Our small businesses across Knox County are the driving force in providing local jobs, services and places to trade, as well as the potential to protect our quality of life. They contribute both economically and socially to our communities. Did you know that one-half of all business owners are currently over the age of 50 on a national level? There are several reasons that a business would need to be transferred such as: retirement, change in ownership, desire to return to the workforce, owners illness or disability, loss of passion for business, change in market conditions, divorce, change in lifestyle, or achievement of financial security. The key to business transition is planning ahead. There are many resources available to our communities to help with this process.
The Knox County Development Agency has developed a new website that will allow business owners to list their business/service to anyone who can access the internet. Please check out the website at www.knoxcountyeconomicdevelopment.com. Under Employment there is a link to Business Opportunities. Businesses can choose to list specific information, or for confidentiality reasons list generic information to be filtered through to the current owner. If you have any questions about this process, please contact me at knoxcodevelopment@gpcom.net or (402) 288-5619.
There are many new features on the website that will be beneficial to all of our communities and people who currently do not live in our area. If you have additions, corrections, or suggestions to help improve the website, please feel free to contact me. This task was a huge accomplishment for Knox County and was made possible through a BECA Grant and Great Plains Communications, Inc. We were fortunate to have Megan Surface from Bloomfield serve as an intern for 8 weeks to get out into the communities and take pictures of our local businesses. The Knox County Development Agency will be responsible for updating the information on a regular basis. This tool will also act as a recruitment tool for people, new business, and new industry.
In August the KCDA will be meeting with NPPD to begin a series of three meetings to complete a target industry study. The purpose of this process is to select economic growth targets. During the first meeting, DED and NPPD will go over targeting methods, lead a discussion about why and how the communities want to grow, review economic data, gather participants’ views about the importance of different industry attributes, and obtain ideas on possible targets. The second meeting the committee will review the rankings of attributes from the previous meeting, receive data about suggested targets and determine “how well” these targets fit the community’s ranking. At the final meeting the committee will select targets, determine next steps, and assign responsibilities for the next steps. This study needs to be completed to see what industry fits our community’s needs and our demographics. If you would like to learn more about this study, please feel free to contact NPPD or the Knox County Economic Development Director Toni Tauber.
Category: News
