News Center

But first … Thayer County Economic Development Alliance (TCEDA) would like to send a huge THANK YOU to all small businesses as we celebrate National Small Business Week, May 2 - 7, 2022. Your tenacity and resiliency to start and stay in business has not and will never go unnoticed...Continue Reading

You’re evaluating a new site. It checks all the boxes when it comes to the property, local infrastructure, and business climate. You have one more box to check — labor supply. You’re presented with a hodge-podge of numbers. How can you make sense of it all? And what’s the botto...Continue Reading

With COVID-19 changing the reality of the world’s population, it has undoubtedly affected the way businesses operate. Area Development recently discussed the use of robotics and other automation technologies in response to these changes with Carolina Weidler, leader of Hendy’s Science and Technology Practice Group. Area Development: How specialized or divers...Continue Reading

Only slightly more than a third of those responding to our 36th Annual Corporate Survey say they use outside consultants when site selecting. Therefore, we would expect the results of our 18th Annual Consultants Survey to differ considerably from the results of our Corporate Survey. Let’s see if that hold...Continue Reading

As 2021 ended, the global coronavirus pandemic continued to surge with a new variant — once again causing restrictions on personal and business activities. Despite this, as we looked at the year-end economic numbers, we saw surprising growth. According to the Commerce Department, the U.S. GDP grew at a 5.7 annualize...Continue Reading

LINCOLN, Neb. — A bill that would offer financial help to struggling small businesses has advanced through the second round in the Nebraska legislature. LB 598 from Lincoln Senator Anna Wishart would organize an existing pandemic relief program within the state Department of Economic Development under the Businesses Innovation Act, an...Continue Reading

Entrepreneur Janna Ronert, founder of the company IMAGE Skincare and co-founder of Hush & Hush, was invited to join a virtual conversation with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The event took place on April 6 at the College of Business Howard Hawks Hall. Ronert has been featured for being a par...Continue Reading

After a desultory 2020 for all the obvious reasons, global corporate facility investment activity was back with a vengeance in 2021, with logistics nearly taking the crown perennially reserved for machinery & equipment as the top industry for total projects. That’s one conclusion to draw from the project data resident i...Continue Reading

One of the key components of economic development is Community. Thayer County is big on unity through community, and in our small part of this big country, we believe community starts at home with family. Family is part of a person’s foundation and oftentimes the reason for making life-altering decisions...Continue Reading

Movies can be a great source of inspiration and entertainment, and a fun way to expand your knowledge base. If you’re familiar with Amazon, you probably already know that the online shopping platform has a video streaming service. It makes thousands of video titles available for free to its Amazon Prim...Continue Reading

Buyers and sellers of real estate alike—when asked what are the three most essential considerations about a property—will nearly always reply "location, location, location." While this answer is sometimes tongue-in-cheek, it is often quite accurate, and this reply perhaps applies to retirees more than any other demographic. Settling down afte...Continue Reading

Remote worker attraction should be part of every EDO’s strategy given how workforce attraction has become critical for economic growth. As businesses have expanded in recent years, so has the need for talent. Whether looking for welders, programmers, manufacturing workers, or office staff, businesses of all sizes have begun t...Continue Reading

Calls to action (CTAs) are the secret sauce to driving people to your community. If your CTAs aren’t effective at capturing people’s attention and persuading them to click, then it makes your offer useless. CTAs can be used on product pages, landing pages, display ads, social media, emails, direct mail, an...Continue Reading

Entrepreneurs and business owners aren’t known for conformity. They go against the grain because settling for what already exists is less appealing than paving new paths. But this idealism and drive don’t come without risks. About 21.5% of startups fold within year one, and 30% go under in the secon...Continue Reading

Aside from that first fulfilled order or invoice payment received, nothing warms an entrepreneur’s heart like a repeat customer. How valuable is a steady stream of reliable, recurring business to a business that’s trying to get established? Research consistently finds that repeat customers spend significantly more than new ones whil...Continue Reading

Omaha, Neb. — Three outstanding Nebraska businesses have been recognized by the Nebraska Business Development Center (NBDC) at this year’s 2021 NBDC Business Awards. The awards recognize NBDC clients who demonstrated business success through job creation and sustainability, sales growth, successful government contracting, innovation in product or service offerings, an...Continue Reading

Many people, even retail experts who have been in the industry their entire careers are wondering, what does it really mean to be in the ‘metaverse’? The metaverse exploded into the public consciousness in October 2021 as Facebook, Inc. changed its name to "Meta" and announced multibillion-dollar investments in metaverse technologies...Continue Reading

The Great Resignation has negatively impacted businesses throughout the United States and the world. As CBS reported, in October 4.2 million Americans left their positions for other job opportunities.  Luke Pardue, Chief Economist of Gusto, told CBS “We serve 200,000 businesses across the country and can use their payroll data t...Continue Reading

A Nebraska woman has added her personal touch to the local hardware store in Hebron, and her artistic work can actually be spotted throughout Thayer County. We visited with Jamie Luttrell recently. She co-owns the Hebron True Value hardware store with her husband. “We actually bought the hardware store downtown first,&rdquo...Continue Reading

Have you ever wondered if a hobby store could be successful and sustainable? On top of that, have you wondered if a hobby store in a small town could be successful and sustainable? Well, David and Deb Zucker, owners of Spring Creek Model Trains proved it so for the pas...Continue Reading

A 17,000-square-foot exercise center is offering a boost to the quality of life in south central Nebraska, and it’s thanks to a man who wanted to give back to his hometown. We visited with Rita Luongo, who is the foundations and development director at Thayer County Health Services. She says th...Continue Reading

The three most important factors of economic development are: Human resources - skilled, well-trained staff producing a higher quality outcome Physical capital - modern, well-maintained facilities and equipment increasing labor productivity Technology - innovative ways to utilize technology in helpful ways. Thayer County Health Services (often called the hospital), is an economic development wonde...Continue Reading

Dear Residents of Thayer County, As we close out 2021, TCEDA would like to thank you for shopping locally, even through troubled times. It’s because of you, local businesses stayed open, and lights stayed on. It’s because of you your neighbors were able to keep their jobs. It’s because of yo...Continue Reading

Hello, True Value Hardware! National Entrepreneur’s Month has come and gone. Yet, TCEDA is still celebrating by acknowledging another entrepreneurial small business.  True Value Hardware is confirmation that small business is big business in Thayer County. True Value Hardware, a family-owned franchise, has been in downtown Hebron for over 11 years, unde...Continue Reading