Business Commons^™

Grant To Boost Innovation Campus, Biotech Startups, Chris Dunker

Nebraska Innovation Campus Materials

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln will use a $750,000 grant from the U.S.Department of Commerce to build biotechnology lab space at Nebraska Innovation Campus for small and start-up companies. Together with unused construction funds to match the federal Economic Development Administration's grant, UNL will create a “biotechnology connector program” to stimulate economic growth in fields from agriculture to pharmaceuticals. Within months, 10,000 square feet of vacant space at the Food Innovation Center will become laboratory space for up to eight small companies a year for the next nine years,said Matt Erskine, deputy assistant secretary of commerce for economic development. “This investment …

Results Of The August Survey Of Nebraska Business: September 4, 2015, Eric Thompson

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

Respondents to the August Survey of Nebraska Business had a positive outlook for sales and employment growth over the next six months. To be specific, 28 percent of respondents to the August 2015 survey expected to increase sales over the next 6 months while 18 percent expected to decrease sales. Respondents also were more likely to plan to increase employment (12%) than reduce it (5%). Businesses in the Omaha and Central Nebraska regions were the most optimistic about their outlook for the next six months, particularly for employment. The outlook also was positive in Northeast and Southeast Nebraska and neutral …

Climate And Energy: Opinions Of Nonmetropolitan Nebraskans 2015 Nebraska Rural Poll Results, Rebecca J. Vogt, Cheryl A. Burkhart-Kriesel, Randolph L. Cantrell, Bradley Lubben, L. J. Mcelravy, Tonya Haigh

Nebraska Rural Poll

Many rural Nebraskans are concerned about more severe droughts or longer dry periods in their area, insect-borne diseases like West Nile Virus, and more extreme summer temperatures in their area. Fewer rural Nebraskans are concerned about the availability of water for their community or home or more frequent extreme rains or floods. Residents of the North Central region are more likely than residents of other regions of the state to be concerned about more severe droughts or longer dry periods in their area.

Few rural Nebraskans reported their household experiencing health problems during the drought of 2012. However, many persons …

Perspectives On Community Life In Nonmetropolitan Nebraska: 2015 Nebraska Rural Poll Results, Rebecca J. Vogt, Cheryl A. Burkhart-Kriesel, Randolph L. Cantrell, Bradley Lubben, L. J. Mcelravy

Nebraska Rural Poll

By many different measures, rural Nebraskans are positive about their community. Many rural Nebraskans rate their community as friendly, trusting, and supportive. Most rural Nebraskans also say it would be difficult to leave their community. In addition, most rural Nebraskans disagree that their community is powerless to control its future.

However, the proportion of rural Nebraskans satisfied with many social services and entertainment services has decreased across all nineteen years of the study. Declines in satisfaction levels across all 19 years are seen with nursing home care, medical care services, senior centers, mental health services, entertainment, retail shopping and restaurants. …

2015-2016 Land Management, Relations, And Alternative Cash Lease Provisions Participant Manual

Extension Farm and Ranch Management News

This publication was used as the participant manual for the 2015-2016 land management and flex lease meetings held across the state of Nebraska. This effort was supported by grant funding made available from the Nebraska Soybean Board and the North Central Risk Management Education Center.

Results Of The July Survey Of Nebraska Business: August 7, 2015, Eric Thompson

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

Respondents to the July Survey of Nebraska Business reported optimism for business sales and employment growth over the next six months. To be specific, 27 percent of respondents to the July 2015 survey expected to increase sales over the next 6 months while 13 percent expected to decrease sales. Respondents also were much more likely to plan to increase employment (14%) than reduce it (4%). Businesses in the Omaha area were particularly optimistic about the outlook for sales and employment. Elsewhere in the state, businesses in Central Nebraska were optimistic in their outlook while businesses in Southeast Nebraska were positive. …

Engagement In Nonmetropolitan Nebraska: Civic And Political Participation And Views Of Community Leadership: 2015 Nebraska Rural Poll Results, Rebecca J. Vogt, Cheryl A. Burkhart-Kriesel, Randolph L. Cantrell, Bradley Lubben, L. J. Mcelravy

Nebraska Rural Poll

Most rural Nebraskans have participated in community involvement activities but they have not been as involved in some political activities. However, most rural Nebraskans have spoken with their pocketbooks on political and social issues by either buying or boycotting products because of the social and political values of the company providing them. And, many rural Nebraskans have signed a written petition about a political or social issue and have contacted a local public official to express their opinion.

