoning local startups.
So, this event really marks more than opening the space but possibly a burst of activity from Elevator, which is located at 1402 Jones Street in downtown Omaha. To learn more, check them out on their active Facebook stream – https://www.facebook.com/elevatorspaces/.