Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
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Starting and growing a small business is hard work, but the Nebraska Advantage Microenterprise Tax Credit makes it easier by incentivizing new investments. Designed to promote the expansion of small businesses across the state and, in doing so, strengthen our communities, the Microenterprise Tax Credit is available to businesses with five or fewer employees. About 145,000 Nebraska businesses are eligible for the credit. If approved, applicants will receive a 20 percent tax credit on business...
Despite bipartisan support, rural small businesses and communities with loans through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development program will not be included in the latest stimulus package for those affected by the coronavirus pandemic. The updated Heroes Act, introduced Monday in the U.S. House of Representatives, does not include provisions outlined in the Rural Equal Aid Act. “Rural small businesses continue to feel the effects of the pandemic and, while they are doing their best to keep the doors open, they are hurting,” said...
Entrepreneurs interested in growing their business during COVID-19 are invited to attend a variety of workshops set to occur throughout September. These free, online events are sponsored by the Center for Rural Affairs’ Rural Enterprise Assistance Project. “Troubleshooting Accounting” on Thursday, Sept. 17, from 3 to 5 p.m. “Guidance to Close your PPP Loan” on Tuesday, Sept. 22, from 3 to 5 p.m. “Sales Acceleration” on Tuesday, Sept. 22, and Thursday, Sept. 24, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. “Business Plan Review” on Thursday, Sept. 24, from 3 to 5 p...
The siren song of the big city is quiet in greater Nebraska. Youth today overwhelmingly prefer the connections and comforts of smaller communities to the grind of major metropolises, according to Nebraska Community Foundation’s recent survey of over 1,300 high school students. In January 2020, NCF began working with the University of Nebraska-Omaha’s Center for Public Affairs Research to co-create the Nebraska Youth Survey, with the purpose of examining young people’s perceptions and persp...
Small businesses continue to feel the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. While they are doing their best to keep the doors open, they are hurting. That is especially true in our rural towns. Congress has acted to provide businesses with loans through the Small Business Administration six months of payment forgiveness. This is a lifeline for big city enterprises, but it doesn’t help rural entrepreneurs. That is because many rural businesses do not have access to an SBA lender and must borrow f...
In the past five months, Congress has responded to the coronavirus public health crisis with several emergency relief measures, including the stimulus checks sent to individuals and households, payroll protections to small businesses, expanded unemployment payments, fee waivers for borrowing against 401(K) plans and more. Now, Congress will get the opportunity to pass a relief measure that protects your access to trustworthy local news, helps grow local businesses through ads placed in local...
One of the great benefits of living in a rural community is our ability to enjoy food grown locally. Families appreciate easy access to high quality nutrition. Many farms and ranches depend on these local sales. Like so much of our daily life, this system was disrupted by COVID-19. When work is interrupted at industrial processing facilities, commodity producers flood local meat lockers with their product. With already limited reservation space being taken up by large growers, those who depend...
After more than 50 years of reporting, writing and distributing stories, an Albion couple sent something unusual off to print: a for-sale ad for their newspaper business. Jim and Julie Dickerson own three weekly papers in Boone County: the Albion News and Petersburg Press — both of which they have owned for 13 years — and The St. Edward Advance, which they have owned since 2018. They are looking to sell all three. Jim Dickerson, 67, writes and reports on meetings and community events, and Jul...
A couple of weeks ago, a lifelong friend and I took a road trip through Western and North Central Nebraska. We checked out Chimney Rock, the Scotts Bluff National Monument, Toadstool Geologic Park near Crawford and the Niobrara River near Valentine. Social distancing was not a problem. The first night of that five-day trip we spent in Oshkosh, where I grew up and where my travel companion and I met on her third birthday. Her family was new to the neighborhood, her mom was looking for enough...
Great ideas begin at the kitchen table. For Max Heiter and Gary Jones, a hobby hooked their interests and they turned it into a well-known business, H & J Lures, based in Royal. Now, the small-town company remains afloat, thanks to Jones' nephews: Alex, Brandon and Derek Sonnenfelt. Now known as Trio Tackle, the Sonnenfelt brothers have operated the business from their homes and garages in the Norfolk area since October 2018. Brandon plans to construct a shop in the Hadar area, which will have...
Luna Stephens and Katie Anderson Nebraska News Service Senators passed two state budget bills on July 31 including $55.2 million for damage from the 2019 floods, $10 million to the rural workforce housing investment fund and $3.7 million increase in developmental disability provider rates. LB1008, presented by Speaker Sen. Jim Scheer of Norfolk at the request of Gov. Pete Ricketts, is the $9.4 billion mainline state budget bill. After final reading, bills are submitted to the governor. The governor must sign, veto or line item veto the budget...
How many lifequakes have you experienced? After listening to Bruce Feiler on a podcast, and watching a segment with him on the Today show, I have to answer, “Quite a few.” A lifequake is exactly what it sounds like: a crisis situation that shakes and rattles your life, causing a disruption. Many times, the lifequake leads to a transition point in one’s life. Feiler experienced three crises in his 40s. He was diagnosed with a rare bone cancer, experienced financial trouble during the reces...
