Simplify Holiday Shopping with GROW Nebraska Gift Boxes

Simplify Holiday Shopping with GROW Nebraska Gift Boxes

Simplify Holiday Shopping with

GROW Nebraska Gift Boxes

Whether your holiday shopping list includes family, friends, neighbors or business clients, there’s something for everyone at GROW Nebraska®. And, purchasing themed gift baskets from GROW or its members makes your shopping convenient and shows your support of entrepreneurs across the state.

GROW Nebraska® gift boxes or baskets can be ordered in any price range from $20 to $150+ and can include any of more than 3,500 GROW Nebraska® products from soaps and lotions to popcorn and t-shirts. You can design your own package, including the container or box. Or, if that seems too overwhelming, the GROW Nebraska® staff are happy to give suggestions and design the package for you.

Last year and again this year, GROW Nebraska® has the new option to personalize gift boxes (through Jayhawk Boxes) and can customize boxes with company logos and/or receivers’ names.

And while gift box orders increase during the holiday season, any time of year is a great time for made-in-Nebraska gifts.

Lincoln Realtor Johanna Rhoads, ReMAX Real Estate Concepts, wanted a more unique gift to give to her real estate clients this year.

Her husband, Adam, manages the non-profit organization Mystic Rhoads Productions Inc. and is a member of GROW Nebraska. He sells products like Jamaican Jerk Seasoning and Dirt Nap Dip Habanero Pepper Sauce to raise money for community causes.

“My wife always gives a gift to her clients,” Adam said. “The gifts were run-of-the-mill gifts from corporate businesses, and she asked me if I would come up with a more creative and personal gift to give to clients. We decided to put together themed baskets that feature Nebraska-made products.”

They chose three themes – coffee, wine and kitchen – and grouped items together to create unique gifts. The coffee basket includes handmade coffee cups made in Lincoln, corn tea (GROW member), a gift card to a local coffee shop and locally made toffee. The kitchen basket includes a Nebraska-shaped cutting board made in Lincoln, Mystic Rhoads Productions hot sauces and seasonings (GROW member) and Duck Fat Cooking Spray (GROW member). The wine basket includes a bottle of wine, RCK Creations wine glasses (GROW member), Mystic Rhoads Productions seasonings (GROW member) and locally made toffee.

Adam said Johanna has given out nearly 50 baskets this year, and they have been well received.

Other GROW Nebraska members, such as The Basket Case in Kearney and the From Nebraska Gift Store in Lincoln’s historic Haymarket also offer gift-basket services for holidays or other occasions.

With the holiday season quickly approaching, it’s important to order gift boxes soon. One customer has already pre-ordered 150 Nebraska-product gift boxes, so the store will be busy with gift boxes throughout the holiday season!

To order gift baskets:

From GROW Nebraska: https://buynebraska.com/collections/gift-baskets or call the store at (308) 338-3520 or email info@grownebraska.org.

The Basket Case: https://members.grownebraska.org/list/member/the-basket-case-kearney-278

From Nebraska Gift Store: https://buynebraska.com/collections/from-nebraska-gift-shop

“By buying with GROW, the majority of each sale goes directly back into the pocket of entrepreneurs in our very own state,” said GROW’s Executive Director Janell Anderson Ehrke. “When you buy local, you are helping dreams come true for your neighbors. There’s no better gift than that!”

GROW Nebraska® Foundation is a statewide non-profit training and marketing organization. Serving over 400 Nebraska small businesses, the organization provides marketing opportunities, education, and training to launch and connect Nebraska businesses to the global marketplace. GROW Nebraska’s educational programs receive federal and state funding, along with generous support from foundations and individual donors.

GROW Partners With Nebraska’s Largest Environmental Nonprofit To Boost Coffee Sales & Mission

GROW Partners With Nebraska’s Largest Environmental Nonprofit To Boost Coffee Sales & Mission

GROW Partners With Nebraska’s Largest Environmental Nonprofit To Boost Coffee Sales & Mission

The Arbor Day Foundation has partnered with GROW Nebraska to boost sales of its Arbor Day Coffee and to help further spread the organization’s mission.

“GROW Nebraska is a wonderful platform to help spread our mission and try some new marketing tools that we have not tried before,” said Kara Ficke, business development manager for Arbor Day Coffee. “We are excited about the partnership to spread the mission of Arbor Day Foundation and introduce Arbor Day Coffee to a growing audience.”

Coffee beans for Arbor Day Coffee are sustainably grown under the canopy of rain forests and then roasted, creating a richer cup of coffee. The Arbor Day Foundation has been producing and marketing the coffee for 20 years, and the sales of the coffee help support the work of the nonprofit foundation to protect and plant more trees.

Conventional coffee farming practices often involve clear-cutting large areas of the rain forest in an attempt to maximize production. This intense method may increase yield and productivity in the short term but ultimately leads to land degradation including soil depletion, loss of plant and animal biodiversity, and frequent landslides…which leads to increased carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and climate change. This is also concerning for the people that call these farms home.

“I think our biggest benefit of our new partnership with GROW is the opportunity to let more people know about the work that is happening at the Arbor Day Foundation and really bring forward the environmental impact that trees have.  Our mission is truly to inspire people to plant, nurture and celebrate trees,” Kara said.

Arbor Day Coffee is available through the Foundation’s website, its coffee club, wholesale accounts and through distributors. Kara said she is hoping the new partnership with GROW Nebraska will open up new markets by introducing Arbor Day Coffee to local grocery stores, coffee shops and gift stores. In addition, Arbor Day Coffee is now available on GROW’s Buy Nebraska online store. 

In 2022, the Arbor Day Foundation will celebrate its 50th anniversary, which will also be the 150th anniversary of the Arbor Day holiday.

“With this anniversary approaching, The Arbor Day Foundation is aspiring to plant 100 million trees in forests and communities around the globe, and we’ll do this by inspiring 5 million tree planters to help carry the mission forward,” Kara said. “The Arbor Day Coffee program will be contributing to this goal.”

Not Just For Businesses

GROW Nebraska CEO Janell Anderson Ehrke said GROW Nebraska works with many nonprofit organizations across the state.

“Most people don’t think of GROW Nebraska as working with non-profits,” Janell said. “Arbor Day Foundation is Nebraska’s crown jewel. It’s thrilling for GROW Nebraska to be working with them to be marketing this phenomenal coffee product and to expand its mission awareness.”

Many other nonprofit organizations, such as the Willa Cather Foundation, the Nebraska Prairie Museum, Water4Haiti and L2Kids, are also GROW members.

In addition to helping spread the word about the Arbor Day Foundation’s mission, Janell said she is also excited about expanding coffee sales to support that mission.

“We were thrilled to have the opportunity to provide those growth strategies for the Arbor Day Foundation,” Janell said.

GROW has launched or expanded online shopping opportunities for many businesses, including Dorothy Lynch and Gary’s Quick Steak. Janell said sometimes GROW ships as many as 60 cases a day of Dorothy Lynch salad dressing to places around the country.

“Online shopping is not going to go away,” Janell said. “The more we can also help each other, the better.”

For more information about GROW Nebraska and its membership opportunities, visit https://grownebraska.org/join/

Story by GROW Nebraska member Kristine Jacobson, www.krjpr.com.