“Anyone who has motivation, an idea or a passion or the desire should go,” said Corey Spitzer, event organizer for Omaha Startup Weekend. “We’re not really restricting it to people who have past experience or anything like that. We get people from different walks of life, different skill sets and different levels of expertise.

“We’ll get some successful businesspeople working alongside undergrad college students. We’ll get freelance writers and software companies. Pretty much anyone who has the drive. It all sort of works out organically.”

Startup Weekend is a nationwide organization that encourages the growth of businesses by bringing different people together to brainstorm ideas and by the end of the weekend, create a plan for that idea to become a reality.

“It’s not necessarily about offering something. It’s a learning experience for a lot of people,” Spitzer said. “Whatever you can contribute is fine. No one is going to look down on you if you don’t know something.”

Everyone starts out in the same room and once everyone arrives, the attendees pitch ideas one at a time. Those ideas are voted on and the best ones go to small groups for discussion and planning.

Back in March, Startup Weekend hosted its first Omaha event. Most of the group discussions focused on networking and learning from the groups’ experiences. Since then, some of the ideas aren’t moving forward but most of the groups’ ideas are still flourishing.

“The destiny of the project is totally in the hands of the group and it’s totally controlled within the group,” Spitzer said. “There are at least if not more than about half the projects that are still going on.”

The event is ideal for those who have an idea but aren’t sure how far it can go. At the weekend event, the idea can go far with the help of others in attendance.

Spitzer said either way attendees learn a lot.

“I would say that no matter who you are, no matter what your motivations are, learning something new, such as networking or whatever it is, I think it’s an experience everyone should have at least once,” Spitzer said. “Some have said it changed them.

“I think people are just kind of surprised with what they can get done in a weekend and how that can have the potential to change their lifestyle. Working with other people with other perspectives.”

Spitzer said those interested in seeing how far an idea can go should register ahead of time to guarantee a spot at the event. However, there are opportunities for same-day registration.

Dave Hall, the owner and operator of Restore a Muscle Car LLC in Lincoln, started out in the computer science field working mostly in networking, security, web-based development and as a partner in several software companies.  However, his hobby was always in car restoration.  His love of cars started when he worked on cars with his father.

After 13 years in the computer industry, Hall decided to take a chance and started his restoration business.  He began by renting a 4,000 square foot facility.  The shop was run by Hall and he employed just 2 technicians.  Six years later, he owns a 15,000 square foot facility and two acres of land.  The shop now has a full-time and part-time staff running numerous restoration projects.

“When I started the business, this particular industry was booming,” Hall said. “There was a call for it. There was a need for somebody who does what we do, especially in the Midwest.”

Restore a Muscle Car started by focusing on one specific type of vehicle. They now are able to restore any make or model.

Hall said one of the greatest things he did to help his business grow was to initially focus on one particular make and model of car.  This allowed him to establish the company and its reputation in the area and eventually nationwide and worldwide.

“We tried to start the business and stay 100 percent focused on building our reputation, building the business on one make or model and staying focused on that as much as possible for about the first three years,” he said.

“By keeping that focus, it was easier to be able to reproduce something you know very well than to try to reproduce several different makes and models.

“Whether it’s computer programming or manufacturing or any type of professional line, staying focused on one particular thing helps you become good at it and be one of the best at it and you expand from there.  You take what you’ve learned from that one streamlined position and go from there.”

Another resource unique to Restore a Muscle Car is the constant interactivity with the customer.  The website features instant updates on restorations from the shop, making it conveniently easier for the customer.  Hall said this type of feature helps make his business stand out against other car restoration businesses.

The location in Nebraska also played a key role in his success.

“Being in the Midwest, our expense rates are less than those on the coast,” he said.

Shortly after his business began, Hall started an annual event called the Bandit Run.  Each year, vintage car lovers drive from a starting location to an ending location together, seeing sites along the way.  This event gained so much attention, that the New York Times and other various media venues covered its success.

By building exposure through events like the Bandit Run, Hall was able to start sales of products with foreign companies and even attract the attention of actor Burt Reynolds, who invited Hall and his crew down to his hometown of Jupiter, FL on their last Run.

Dave Hall's Restore a Muscle Car has been an example of successful entrepreneurship in Nebraska.

