Timberlyne Group, formerly Sand Creek Post & Beam, navigated significant challenges on its journey from a wood barn kit seller to a leader in mass timber structure design. The company was founded in 2004 by Len Dickinson and Jule Goeller and sought a business independent of the local farm economy. After selling their first barn kit, the duo faced a turning point in 2013 when an EF4 tornado leveled the Wayne production facility. Rather than succumbing to the setback, Dickinson and Goeller viewed it as an opportunity to rebuild with a renewed focus on sustainability and lean manufacturing techniques
"We're very appreciative of the influence [Loren Kucera] and the NBDC had on our business being successful."
They have often worked with the NBDC and Kucera since founding the company. After the tornado, the couple turned to the NBDC for advice on lean processes and principles. For increased sustainability, leftover wood chips are sold to a local paper mill company, the sawdust is sold to local farmers for animal bedding, and the "drops" from the manufacturing processes are used for heating. 2015 Sand Creek was named the NBDC Sustainability Business of the Year. Both credit the NBDC and Kucera with being instrumental in helping to build the company's foundation. "Loren was able to set us up and find a bank that believed in what we were doing," Dickinson says.
Since selling its first barn kit, the company has experienced consistent and impressive growth. Altogether, Timberlyne currently employs nearly 200 people in three states. Since 2017, they have tripled their revenue. That success is having a positive impact on the Wayne area. The company has partnered with Wayne State College and Northeast Community College, employing interns and permanent hires from the colleges' construction and design degree programs. Through the University of Nebraska College of Architecture, the Sand Creek Post & Beam Design and Fabrication grants are awarded to instructors and their students for wood construction research and fabrication.
Rayneesha Yvonne founded a dance and artistic studio whose goal is to further the creative talents of young people in north and northwest Omaha. Rayneesha's primary focus was to open a dance studio offering an array of classes, including hip-hop at a variety of expertise levels, jazz, technique classes, and dance fitness. She also wanted to provide a chance for young people to participate in visual arts programs, including photography workshops, filmmaking, and more.
"I started out by myself but I soon realized you can't do it all alone," she says. "I needed a source for networking and to be open to other ideas. Funding was also a big challenge, and I needed help with grant writing."
"I've learned a lot about how to develop the business side of my company. [NBDC has] been great at helping me fill in the gray areas along the way."
SBDC Consultant Kiley Phelps assisted with a business plan, three-year financial projections, and market research for site selection. “We originally met in October 2021 and ultimately she was able to get a loan, was awarded a grant, and hired three part time employees.” Phelps says.
She says the NBDC will continue encouraging Yvonne and her business. “Rayneesha is amazing to work with, and we plan to continue consulting with her and supporting her business growth,” she says.
Yvonne opened BeAmbi & Company near 90th and Military in Omaha in April 2022 and has been attracting eager young people ever since. "So many of my students say they needed this kind of support," she says. "This is a safe place and a home for their creative interests."
The ability to refine, combine, and tailor medications to fit a doctor’s orders and the needs of individual patients sets Innovative Rx, a compounding pharmacy in Kearney, apart from traditional pharmacies. Rachel Daly, Pharm.D, R.P., enjoyed working at a compounding pharmacy in Lincoln, but a similar opportunity did not exist when she moved to Kearney. “Being fresh out of school, I wasn’t ready to open my own business."
Then, after eight years working as a pharmacist in a Kearney hospital, Daly felt she was ready to open her own compounding pharmacy. “I had the perfect mix of experience and ignorance,” she says. “I was confident in my ability, but not about knowing everything about business, or even how to find everything I needed.
"The NBDC is both accessible and prompt. I was on pins and needles not knowing where to start, and they were very step-by-step in shepherding me through the process.”
To get the answers she needed about starting a business, Daly turned to the Nebraska Business Development Center (NBDC) and Odee Ingersoll, consultant and NBDC Center Director in Kearney. Ingersoll assisted with developing a business plan, financials, and a loan package request for a Small Business Administration (SBA) loan.
In the next year or two, Daly says, Innovative Rx is planning an addition to its current facility that will expand its lab spaces and compounding services. When that happens, Daly says she knows the NBDC will be ready to answer any questions.
Daly received the SBA loan and opened the doors to Innovative Rx in September 2019. For the initial year and a half, she did everything. Her business has since grown to include two part-time pharmacists, four part-time pharmacy technicians, a combined marketing director/office manager, and an office assistant. Her family has grown, too, as she and her husband now have three children, ages 9, 7, and nine months.
