Our monthly report is now available for your perusal.  You can download it here.

Strangers to the blog might be amazed by the activity as of late, but regular readers won’t.  We’re seeing some serious economic growth in our community and have the details behind it in this month’s newsletter.  You’ll also find photo contest news, sales tax figures and more.

Have a great Labor Day all, be safe and be well!

In the September economic development report, we’ll examine the June 2010 sales tax receipts that show a trend of month-in, month-out retail growth.  We’ve surpassed our 2009-2010 allowable sales tax collections (.4 of 1% of total City’s valuation) for economic development with two months of collections remaining in the fiscal year.  Over the past year, we’re expecting strong year-end growth from 2009.  That means  more dollars are being spent in town at Ord merchants.  A healthy part of our rural revitalization correlates strongly with the retail growth over the past ten years.  Our local retailers bring shoppers from over 100 miles away, and those dollars in turn create jobs and investment.

Let’s also not forget that some of this traffic is due to our building projects seen across town in the past ten years: first with the ethanol plant, then the truck plaza, the downtown improvement project, and then on to the new hospital, school building project and the new fire hall.  These building projects have been a great injection into the local retail community, and I believe it has created a stronger environment for local retailers not just to survive, but thrive.  Many are doing just that.

The great hope is that these improvements create a sustainable and viable economic future for the residents of Valley County.  After ten years, it appears that is the case.
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We also have some updates on the proposed housing development, the photo contest, 0% business loans, the Microenterprise Tax Credit and housing rehabilitation funds.  It’s been a busy month!

The Valley County Economic Development Board is holding their monthly board meeting today.  Some exciting agenda items are up for discussion:

- New Neighborhoods
- Congressman Smith’s staffer report on the Health Care Reform Act
- Rural Entrepreneurship Academy Discussion
- VCED Board Retreat
- Business Development News

You can download the August agenda here and the July meeting minutes here.  You’re welcome to join us!

Our friends over at the Rural Enterprise Assistance Project (REAP) have release quite an interesting survey of Nebraska rural small businesses, identifying some specific needs of the rural business community.  The results aren’t much different than urban counterparts with respect to the current financial meltdown:  access to capital.  I’d like to say at Valley County Economic Development, we’ve tackled many of these issues with programs established here years ago, along with the fact we’ve promoted social media use now for two years going strong. I don’t want to boast, but it’s no surprise that our program reflects what REAP’s report has found – principled micro and small business finance, with technical assistance, grows local economies.  We’ve seen ten years of proof in Valley County.

Have a look at the release published by REAP below:
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REAP Staff (Jeff Reynolds, Dena Beck and Gene Rahn) with Congressman Smith (2nd from left)

Survey: Need for financing, training in business knowledge and planning chief concerns for Nebraska’s rural small business

A new survey suggests lack of sufficient capital and taking on more debt remains a concern for Nebraska’s rural small businesses.

That was one of many findings from the 2010 Small Business Needs Assessment, a biennial survey administered from February to April by the Center for Rural Affairs, sampling opinions of nearly 250 small business owners, 100 lenders and 36 business technical service providers in rural Nebraska. The results were released during a business roundtable discussion hosted by Rep. Adrian Smith (R-Neb.) in Grand Island Aug. 25.

The purpose of the survey was to gather information from both business owners and the people that serve them. The data and the survey findings also will assist the Center for Rural Affairs, and its Rural Enterprise Assistance Project (REAP), as well as partners such as the U.S. Small Business Administration, to help better tailor programs to fit the needs of Nebraska’s rural small business climate.

“The ultimate goal of any business development initiative or program should be to help build sustainable businesses in communities and neighborhoods,” said Jon M. Bailey, Rural Research and Analysis Director for the Center for Rural Affairs. “The survey results show significant challenges to meet this goal, but we know better where to target our resources to do the most good.”

While access to capital for rural small businesses may reflect the current economic climate, it also represents a critical and seemingly ongoing challenge for rural small businesses and the overall economy. According to a March survey by the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy, over a recent 15-year period, small businesses created a conservative estimate of 65 percent of net new private sector jobs.

Most rural small businesses in Nebraska lack large revenue streams. Nearly 60 percent of business owner respondents reported their business made less than $100,000 in gross sales in the most recent business year, and the largest number reported sales of less than $25,000.

Financial challenges found by respondents in the gross sales categories below $100,000 raise warning signs for these businesses and their rural communities.