Antelope County commissioners worked a little closer to resolving a plethora of road issues last week, although no decision was reached for bonding more work. The bulk of the July 7 meeting at the courthouse in Neligh was dedicated to county roads, in one form or another. After clearing the agenda of other business and more than an hour of discussion with road superintendent Aaron Boggs, an unofficial agreement was reached, giving Boggs direction to move forward with work on four heavily...
NEBRASKA NEWS SERVICE The Small Business Administration, on Monday, released some details about 4,179 Nebraska businesses that took out Paycheck Protection Program loans of $150,000 or more. The Small Business Administration did not report the exact amount each business took out in loans, offering a range that the loan fell into. Only loans of $150,000 or more were reported. Of the 4,179 loans, 2,394 of them were for the lowest range, $150,000 to $350,000. Statewide, 36 businesses got loans of $5 million to $10 million. Orchard loans reported...
While we have all done our best to stay healthy and safe during the coronavirus pandemic, rural communities have risen above the challenges forced upon them during this unprecedented time and shown what true fortitude and grit look like - coming together to make sure neighbors, friends and family are safe, well-fed and cared for. One sector—rural grocery stores—has stepped up to provide for their customers. During the onslaught of new restrictions and regulations, people started panic buy...
One cow on a dairy farm creates a $5,000 economic impact on a local community. Imagine a dairy farm with 500 cows. That's a $2.5 million local economic impact, creating revenue and opportunity. A key component to dairy business success includes Automated Dairy Specialists, LLC, located in Clearwater, Nebraska. ADS has worked to provide high quality technology and equipment to customers in the dairy industry and pride themselves on providing tools to help customers continue being successful in...
The purchase of a refrigerated semi-trailer and the county fund it was paid from were among matters of contention at the Antelope County commissioners' meeting last week. All five commissioners, several other county officials and others were present in the courthouse meeting room May 5 and the meeting was shared electronically via Zoom. Some of those present were asked to step into the hall at one point, when more than 10 were observed in the room. Jared Reimers addressed the commissioners...
CENTER FOR RURAL AFFAIRS As lawmakers consider legislation to address the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, a group of 64 small business lenders across 32 states are calling on Congress to treat rural and urban businesses equally when it comes to providing relief. While the recently-passed Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act created a program that provides immediate relief to small businesses with loans from the Small Business Administration, there was no such provision for those who have loans from the U.S. Department...
MIA AZIZAH | Nebraska News Service When the novel coronavirus swept the globe and made its way to the communities across Nebraska, community newspaper publishers like Kurt Johnson of the Aurora News-Register, witnessed how the global pandemic became a challenge much closer to home. As businesses shut down and positive cases were confirmed in the Aurora area, Johnson said he felt the public angst grow. And in his 20 years of running the weekly newspaper with a circulation of 2,500, he faced the...
Kate Hansen Policy assistant, Center for Rural Affairs The deadline for Nebraska farmers and ranchers to apply to the Conservation Stewardship Program is quickly approaching. Interested producers should apply by May 29 and be aware of new safety procedures in place due to the coronavirus. Administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service, CSP is a working lands conservation program that offers financial and technical assistance for producers to enhance conservation on their operations. Nebraska leads the country in both new and renewed...
MATTHEW ADELMAN National Newspaper Association president We need to get through this time and tighten our belts, just as we have through two World Wars, terrorist attacks and other epidemics Newspapers in the United States have traveled rough seas to the First Amendment freedoms we enjoy today. From the colonial Stamp Act through wartime censorship to today, when thousands of newspapers were slammed with the public health emergency known as COVID-19, people who work for newspapers have never had completely smooth sailing. Now most of the...
JESSICA CAMPOS Women's Business Center director Center for Rural Affairs As of Thursday, April 16, the U.S. Small Business Administration announced that the Paycheck Protection Program had reached the maximum loan limit authorized by Congress, just 14 days after small businesses were first able to apply. The program was created as part of the CARES Act, signed into law on March 27, which included $377 billion in relief to small businesses, with $350 billion of that allocated to the PPP. Congress is debating a proposal to add $250 billion to...
In the last two weeks, it feels, in some ways, as though nothing has really changed, but in some ways, things seem to be changing by the minute. I reached out to some friends in the agribusiness and small business communities and compiled some information for small business owners relating to resources available to you. Businesses, including farms, with less than 500 employees, qualify for Paycheck Protection Program Loans, to keep employees on payroll, under the $349 billion Small Business...
A subscriber posed an interesting question this week. Amid COVID-19 concerns, how safe are everyday objects many of us take for granted? Can pieces of mail - more importantly- your copy of the Summerland Advocate-Messenger, transmit the virus? What about styrofoam boxes containing a carryout order from local restaurants? Take it one more step. What about foods we eat? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, data indicates it is highly unlikely any of these items carry the...
The Nebraska Legislature remains adjourned until further notice. However, just over a week ago, we reconvened for three days to approve an emergency request from the governor to help fund the state response to COVID-19. The bill appropriates $83 million toward medical needs, protective measures, equipment,and programs related to the virus. It passed unanimously. That’s a statement I can rarely make, especially in these polarized times. I am proud to say legislators from across the aisle came t...
