By Mark Coddington
mark.coddington@theindependent.com

Print Story | e-mail Story | Visit Forums

Featured Advertiser

Independent/Scott Kingsley Shawn Kaskie discusses with Loup City High School sophomores about advertising possibilities during their Life Skills class. Kaskie, executive director of the Sherman County Economic Development Board, is teaching the class as part of a $30,000 grant from the Nebraska Department of Economic Development. Independent/Scott Kingsley Loup City High School sophomores Jed Sekutera and mary Evans participate during their Life Skills class on entrepreneurship. The class is being funded through a grant from the Nebraska Department of Economic Development. Click Thumbnails to View

The queries tumble out at a feverish pace, as students interrupt one another to get the attention of Shawn Kaskie, the class's guest teacher.

"How fast of Internet do I need?" "Do you have to be rich to start a business?" "Does my business really need insurance?"

Kaskie dishes out dozens of quick answers as he steers the class through a guide to the finances of starting a business, trying to give the students an eye-opening look at what it takes to bring an idea to fruition.

It's one session of an entrepreneurship class Kaskie is teaching to each of Loup City's sophomores this year, along with students at nearby Litchfield High School, through a $30,000 grant from the Nebraska Department of Economic Development.

By the end of the semester-long class, each student will have produced a complete business plan for a hypothetical venture of their choosing.

Kaskie, executive director of the Sherman County Economic Development Board, said the class, along with another course for the area's small business owners, is part of a strategy to help the community thrive through long-term small business growth rather than chasing smokestacks.

"It's not like we're going to draw very many huge, major companies to Loup City," Kaskie said before a class session this week. "But entrepreneurship is a very viable strategy for trying to grow from within."

Among the words of instruction about accounts payable and sole proprietorships, Kaskie reportedly reinforces a vital part of the course's message: This is something you can do right here in Sherman County.

Mark Eurek, a local attorney and member of the development board, helped write the two-year grant last year with his wife, Patty, and Kaskie.

He said the board is intent on maintaining ties with its high school graduates as they go elsewhere for college. The town has much to offer for them to return as they begin to raise families, with strong schools, a low crime rate and a laid-back way of life, he said.

But the town needs to make sure the way is paved to make that return economically feasible.

"We've got positive things for them," Eurek said. "But they have to have a job, and they have to have a place to live."

That's where the entrepreneurship class comes in it's planting seeds in students to start thinking how they might be able to create their own jobs back home, Eurek said.

The idea seems to have started to take root in at least two students, Andrea Carkoski and Megan Obermiller.

Carkoski would like to start her own veterinary clinic, and while her hypothetical clinic for the class is in Grand Island, the course has made her think more about the possibility of starting one in Loup City sometime down the road.

Obermiller's mother owns a tanning salon in Loup City, and the class has helped her think through the logistics of someday owning one, too.

"I've learned a lot about what it takes to start a business," she said. "If I were to ever think about it, I'd have a pretty good idea of what to do."

That's exactly what Kaskie is looking for and it may not happen until 15 years from now, but he'd love to see a few of those seeds sprout into reality.

"If even one of my 35 kids does that, I'll consider that a success," he said with a broad smile.

with courtesy PHOTO

Bryanne Yosten (left) and Keri Novacek of Cedar Rapids hold a rack of frozen bratwurst before packing them for their business, Main Street Meats. The high school seniors launched the venture as part of a class at Central Community College.

CEDAR RAPIDS It was Taco Bell.

That's where Bryanne Yosten and Keri Novacek's transformation from typical high school seniors to the area's newest pork purveyors began.

The Cedar Rapids students were taking a new entrepreneurship class at Central Community College-Columbus and were fresh out of ideas for their yearlong project.

At a stop at Taco Bell, both remembered their experiences helping their fathers process meat for their families. Why not try making a few brats?

Now, seven months and 1,000 pounds of bratwurst later, Yosten and Novacek are overwhelmed with the work of running a quickly growing small business and loving every minute of it.

The two girls pack, label, market, sell and deliver three flavors of bratwurst, which are based on their dads' recipes and made by the nearby Albion Locker.

They secured two federal licenses, found seven area stores to carry their brats and made their own brochures and business cards.

Oh, and they also can't forget to go to school or track practices, play rehearsals and college visits.

How much time do they end up devoting to Main Street Meats?

"Every second," Yosten answers quickly. "I'm not lying."

"I don't think we've had a day where we haven't thought about it," Novacek adds.

It's paid off, too. They've made back their initial $500 investment, and then some. The compliments from bratwurst connoisseurs have been pouring in and state senators, too, when they spoke at a Legislature luncheon last month.

They hope to keep selling brats this summer and then pass the business off to their fathers when they head off to college.

Joan Novacek, Keri's mother and the girls' business teacher, marveled at how much they've learned.

"They're just going to be a step ahead of the rest," she said. "They've already had all the disappointments and the successes. They've seen it all."

Selling brats isn't in their long-term plans photography for Yosten, and sports management for Novacek but they're enjoying the ride while it lasts.

"There's never a dull moment," Yosten said. "We're always having fun."

ORD Ken Cullers had a problem.

He was trying to phase out of the taxidermy business, and he had 41 mounts sitting around, part of a trophy room that never materialized.

So he called up Ord High School and pitched an idea to a teacher: Students could sell the mounts online as a business project, and Cullers would give the school a share of the proceeds.

The idea became a project encompassing three classes: A Web design class maintained the site and responded to buyers' questions, an accounting class handled the finances and an ag class packaged and shipped the mounts.

Many of the mounts have sold, and a few people have expressed interest in buying the rest of the collection, said Jennifer Remmereid, who teaches the Web design class.

She said the class has been a valuable real-world application of everything students have been learning in textbooks.

"It makes a big difference," Remmereid said. "It's about what's happening, rather than what could happen."

The project has captured the students' attention, too. They've come into class each day checking to see what mounts have been bid on, eager to reply to customers' e-mails.

"We love it," said Anastacia Meyer, a junior in the Web design class.

Meyer hopes to someday open her own photography studio, and she was excited at the prospect of being able to pick up valuable Web skills first-hand.

"I thought it would be awesome because I'd actually be able to do some hands-on stuff and actually help somebody with their business," she said.

The school hopes to continue the program next year, working with other residents from the area.

Jamie Hornickel, a senior in the Web design class, is thinking of going into photography or journalism, possibly in the Sandhills.

She called the project a great learning tool that gave her an idea of how to navigate the online business world.

"It was more interactive, rather than just reading a book and doing something," Hornickel said.