The recent economic crisis had some effects on Restore a Muscle Car but overall, the business saw a balance in services.  Placing money in muscle cars proved to be a strong investment during the early days of the economic downturn.  Business and work on restorations stayed consistent, but different sales, such as parts sales slowed down.  However, since the start of the year, things began to slowly turn around.

Hall believes entrepreneurs should use the recession as a learning experience and realize there are still ways to be successful.

“There are a lot of sacrifices that have to be made along the way,” Hall said.  “Any entrepreneur in this economy going through these ups and downs that we’ve had to deal with and are still dealing with makes it tough.

“But at the same time, it almost helps you strengthen your core by streamlining your business expenses and fine-tuning your customer base.”

“Last year was our first year putting on Big Omaha,” said SPN co-founder Dusty Davidson. “We like to see the event as an extension of what we do with Silicon Prairie News, trying to get people excited about building companies or starting businesses or just going with their passions. To us, Big Omaha is the offline version of that goal.”

And one look at this year’s line-up of prominent speakers is evidence enough that sort of zeal won’t be wanting at Big Omaha 2010. Dennis Crowley, co-founder of the hotspot-hopping, city-exploring mobile phone application foursquare, and Scott Harrison, founder of charity: water (an organization providing clean drinking water to impoverished third world nations), will both be addressing the crowd.

“This year, we’re not focusing specifically on start-ups, but rather how do you just start something, whatever that might be? In Scott (Harrison’s) case, he’s got an amazing talk about how he was a nightclub promoter in New York City who got fed up with his life and became moved by the idea of helping bring water to places in the world that need it most,” Davidson said. “And then there’s Dennis (Crowley) from foursquare, which is gaining huge traction and getting lots and lots of buzz. Plus, he’s a young guy who started and built a company and already sold it to Google, and now he’s building another.”

“Those are the sorts of stories we’d like to bring in and share it with the audience,” he added. “Those kinds of stories that are fantastic to share with a group of people who aren’t as familiar with these kinds of things.”

In addition to the impressive stable of a dozen industry-experienced orators speaking their mind at Big Omaha, two old favorites from last year’s event will be returning for an encore performance. Both Jason Fried and Gary Vaynerchuk, of 37signals and Wine Library respectively, were brought back by popular demand.

“In looking at some of the folks who had the greatest impact last year, both Fried and Vaynerchuk had two distinct styles of approaching business,” said SPN’s other co-founder, Jeff Slobotski. “We felt that, by bringing them back to Big Omaha for 2010, we could learn from what has changed in a year for both of these gentlemen’s businesses.”

Unfortunately, due to the event’s widespread appeal, tickets have long since sold out. However, anyone still hoping to attend can sign up for the Big Omaha 2010 waiting list. And if that doesn’t pan out, well, there’s always Big Omaha 2011.

“One of the best parts about Big Omaha isn’t even the speakers — it’s getting the right people in the room, that mix of investors and entrepreneurs, and seeing the kind of energy that comes out of that,” Davidson said. “The speakers are there to raise the energy level, and from there, you just see the crowd buzzing.”

“This is a trial run for including high school students — the earlier we get them started thinking about entrepreneurship and formulating ideas, the better off they’ll be in the long run,” said Tami Kaschke, outreach coordinator for the Nebraska Center for Entrepreneurship, who estimated some 100 high school and college students attended one or more of the conference’s nine sessions. “Hopefully, some of them will go on to start their own businesses.”

The Heartland Conference assembled attendees to hear three major speakers — representatives from the Haymarket Arena Project, a University professor discussing UNL’s entrepreneurial resources and a keynote given by the founders of Silicon Prairie News — and also offered six additional mini-seminars. The half-dozen educational sessions were organized into three tracks: technology, culinary and success skills.

Included in the culinary section was Todd Baker, speaking on behalf of Baker’s Candies. Among other things, Baker discussed the importance of ingenuity to the entrepreneur (his father adapted his knowledge of weapons manufacturing to develop the company’s chocolate mass production equipment), and how to tap into Nebraska’s fierce self-confidence.

“Nebraska is unique — people are extraordinarily proud of Nebraska businesses,” Baker said. “Let Nebraska pride spread your product. In 20 years, we’ve never spent a dime on advertising.”

Ashley Werner, a Beatrice high school student attending the Heartland Conference, sat in on Baker’s session because she one day hopes to start her own small business. Above all else, she found Baker’s insistence on cohesion within a family-run company to be most profound.

