New position aims to bring together area entrepreneurs, support growth
After spending four years working to revitalize Hopewell's downtown, Heather Lyne is taking a new role as Director of Entrepreneurial Ecosystems with the 1717 Collective, working to bring together Richmond's entrepreneurial community.
The role came out of talks among eight groups that work or offer programming in the Michael Wassmer Innovation Center (1717 East Cary St.), which is backed by Capital One. They wanted to find a way to better work together to assist entrepreneurs, and even the playing field for female- and minority-owned small businesses.
"There are so many people that have brilliant ideas, or have something incredible or a talent to offer the Richmond region, and they just need to find that right door, or find the person who can walk them through the right door in order to begin on that journey," Lyne said.
Coming from a small-business family, Lyne said the work is personal to her, and she's excited to find ways to promote startups within the region, taking advantage of a time of regional growth and accolades.
"My role is being anywhere and everywhere, boots on the ground, throughout the region, to really get a handle on all the grassroots and more formal activities that are going on, so we can create a collective strategy for the system," she said.
"Really it’s just helping people move through the pipeline as efficiently and smoothly as possible, so that they can get off the ground or kind of figure out what they need to figure out when it comes to their business."
Lyne was named to Style Weekly's 40 Under 40 list this year for her work helping to revitalize Hopewell's downtown.
She arrives at a pivotal moment for the Richmond area and its small businesses. The 1717 Innovation Center groups started meeting informally, which ultimately turned into the idea for this role and deeper collaboration, and a multi-year commitment from the group's funders.
Activation Capital has also done studies seeking to better understand the startup landscape in the Richmond area, which is dubbed Virginia Region IV on the statewide map.
Lyne will first seek to get a feel for everything going on, then help plug in startups where they can best get the guidance they need.
"There are a lot of happenings, and that’s really wonderful, right? But a lot of entrepreneurs and a lot of the entrepreneur support organizations are a little bit unclear of what the best fit might be for them," she said.
She said it will be important to preserve a focus on representation in the work, which is funded by the Community Foundation, Altria, and Capital One.
"I come more from a community organizing, nonprofit and grassroots space, and a lot of this work is just community organizing and trying to figure out how to really pull people together," she said. "Having boots on the ground, just being present. That's extremely valuable and so important."
