OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — For two years now Elevator Spaces in downtown Omaha has helped small businesses expand and grow. The Small Business Administration paid a visit on Wednesday to see the space and celebrate its success.
- Over the last four years, 19.4 million new business applications have been filed in the U.S. including 75,000 in Nebraska alone.
- Elevator Spaces CEO says the business offers flexible leasing, resources and a sense of community.
- One business owner says, "You can come into a place like this and you can ask people questions and everyone's here to offer a helping hand to help you succeed."
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
It's not your typical warehouse because inside each of these suites is a small business, doing their own thing on their own terms.
For two years now - the Elevator Co-Warehouse Space and Community has helped small businesses like Lindsay Whitmore’s expand and grow.
She's been a tattoo artist for 20 years but recently became an independent business owner and moved in here 6 months ago.
"You can come into a place like this, and you can ask people questions and everyone's here to offer a helping hand to help you succeed. Answer questions," said Whitmore.
Co-founder and CEO of Elevator Spaces Emiliano Lerda says he relied on support from his neighbors.
"We help businesses get out of their homes, out of their garages, which is a great place to start a business, but maybe not the best place to grow a business. And they need that flexibility, they need that support. Most importantly, they need that community," said Lerda.
This building downtown houses 102 local businesses and are part of a larger national story.
Over the last four years, there have been over 19.4 million new business applications filed in the U.S. including 75,000 in Nebraska alone.
To see the space and celebrate its success, representatives from the Small Business Administration (SBA) paid a visit on Wednesday.
"It's wonderful to, to see a community leader, somebody who's really committed to other small businesses growing and you know, see how, what success it's bringing to the economy locally," said Isabel Casillas Guzman, the SBA Administrator.
The SBA points out that above average growth in small businesses is being led by women and minorities. And that we're seeing the fastest rate of Latino entrepreneurship in three decades that includes Lerda, who immigrated from Argentina.
“There is a, a resiliency and a tenacity that a lot of those Latino owned businesses have that I see myself as being originally from Argentina and coming to this country with, with nothing else but, you know, a vision," said Lerda.
“There's nothing like helping people express themselves,” said Whitmore.
Elevator Spaces is expanding and plans on opening two new locations in the next 12 months.