“The whole thing was very informative,” Werner said. “Especially if you are working with family — you have to respect each other and not step on one another’s toes.”

In the success skills track, Mailani Veney of Kona Consulting shared her tips for getting through to potential customers. Much like Baker’s Candies thrives by marketing itself as Nebraska’s chocolate, Veney said any good sales pitch needs to be personalized in a way that resonates with clients.

“Too many pitchers talk about themselves all the time — it should be an 80/20 division between the customer and you,” she said. “When I’m being pitched at, I don’t want to hear about you. I want to hear about me.”

Dan Bailey, a junior landscaping design major at UNL, attended Veney’s lecture as a requirement for his horticulture entrepreneurship class. Like Werner, he also felt the conference offered pragmatic advice for starting a business.

“(Veney’s session) had a bunch of good examples of how to pitch your ideas to people,” Bailey said. “Changing things up is a good way to get new clients. Each client is going to want something different.”

The “Business and Bagels” business education series provides one-hour information sessions on topics like taxes and networking at the SCC Continuing Education Center, 301 S. 68th St. Place in Lincoln. The sessions, which cost $29, include breakfast or lunch. For more information or to register call (402) 437-2700. Upcoming topics:

• “The Business of Non-Profit” April 22 from 7:30-8:30 a.m. will cover organizational aspects of non-profit organizations, membership engagement and programs and services. Lori Warner, president of the Beatrice Area Chamber of Commerce, will be the instructor.
• “Customer Service Across the Generations,” will be held May 20 from 12:00-1:00 p.m. This session will look at how different generations vary in customer service expectations.
• “Networking at its Best with Bonnie Coffey,” on June 10 from 12:00-1:00 p.m. will close out the current series with a session on Coffey’s five steps to networking success.

Tim Mittan, SCC Entrepreneurship Center director and Linda Hartman, education specialist/recruiter, provide free one-on-one business coaching sessions for entrepreneurs at any business stage.

According to the center’s Web site, the center provides “information to help guide you through your start-up process or take your business to the next level.”

Both the business education sessions and the free coaching are designed to meet needs the SCC Entrepreneurship Center identified when center staff did research before opening the center. Mittan said center staff learned would-be entrepreneurs knew entrepreneurship resources existed in Nebraska but were unsure where to start.

“Nobody really had a definitive starting point. We decided we could be that starting point,” he said. “That’s how the center came about. We decided that we needed to have a place where people could come and ask questions,” Mittan said.

In addition to non-credit education sessions and free business coaching, the center offers entrepreneurship courses for credit, hosts a business incubator, and houses the Lincoln Public School’s Entrepreneurship Focus Program and the Information Technology Focus Program.

Released on 04/02/2010, at 2:00 AM
Office of University Communications
University of Nebraska–Lincoln
WHEN: Thursday, Apr. 8

WHERE: Embassy Suites Hotel, 1040 P Street [map]

Lincoln, Neb., April 2nd, 2010 —
Innovation, both nascent and thriving, will be featured at the Coolest Night in Innovation 5:30-7:30 p.m. April 8 at the Embassy Suites Hotel, 1040 P St.

The Nebraska Distinguished Entrepreneur Awards will be presented and a preview of innovative start-up businesses from across the globe will be featured.

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Nebraska Center for Entrepreneurship will present the Nebraska Distinguished Entrepreneurs Awards to four enterprises:

* Tyler and Candi Wingate, Nannies International Inc. The Norfolk-based company created Nannies4Hire.com, a database that helps match families to potential nannies. Nannies4Hire.com is listed at one of America’s fastest growing private companies by Inc magazine and has been featured on “Dr. Phil,” “Supernanny” and the Discovery Channel.

* Sharon and Mike Schilling, Schilling Bridge Winery & Micro Brewery. Located in Pawnee City, Schilling Bridge Winery & Micro Brewery houses a production facility to produce 6,000 gallons of wine. Along with their microbrewery and tasting area, the Schillings have built a company committed to their community and family.

* Jim Terrano, Telcor Inc. Beginning as a company providing consulting services to hospitals, clinical laboratories and Point of Care device vendors, Telcor is a healthcare systems and solutions company that specializes in providing software products for point-of-care management, outreach compliance and clinical departments.

