The Joy of Gifting Local

by Grow Nebraska | Jan 27, 2022 | GROW Blog, Uncategorized

The Joy of Gifting Local

Between reports of shipping delays, supply chain issues, and travel restrictions this year, it was clear that many people were worried about holiday shopping… but here at GROW Nebraska, we know that gifting local is the only option you never have to worry about!

This year, GROW Nebraska started our holiday Gift Box program, which allowed companies to give back to their employees and clients through thoughtfully-curated gift boxes, packed full of incredible goodies and products exclusively from our GROW Nebraska members!

One of the companies that took the most advantage of this program was E&A Consulting, an engineering company specializing in civil engineering and land development. E&A purchased 325 gift boxes for their clients, and ended up supporting 14 different Nebraska-based businesses in the process. We had the opportunity to chat with Chelsea Benck with E&A, who said, “We wanted to find someone who was local, versus supporting a big box company. We help create communities, so we found that it was important to find a company with local roots in these communities. We wanted to let our clients see how important they are to us.”

Chelsea told us that E&A was happy to be part of this partnership, and to be able to give back to their clients in a way that supports other Nebraska business owners. When asked about their experience, she said, “We really liked the option to have things customized. We were able to show who we are, using our brand colors in things like tissue paper. We’re really happy with the overall product, and definitely found value in it.”

We’re so grateful to E&A Consulting for choosing our Gift Box program, as well as all of the other participants! Here’s what they had to say about their experience with the program:

“We chose to partner with GROW Nebraska this holiday season to give our employees something different for Christmas. GROW Nebraska is excellent to work with. The gift boxes arrived at our employee’s doorsteps, and we have heard numerous positive comments on the box presentation and the gifts inside.”

— Haley Ehrke, Ag Valley Co-op

“Adams Insurance Advisors chose to send 175 customer appreciation gifts with GROW Nebraska on the recommendation of one of our employees, and we wanted to support businesses in the state where AIA calls home. As an added bonus, we could customize our box to highlight products from our direct service areas in Nebraska! I would recommend using GROW Nebraska, as they quickly responded to inquiries, provided frequent updates on our order, and were an overall pleasure to partner with for our customer appreciation gifts. In addition, they drop-shipped the gift boxes to our customers, which was helpful since many of our customers are out of state, and as a safety precaution for the ongoing pandemic.”

— Kate Wright, Adams Insurance Advisors

We want to thank everyone who participated in our Gift Box program this holiday season — it was the perfect year to gift local!

About the GROW Nebraska® Foundation

The GROW Nebraska® Foundation helps entrepreneurs get the resources they need to live in Anywhere, NE and make a sustainable living. Since the inception of GROW Nebraska® in 1998 our vision and mission has never wavered: to create viable economic development through business training, technical assistance, promotion, and access to markets. We create impactful opportunities for small business owners and entrepreneurs to live in “Anywhere”, Nebraska and make a sustainable living.

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GROW Nebraska Foundation launches Google Training Series in English and Spanish

by Grow Nebraska | Jan 18, 2022 | GROW Blog, Uncategorized

GROW Nebraska Foundation launches Google Training Series in English and Spanish

Kearney, NE – The GROW Nebraska Foundation along with the Nebraska Enterprise Fund is thrilled to announce starting Wednesday, February 2, 2022, a monthly Google training series will be offered in English and Spanish. The trainings will be presented by certified Google Grow Your Business trainers Dave Meyer and Sixica Devine. The trainings will also be training on demand so even if you are unable to make the actual training time the recording will be sent out to all registered participants.

“Our board continues to push the GROW Nebraska team to offer training opportunities that will make a difference for our Nebraska businesses. If we can help businesses become more indexed in Google, it is a win for everyone” – Janell Anderson Ehrke GROW Nebraska CEO. To help make these trainings possible we have partnered with the Nebraska Enterprise fund. “Partnering with Nebraska Enterprise Fund makes this opportunity even stronger. The trainings are open to the public; anyone who wants to learn more about Google should sign up. “The GROW Nebraska Foundation Board of Directors could not be happier with our newest training series”

– Kent Grisham, GROW Nebraska Foundation board member.

