Jacob Wayman named director of downtown business accelerator

Jacob Wayman has been named director of the planned e2e Accelerator and is set to start recruiting business mentors.

Accelerator CEO John Dascher said he expects to launch the accelerator to foster four to six new companies in Wichita this summer. The accelerator is one of the projects of the Greater Wichita Partnership’s Entrepreneurship Task Force.

Hired in December, Dascher has been building the organization, recruiting donors and interviewing potential companies.

“It’s going so well that I can no longer do it by myself,” Dascher said. “I need help, and that’s where Jacob comes in.”

He said that one of Wayman’s biggest goals is to recruit the volunteer mentors to aid the companies.

Wayman grew up in Wichita and graduated from Wichita State University with a bachelor’s degree in health services management. He earned a master’s degree in health administration from the University of Kansas Medical Center while employed with physicians’ offices and major medical centers before moving into employee benefits consulting.

During his time in Kansas City, Wayman found his entrepreneurial passion. That led him to launch Startup Rewind, a speaker series similar to 1 Million Cups.

Wayman’s focus on growing businesses attracted the attention of Gary Oborny, chairman of e2e and co-chairman of the entrepreneurship task force, who tapped Wayman to help bring 1 Million Cups to Wichita.

This story was originally published May 4, 2016 at 5:19 PM with the headline "Jacob Wayman named director of downtown business accelerator."