Entrepreneurs get a hand New businesses are group's goal Southeast Nebraskans are banding together Meeting tonight

NEBRASKA CITY, Neb. -- A fledgling economic development group that focuses on southeast Nebraska is generating early momentum and hoping to bring new interest and new businesses to the region.

Fifty-five people showed up last month for the first meeting of the Southeast Nebraska Inventors, Investors and Entrepreneurs Club, and organizers hope even more attend tonight.

"We have a lot of issues in southeast Nebraska and our rural areas," said coordinator Connie Reimers-Hild. "In many of our communities, depopulation is an issue. We also face an aging population. We need to get some youth and more young people back into our communities."

Reimers-Hild, who is with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Kimmel Education & Research Center in Nebraska City, said the new group, called the I2E Club, is helping to establish an entrepreneurial culture in southeast Nebraska.

"We need to get young people to take a second look at our rural areas and have them come back to not only work for someone else, but to start their own businesses," she said.

Meetings, held on the second Tuesday of each month, open with a networking session at 5:30 p.m. that is followed by one or more guest speakers.

"The goal is to have someone tell their story -- the ups and downs (of starting a business)," said Reimers-Hild. "We want to have people talk with each other about services that are out there to help them grow their dreams.

"We have big dreams here in southeast Nebraska. We have resources across the state that people can use. We need to build teams to help each other thrive to be more successful."

One of the big dreamers is Rhonda Nielson, who left a teaching career to start Janie's Confections at 616 Central Ave. in Nebraska City in September 2005. She makes homemade cinnamon rolls, cookies and truffles, as well as special-order cakes, pies and brownies.

Nielson, the guest speaker at tonight's meeting, was a seventhgrade math teacher for 17 years.

"I got tired of everything and decided I had to try something else," she said.

Nielson had no business background when she started, and that's why she is interested in the I2E Club.

"The biggest thing for me was stepping into the unknown. Networking is just so important."

Nielson said new owners of businesses face myriad challenges, even when they have an area of expertise. She said the club allows people with different talents to share their knowledge with others.

"This sounds silly, being a math teacher, but one of my pitfalls is keeping track of the checkbook," she said.

The club also brings people together to share success stories, to show that entrepreneurs really can make a go of it.

"I don't really feel what I do is great," Nielson said. "I've always baked. I have to remind myself that not everybody bakes. That's why (customers) come in."

Reimers-Hild said the club wants to promote buying locally and to help rural businessmen embrace self-sufficiency and change.

"These are things that Nebraskans are already associated with. We want to have people buy Nebraska."

Reimers-Hild she hopes the group grows so that up to 75 attend each meeting, but she said she was pleasantly surprised by the turnout at the first meeting. Participants came from Nebraska City, Auburn, Falls City, Humboldt, Lincoln, Tecumseh, Seward, Dunbar, Stromsburg, Syracuse, Brownville, Nemaha, Omaha and West Point.

"The club is inspiring new ventures while helping existing businesses grow and prosper," she said. "This is a time to break down barriers that hinder progress and to let innovation and creativity flow."

Meeting tonight

What: Southeast Nebraska Inventors, Investors and Entrepreneurs Club

When: Tonight, and second Tuesday of each month. Networking session begins 5:30 p.m., followed by guest speaker.

Where: Kimmel Education & Research Center, 5985 G Road, Nebraska City.

Topic: The free meeting features a networking session and guest speakers.

Information: 402-873-3166