Certain groups are more likely than others to have participated in community and political involvement activities. While younger persons are more likely …

Keeping Nebraska In Fashion: The Success Of Postwar Custom Dressmaker Ilona Dorenter Berk, Kylin P. Jensen

Department of Textiles, Merchandising and Fashion Design: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Keeping Nebraska in Fashion: The Success of Postwar Custom Dressmaker Ilona Dorenter Berk examines the life and work of previously undocumented Midwestern dressmaker Ilona Berk. Through the interdisciplinary study of three vital components in the entrepreneurial dressmaking business of Ilona; who worked out of her home in Lincoln, Nebraska from 1953 to approximately 2000; research establishes her as a significant contributor to the fashion system of the twentieth century, and an important figure in Midwestern costume history. Components chosen for the study are: Ilona’s unique personal characteristics, the global and regional fashion systems she worked within, and the garments she …

The Relationship Between The Option-Implied Volatility Smile, Stock Returns And Heterogeneous Beliefs, Shu Feng, Yi Zhang, Geoffrey C. Friesen

Department of Finance: Faculty Publications

We study the relationship between stock returns and the implied volatility smile slope of call and put options. Stocks with a steeper put slope earn lower future returns, while stocks with a steeper call slope earn higher future returns. Using dispersion of opinion as a proxy for belief differences, we find that the slope-stock return relation is strongest for stocks with high belief differences. The idiosyncratic component of the put slope fully explains the negative risk-adjusted stock returns. For the call slope, the idiosyncratic component dominates the systematic one, and explains the positive risk-adjusted returns.

7 Tips To Grow Your Rural Business With Purpose And Meaning, Connie I. Reimers-Hild, Alyssa Dye

Community Vitality Initiative

No one can predict the future; however, rural entrepreneurs and business owners can use a future-focused leadership approach, which includes examining megatrends, to shape the future of their businesses. Megatrends are global shifts that influence society, the economy and the environment. The purpose of this article is to help rural entrepreneurs discover ways to grow their businesses with Living with Purpose and Meaning Megatrend.

How To Grow Your Rural Business With Purpose And Meaning, Connie I. Reimers-Hild, Alyssa Dye

Community Vitality Initiative

No one can predict the future; however, rural entrepreneurs and business owners can use a future-focused leadership approach, which includes examining megatrends, to shape the future of their businesses. Megatrends are global shifts that influence society, the economy and the environment. The purpose of this article is to help rural entrepreneurs discover ways to grow their businesses with Living with Purpose and Meaning Megatrend.

Influence Of Parents, Peers, Internet Product Search And Visual Social Media On College Students’ Purchase Behavior: A Mixed Methods Study, Jennifer E. Johnson

Department of Textiles, Merchandising and Fashion Design: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Visually-oriented online social networking websites (VSNS) have become frontrunners in the race for popularity among all other online social networks. Pinterest, Instagram, Wanelo, and Snapchat have allowed for consumers to share their everyday lives, as well as the products that define their personal cultures. Products that require less financial and social risk tend to not only be influenced by online social networking websites, but also by peers (Kim & Sung, 2008). Products that require more financial and social risk tend to be influenced by family members and the amount of Internet product search behavior (Drozdenko, Jensen, & Coelho, 2012). Little …

Become A Future-Focused Leader: Use Three Megatrends To Grow Your Rural Business, Connie Reimers-Hild, Alyssa Dye

Community Vitality Initiative

No one can predict the future; however, rural entrepreneurs and business owners can use a future-focused leadership approach, which includes examining megatrends, to shape the future of their businesses. Megatrends are global shifts that influence society, the economy and the environment. This article discusses three megatrends shaping the future of rural businesses:

1) The Rise of the #GigEconomy

2) Living with Purpose and Meaning

3) The Decentralized Marketplace

The article also provides coaching tips for rural entrepreneurs on how to use megatrends to grow their businesses.

While many companies are struggling to keep up with the rapid rate of change, …

Nu's Innovation Campus To Host Packaged Korean Food Producer's Research Hq, Joe Duggan

Nebraska Innovation Campus Materials

LINCOLN — On land once famed for food on a stick, an Omaha entrepreneur declared Monday that she’s hoping to put kim chi on a shelf. Suji Park, founder and “chief inspirational officer” of Suji’s Cuisine USA, announced that the company will soon open a modest research and development division at Nebraska Innovation Campus. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln technology park occupies the former location of the Nebraska State Fair. Park, who employs six staff members at a marketing office at 1299 Farnam St. in Omaha, said the company last week launched a line of packaged Korean barbecued beef and pork …

Cooper Foundation Grant To Expand [Nebraska] Innovation Studio, Troy Fedderson

Nebraska Innovation Studio

Cooper Foundation grant to expand Nebraska Innovation Studio.

The Cooper Foundation of Lincoln has provided a grant of $200,000 to support the Nebraska Innovation Studio, a 16,000-square-foot maker space in the Innovation Commons Building at Nebraska Innovation Campus.

