Open range has a great logo. The tallgrass prairie isn’t just Nebraska’s landscape—it’s a metaphor for what makes ecosystems thrive. Those dry leaves of grass, waving in the wind, serve as homes to insects and rodents, locked in constant warfare with the rivers and the trees. Grass nodding in the wind may seem like the epitome of pacific contentment. 

But there’s actually a lot going on. 

Open Range just launched as Nebraska’s answer to the Silicon Prairie Rising report, and Laurel Oetken is leading the charge as their VP of Operations and sole full-time employee. “We’re not here to own the ecosystem. We’re here to open it,” she explained, laying out a vision where this lean nonprofit acts as connective tissue rather than another empire-builder. With backing from Joe Petsick, Silva Raker, Stephen Osberg, and Charlie Cuddy, Open Range plans to amplify existing programs, activate solutions for ecosystem gaps, and improve access to resources—all while staying intentionally small and founder-focused.  

“Startups have the ability to change lives and to change the way that we think about community growth and wealth generation,” Oetken said, articulating why this matters beyond business metrics. The organization won’t own programming; instead, it’ll coordinate, connect, and make it easier for founders to “start here and stay here long-term.” 

It’s structured like a startup itself, ready to fail fast and learn faster, with Oetken bringing her Flywheel, Tech Nebraska, and Chamber experience to build what she calls “a vibrant innovation economy, where startups, businesses, creators are all supported, celebrated, and feel like they can scale.” 

True to that philosophy, Open Range is investing in existing programs rather than recreating what already works. Through partnerships with the Nebraska Startup Academy and by helping launch the Greater Omaha Techstars Startup Community, the organization is already plugging resources into locally-grown initiatives that need capacity, not competition. It’s ecosystem building that respects what’s already rooted in place. 

That understanding matters because Nebraska’s startup landscape, like the tallgrass prairie itself, is easy to misread. When Lewis and Clark first encountered these endless grasslands, they saw emptiness—men raised under forest canopies mistook the open range for desert. But prairies are teeming with life, resilient and adaptive beneath the surface. Open Range gets it. Their logo, inspired by waving tall grass, signals that they see what others miss: not an empty field, but a complex ecosystem primed to flourish with the right resources and connections.