Reynolds shifting roles at Chamber as he takes on heavier load at RaceNote

Dusty Reynolds is shifting roles at the Omaha Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber’s director of entrepreneurship and innovation and one of the well-respected leaders of Omaha’s startup community is stepping down from his position to shift his focus to RaceNote, his own startup that’s starting to take off…


Dusty Reynolds is shifting roles at the Omaha Chamber of Commerce.

The Chamber’s director of entrepreneurship and innovation and one of the well-respected leaders of Omaha’s startup community is stepping down from his position to shift his focus to RaceNote, his own startup that’s starting to take off.

But that doesn’t mean Reynolds will be leaving the Chamber entirely.

Instead, he will become an “Entrepreneur in Residence” and continue to help build the community by connecting entrepreneurs, fostering relationships and helping with community engagement on a part-time basis. About a day or so a week, he says, beginning July 7.

“RaceNote is taking up more and more time and we’ve seen some unique interest from markets like NASCAR and F1 that we weren’t even targeting,” Reynolds told SPN. “The bottom line is it’s taking up more and more time and at the end of the day, I didn’t feel good about where both were going. 

“Neither role was getting as much attention as it should’ve.”

Reynolds said he doesn’t want the startup community to think the Chamber is abandoning them just because of his change in role. In fact, his boss, Randy Thelen said Tuesday they’re already working to hire another director with Reynolds’ drive and skill set as soon as possible. Reynolds joked that the new director will “probably be a lot smarter and more educated than me.”

But both Reynolds and Thelan agree that the Chamber is still very supportive of the entrepreneurial community.

“If you think about a regional economy like it’s a 401K account, you want diversity,” Thelan said. “There’s ‘large cap stocks’ like Fortune 1000 companies here, ‘mid cap’ is your tier two employers with 100-500 employees, ‘international funds’ where we try to attract outside businesses and an ’emerging tech’ element to the portfolio where you get new small companies and startups.

“The entrepreneurial director position fits the need to grow that sector because you need a diverse economy to grow and prosper.”

Thelan said he is thrilled RaceNote is taking off because the Chamber has always wanted this director to have an entrepreneurial mindset and is glad to welcome him into a new role so his expertise stays in house. 

“By having him as an entrepreneur in residence, he can dedicate some time to keep fingers on pulse and continue making those connections, ” Thelan said.  

Reynolds says he’ll be involved on a more micro level, working with entrepreneurs while the new director can look at things on macro level.

In the fall of 2011, Reynolds was hired by the Chamber to replace Tom Chapman. He’s always been an entrepreneur by trade, starting two clothing companies—D&T Shirtified and Sababu Conscious Clothing in Mali.

In the two and a half years he’s held the position, Reynolds saw a crop of startups founded around 2009-2010—like SkyVu, MindMixer, Lincoln’s Hudl and more—grow into their own. 

“For a while it seemed like there was a lull in activity, but now we’re starting to see another ‘class’ of startups take off in 2013-2014,” he said. “I’m seeing a lot more people really willing to start a business. There’s more engagement in the startup community from corporate Omaha. There’s more infrastructure in code schools and accelerators. More angel investors are taking chances on local companies. Universities are more aware of and buying into entrepreneurship.”

Thelan says Reynolds has served as a catalyst to the community during his time at the Chamber. He’s helped create an entrepreneurship program at Benson High School, started the Omaha Event Draft to get more entrepreneurial events on the community’s calendars and will help create more entrepreneurial density in a coming project at the Mastercraft, set to open this fall. 

Thelan is already in talks with a number of candidates who would fit the open position, but said those interested can email the Chamber’s human resources department for more information. A job posting will appear soon. 

“We’re looking for someone with a passion for Omaha, passion for entrepreneurship, is creative and can deliver results. Someone with those same entrepreneurial traits and experiences Dusty had,” he said. “Omaha has a greater entrepreneurial community because of Dusty’s drive and what he brought to the table.

“We hope the new person can take it even further with such great momentum in the tech and entrepreneurial community.”

This story is part of the AIM Archive

This story is part of the AIM Institute Archive on Silicon Prairie News. AIM gifted SPN to the Nebraska Journalism Trust in January 2023. Learn more about SPN’s origin »

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