This year another lucky business got to walk away with Russ’s Market Nebraska Best Local Product Award. This award has been going on for seven years now, but this year GROW Nebraska was honored to help present Cedar Hollow Ham’s as the winner. Cedar Hollow Ham’s is based out of Lincoln, Nebraska and was without a doubt the right choice for the award.

Every Valentine has a special place in your heart, whether it’s your best friend, your family, a loved one, or maybe even a combination of all of those! We have you covered with some fun Nebraska based business gift ideas!

GROW Nebraska is excited to announce a new board member inductee Marcia White. Marcia is a native Nebraskan and grew up here most of her life with a couple out of the country exceptions.

GROW Nebraska member, Chef Bob Haney, who you may know from his many trips around the world from his fifteen-year modeling career, maybe as the pan crêpe guy, or maybe even as a husband or a father. However, most know him now as the man who started Heavenly Waffles. Bob has been a GROW Nebraska member since 2020. His line has expanded not only in the last couple of years but also in the last decade.

GROW Nebraska is excited to announce this month our center display is all about coffee and hot chocolate. The best part is you can drink Nebraska while you stay warm!

As part of the MarkeTech 2023 conference, keynote speaker Sarah Calhoun of Red Ants Pants will be speaking for the very first time in Nebraska. As an industry leader in both business and functional fashion, Calhoun will bring her passion for rural communities, working family farms and ranches, and advocating for women in leadership.

Registration for the 2023 MarkeTech + Agritourism & Adventure Travel Workshop is now open. This year, Nebraska Tourism is combining its workshop with GROW Nebraska’s MarkeTech Conference.

GROW Nebraska, in partnership with Google, launched a new training series in February of 2022. This FREE to the public workshop series features different topics each month, with a focus on google tools and boosting online visibility for businesses. There are both English & Spanish versions of these trainings offered every first Wednesday of the month. The English session takes place over zoom at 12pm CST. The Spanish session is done the same day at 6pm CST. All GROW Nebraska trainings are on demand trainings anywhere anytime. If entrepreneurs are unable to join during the live presentation all they need to do is sign up and the recording will be sent to them.

GROW Nebraska Women’s Business Center is honored to announce we were selected as one of the local nonprofits by Fund for Omaha to receive the grant promoting our Snap and Boost Program Spanish.

You can find the fruits of his labor in movie theaters across America. Depending on the weekend, you might find the man himself in London or Bangkok.

GROW Nebraska is excited to announce Clarissa Feldman of Setting D Ranch LLC has made her part time business a full-time job! Clarissa and her husband Dan run a ranch by Litchfield Nebraska, and their company sells all different kinds of cuts of meat, from beef to pork they have a wide range of options. GROW Nebraska partnered with Clarissa Feldman back in 2021. Clarissa started working for GROW Nebraska full time knowing she wanted a place where she was able to grow her business and learn as much as possible.

GROW Nebraska is excited for gift box season being right around the corner! There are so many great things to promote and put out there from all the Nebraska businesses who participate! Every box is customized and made with the person in mind. We ask a variety of questions when you order, either in person, email, or phone, making it the perfect gift from you to anyone you want to gift it to!

Lt. Gov. Foley, local leaders celebrate Niobrara Valley Vineyards’ expansion project, which will be assisted by funding from the Community Development Block Grant program for Tourism Development.

As 2022’s state fair has come to an end, GROW Nebraska wants to thank all the members for making it possible for this year’s outcome to be so great! We were up over all in sales and had our second largest state fair outcome. GROW Nebraska had about 54 businesses participate, and some of those were service businesses who came and promoted their products!

This Summer, the GROW Nebraska Women’s Business Center (GNWBC) was offered an opportunity to partner with Step Up! Omaha – a nonprofit organization that assist youths in resume and interview preparation and first job placements. Step Up! Omaha was able to pair us with an amazing intern named Lydia Okuku. Lydia came to us as a 2022 graduate from Millard North who was excited to learn more about marketing and business management.

Not many success stories start at twelve years old, but for Nic Bianchi that’s exactly when it all began. He got a candle making kit for his birthday and only grew from there. He started a couple of lines of candles, Bianchi Candle Company, and Yes You Candle.

Today, Grow Nebraska Women’s Business Center announced its plan to help bring a new online curriculum to small businesses across Nebraska: Verizon Small Business Digital Ready.

Deep fat fried food, animals all around, carnival rides, sweet tooth cravings to fill up on! What could all of this mean except Nebraska State Fair is getting ready to roll into town again! GROW Nebraska is happy to be a vendor there again this year with a store front booth inside the Pinnacle building!

GROW Nebraska is excited to announce a new board member, Gary Peterson! Although he may be new to the board, Gary has been a part of the GROW Nebraska foundation since the very beginning. He was an early adviser when the foundation started in 1998.

Back in the Fall of 2022, Chelsea came to the GROW Nebraska Women’s Business Center to help officially launch her hair care company called Simply Soul. Simply Soul is known for selling hair masks right now however, they plan to grow and sell more products outside of just hair masks. Chelsea started this business hoping to help other people and give back knowing that the hair masks helped her with her overall scalp health.

Maria Elena Duron of Houston will kick off the June 21-22 event at the Younes Conference Center South. The annual conference was created to help Nebraska’s cottage industries learn effective ways to market their wares. However, MarkeTech now is attracting larger businesses — a testament to the effectiveness of what they’ve learned at the conference put on by GROW Nebraska.

Cranson states her advice for anyone wanting to grow or open a business, is to go for it! “We enjoy growing and setting goals and meeting those goals. It’s fun to keep challenging ourselves.”

MarkeTech 2022 is happening June 21-22 in Kearney at the Younes Conference Center South. This conference meshes marketing and technology into two days of engaging educational training, presentations, and networking opportunities for small and large businesses.