The Lincoln Partnership for Economic Development has named Abby Bartholomew as its new director of entrepreneurship and innovation. Bartholomew, an entrepreneur and business owner, takes over the role from Kathy Andersen, who stepped away last year to focus on her startup, Brint Tech.

Bartholomew comes to the job after years as an entrepreneur and business owner, co-founding an escape room in Lincoln and founding a subscription box service. But she did so largely without knowing about the support system for entrepreneurship in Lincoln.

“My co-founder with Escape Lincoln and I have talked about, we didn’t realize that there was this community of founders and entrepreneurs in Lincoln that, the last 10 years, we could have been leaning on and talking to and learning from and maybe mentoring a little bit, too,” Bartholomew said.

That’s why community connection is a high priority for her at LPED. It’s something all kinds of businesses, from high-growth startups to main street shops, need to succeed. Founders can often feel isolated in their challenges.

“That’s something that I want to make sure that other people don’t fall into, is thinking that you’re alone,” Bartholomew said. “There’s so many areas of business — nobody’s an expert in everything, but there’s such an amazing community in Lincoln, specifically, of people who are so willing to share knowledge and make connections.”

Having started only on Jan. 5, Bartholomew is still getting her bearings at LPED. She aims to learn more about how LPED has supported entrepreneurship before making changes or starting new initiatives.

She also wants to make sure that, while startups receive a lot of hype nowadays, main street businesses also get the support and attention they need.

“There’s such a focus on innovation in the quick growth areas, because that’s where the money is, that’s where the excitement is, that’s where things are happening at such a quick pace,” Bartholomew said. “But small business also has volume and are a key part of the community, too, so I want to make sure that they’re not kind of forgotten in that landscape.”

Lev Gringauz is a Report for America corps member who writes about corporate innovation and workforce development for Silicon Prairie News.