Fast Company: ‘Why You Should Start a Company in… Omaha’
Screenshot of article from fastcompany.com
Today, Fast Company published an article featuring Omaha and the reasons that our city is a great place to start a company. Titled, "Why You Should Start a Company in...Omaha," it's part of an ongoing Fast Company series highlighting emerging entrepreneurial hubs around the country.
Special thanks to Laura Rich, freelance writer and co-founder of Recessionwire, for the opportunity to talk a bit about what we're doing here.
Also, a thank you goes to Mark Hasebroock for his great insight and contributions to the piece. Hasebroock is the founder of two Omaha startups – GiftCertificates.com and Hayneedle – and most recently Dundee Venture Capital.
Thanks again to the amazing Silicon Prairie community who make it easy to help tell the story of what we're building.
Why You Should Start a Company in... Omaha
By Laura Rich
It used to be, if you were serious about starting a tech company, you went to Silicon Valley. But emerging entrepreneurial hubs around the country are giving startup aspirants options. In this series, we talk to leading figures in those communities about what makes them tick.
Let's get Warren Buffett out of the way first. The investing guru and “Oracle of Omaha” manages to draw tens of thousands of attendees to […]
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Another positive aspect for entrepreneurs is the availability of financing through the U.S. Small Business Administration. The percentage increase in SBA-backed loan volume and loan numbers from fiscal year 2009 to 2010 compares favorably to some similar sized metropolitan areas in the country.
The Omaha area (specifically, the 2nd Congressional District) saw a 35 percent increase in loan dollar volume from FY 2009 to FY 2010, outpacing the increase in metro areas such as Albuquerque, Tulsa, Little Rock, Hartford, and Madison. The increase was comparable to Boise, while behind Oklahoma City (68 percent) and Boulder (78 percent).
The increase in overall loan numbers, which were up 43 percent in the Omaha area over the past fiscal year, outpaced the percentage increase in all of those cities except Boulder (44 percent).