Brand strength and franchisee support contribute to success for Scooter’s Coffeehouse

Watch for additional articles over the next month on our new series about franchising. When Don and Linda Eckles opened the first Scooter’s Coffeehouse in 1998 in Bellevue, Neb., they weren’t just offering specialty coffee and warm service to their drive-thru customers. They were establishing a brand that the company would later build upon to [...]

Community CROPS supports local entrepreneurship, offers fresh food

[This is part of a series of articles over the next month focusing on one of Nebraska's key entrepreneurial areas: the food industry. Check back frequently as we explore local food producers, restaurants and the growers .]   William Shakespeare once famously asked: What’s in a name? For local non-profit organization Community CROPS, there’s a [...]

Perseverance pays off for Country Rhoads Homemade Jalapeño Jelly

[This is part of a series of articles over the next month focusing on one of Nebraska's key entrepreneurial areas: the food industry. Check back frequently as we explore local food producers, restaurants and the growers .] An empty nest, a green thumb and a clear jelly don’t exactly sound like ingredients in a recipe [...]

First Rural Organic Grocery Store starts up in Central Nebraska

This is part of a series of articles over the next month focusing on one of Nebraska’s key entrepreneurial areas: the food industry. Check back frequently as we explore local food producers, restaurants and the growers. First Rural Organic Grocery Store is having its grand opening celebration June 24-26, 2011. Be sure to drop by if you [...]

Co-op gets products to market

[This is part of a series of articles over the next month focusing on one of Nebraska's key entrepreneurial areas: the food industry. Check back frequently as we explore local food producers, restaurants and the growers .] Monday through Friday, Steph Larsen organizes programs that get people excited about democracy through her job at the [...]

Taking your recipe from product to profit has never been easier

[This is part of a series of articles over the next month to focus on one of Nebraska's key entrepreneurial areas: the food industry. Check back frequently as we explore local food producers, restaurants, and the growers .] With farmers’ markets blooming and themes of “Go Local” sweeping grocery stores, it is prime time for [...]

Local sourcing brings joy to Lincoln chef

[This is the first of a series of articles over the next month to focus on one of Nebraska's key entrepreneurial areas: the food industry. Check back frequently as we explore restaurants such as Bread and Cup and small food producers.] It’s Saturday morning and Kevin Shinn has no idea what he’s serving for dinner. [...]

Web Site Promotes South Platte Area Rural Entrepreneurs

When sisters Betty Sayers and Nancy Herhahn graduated from Holdredge High School, educators and parents told them they could be more successful if they left Nebraska. And so they did. Herhahn worked as a real estate company executive, living in Chicago and then San Diego. Sayers taught at a community college in Belcourt, N.D., then [...]

Neogen acquires GeneSeek, Inc.

April 1, 2010 Friends of the University of Nebraska Technology Park: I’m pleased to share with you important new information about GeneSeek, Inc., one of the many successful companies located at the University of Nebraska Technology Park. Founded in 1998, GeneSeek is one of the original park tenants and took part in the business incubator [...]

NBC Now Casting: America’s Next Great Restaurant

Do you have an idea for America’s next great restaurant? Are you sitting on a billion dollar concept? If you think your restaurant idea has what it takes to go national and bring in millions of hungry Americans, read on… From NBC and Magical Elves, the Emmy Award-nominated producers of “Project Runway” and “Top Chef,” [...]

Pastabilities Unlimited Bringing “Smiles” to Customers’ Faces

Although the millennium census posits the population of Firth, Nebraska, as a few people short of 570, David and Betsy Ashman have a found a way to put what’s a small town even by Midwest standards on the map. Their Sorrisos line of pasta sauce has been garnering culinary accolades and delighting palates for well [...]

Sorrisos Gourmet Pasta Sauce: From Family Recipe to Store Shelves

Sorrisos Gourmet Pasta Sauce from Nebraska Entrepreneur on Vimeo. Learn about how Sorrisos Gourmet Pasta Sauce came in to existence and some of the resources that helped them along the way to build their business. http://www.sorrisossauce.com/