Small Business

The most effective development strategy for rural communities is small entrepreneurship – locally owned and operated small businesses.
REAP Online Lending System
Apply for a loan
Click here to see if you qualify.

Our Rural Enterprise Assistance Project (REAP) is committed to strengthening rural communities through small, self-employed business development. We offer four essential services: financing (microloans), business training, technical assistance, and networking.

Call on REAP when you are thinking of starting a small business or if you already operate a small business in Nebraska. You can find your nearest REAP business specialist here. Through REAP you can create a business plan, research potential markets and marketing ideas, discuss management issues with experienced business specialists, and apply for a small business loan.

Started in 1990, REAP has provided services to numerous micro/small businesses throughout Nebraska. (A microbusiness is defined as one with 10 or fewer employees.) We've placed more than $16 million in loans and leveraged over $23 million in additional funds from other sources. Check out a timeline of our program here.

REAP is a proud member of the Nebraska Small Business Collaborative, extending microenterprise businesses technical assistance and microloans in all distressed areas of Nebraska.

Resource

The Nebraska Microenterprise Handbook, “Manual de la Microempresa de Nebraska,” has been published in English and Spanish by the Community Economic Development Clinic at Creighton University. Find out more.

Small Business Notes

 
More publications

After pandemic hits close to home, cafe owner contemplates changes

By Molly Malone on August 28, 2020 - 2:00pm

Coffee talk that once revolved around the weather and crops has evolved to include the latest COVID-19 numbers and milling over who got it and how they are doing. When one of the two regular employees at the Left Bank Cafe tested positive, those morning conversations came to a halt.

“Life kind of stops when one of you gets sick,” said Paula Matson, owner of the small cafe.

Stories of rural resiliency: Community newspapers persevere during pandemic, other challenges

By Teresa Hoffman on August 21, 2020 - 9:30am

They’ve been chronicling the people, places, and events of small towns for decades—some even 100 years or more. However, as social media, the internet, and other sources of information have come on the scene, community newspapers have had to fight for readers’ and advertisers’ attention.

Now, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, owners are once again facing tough decisions as they deal with declining revenue. While some newspapers across the country have closed, two Nebraska publishers are forging ahead.

Entrepreneurs find success by breathing new life into old items

By Liz Daehnke on August 17, 2020 - 1:00pm

Like many locally-owned businesses in small towns, Old Cottonwood, in Utica, Nebraska, is more than just another store—it’s the hard work, dedication, and dreams of the owners coming to fruition.

From selling part-time in their online Etsy shop, to expansion into a brick and mortar store, owners Brent and Leah Daehling have run Old Cottonwood since 2005.

More news