Announcing NxBizSuccess

What is this NxBizSuccess and who is behind it, you might ask yourself? Well, first imagine sitting at the kitchen table. You and your friends are discussing the pro’s and con’s of business ideas, what will work and what doesn’t stand a chance. Now imagine a place where you can have the same conversations, but with hundreds of people, online. That is the vision of NxBizSuccess, to add life to ideas, to share experiences and knowledge, to find resources to make it happen and to bring together like-minded people who see Nebraska as a great place to start a business. Thus the creation of NxBizSuccess.

NxBizSuccess started as a shared vision between Community Development Resources, Inc. (CDR) and the NebraskaEDGE program (EDGE), located at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. After 15 years of providing loans and business plan training, CDR and EDGE saw the need to move beyond the classroom to the dynamic world of interactive education.

2009 Rural Poll Results:
Rural Nebraskans Less Positive About Communities

Rural Nebraskans generally are less positive about their communities this year than in the past, according to the 2009 Nebraska Rural Poll.

The 14th annual University of Nebraska-Lincoln poll was taken last March and April, a time of great economic uncertainty, poll organizers noted. That uncertainty is reflected in this year's poll results. Most respondents continue to see their communities as good places to live. Seventy-four percent describe their communities as friendly, 63 percent as trusting and 67 percent as supportive.

"Familiarity gets comfortable," said Randy Cantrell, rural sociologist with the Nebraska Rural Initiative.

"One of them that ought to be worrisome is nursing home care," said UNL public policy specialist Brad Lubben. Satisfaction with nursing home care has dropped from 63 percent in 1997 to 45 percent this year. Lubben noted that satisfaction with senior centers also has dropped, from 66 percent in 1997 to 47 percent in the latest poll. For more information visit the 2009 Rural Poll Reports.

CARI is an outreach effort of the Department of Ag Economics at the University of Nebraska. This interdisciplinary center offers programming and research in the area of economic and community development and sustainable agriculture.