* Robert and William Scott, WRK Inc. A Lincoln real estate/creative investment catalyst founded by the twin brothers in early 2000, these UNL graduates own and manage many commercial buildings in eastern Nebraska and Colorado. They redeveloped several downtown properties, including the McKelvie Building and Color Court, and are in progress on the Assurity Headquarters and the Haymarket Redevelopment project, among others.

A spine implant, grid biomedical tape and a cure for post-traumatic stress syndrome are a few of the 20 business plan products that will be showcased at the 23rd annual New Ventures World Competition. From the University of British Columbia, Target Tape is an aid for medical imaging that contains semi-permanent ink and radiopaque materials in a ruler or grid pattern. The tape allows the surgeon to correlate information from an X-ray-based scan image to the patient. From Johns Hopkins University, Cortical Concepts is an implant to care for the aging spine. From Carnegie Mellon University, a team seeks to cure post-traumatic stress syndrome with high-tech products. Two UNL teams will be competing as well.

The event is open to the public, and the cost to attend is $10 (payable at the door), which includes a drink ticket. For more information, call 402-472-3353 or e-mail entprenshp@unlnotes.unl.edu.

WRITER: Marilyn Hoskins

Dr. Jennie Hunter-Cevera

Is the road ever Straight and Short?

Dr. Jennie Hunter-Cevera
Executive Vice President of Discovery and Analytical
Sciences (DAS), Corporate Development, and
Government Relations, RTI International

Monday, April 5, 2010
10:30 am, Nebraska Union Auditorium, City Campus
3:30 pm, Hardin Hall Auditorium, East Campus
Both talks are free and open to the public.

Dr. Hunter-Cevera brings a unique perspective on innovation, thanks to her varied  experiences in industry, academia, and the nonprofit sector. She spent 22 years in  the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries as a researcher, inventor, and company founder. As president of the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute, she oversaw the formation of ten university spin-out companies.  Currently,  Dr. Hunter-Cevera leads RTI’s research activities in drug discovery and development, biomarkers and systems biology,  environmental and industrial sciences, forensic sciences, and analytic chemistry and pharmaceutics.

Dr. Hunter-Cevera’s visit is sponsored by NUtech Ventures as part of its Innovation Seminar Series. NUtech Ventures is a nonprofit corporation established in Lincoln, NE, that works to commercialize University technologies by forming innovative partnerships between academic researchers and the private sector.  At NUtech Ventures, our success is measured by the number of companies and products based on University of Nebraska research that are brought to market each year.

NUtech Ventures
1320 Q Street
Lincoln, NE 68508
402.472.1783
NUtechVentures.org

“I like going to other events, but the only part I really enjoy is after all the speakers and formalities are done we finally get to meet new people in a chill environment,” Schroder said. “What I hope to accomplish with Startup Drinks Lincoln is to simply hook people up with advice, or help people find the partner they need, or help them with their idea, etc. It’s networking without all the BS.”

So, what does a Startup Drinks outing entail? The Facebook page for Lincoln’s event may say it best:

“What is Startup Drinks? In short, it’s a drinking group with a startup problem. If you’re looking for a low key, unstructured way to get involved in the Lincoln entrepreneurial scene, Startup Drinks is the ticket.”

After seeing an announcement for Startup Drinks Omaha, Schroeder started plotting a way to create a similar event in Lincoln. The two Nebraska gatherings are part of a global development, with similarly motivated assemblies cropping in cities as far flung as Toronto and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Each new generation of entrepreneurs is tasked with modernizing the architecture erected by those who preceded them, and Startup Drinks appears to be one such tool in the arsenal of tech savvy young business owners.

“(The ubiquity of Startup Drinks) shows that younger people who are involved in the digital world and who are comfortable with social networking are slowly but surely taking over the business landscape,” Schroder said. “It’s been a longtime tradition in Silicon Valley that the young people are pushing the economy. Finally, the younger people in the Midwest are waking up and doing their own pushing.”

Like the debris from a detonated atom setting of an explosive chain reaction in nearby particles, the energy pulsing from one Startup Drinks event spurs the creation of several more. After reading about Schroder’s plans for Startup Drinks Lincoln back in February, Alexander Grgurich — part of Foundry Coworking, a low cost business incubator — was determined to set up Startup Drinks Des Moines. Along with two other collaborators, Grgurich successfully launched the city’s inaugural Startup Drinks session, attracting some 30 participants.

