Publicity
GROW Nebraska™ provides members with news releases about their business successes and/or expansion. Press releases are essential for micro businesses to share information with potential consumers without having to spend money. GROW Nebraska’s public relation specialists have the expertise and experience to collaborate with you to compose the right message and to reach the appropriate media outlets.
Publicity Example
HOLBROOK, NEB. — While most families ushered in the New Year with parties and merriment, the mother-daughter duo of Carol O'Connell and Christi Anderson celebrated their new year by opening the Red Shed, a specialty gift shop.
Located 7 miles north of Holdrege on Highway 183, the renovated building showcases O'Connell's collectible dishes and primitives and Anderson's original and creative hand-painted art pieces in grand style. The entrepreneurs’ goal is to provide as stress-free and unhurried shopping experience as possible where one-of-a-kind pieces can be purchased. As the in-house artist, Anderson is able to personalize gifts, including wine glasses, toasting glasses, and plates.
Both women’s unique abilities and experience are well-served through this joint venture. Anderson had operated her own business, Creative Hand, for the past four years. O'Connell also has business experience. Nearly 20 years ago, she made candles and sold them at a holiday store "Candles and More" in Holdrege, which featured 16 different crafters and bakers. When her daughter recently decided to expand Creative Hand, O'Connell was more than willing to help. First, they attended an EDGE (Enhancing Developing and Growing Entrepreneurs) class in January 2007. Anderson had learned about the EDGE class through an email bulletin from GROW Nebraska, of which she’s been a member just prior to beginning Creative Hand. The next step was to renovate the building that would house their future joint business.
This kind of expansion is just what GROW Nebraska lists as a primary goal according to Janell Anderson-Ehrke, GROW Nebraska CEO.
“We focus on developing and assisting Nebraska entrepreneurs so that we can help the Nebraska economy," Anderson-Ehrke said. “Successful GROW Nebraska businesses not only financially help individual owners, but also the communities in which the businesses are located."
GROW Nebraska has recently undergone its own expansion. In November, the organization opened a year-round GROW store in the Kearney Hilltop Mall. They also started an e-commerce site and will launch an eBay GROW store yet this month.
“We’re constantly searching for new avenues for connecting our GROW members to the global market," Anderson-Ehrke said.