“The need for working capital is a natural response for start-up or less experienced businesses, but for capital issues to remain after a business is established is both a reflection of the current economy and the nature of operating a small business in a rural place,” Bailey said. “How businesses respond to these financial challenges, with the assistance of business development programs and public policy, is critical for the rural economy. If established businesses are facing these challenges, we have to find solutions to keep them in business in their communities, and find incentives for start-up businesses in similar communities that may face identical challenges.”

Business knowledge and planning and financial issues are the primary difficulties faced by start-up businesses; nearly 70 percent of survey respondents claimed a lack of start-up cash as a chief difficulty faced in starting a business. Financial issues were the top-ranked difficulties for agriculture, online and construction small businesses. Business knowledge and planning issues were the top-ranked difficulties for service, retail and manufacturing small businesses in rural Nebraska.

Marketing and advertising were by far the most popular choice for training and assistance that would improve small businesses. Business plan development, legal issues, succession planning, and intermediate bookkeeping followed in popularity.

While business knowledge and planning issues were major challenges for rural small businesses in the start-up phase, these challenges continued even as a small business grows and matures. Throughout the survey, whether by business age, business type or amount of sales, rural small business owners expressed a need for training and assistance on business knowledge and planning issues, indicating many start a small business with little planning or business knowledge. Even rural small business owners who are successful to a degree recognize the need for such training and assistance if the business is to grow and be more financially stable.

Nearly 80 percent of rural small businesses with employees who answered the survey do not offer employee health insurance benefits; cost is the primary reason, although many did not offer such plans because employees were covered by other health plans.

Moreover, the survey found 15 percent of small business owners were not covered by health insurance. Those that do enjoy health coverage often are covered on a group plan through another member of the household, such as a spouse, or by purchasing an individual health insurance plan.

Social networking technology, including sites such as Facebook and Twitter, has a surprisingly large usage among rural small businesses. These technologies likely will continue to grow in popularity, making it wise for small business development initiatives to incorporate them into their dealings with their small business clientele.

“We have a challenge to balance the needs of most of our business owners who prefer traditional face-to-face and one-on-one assistance with new technology that enables our program to reach a greater number of people,” said Monica Braun, REAP Women’s Business Center Director.

Finally, while only 11 percent of rural small business owners said they were within 10 years of exiting their business, double that number claimed succession planning as the current greatest need of their small business, and nearly a third of respondents chose succession planning as a subject of needed training.

You may have read our previous blog post about The Ord Option and the benefits of buying locally.  To help support you local community you can participate in Ord’s new buy local campaign, The Ord Option. 

FREE Ord Option shopping bags and Ord Option cards are now available at the Ord Chamber office, 1514 K Street.  By spending your dollars locally, you are supporting our local businesses as well as increasing your chances of winning $500 in Ord Chamber Bucks in the month of September.  And the prizes don’t stop there!  For more information, follow the link above, or contact the Chamber office at (308) 728-7875 and stop by the Chamber office to pick up a bag and a card!

LINCOLN – The Nebraska Chamber of Commerce & Industry, in cooperation with local chambers of commerce across the state, will present its annual legislative forums in the coming weeks.

The forums are conducted by State Chamber staff and are held every autumn to gather input from the business community on issues of concern. Members of the State Chamber and local chambers of commerce, as well as members of the news media, are encouraged to attend.

State senators and legislative candidates in each legislative district have been invited to the forums.

This year’s forums will focus on the Legislature’s 2010 session – including developments in the areas of taxes, labor law, workers’ compensation costs, and economic development programs. The forums will also look at how Nebraska fares in several economic competitiveness rankings.

State Chamber President Barry L. Kennedy said: “The economy continues to be the most pressing issue facing lawmakers and employers. These forums provide a timely opportunity for business leaders and others in the community to learn about key concerns that will be addressed by state and federal policymakers.”

The Legislative Forum will be held in Ord on Tuesday, October 5th at the Ord Area Chamber of Commerce Office at noon. (To make reservations, or for more information, contact the Chamber office at 308.728.7875).

The State Chamber is Nebraska’s largest business association, representing individuals, large and small companies, other associations, and local chambers of commerce. The State Chamber has served as the voice of Nebraska’s business community for more than 98 years.

Think Local – Buy Local – Be Local!  As a follow-up for our Buy Local campaign, The ORD Option, we’re offering some insight into the purchasing power of buying locally.  Spending dollars in our community can have some seriously positive impacts in the community in which YOU live.  For example:

- Buy Local – Support Yourself: Several studies have shown that when you buy from an independent, locally owned business, rather than a nationally owned business, significantly more of your money is used to make purchases from other local businesses, service providers and farms – continuing to strengthen the economic base of the community.