The Google training in English will be offered from noon to 1:00 pm CST

Topic Name: Get Your Local Business On Google Search & Maps

The Google training in Spanish will be offered 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm. CST

Topic Name: Ponga Su Negocio En Google Search Y Maps

Sixcia Devine and Dave Meyer are the Google experts who will be presenting our training series. They are exhilarated to work with GROW Nebraska and had this to say about our upcoming training series.

“Digital education for learners and small business owners is essential for professional and personal growth. The key to implementing those tools is simplicity and that is what I hope to share with the attendees who join my workshops.”

“La educación digital para estudiantes y propietarios de pequeñas empresas es esencial para el crecimiento profesional y personal. La clave para implementar esas herramientas es la simplicidad y eso es lo que espero compartir en los talleres de Google.”

-Sixcia

“I’m excited to kick off our Grow with Google training series with our first event: Get Your Local Business on Google Search and Maps,” said Dave Meyer, speaker/trainer for Grow with Google. Showing up when customers are searching online is more important than ever. Ensure customers can find accurate, updated information about your local business on Google Search and Google Maps, no matter which device they use.”

-Dave

About the GROW Nebraska® Foundation

The GROW Nebraska® Foundation helps entrepreneurs get the resources they need to live in Anywhere, NE and make a sustainable living. Since the inception of GROW Nebraska® in 1998 our vision and mission has never wavered: to create viable economic development through business training, technical assistance, promotion, and access to markets. We create impactful opportunities for small business owners and entrepreneurs to live in “Anywhere”, Nebraska and make a sustainable living.

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The Best Secrets and Science Behind Growing Your Business | GROW Nebraska’s FREE Online Training

by GROW Admin | Sep 23, 2021 | Training

GROW Nebraska’s® FREE Online Training

The Best Secrets and Science Behind Growing Your Business

How to Livestream Your Business to New Customers

What would happen if you could gather the most effective intelligence behind growing a wildly successful business alongside the strategies to put them into place and how to maintain them?

Lindsay Thomsen plans to share the most valuable, proven and relevant business insights that can directly impact your business, team and you as a leader. She will share examples of how these insights relate to her as an entrepreneur, her businesses and more than 20 years’ worth of clients.

During this webinar, Lindsay will cover the three things she sees that the best business insights are related to:

-How you perceive and operate your business,

-How you perceive and develop your team,

-How you perceive and conduct yourself as a leader.

WATCH NOW

This webinar is presented by Lindsay Thomsen. A Business Psychologist, her passion in life is inspiring, supporting and teaching others. She shared with GROW Nebraska:

“I love watching people grow; it encourages me to learn from every opportunity as well. This has led to a purpose-filled career journey as a therapist, psychologist, business coach, professor, and entrepreneur. I was inspired by my grandfathers who each pursued entrepreneurial opportunities, encountered and overcame multiple speed bumps, and left legacies that have outlived them both. I credit them for inspiring each of my entrepreneurial journeys and persevering through the challenges along the way. I am proud to have built businesses from the ground-up, resurrected a business in need, contribute to our multi-generational family business, support my husband as an owner and help business owners along the way. Since I love learning and helping others, earning a Master’s degree in Counseling and a PhD in Business Psychology provided additional education to enable the best knowledge I can share.

This training is brought to you in part by the Center for Rural Affairs. Its mission is to “Establish strong rural communities, social and economic justice, environmental stewardship, and genuine opportunity for all while engaging people in decisions that affect the quality of their lives and the future of their communities.”

How HayBale Banners, LLC turned a Nebraska fixture into an innovative business model

by GROW Admin | Sep 6, 2021 | GROW Blog

How HayBale Banners, LLC turned a Nebraska fixture into an innovative business model

The spirit of an entrepreneur is one of innovation and resourcefulness, of which Rodney Keiser, founder of HayBale Banners, LLC, a GROW Nebraska member, is a prime example.

By identifying an untapped need, and combining his creativity with the resources he had at hand, Rodney has managed to build a successful business that is both unique and relevant to our area: the Heartland of America.

The story of HayBale Banners begins at a company that Rodney had previously worked for. They had run into difficulties getting printed material in their area, and decided to buy a big HP large-format printer. Rodney then helped set up a division called “Exceptional Prints.”

