The Covid-19 pandemic has affected every facet of our economy, increasing a cultural reliance on e-commerce that is here to stay. Retailers have responded by minimizing square footage of brick-and-mortar store fronts, keeping less inventory on site, and focusing more on entertainment and experiential retail to keep shoppers engaged. A...Continue Reading

The warm, sunny weather on Wednesday was the opportune time for the City of Beatrice to open the Sertoma Splash Pad at Sertoma Astro Park for the summer season. Members of the Beatrice Sertoma Club arrived to the park, located at 19th and Hoyt streets, to have a grand opening fo...Continue Reading

Forbes compared nearly 800 locales in America, on everything from housing costs and taxes to healthcare, air quality and climate change and natural hazard risk. These are the top 25 cities for retirees. Steve and Kathleen Nagel had two special requirements as they searched for a retirement locale last fall: plentifu...Continue Reading

Jason Hennessey ENTREPRENEUR LEADERSHIP NETWORK CONTRIBUTOR When I was young, I always knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur. Most of my school friends wanted to be doctors, lawyers or firefighters. Not me: I was driven from childhood toward entrepreneurship. I sold lollipops from my backpack when I was in grade school; being ...Continue Reading

GROW Nebraska will open a women's business center in Omaha. The ribbon-cutting will be at 3 p.m. at the Empowerment Center, 5190 Sprague Plaza, Suite 216. The Small Business Administration announced grant funding for 20 new women's business centers in 2021. Omaha was included. GROW Nebraska is partnering with the Metro Omaha Women'...Continue Reading

Starting a business can cost tens of thousands of dollars, even if you’re working with something small and lean. If you’re trying to launch a business that requires heavy equipment, or if you’re looking to expand quickly, you might need millions.  It’s likely that you will face a financial burden upon enterin...Continue Reading

Small towns across America are experiencing the dilemma of reversing population decline without losing their historical traditions and values. Adams in Nebraska, a town of approximately 600 finds itself in an opposite situation. “The growth we’re experiencing is making it more difficult to know everyone,” said Erin Dorn, an Adams resident...Continue Reading

Broadband access is critical in today’s world. Nebraska’s Rural Broadband Remote Access Grant program, using $40 million in CARES Act funds, has helped deploy high-speed internet to the state’s smaller communities. Appreciating the importance of connectivity has been a silver lining of the pandemic, Nichole Reiner, chief strategy officer for the Nebrask...Continue Reading

Gage County is a vibrant community, offering ample opportunities for economic and personal growth. Employers and government entities at both the county and city levels actively support economic development. NGage, or Gage Area Growth Enterprise, is the economic development organization committed to working with businesses to promote growth in Gag...Continue Reading

The challenges faced in 2020 were unlike any other confronted in our lifetime. The global pandemic wreaked havoc on our personal and professional lives and the U.S. and global economies. The Commerce Department reports that U.S. GDP declined 3.5 percent in 2020, with the economy falling into recession in February 202...Continue Reading

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - A bill that would let Nebraska’s larger cities create port authorities along rivers, major rail lines and interstates won first round-approval Wednesday from lawmakers as a way to promote economic development. Lawmakers voted 44-0 to advance the measure through the first of three required votes. The bill b...Continue Reading

Who doesn’t need some happy news these days? Just in time for the United Nation’s annual International Day of Happiness on March 20, the results of the 2021 World Happiness Report have been released—and the results will put a smile on your face, despite the ongoing pandemic that has killed more than 2.6 millio...Continue Reading

Juliet once asked “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Homestead National Historical Park in Gage County, which recently underwent a name change from the Homestead National Monument of America, offers a wonderful glimpse into one of the most impactfu...Continue Reading

All over the world, entrepreneurs are turning to a powerful tool to improve their efficiency and raw output: automation.   Often hailed as the ultimate weapon for increasing productivity, automation certainly has a lot of advantages. But it’s not guaranteed to be effective. In fact, when used incorrectly, automation can end up workin...Continue Reading

This year, many eager new entrepreneurs are ready to hit the ground running with their startups and hopefully experience a year less challenging than the previous one. When launching a new business, it’s important to consider what business tools and core essentials small businesses need in order to thrive in today’s "new normal." ...Continue Reading

LINCOLN — An economic development group is making a push to see just how disconnected rural Nebraska is when it comes to broadband access. The Nebraska Regional Officials Council launched a statewide broadband mapping initiative last month. Tom Bliss helps oversee the project as the Executive Director of the Southeast Nebraska Developmen...Continue Reading

It’s been one year since the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a pandemic, forcing companies across the country to close their office doors. Today, nearly half (47%) of American employees are currently working from home at least part of the time, according to a study by Glassdoor. As vaccine production and distributio...Continue Reading

More than 75 percent of the companies responding to a recent survey from the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) expect the COVID-19 pandemic will have a financial impact on their business, with more than 50 percent anticipating changes to their operations. Prior to the pandemic many manufacturing companies had design and constructio...Continue Reading

Joensuu, a city of 76,000 in Eastern Finland, is home to the European Forest Institute, appropriately enough. It’s also the home base of Valamis, a leading IT company specializing in the digitalization of learning. That may not be a new discipline, but it will take on greater urgency as remot...Continue Reading

Gage County is moving forward with a variety of armor coating projects set to begin later this year. The Board of Supervisors accepted bids for the project, that consists of 11 different armor coating projects in Gage County, during its Wednesday meeting.  Two bids were submitted for the projects. Topkote out o...Continue Reading

Why would my community want to attract a REMOTE WORKFORCE? -- To grow your economy, of course! The coronavirus pandemic has affected U.S. workplaces in many ways, including transitioning many employees to remote work. As some businesses begin to welcome employees back to the office, many remote workers, about two-thirds t...Continue Reading

COVID-19 didn’t just upset the established model of corporate site selection in 2020; the global pandemic obliterated it. Site Selection Magazine’s annual survey of site selection consultants, conducted in late November, revealed five ways in which the global outbreak of coronavirus significantly altered how companies choose their business facility locations: Instead o...Continue Reading

A new report by UNL’s Bureau of Business Research shows that Nebraska’s efforts to become one of the nation’s best states for entrepreneurs and startups are paying off — in more ways than one. The report — The Annual Economic Impact of Businesses Supported by Nebraska Business Innovation Act Programs — examined outcome...Continue Reading