When Nebraska Parkour LLC Owner and Founder Mitchell Tillwick was launching his business featuring the unique parkour method of fitness training, he turned to the Nebraska Business Development Center (NBDC) and its professional consulting services for startups. During his company’s expansion phase, Tillwick again sought out the organization for expert guidance on such matters as facility acquisition and the lending process.
“The NBDC, above all other government services, provides quality consulting we just couldn’t find anywhere else. They have the in-depth knowledge to answer the specific questions from business startup and tax filings to scaling and beyond, all while providing entry-level explanations for someone needing early support,” Tillwick said. “Working with the NBDC was crucial in our establishment during our startup stages, survival during COVID, and growth during our lease and loan acquisition process. We would recommend the NBDC and their team as the number-one resource in the state for business owners looking for help.”
NBDC’s executive director, Dan Curran, said NBDC is not only for new businesses and owners.
“We can help businesses all along the continuum,” he said. “We help entrepreneurs with idea formation and business planning, and then we help mature businesses with government contracting, business transition, financial packaging, if they’re looking to do some sort of investment… those kinds of services. Even if it’s a program that we don’t directly represent, we help them navigate the programs that are available to them.”
NBDC, which emerged in 1977, is a University of Nebraska Omaha entity, which offers consulting and business development services to entrepreneurs and businesses at any stage. To ensure access across the state, NBDC partners with University of Nebraska–Lincoln, University of Nebraska Kearney, Wayne State College, and Chadron State College and operates out of offices in Omaha, Lincoln, Wayne, Norfolk, Kearney, North Platte, Chadron, and Scottsbluff. NBDC also provides virtual consultations.
The organization offers four core programs: the Small Business Development Center (SBDC), a resource for small business creation and expansion; the Nebraska APEX Accelerator, which helps companies take advantage of government contracting opportunities; the Innovation and Technology program, which offers confidential advisory services when developers are ready to commercialize technology; and SourceLink Nebraska, a platform connecting clients to nonprofit resources that support businesses. In addition, NBDC’s Enlighten platform provides free online courses. The organization also offers other periodic training opportunities through webinars and in-person events.
“When the Nebraska Business Development Center was established, it was one of the original eight university-based business development centers,” Curran said. “The drive was to allow the public to tap into university expertise and research to fuel business development, and I think that’s really a key to this. Having this be a university-based system allows us to work with our clients and give them access to the full resource—the power of—University of Nebraska Omaha and the University of Nebraska system. The university sits on a lot of data, sits on a lot of research, and so we’re able to access all of that to be able to help our customers.”
Through NBDC’s partnerships with entities throughout the state, the expertise of many individuals—from graduate students to successful business owners to organizational representatives—is also an important resource, Curran said. Nearly all NBDC services are available at no cost to the client, and enterprises of all kinds are considered, Curran said.
“Everybody’s eligible for that initial meeting. I don’t know that we’ve ever really turned anybody away,” he said. “Maybe somebody has an idea that we just can’t wrap our arms around, but I don’t know what that would be. People come in and sit down with us, and no matter where they’re at, we’re going to take the meeting, and we’re going to talk with them and we’re going to try to help them achieve what they can.”
Curran said NBDC also helps potential or established businesses evaluate risk.
“It is kind of weird saying this, but sometimes saying, ‘You shouldn’t do this’ is a good answer, right? Because for most people, you’re going to get a bank involved, you’re (possibly) going to be leveraging your own assets,” he explained. “Maybe the market is saturated, and you wouldn’t be able to enter into the market in a way that you’re going to be able to achieve profit. You don’t want to be sideways with a bank, and the bank doesn’t want to be in a bad situation…I think the team here is really good about trying to keep everything realistic, so that when you are able to start your business or grow your business, you have good numbers to work with.”
The U.S. Small Business Administration and other federal, state, and private organizations provide financial support for NBDC. The Nebraska APEX Accelerator is partially funded through a cooperative agreement with the Department of Defense.
The effectiveness of NBDC is measurable, Curran said. In 2023, for instance, NBDC made a $623 million total impact to the Nebraska economy, serving more than 2,000 clients and creating or saving 180 jobs. NBDC clients made business investments of $23.3 million and received nearly $300 million in government contracts.
Mark Santo, president of Mark VII Enterprises Inc., which provides construction management and development representation projects including government contracting, said he’s consulted with NBDC multiple times with great results.
“Basically, NBDC has assisted us with everything to start the business and grow the business,” he said. “Best GovCon resource on the planet. We would not have been able to achieve the successes we have without them.”
To learn more, visit unomaha.edu/nebraska-business-development-center.
This article originally appeared in the October/November 2024 issue of B2B Magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