One year, for the Wauneta Annual Harvest Festival, the Chamber decided to hold a hay bale decorating contest. As Rodney was president of the Chamber at that time, he was involved in the event.

“I had no idea what that was all about,” he said. “I was more of a tech person. A ‘graphics technician.’ But that’s where I got the idea. I thought, ‘Wow, nobody makes signs for these big round hay bales.’”

His company had just gotten a new printer, so he decided to do some research. He eventually talked to Charlie MacPherson, the UNO business development contact for rural areas, at Mid Plains Community College. MacPherson saw the potential and encouraged him to try to obtain a patent.

Though they discovered that there’s no patent classification for printed material, Rodney plowed ahead, showing people pictures and mockups of his plans.

“I only had two people think it was a bad idea,” said Rodney. “Everybody else loved it. That’s the first time in my career I’ve had 80% of people like a business idea.” He laughed. “Eventually one of those people who hated it came in and asked for two for his high school reunion!”

2020 did take a toll, however. “Last year, because of COVID, was a challenge,” he added. “One of the markets we’ve homed in on is the state and county fair manager convention. Originally there were 10 fairs in Nebraska that were willing to go, but only one of them actually happened in 2020.”

He worked hard at marketing the business, though, and reports that 2021 has been the company’s best year so far. He’s looking forward to November, December, January, and February, when he’ll go out and market to states with large rural populations and round hay bales.

GROW Nebraska has also had a hand in his success. In 2019, Rodney took advantage of the GROW Nebraska tables at the Nebraska State Fair, where he met a woman from Iowa looking to buy 8 banners in 2020. While the order didn’t happen in 2020, it did in 2021, along with a 6 banner order from another county fair — a referral from the woman in Iowa.

He’s also enjoyed GROW’s technical education, specifically Facebook and Google advertising.

“I’m glad I did it,” he said. “Just last night I got a phone call from a corn maze company in Wisconsin, who found us from Facebook ads.”

Rodney says the popular items right now are school spirit banners, pictures of seniors with their classes, and messages of good luck for the schools. While they are still working on some event banners, he’s found that many parents are putting in extra effort this year to make things special for their kids, after such a hard school year last year.

GROW Nebraska is proud of our members, and we love seeing them thrive!

Story by Lauren Bonk, owner of the Curtain and Pen Copywriting Services, a GROW Nebraska member. Lauren hails from Kearney, NE, where she works as a freelance copywriter for small businesses, startups, and even larger corporate entities in need of professionally-written marketing content for their businesses and organizations.

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The 3 Things Every Business Needs to Know About Cybersecurity | GROW Nebraska’s FREE Online Training

by GROW Admin | Jul 29, 2021 | Training

GROW Nebraska’s® FREE Online Training

The 3 Things Every Business Needs to Know About Cybersecurity

Technology problems can be overwhelming, but most of them are preventable. If you are doing business today, technology is intertwined throughout your entire organization. It’s crucial to have your company’s systems setup correctly to be resilient against threats or problems, so you can have confidence in systems you rely on.

In this presentation, we will cover three core areas of cybersecurity that apply to businesses of any size. By attending this webinar you will receive the foundational understanding of strong authentication, backup/continuity, and the type of technology maintenance/support that fits your needs.

Whether you are one person just starting up your business or a large established enterprise, these three topics are essential to both understand and implement.

WATCH NOW

This webinar is presented by Tanner Lytle. Tanner works in Sales and Marketing for Honorbound IT, a technology company that focuses on serving businesses across Nebraska, Kansas, and Colorado. Honorbound IT uses proactive services & to stabilize the technology in their customer’s businesses, remediate and eliminate a lot of the “Tech Fatigue” that happens in daily business life. They believe in “practicing what we preach” and after working hard and learning techniques that have given them success, they are excited to share that helpful information with more businesses!

This training is brought to you in part by the Center for Rural Affairs. Its mission is to “Establish strong rural communities, social and economic justice, environmental stewardship, and genuine opportunity for all while engaging people in decisions that affect the quality of their lives and the future of their communities.”