MarketPlace Offers Rural Entrepreneurs Support, Information, Networking and More

Rural entrepreneurs get support, encouragement, practical information, ideas and networking opportunities at the annual Center for Rural Affairs (CFRA) MarketPlace event.

More than 525 people registered to attend the fourth Nebraskan event on February 23 and 24, 2010 at the Ramada Inn Convention Center in Kearney.

The event is making a difference, said Kathie Starkweather, CFRA’s director of rural opportunities and stewardship program. Rural residents have started small businesses and created jobs in their communities as a result of the event, she said.

“It’s encouraging,” she said.

With MarketPlace, CFRA aims to encourage local community support of entrepreneurs. The event is designed to help community leaders embrace local small businesses, which are important to local economies, she said.

“Entrepreneurs do better if they don’t exist in a vacuum,” she said.

Rosemary Johnson, owner of Ben Franklin Crafts in North Platte, Nebraska, said she benefited from networking at the event. With other retailers, she discussed how to develop fresh ideas for her business, which she’s had for 10 years.

She said at first she heard suggestions she’d already tried. Then someone sitting next to her suggested she write down strategies she’s tried in the last 10 years and revisit them.

“I thought that was such an awesome idea,” Johnson said.

Organizers try to take a holistic approach when planning the sessions Starkweather said. MarketPlace offers different tracks for different interests.

Since the number of Hispanic-owned businesses in Nebraska has grown rapidly, the event offers sessions in Spanish on business ownership.

The last two years, MarketPlace has included a youth track. CFRA wants youth to know they can return to rural communities after school and start successful businesses, Starkweather said.

Save the Date: Nebraska MarketPlace 2011

MarketPlace also offers an agricultural track for farmers and ranchers, important entrepreneurs in the rural economy, she said. Other tracks included business development, technology, financial, marketing and women business owners.

“I just think Nebraskans are so resourceful,” said Beth Cole, owner of the WebServant in Merna, Nebraska. The WebServant provides Web site design and marketing for coaches, authors, speakers and consultants across the country.

Cole said the marketing workshops she attended were “packed” and speakers at the conference gave practical advice.

Carol Schooley of Grand Island, who started a golf t-shirt business called RUUD GOLF with a business partner, said she appreciated the focus on business plans.

“It set us off in a direction we needed,” she said. “We needed to organize it and get it off the ground and MarketPlace did the job,” she said in an email.

MarketPlace also provided helpful information about selling over the Internet, she said.

Vendor booths at MarketPlace make it easy for business owners and business suppliers to connect. Johnson of Ben Franklin Crafts said she found a booth on “secret shopping,” a management tool that provides feedback on customers’ retail experience. Johnson said meeting the vendor spurred her to act on this idea she had considered but not yet pursued.

Kori Miller, owner of The Tea Trove in Kearney, said her business provided tea and tisanes, or herbal infusions, to conference participants at one of the breaks.

“This exposure and direct connection with potential customers is invaluable,” she said in an email. In addition, she met representatives of other businesses who could help with finding qualified employees and Web site development.

“There was even a lawyer available offering free advice,” she said.

Next year’s MarketPlace will be February 22 and 23, 2011, in Kearney.