GROW News
January 6, 2010
Who Sold Online This Week?
GROW Nebraska is now highlighting what sold online for the week. If your item sells the most for the week, it will be the featured picture for this section of the weekly update!
If you don't see your products on your list, consider updating your photography or your description to help entice more buyers. For your convenience, we have linked each product to their listing on the eCommerce or eBay sites so you can see what that member has done to help sell their product.
We encourage you to look at the photography and descriptions for each of these items to see how you can make improvements to your listing. Remember, you know more about your business and product than we do, so we really need your help to make your listing the best it can be! To easily find your products on the eCommerce store please
click here.
If you would like to make edits to your listing, please e-mail us at
info@grownebraska.org.
December 30 - January 6
Inventory for Stores
The GROW Nebraska stores will be completing an inventory count on January 11-12, so no new inventory orders will be going out prior to that time. If you had plans to deliver inventory before January 11-12, please contact us at
info@grownebraska.org. Holiday sales were better than expected, and we appreciate everyone's cooperation. If you have suggestions for how to handle the holiday season for next year, we would love to hear your ideas at
info@grownebraska.org.
Super Bowl Sampling Saturdays
GROW Nebraska would like to have food samplers in the Grand Island and Kearney stores the two Saturday's before the Super Bowl to help prepare for the big game. If you are interested in sampling on January 30 or February 6, 2010, please fill out the form
here.
Valentine's Items
GROW Nebraska would like to stock your Valentine's items in our Kearney and Grand Island locations, and also feature them on the eCommerce site. Do you have chocolates? How about heart shaped jewelry? What about customized items? Please let us know by e-mailing us at
info@grownebraska.org or calling 888-476-9632 by January 8. All items that you would like added must be delivered to the stores by January 15 in time for Valentine's Day promotions.
Second Round of Renewals
All renewals have now been sent for 2010 membership. The deadline to be in the 2010-2011 GROW Book is to
renew and pay by February 1, 2010. Our designer will be taking a leave of absence in March, so
NO exceptions will be made to this deadline to ensure that the GROW Book is printed in a timely manner. Remember, if you joined after September 2009 you do not need to renew. Second notice renewals will be going out this week. If you have any questions or concerns, or did not receive a renewal, please contact us at 888.476.9632 or e-mail us at
info@grownebraska.org.
Social Capital: The New Currency" - Workshop Presented by SBAM
The Small Business Association of the Midlands (SBAM) is offering a workshop on "Social Capital: The New Currency" on Thursday, January 21st, 8 - 10 a.m. at St. Cecilia's Conference Center 39th and Burt. Cost for the Social Capital workshop is only $10 when you register by Jan 10th and can be completed online at www.sbamidlands.org.
This two hour workshop will help small business owners learn how to cultivate robust networks across their industry and profession to further their personal and business objectives. Especially during tough economic times, personal social capital can be a critical success factor, both for individuals and their small businesses. Attendees will learn methods and tools for developing and maximizing their social capital networks.
About the presenter: The Social Capital workshop will be presented by Celann LaGreca, APR who has more than 30 years management experience in the areas of marketing, brand management, communications, public relations and strategic planning. She has spoken regionally about the value of social capital in business.
About SBAM: The Small Business Association of the Midlands was founded in 2009 to assist micro and small businesses to develop, grow and operate more efficiently. SBAM's vision is to become the premier provider of education, coaching and networking for micro and small businesses.
Strategies for Innovation & Success
The January 19, 10:00 CST, UNL Extension eShip Webinar: ‘Developing Your Entrepreneurial Genius: Strategies for Innovation & Success’ presented by Connie Riemers-Hild, will be on Adobe Connect Pro at http://breeze.unl.edu/extension/eship/. Join us and learn how entrepreneurs can strengthen their own entrepreneurial capacity so they can begin to foster a more entrepreneurial and innovative culture in both their personal and professional lives. See details of this webinar below.
The monthly eShip Webinars are coordinated by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension Entrepreneurship Initiative, The intent is to expand adoption of entrepreneurship strategies by communities and rural businesses and introduce new potential resources.
Session Description:
Research shows that individuals need to develop their entrepreneurial skills in order to compete in the 21st Century economy. This session will focus on how individuals can develop their entrepreneurial talents with a focus on personal innovation through opportunity recognition, goal setting, risk taking propensity and intuition. Participants will learn how to strengthen their own entrepreneurial capacity so they can begin to foster a more entrepreneurial and innovative culture in both their personal and professional lives.
