Bi-Annual Report
Learn about the City of Omaha’s commitment with the National League of Cities (NLC) City Inclusive Entrepreneurship (CIE) Program
A Brief Summary About The Commitment
The City Inclusive Entrepreneurship program asks city leaders to commit to creating the right policies, programs, and practices that drive inclusive, entrepreneurship-led economic growth in their community. The City of Omaha Human Rights & Relations Department (HR&R) has participated in two consecutive cohorts that involved working on Resource Mapping and a Business Accelerator initiative.
Considering that concrete contracts account for more than 66% of total City contracts awarded to small and emerging businesses (SEBs), HR&R started a Business Accelerator initiative in collaboration with five community resource organizations that support small business development in Omaha, NE. The initiative consisted of creating a more streamlined experience for SEBs in the concrete industry through a small business hub with the objective of allowing those businesses to flourish and increase bid participation on City contracts.
The City of Omaha Small Business Development Ecosystem conducted several activities to learn about the challenges that SEBs face, hosted trainings to help them grow their capacity, and created materials to simplify the referral and small business planning processes for entrepreneurs wanting to do business in Omaha.
Outputs
- Mapped out the respective services of each organization for optimal cross referral
- Built a joint business plan template
- Sent a survey to SEBs asking for their input, co-hosted a listening session with SEBs to provide services and listen to gaps
- Hosted a bonding seminar and a seminar to teach SEBs about the City’s bidding software
Outcomes
- In the half of 2024, HR&R added six SEBs to the program. Moreover, comparing the first half of 2023 to the first half of 2024, contracts awarded to SEBs increased $2.656 million or 17.7%