- Support Community groups: Non – profit organizations receive an average 250% more support from smaller business owners than they do form large businesses (more to come on this next week).

- Keep Our Community Unique: Where we shop, where we eat and have fun—all of it makes our community home.   Our one-of-a-kind businesses are an integral part of the distinctive character of this community.  Our tourism businesses also benefit.

- Reduce Environmental Impact: Locally owned businesses can make more local purchases requiring less transportation.  This contributes to less congestion, habitat loss, and pollution.

- Create More Good Jobs: Small local businesses are the largest employer nationally and in our community, providing the most jobs to residents.

- Get Better Service: Local businesses often hire people with a better understanding of the products they are selling and taking more time to get to know customers.

- Invest in Community: Local businesses are owned by people who live in this community, are less likely to leave, and are more invested in the community’s future.

- Put Your Taxes to Good Use: Local businesses require comparatively little infrastructure investment and make more efficient use of public services as compare to nationally owned stores entering the community.

- Encourage Local Prosperity: Economic research shows that in an increasingly homogenized world, entrepreneurs and skilled workers are more likely to invest and settle in communities that preserve their one-of-a-kind businesses and distinctive character.

Information reprinted from Sustainable Connections, 2010: http://sustainableconnections.org/thinklocal/why

Another evening, another great Chamber social event: last night, Ord Family Health Clinic hosted an open house/meet & greet for Dr. Chris Unterseher, a new physician at Valley County Health System.  Dr. Chris Unterseher officially joined Valley County Health System August 2nd and is now seeing patients..  I’d like to welcome Dr. Unterseher to Ord and Valley County – welcome to Ord!

Dr. Unterseher (left) and Jeff Breikreutz, PA-C (right) visit during the open house

On August 16^th the Ord Area Chamber of Commerce will be launching a campaign called “BUY LOCAL: THE ORD OPTION”. The campaign’s purpose is to inform residents of Ord and the surrounding area of the importance of buying locally, resulting in benefits for both consumers and businesses.  As part of this campaign, we will inform consumers of the points listed on the enclosed article, The Benefits of Buying Locally.

In our efforts to encourage consumers to spend their dollars locally, the Ord Chamber of Commerce will distribute reusable “Ord Option” shopping bags as well as “Ord Option” cards, both displaying the logo below.  At participating businesses, customers will receive one initialed box (initialed by the employee making the sale) if they spend $5.00 or more on a single purchase.  If they spend $5.00 or more and use their Ord Option reusable shopping bag, they will receive two initialed boxes.

Please note, customers only receive an initialed box if they spend $5.00 or more, not for every $5.00 they spend.  When customers complete an entire card, they may turn it in at the Ord Chamber office to enter a drawing at the end of each month for Ord Chamber Bucks.  The chart below explains the dates of the drawings, prizes, and the use of cards in the drawings.  Only completely filled cards will be accepted in the drawing.  Customers can pick up new cards at the Ord Chamber office as well as participating businesses.

In conjunction with this campaign, a brief online survey is being conducted to gather information on how much our local businesses give back to our community in terms of donations and charity work. We hope the results will educate local consumers on the positive effects shopping locally can have for their local community. If your business has not yet taken the survey and would like to do so, please contact the Ord Chamber office and we will provide you with a link to the survey. 

As a local business, we encourage you to take the survey, mentioned above, even if you do not wish to participate in the “BUY LOCAL: THE ORD OPTION” campaign. If your business does choose to participate, all that would be required of you and your employees is to accept the Ord Option cards according to the guidelines above.

If you are interested in participating in this campaign, please contact the Ord Chamber office by e-mail, listed below, or call us at (308) 728-7875 by Friday, August 13 to ensure your business is included on the Ord Option list of businesses. If you are not a retail business but would still like to participate in the Ord Option campaign, please contact the Chamber office to discuss alternatives to replace the $5.00 purchase.

We appreciate your support in promoting our local community!

Last night we welcomed two new young professionals to Ord – Dr. Berg and Suzie Melia to the Family First dental team.  You can see a couple photos from the event below.  I’d like to take the opportunity to personally welcome Dr. Berg to Ord, and also welcome Suzie (an Ord High Alum) home!  Here is yet again another great example of how young people continue to believe in the future of our community by coming home.

Dr. Berg and Suzie Melia join Family First Dental of Ord

Family First Dental of Ord BBQ