In downtown Akron, historic buildings have been repurposed as hubs for what’s frequently called the future of entrepreneurship. Press releases highlight new partnerships, ribbon cuttings celebrate expanded coworking spaces, and annual fundraising events draw the same, familiar crowd. But behind the polished halls and carefully curated newsletters, a more pressing question persists: Where are the success stories? Is true “innovation” really occurring?
The Input Obsession
Business incubators have mastered measuring what they put in, while remaining remarkably silent about what they produce. Square footage becomes a metric of success. The number of partnerships signed substitutes for actual impact. Event attendance replaces economic development as a key performance indicator.
This isn’t accidental—it’s strategic. Inputs are easy to control and impressive to report. “300,000 square feet of innovation space” sounds substantial. “50+ resident organizations” suggest bustling activity. But these numbers tell us nothing about whether a single job was created, whether any resident company achieved sustainable revenue, or whether the broader Akron economy benefited in any measurable way.
The most telling indicator of an organization’s real impact isn’t found in its marketing materials but in what it doesn’t say. When success stories are scarce, organizations pivot to infrastructure stories. When concrete outcomes are elusive, they celebrate process milestones. Plus, let’s be honest…” coworking facilities are not innovative.”
The Event Circuit: Preaching to the Converted
Perhaps nowhere is this misallocation of focus more evident than in the endless cycle of small-scale fundraising events that have become the primary public face of these organizations. The same donors, the same speakers, and the same networking crowd gather in the same rooms to hear about the same initiatives.
While these events generate modest revenue and create an illusion of community engagement, they reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of what marketing and growth truly require. Genuine organizational expansion demands reaching beyond your current base, rather than repeatedly tapping the same well. It necessitates compelling stories of transformation, not merely stories of good intentions.
The resources allocated to these insular gatherings could be redirected toward comprehensive public relations campaigns that highlight actual results—if such results existed. The absence of such campaigns suggests either a lack of marketing sophistication or, more troubling, a lack of compelling outcomes to promote.
The Diversity Deficit
Equally concerning is the apparent disconnect between the stated missions of fostering innovation and the reality of who receives meaningful support. While diversity and inclusion have become mandatory talking points in the business development world, the programming and resources directed toward minority-owned businesses often feel superficial rather than substantial.
True inclusive economic development requires more than mere token representation at events or superficial partnerships. It necessitates dedicated resources, specialized programming, and measurable commitments to outcomes in underserved communities. The lack of robust minority business support programming in organizations that claim to serve the entire entrepreneurial ecosystem highlights a blind spot that undermines their stated mission.
Learning from Those Who Deliver
The contrast becomes stark when you examine organizations that truly move the economic development needle. The Greater Akron Chamber of Commerce, while operating under different constraints and objectives, consistently demonstrates measurable results in business attraction and retention. The Akron Urban League offers concrete support and attainable pathways for minority entrepreneurs and job seekers.
These organizations grasp a fundamental truth: credibility stems from results, not rhetoric. They assess their success by the businesses they help grow, the jobs they create, and the economic activity they generate—not by the ribbon cuttings they organize.
The Accountability Gap
What’s missing in too many of our local business incubators is basic accountability to the community that supports them. Economic development isn’t a hobby or a social experiment—it’s a vital function that directly affects people’s livelihoods and the region’s future competitiveness.
Communities deserve to know: How many startups graduated from your programs and remained operational after two years? What was the average revenue growth of your tenant companies? How many jobs were created, and at what wage levels? What percentage of startups failed? What specific economic impact can you demonstrate in measurable terms?
These aren’t unreasonable questions. They’re the baseline expectations any serious economic development organization should welcome.
The Power of Authentic Storytelling
What effective business incubators understand—and what many of our local organizations seem to overlook—is that storytelling isn’t just marketing fluff. It’s the bridge between abstract economic development goals and tangible community impact. However, here’s the crucial distinction: authentic storytelling requires authentic results to share.
The public desires more than just success stories. They need to witness the successes and see facts to support them. These narratives foster community buy-in, motivate other entrepreneurs, and showcase returns on investment to stakeholders. However, compelling storytelling in economic development requires more than uplifting anecdotes. It demands engaging narratives backed by solid data points.
Consider what a genuine success story looks like: “Sarah’s tech startup, which began in our incubator in 2021, grew from two employees to fifteen, generated $1.2 million in revenue last year, and recently secured Series A funding that will create twenty additional jobs in Akron.” This isn’t just a story—it’s a story of substance, one that demonstrates measurable economic impact while inspiring others.
Compare that to typical incubator communication: “We hosted a successful networking event with thirty attendees who enjoyed pizza and learned about available resources.” One represents transformation; the other represents activity masquerading as achievement.
A Call for Substance Over Style
The solution isn’t to abandon business incubation—when done right, it can be transformative. The solution is to demand better.
- Organizations that genuinely serve entrepreneurial communities focus relentlessly on outputs: successful businesses, job creation, revenue generation, and measurable economic impact.
- They share stories about entrepreneurs who established their footing, companies that expanded successfully, and communities that thrived as a result.
- They invest in marketing that highlights these transformations because they have transformations to showcase.
- Most importantly, they understand that their value proposition to the community isn’t based on the grandeur of their facilities or the number of partnerships; it’s based on their ability to create economic opportunities and deliver tangible results.
Until our local business development organizations acknowledge this fundamental truth, they will remain convoluted solutions to problems they haven’t clearly defined, funded by communities whose patience and resources deserve far better management.
The entrepreneurial spirit that built Akron deserves incubators worthy of that legacy. It’s time to demand nothing less than measurable impact from organizations claiming to shape our economic future.
The Time for Accountability is Now
Community leaders and elected officials should thoroughly review the grants, tax incentives, and public funds flowing to these organizations. Every economic development grant awarded, every tax abatement approved, and every public investment made should be linked to clear, measurable outcomes and regular performance evaluations.
The citizens of Akron deserve to know whether their tax dollars are producing genuine economic returns or merely subsidizing well-intentioned but ineffective operations. We need transparency reports that demonstrate not just how money was spent, but what tangible benefits have been delivered to our community.
This isn’t about eliminating support for business development; it’s about ensuring that support actually fosters business growth. Our community’s economic future is too important to be left to good intentions and flashy brochures. It’s time to demand results that reflect our investment.