Boom to Bust to...?

Philosophers say you can't cross the same place in a river twice because the water is always moving.

The same can be said about society, and the economy. It doesn't stand still. It moves forward or backward.

When Cabela's was assumed by Bass Pro, the Sidney community changed. People outside of Sidney changed their view of Sidney. However, this isn't the first challenge Sidney has seen, and returned. The better question might be how to stay the course and move toward a positive future.

A group of business owners are coming together to be part of the planning the community's future. In planning, the group isn't looking to decide what will be in the community, but rather how to help people who want to open their own business be a success, how to maintain a positive direction.

Several of the entrepreneurs involved in the “E3” program, Energizing, Entrepreneurial Ecosystems, made a presentation before the Cheyenne County Commissioners on June 6.

“We were actually approached to be part of this,” said Sarah Sinnett.

She said the goal is to continue to drive the health of the community.

She said there is a perception that Sidney is a ghost town, left behind by the sale of Cabela's.

“We all know it's not true,” Sinnett said.

Cory Keen, also present at the commissioners meeting, said the E3 program started out of E2 (Entrepreneurial Ecosystems), which has its roots in Kansas. The E2 Entrepreneurial Ecosystems helps communities and regions connect, learn, and share best practices or building sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystems across North America. With more than 25 years of field experience, particularly in rural America, E2 is the preferred resource for communities of all sizes wanting to pursue prosperity,” according to the energizing entrepreneurs.org website.

In the presentation to the commissioners, the purpose of the E3 was described as “to develop a network of resources in Sidney to drive opportunity through sustained investments in entrepreneurship and community. The E3 committee talked about some of the challenges facing Sidney, and that Sidney is one of six communities taking part in the E3 program. The six communities are Valley County, Holt County, Keith County, Sidney, Red Cloud and McCook. Sidney representatives visited Ord, Neb., as an example of growth. Sinnett said a big take-away in the visit to Ord is the community did not depend on local government. The concept of E2 and E3 is communities sharing with each other what works, what doesn't, where the roadblocks and pitfalls were, and how success occurred.

“It was everybody working on the common good,” she said.

The Ord community saw its Chamber membership grow from 15 members in the late 1990s to peaking at 280 members. It also leveraged $250 million in new public and private investment at about $12.5 million annually, and experienced a 9 percent gain in employment while similar size communities recorded a 9 percent decline.

Referring to Sidney, she said “there's so much we can learn and leverage.”

She said Steward, Neb., has been working through housing shortages for years.

Commissioner Randy Miller expressed concern with the lack of talent and lack of young interest in work.

While there are local issues, the changes related to one of the biggest employers in the region as an example, there are larger issues, issues that go beyond Sidney and Cheyenne County. However, those who have lived in the Sidney area for an extended time define the people as resilient, bouncing back after adversity. According to the data presented to the commissioners, 63 percent of area businesses are maintaining (47 percent are business more than 20 years old, 24 percent are 6-10 years old; the majority are retail, salons, restaurants and auto repair shops), 26 percent of businesses are growing and 1 percent of businesses are struggling.

“At the end of the day, our people make us strong,” Sinnett said after the commissioners meeting.

Concerns entrepreneurs voiced during the Heartland Listening Tour include * Capital to get started, * Taxes and Insurance are excessive, * Many lack business and financial acumen, * Lacking infrastructure, * Loss of talent and * Attracting new talent.

Sidney will be hosting the next E3 community event in mid-September. About 50 community leaders from five other communities are expected at the event.