WNCC Sidney Campus Executive Director Paula Abbott receives a certificate from the
Cheyenne County Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors following the Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Center ribbon cutting Wednesday on the Sidney Campus.
Western Nebraska Community College officially opened its newly created Innovation
& Entrepreneurship (I & E) Center Wednesday on the Sidney Campus with a ribbon cutting.
The I & E Center was formed in response to the hundreds of displaced workers in the
southern Panhandle over the last few years, and is meant to help entrepreneurs start
new businesses in the area. The new renovated facility on the WNCC Sidney Campus is
housed in the former Cosmetology program space.
"People were just flooding out of our area," said WNCC Sidney Campus Executive Director
Paula Abbott. "While companies were downsizing and creating displaced workers by the
hundreds, we desperately wanted to find a way to keep them here. As we talked, we
had this vision that there were going to be entrepreneurs, and they were going to
flow into the college, and they were all going to use these resources, and they were
all going to want to stay here. And, you know what? We were right."
Currently, the I & E Center houses three businesses - Karuna Counseling, Nexgen Outfitters,
and Shoemaker Law L.L.C. The three Sidney start-up businesses, which are nearly all
former displaced employees, have each launched new careers that will bring new business
and new life to the Sidney economic scene. Approved applicants to the I & E Center
receive two years of free rent and utilities, and a wide range of business resources.
In return, these start-up businesses agree to transition to a new or existing brick
and mortar store front in the community.
"When you look at American community colleges across this country, their response
is always to their community," said WNCC President Dr. Todd Holcomb. "The community
of Sidney and the southern Panhandle needed a response. The southern Panhandle has
been a great partner to our college, so it has been easy to respond to that call of
help when you have great partners."
"Being one of the few to step up and say I'm going to do something about this is really
an outstanding act of citizenship and where you can see there is community in this
community," said Nexgen Outfitters CEO Trent Santero.
Additionally, the WNCC Sidney Campus has hosted a number of business resource meetings
throughout the Panhandle to introduce small business owners to the resources available
in the area. Hundreds of people have attended these meetings over the last year, including
current I & E Center tenant Nichole Peralta with Karuna Counseling. Peralta opened
her own mental health private practice when Panhandle Health Group closed last year.
"I didn't go to school to be a business manager," Peralta said. "I know nothing about
running a business. So, being able to come in here and get the resources from Paula
(Abbott) and everyone else was instrumental in getting my start-up running."
Beyond the offices designated for the current businesses in the space, the I & E Center
also includes a variety of conference rooms, one individual telephone booth, and an
open co-working space for community members to gather. The I & E Center was recognized
earlier this year when the WNCC Sidney Campus received the Community Impact Award
during the Cheyenne County Chamber of Commerce banquet.
"It's been so much more than I could have ever imagined," said Jeff Shoemaker of Shoemaker
Law L.L.C. "You get to be a part of the solution; you get to be part of the Sidney
solution. There are jobs being created here and we're doing it with our own people.
There is probably nothing better than that. We're doing it with our own people and
resources that are offered here. Thank you to Western Nebraska Community College,
as this has proven to be a huge success starting out and I'm excited to see what's
next."
For more information on the I & E Center or if you'd like to attend the next business
resource meeting, please contact Abbott at abbottp@wncc.edu.