"This charter investment in Nebraska Innovation Studio embodies one of the hallmarks of Cooper Foundation grant making,” said Jack Campbell, chairman of the board of trustees of the Cooper Foundation. "We strive to provide early investment in ventures of significant promise, and the development of this maker space certainly fits the bill."

The one-of-a-kind place for all kinds of makers will let …

Innovation Campus Adds Korean Food Processor, Chris Dunker

Nebraska Innovation Campus Materials

Suji Park owns and operates Korean restaurants in South Korea and Japan -- and caters food service at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul -- but she has long been drawn to Nebraska’s status as the Beef State. “It’s the Silicon Valley of red meat,” said Park, whose Suji’s Cuisine was announced Monday as the fifth private company and first international tenant of Nebraska Innovation Campus. They already have a sales office employing six people in Omaha. When the Korean food manufacturer opens a research office in the Food Innovation Commons this summer, Park said, Suji’s Cuisine will expand its line …

Effective Networking: A Key Success Factor For Small Business Owners, Glenn Muske, Connie Hancock, Connie Reimers-Hild, Alyssa Dye

Community Vitality Initiative

Finding answers to your questions often starts with knowing who to call. And knowing who to call is made easier by building and maintaining an effective network.

Glenn Muske, small business specialist for North Dakota State University Extension, outlines effective ways to build your network online and in-person. Check out the Glenn’s small business guide to networking, "Effective Networking: A Key Business Success Factor," and add it to small business game plan for success!

Standing Out From The Competition Through Marketing: A Guide For Small Business Owners, Glenn Muske, Connie Hancock, Connie Reimers-Hild, Alyssa Dye

Community Vitality Initiative

It can’t be said enough that “build it and they will come” is just a myth. A “one-and-done” effort will not get you what you want, either. Developing a successful business means putting a marketing plan that creates and maintains awareness of your product and/or services.

Learn how to build your marketing plan from Glenn Muske, small business specialist for North Dakota State University Extension with his guide on "Standing Out From the Competition Through Marketing."

Connecting With Others Brings Business Success: Are You Engaged? A Guide To Effective Networking For Small Business Owners., Glenn Muske, Connie Hancock, Connie Reimers-Hild, Alyssa Dye

Community Vitality Initiative

Finding answers to your questions often starts with knowing who to call. And knowing who to call is made easier by building and maintaining an effective network.

Glenn Muske, small business specialist for North Dakota State University Extension, outlines effective ways to build your network online and in-person. Check out the Glenn’s small business guide to networking, "Effective Networking: A Key Business Success Factor," and add it to small business game plan for success!

Marketing And Your Small Business: A Guide For Small Business Owners, Glenn Muske, Connie Hancock, Connie Reimers-Hild, Alyssa Dye

Community Vitality Initiative

It can’t be said enough that “build it and they will come” is just a myth. A “one-and-done” effort will not get you what you want, either. Developing a successful business means putting a marketing plan that creates and maintains awareness of your product and/or services.

Learn how to build your marketing plan from Glenn Muske, small business specialist for North Dakota State University Extension with his guide on "Marketing and Your Small Business."

Narcissism And Leadership: A Meta-Analytic Review Of Linear And Nonlinear Relationships, Emily Grijalva, Peter D. Harms, Daniel A. Newman, Blaine H. Gaddis, R. Chris Fraley

P. D. Harms Publications

Past empirical studies relating narcissism to leadership have offered mixed results. This study integrates prior research findings via meta-analysis to make four contributions to theory on narcissism and leadership, by (a) distinguishing between leadership emergence and leadership effectiveness, to reveal that narcissism displays a positive relationship with leadership emergence, but no relationship with leadership effectiveness; (b) showing narcissism’s positive effect on leadership emergence can be explained by leader extraversion; (c) demonstrating that whereas observer-reported leadership effectiveness ratings (e.g., supervisor-report, subordinate-report, and peer-report) are not related to narcissism, self-reported leadership effectiveness ratings are positively related to narcissism; and (d) illustrating that …

How Functionalist And Process Approaches To Behavior Can Explain Trait Covariation, Dustin Wood, Molly Hensler Gardner, Peter D. Harms

P. D. Harms Publications

Factors identified in investigations of trait structure (e.g., the Big Five) are sometimes understood as explanations or sources of the covariation of distinct behavioral traits, as when extraversion is suggested to underlie the covariation of assertiveness and sociability. Here, we detail how trait covariation can alternatively be understood as arising from units common to functionalist and process frameworks, such as self-efficacies, expectancies, values, and goals. Specifically, the expected covariation between two behavioral traits should be increased when a specific process variable tends to indicate the functionality of both traits simultaneously. In 2 empirical illustrations, we identify a wide array of …

