Report Shows Growth of State’s Entrepreneurial Ecosystem under Nebraska Business Innovation Act

Article by Nebraska Department of Economic Development

A new report by UNL’s Bureau of Business Research shows that Nebraska’s efforts to become one of the nation’s best states for entrepreneurs and startups are paying off — in more ways than one.

The report — The Annual Economic Impact of Businesses Supported by Nebraska Business Innovation Act Programs — examined outcomes related to one of the state’s main grant opportunities for early-stage businesses, the Nebraska Business Innovation Act (BIA).

“The BIA was created by the legislature in 2012 to grow Nebraska’s startup climate,” said Joe Fox, Director of Business Development at the Nebraska Department of Economic Development (DED), which administers the BIA program on behalf of the State. “It allows us to support high-growth, high-tech and highly-innovative small businesses throughout their early stages of growth, from seed funding all the way to commercialization.”

The new report — the latest in a series of biennial analyses of the BIA program —  examined outcomes related to businesses that have received BIA funding, from revenue generated to jobs created and their overall impact on the Nebraska economy.