“It’s a really robust group,” Grgurich said. “A lot of times, networking events have a lot of big name people and it’s hard to identify with them. Here, we can focus on the startup culture. It’s nice to be able to talk to people and connect with them.”

Startup Drinks Lincoln will start Thursday, April 1 at 7:00 p.m. at Dino’s Eastside Grille, 2901 S 84th Street.

“Hopefully, there are other people feeling the same way as me, that there needs to be a group that has less formalities,” Schroder said.

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.

The annual Nebraska Summit on Entrepreneurship is one event addressing those needs. It brings together those committed to increasing entrepreneurship – university officials, educators, business development specialists, business leaders and government officials – with students and members of the public who want to be entrepreneurs.

The Gallup Organization, the Nebraska Business-Higher Education Forum and the University of Nebraska sponsored the fourth annual summit. The event drew about 400 people from across the state on February 26, 2010 to the downtown Lincoln Holiday Inn to share ideas, create partnerships and network.

President JB Milliken

James B. Milliken, president of the University of Nebraska, said difficult economic times should not discourage Nebraskan entrepreneurs.

“I believe that opportunities for entrepreneurs in Nebraska are ripe, despite the struggling economy, or more accurately, because of it,” he said.

Milliken cited a recent Kauffman Foundation study that found more than half the companies on a recent Fortune 500 list were launched in a recession or bear market. The same study suggested job creation from startup companies is less sensitive to market downturn compared to job creation from other companies.

In addition, Milliken said, studies cite Nebraska as a good place to work and live. For example, in February, Gallup.com named Nebraska the second best market in the nation for job creation. Fortune Small Business magazine named Omaha and Lincoln among the best ten mid-sized cities in which to launch a business. The magazine article called Omaha, third on that list, a “hotbed of entrepreneurial activity.” The article said Lincoln’s small business owners form a “tight-knit community” that offers support for entrepreneurs.

Milliken said the University of Nebraska is committed to equipping students not only to get jobs but also to create jobs.

Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman said Nebraska is a model for the rest of the country in job creation and job opportunities. While the U.S. overall unemployment rate is about 9.7 percent, Nebraska’s 4.7 percent unemployment rate is among the lowest rates of unemployment by state.

Keynote speaker Jim Clifton, chairman and CEO of the Gallup Organization, gave a call to action.
He said keeping the U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) larger than the GDPs of other countries is necessary to maintaining U.S. leadership in the free world. If the U.S. doesn’t build businesses bigger and faster than other countries, the U.S. will lose that leadership, he said.

“We simply have to out-enterprise the whole world,” he said.

Thirty years ago, Clifton said, economists predicted the U.S. GDP would be behind that of Japan and Germany by today, given the economic trajectories of the time. The U.S., however, outperformed the projections by $100 trillion over that 30-year period.

Clifton credits entrepreneurship for making the difference. The economists’ predictions did not account for the invention of the Internet in the U.S., Clifton said.

Entrepreneurs of today and their mentors are keys to keeping the U.S. GDP in the lead in the next 30 years, Clifton said.

“The only way out of this is entrepreneurship,” he said.

The next big discoveries need to occur in the U.S., he said. Business leaders must ensure inventions like the Internet get commercialized and star innovators make their discoveries here, he said.

“As mentors, you and me, we’ve got to keep our eyes peeled for the best and brightest in the world,” he said.

Bo Fishback - Photo courtesy Kauffman Foundation

Bo Fishback, vice president of entrepreneurship at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, told participants about the foundation’s work in promoting and studying entrepreneurship.

Nearly 100 percent of net jobs are created by companies less than five years old, he said.

“Without startups, there is no job creation engine in this country,” he said.

The foundation is studying high-growth companies, which are critical to the economy, he said. About one-third of all new economic growth comes from fewer than 1,000 new companies started in the U.S. annually, he said. The foundation wants to help an additional 1,000 high-growth companies start up every year, he said.

The summit also included panel discussions on family business in Nebraska and student entrepreneurship and breakout sections on outreach, finance and taking products to market.

Shawn Thornton, a former heavy equipment operator who moved from California to Nebraska, said events like the summit have made him aware of the entrepreneurship resources available in Nebraska.

“There is a network of people and mentorship that I can tap into if I search for it,” he said.