NebraskaEDGE bundles networking, education and growth into single package

While it’s relatively easy to set up a learning environment (often as simple as putting a teacher and at least one interested pupil in the same room), sustaining that educational ambiance proves a much more involved task. While traveling lecturers and keynote conference speakers undoubtedly impart some lasting knowledge to those who hear them, at least a portion of that didactic wisdom dissipates when those teachers move onto the next town or their next oration engagement.

NebraskaEDGE aims to create a long lasting learning environment for the state’s up-and-coming small business owners. Since 1995, the program’s been teaching the NxLeveL entrepreneurship course to rural communities in a unique fashion: the course’s instructors don’t come to the communities where they teach so much as they come from them. Trained by NebraskaEDGE associates and certified by representatives from NxLeveL, business leaders from around Nebraska have presented the 12-week, 45-hour course to some 2,500 entrepreneurs during the program’s 15-year run.

“NebraskaEDGE is not the (University of Nebraska-Lincoln) going out and offering this training — we utilize the resources and leaders these communities already have, so as businesses grow, those networks within the community grow as well,” said Marilyn Schlake, associate director of NebraskaEDGE. “We like to see individuals who are seriously thinking about starting a business and have an idea of what they want to do mixed in with experienced business owners who’ve been there, done that and have some battle scars.”

Different instructors teaching each course means a variety of skill sets come to the table, which gives NebraskaEDGE the opportunity to better tailor individual curricula to meet each community’s needs.

“When the experienced business leaders can share their experience with the new entrepreneurs, it helps build that network within the community,” Schlake added. “It also helps those business owners get re-energized, that sensation of seeing new entrepreneurs excited and thinking ‘Oh, I remember that feeling!’”

As most entrepreneurs already demonstrate a natural propensity for outside-the-box thinking, Schlake said the program strives to disseminate as much practical information as possible. NebraskaEDGE walks individuals through all facets of business ownership, starting with business plan formation and plugging along through marketing, advertising strategies and finances. That last item is one new entrepreneurs need to scrutinize the closest, she added.

“We hit the financials really, really hard, so even if they don’t end up being the accountants for their businesses, when they hire and talk with an accountant, they’ll know what all the numbers thrown their way mean,” Schlake said. “As a new startup, the projections you have are almost always going to be off-base, so come back and tweak those often.”

NebraskaEDGE has two upcoming courses scheduled: an August course in Holdredge catering to Phelps and Kearney Counties, and a September course held in Red Cloud that will serve Webster and Nuckolls Counties. For anyone unable to attend either course, NebraskaEDGE offers its entrepreneurial curriculum online as well.

In addition, to teaching entrepreneurial basics, NebraskaEDGE also imbues entrepreneurs with other vital skills, such as knowing who and when to ask for help, and the even important attribute of attention to detail.

“Do your homework: see what opportunities are available, contact experts and mentors who can give you useful feedback,” Schlake said. “Oftentimes with a startup enterprise, you don’t have a lot of facts to go on for your local area. We can find statewide, nationwide data, but in smaller, local regions, it’s hard to find a customer base and numbers you can run. Be diligent and be realistic.”