SBA Awards $100,000 Grant to Nebraska Business Development Center for 2020

Omaha, Nebraska – Nebraska Business Development Center (NBDC) at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) is pleased to announce NBDC is a recipient of the Portable Assistance Program grant awarded by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).

SBA makes SBDC Portable Assistance grants to SBDC Lead Centers like NBDC. Projects under this award must provide technical assistance and/or training services to small businesses in communities that are economically impacted as a result of a recent business or government facility downsizing or closing, known as a “Qualifying Event.” The Qualifying Event, in this case, was the 2019 floods which resulted in job losses or small business instability. A successful application must craft a plan to increase small business success and viability in the areas affected by the Qualifying Event.

NBDC will use this funding to provide business assistance in response to the 2019 floods in Nebraska. The project initially focuses on the top 10 flood-impacted communities identified by the FEMA Community Conditions Assessment (CCA) and will provide assistance where it is needed most and fine-tune tools before expanding the delivery to other communities and 14 most heavily impacted rural Nebraska counties. The project is designed to assist 286 businesses over the three-year grant cycle.

NBDC's, Richard Yoder and UNO's Dr. Steven Schulz will facilitate the three-year project. Yoder focuses on helping businesses eliminate waste and create new value. Schulz is the Director of the Supply Chain Management program at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and teaches courses in Sustainable Supply Chain Management, Industrial Purchasing and Logistics, and Global Sourcing and New Product Innovation. Together, they will work at both the enterprise and business community level to identify local needs for preparing for future disasters. They will work closely with existing service providers to integrate their efforts with work done by others.

The project will approach disaster assistance by first identifying gaps in the existing rural business economy infrastructure, and then aiding clients in the development of enterprise-specific supply chain improvement designed to strengthen the long-term resiliency of the business. Tools developed as part of this project will enhance the existing body of assistance used by business assistance programs in other areas of the state and elsewhere in the country.

“The Federal Emergency Management Agency reports that 40 to 60 percent of small businesses never reopen after a disaster, and 90 percent of smaller companies fail within a year unless they can resume operations within five days. The best thing we can do to retain and strengthen the local rural economy is to help them prepare for the next disruption to business operations, whether it is flood, fire, utility interruption, or flu outbreak,” said Richard Yoder.

“NBDC is committed to supporting business in Nebraska and these additional resources will allow us to focus deserved attention on businesses impacted by the 2019 flooding disaster," said Catherine Lang, NBDC State Director. "Our work will focus on providing assistance for recovery and resiliency. We are excited to partner with Steve Schultz, enhancing our efforts with his expertise and experience in supply chain management acumen. We will also collaborate with our economic and business development partners across the 10 community area.”

For more information about this project, please contact Richard Yoder, P.E.: 402.554.2521 or ryoder@unomaha.edu.

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