How To Connect: On January 19th, start connecting 5 minutes prior to the start time of 10:00 CST. You need to have a computer with Internet access with speakers. At the meeting time, copy and paste this URL into your browser to enter the meeting: http://breeze.unl.edu/extension/eship At that URL you will find a login page. Click on “Click to Enter” under the “Enter as a Guest” heading. You will then be prompted for your name. Enter your name and click “Enter” to enter the meeting space. The audio portion of the meeting will be come through your computer speakers. Anytime before the meeting you can visit the following URL http://breeze.unl.edu/extension/eship/ to confirm your ability to connect to the Breeze server. If you cannot connect for some reason, open a different browser and type the url into the address box. That should work.
Upcoming Six Sigma Black and Green Belt Sessions
In this economy are you looking for ways to improve customer service, develop new products and services, reduce inventory and downtime, and improve your bottom line?
If so, Six Sigma or Process Improvement Training may be for you. World-class companies have long recognized that Six Sigma initiatives are synonymous with profit and improving your bottom line. Six Sigma puts your entire organization under the microscope, striving for perfection in every aspect.
To get ahead of the rest, you need to Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control any possible defects in your processes in order to drive significant cost reductions. A satisfied customer is the true foundation for profitability, bottom line results, and global competitiveness.
Central Community College (CCC) has scheduled its next Six Sigma Black and Green Belt sessions to begin February 1st, 2010, at the Columbus Campus. Datazinc, CCC’s partner and training provider, is available upon request to explain the Black and Green Belt programs and how they have helped other leading companies. If you would like to know more about Datazinc, feel free to check them out at www.datazinc.com.
If you are interested in this program, please respond by January 18th, 2010, to Sue Baer at (402) 562-1425, toll-free at 1-877-222-0780, Ext. 1425, or sbaer@cccneb.edu.
Green Team Roundtable
WasteCap Nebraska’s Lincoln GTR
January 20, 2010
11:30am-1:00pm
Hofeling Enterprises, Inc. is hosting WasteCap Nebraska’s Lincoln Green Team Roundtable January 20th from 11:30-1:00 at their Lincoln facility, 2200 South Folsom Court. Hofeling is providing lunch. As a result attendees must RSVP by calling with WasteCap at (402)436-2383 or email rbeckman@wastecapne.org by noon, Monday, January 18, 2010.
The Roundtable provides businesses an opportunity to network, sharing their stewardship ideas, successes and environmental challenges and solutions. The gathering will begin with open networking, a short environmental educational segment from UNL Engineering College’s P3 program on “What it Means to be Green: Operating a Sustainable Business using the Easy and Profitable Techniques of Pollution Prevention”, followed by a presentation and facility tour by Hofeling Enterprises. Hofeling Enterprises specializes in residential tree service, land clearing and wood waste recycling. Hofeling has found new and innovative markets for wood waste products, including industrial absorbents, animal bedding, landscaping mulches and wood fuel. Hofeling’s newest endeavor is steam hosting using construction waste and old pallets as an alternative to fossil fuel.
WasteCap is a member based, non-profit, environmental organization, dedicated to assisting business develop and adopt green practices- that improves their profitability. WasteCap helps business with simple issues like setting up recycling plans and green teams to high tech issues dealing with energy, water, and air issues. WasteCap is where conservation meets common sense.
New Members
Nebraska's Finest Meats - Randolph, NE
Nebraska's Finest Meats is a one-stop-shop meat market. They have a small town butcher shop where you can stop in and get a fresh cut of meat. They are also a federally inspected beef certified organic processor. Learn more at their web site at nebraskasfinest.com.
Member News
Ely Farms is featured in the January/February Issue of Nebraska Life Magazine in the article "Making Connections in Southeast Nebraska." Congrats Neal!
Member and artist Sheryll Hickman was recently featured on NTV. Watch her interview here.
Marketing Workshops
Twitter Tense? Facebook Frets? Utterli Uneasy? Social Media Stressing You Out? We Can Help!
GROW Nebraska has teamed up with the University of Nebraska Extension Specialists to help you reduce your anxiety in keeping up with the social media marketing craze.
Social media marketing is essential to increasing brand awareness and expanding your online business presence. However, if you don’t understand how it works, thinking about posting tweets, updating your Facebook page and incorporating your blog into the media mix seems overwhelming.
Not only will we teach you how to save time by being more efficient when using social media, but we are bringing the "Get Social Sessions" to you. Spots are filling quickly! Price is $10/person. If you have questions, call us at 888.GROW.NEB or e-mail us at info@grownebraska.org. If you are interested in attending one of these workshops, please sign up HERE.
- January 26 - North Platte - 3-6 at West Central Research and Extension Center
- January 27 - Chadron – 3-6 at Chadron State College Student Center
- January 28 - Scottsbluff - 9-12 at UNL Panhandle Research and Extension Center
- January 28 - Sidney- 4-7 at Western Nebraska Community College - Room 112 (NOTE: Date and Time have changed)
- NEW: March 18 - Kearney - 9-12 at IntelliCom