Three Essays On Biofuels, Drought, Livestock, And The Environment, Sunil P. Dhoubhadel

Department of Agricultural Economics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This dissertation consists of three essays. The first essay examines the impact of the 2012 drought and the biofuels mandate on the U.S. grain and livestock markets. A stochastic equilibrium displacement model is used to analyze the impact on eight commodity markets viz. beef, pork, poultry, corn, distillers’ grain (DG), soybean, soymeal, and ethanol. Among the eight markets, corn and beef are found to be the most vulnerable to drought. The use of Renewable Identification Number (RIN) credits as an instrument to mitigate the impact of drought has limited effectiveness. A mandate waiver of about 23% is required to fully …

Perceived Workplace Racial Discrimination And Its Correlates: A Meta-Analysis, María Del Carmen Triana, Mevan Jayasinghe, Jenna R. Pieper

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

We combine the interactional model of cultural diversity (IMCD) and relative deprivation theory to examine employee outcomes of perceived workplace racial discrimination. Using 79 effect sizes from published and unpublished studies, we meta-analyze the relationships between perceived racial discrimination and several important employee outcomes that have potential implications for organizational performance. In response to calls to examine the context surrounding discrimination, we test whether the severity of these outcomes depends on changes to employment law that reflect increasing societal concern for equality and on the characteristics of those sampled. Perceived racial discrimination was negatively related to job attitudes, physical health, …

Wood Cut From State Fair Park Trees Crafted Into Table, Chris Dunker

Nebraska Innovation Campus Materials

In line with the renovation of the former 4-H Building and Industrial Arts Building,Nebraska Innovation Campus is continuing to make the old new. Few remnants of the former State Fair Park remain, but trees removed from the old fairgrounds during construction have been repurposed into furniture for the 250-acrecampus. Innovation Campus, which is nearing opening its second building, installed a new boardroom table last week crafted from green ash trees that once lined the western edge of State Fair Park, said Josh Berger, director of operations at Tetrad Property Group, the site's developer. “Between here and Devaney, we had to …

Students Hone Creativity In [Nebraska] Innovation Studio Course, Troy Fedderson

Nebraska Innovation Studio

Students hone creativity in Nebraska Innovation Studio course.

This is the true story of twenty-three University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) students from various academic backgrounds, picked to work together and learn about new technologies; to find out what happens when people start tinkering and begin to develop bigger ideas.

This is "Making for Innovation," a unique, first-time UNL course offered in the new Nebraska Innovation Studio at Nebraska Innovation Campus.

The class, which is worth three credit hours and meets for lectures on Tuesdays and lab projects on Thursdays, is taught by Shane Farritor, Professor of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, and …

Nebraska Extension Program Cost Analysis Spreadsheet, Deborah J. Weitzenkamp Dr.

Kimmel Education and Research Center: Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

World-Herald Editorial: Right Vision For Nu'sinnovation Campus Project, Omaha World-Herald

Nebraska Innovation Campus Materials

Innovation Campus is the University of Nebraska’s commendable effort to create a world-class scientific research park on the former Nebraska State Fairgrounds. Rather than blindly copying what’s being done in, say, Massachusetts or North Carolina,Innovation Campus is rightly building on Nebraska’s proven strengths. The point isn’t gargantuan size. Instead, it’s quality and specialization, using sound long-term planning and a phased approach to construction. Using a mix of $25 million in public funds and more than $100 million in private contributions,the project is focusing on fields in which Nebraska already has a strong reputation. A key example: food science. Innovation Campus …

Results Of The January Survey Of Nebraska Business: February 6, 2015, Eric Thompson

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

1 Summary: Respondents to the January 2015 Survey of Nebraska Business had a modestly optimistic outlook for sales and maintained a very optimistic outlook for employment. January respondents were somewhat more likely to expect sales to rise (27%) than fall (24%) at their business over the next six months. Respondents were much more likely to plan to increase employment (21%) than to reduce it (6%). Within the state, optimism about sales and employment was especially strong in the Omaha area. Respondents from Southeast and West Nebraska were close to state averages. Respondents from Northeast and Central Nebraska held a neutral …

Results Of The December Survey Of Nebraska Business: January 21, 2015, Eric Thompson

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

Respondents to the December 2014 Survey of Nebraska Business maintained an optimistic outlook for sales and employment. December respondents were much more likely to expect sales to rise (28%) than fall (14%) at their business over the next six months and more likely to plan to increase (16%) than reduce employment (4%). Within the state, optimism about employment was broadbased. However, there were differences in the sales outlook. Respondents from the Omaha area were the most optimistic about sales. Respondents from Southeast and Central Nebraska were close to state averages. Respondents from West Nebraska had a neutral sales outlook and …