Among the projects of the Main Street Beatrice program was commissioning this mural, by local artist Tyler Rinne, to promote the downtown business district. (Courtesy Michael Sothan) LINCOLN — A Nebraska program that helps revitalize small-town main streets and big-town historic districts pales in size compared to efforts in nearby states. The nonprofit Nebraska Main Street Network runs on less than $40,000 a year from memberships and grants and has one part-time employee who works with 17 communities across the state. By comparison, Missouri’s Main Street program gets $500,000 a year from the state and has a staff of nine that works with 163 towns. Programs in Iowa and Wyoming also benefit from annual state funding of $1 million and $500,000, respectively. Meanwhile, Nebraska’s Main Street program hasn’t gotten state funds in six years. “Right now, we’re kind of running on fumes,” said Elizabeth Chase, the executive director of the Nebraska program. ‘Mom-and-pop’ shops On Wednesday, advocates for revitalizing historic shopping areas testified in favor of providing $250,000 a year to a grant program that might help the Nebraska Main Street program. The Main Street Beatrice program not only helps entrepreneurs open businesses and building owners restore historic structures […]

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If the final product lives up to the preview, Evanston should have a wealth of recommendations heading its way on how the city might improve its business districts. Representatives of Interface Studio, LLC are expected to release their draft study of Evanston’s eight business districts March 10, members of city’s Economic Development Committee (EDC) learned at their Wednesday, Feb. 22 meeting. Last May, the Evanston City Council approved a $245,000 consulting contract with the Philadelphia-based firm for the business analysis study, which officials hope will provide a blueprint for city’s economic development success as it emerges from Covid. The firm’s research includes surveys of 2,100 residents and over 220 business owners. “This was a heavy lift,” Sarah Kellerman, a member of the Interface Studio team, speaking remotely, told EDC members. “We put a lot of questions out there and I have to say, the business community responded very thoughtfully and often with long-form answers.” Many of the firm’s recommendations deal with support of business and economic growth, which 55.8% of business owners listed as their No. 1 priority in the surveys. Renderings of what Fountain Square might look like in winter and summer. Kellerman provided a small example from […]

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Happy volunteers standing in a circle with their hands together Happy volunteers standing in a circle with their hands together Many executives still struggle to see the link between kindness and corporate results. Measuring leaders’ more empathetic qualities against employee motivation is one way to quantify its impact on business performance , say Paolo Cervini and Gabriele Rosani . In our daily lives, all of us appreciate the power of kindness. Its value lies in how it can create positive feelings both for givers and takers and trigger constructive actions, thoughts and emotions. Yet, in the world of business, kindness is a rare and often unacknowledged commodity. Instead, toughness, assertiveness and self-interest have been considered the corporate benchmarks of behavior. But times change, and in the world of modern leadership these traits are now widely seen as negative. Kindness is enjoying a renaissance. The number of Google searches with the keywords kind leadership has multiplied threefold in the last five years; several pivotal articles and books have made the concept familiar to management experts and practitioners, and leaders such as Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and businessman and Harvard Business School lecturer Hubert Joly, as well as politicians like New […]

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Prosus’ logo is pictured on a smartphone in this illustration taken, December 4, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration AMSTERDAM, March 2 (Reuters) – Technology investor Prosus (PRX.AS) is considering a sale of its OLX Autos classified advertising business, the company said on Thursday. Prosus said the pursuit of growth in the car advertising business was no longer the right approach because the second-hand car market had been hit by a "significant and persistent slowdown" owing to weakening economic growth and high inflation. "Prosus will explore all options for the OLX Autos business, acknowledging that significant value exists within local markets," the company’s statement said. Advertisement · Scroll to continue "The exit of OLX Autos will lead to a significant improvement in the profitability profile of the classifieds segment as a whole." OLX Autos increased revenue by 84% to $1 billion in the first half of its 2022/2023 financial year, Prosus said in November, but trading losses increased to $206 million owing to investment in expansion of the direct-to-consumer business. Register for free to Reuters and know the full story Reporting by Bart Meijer Editing by David Goodman Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Environmental, social and governance risks such as climate change and diversity, equity and inclusion have become central concerns for some organizations, but businesses and insurers are also starting to pay closer attention to other ESG-related issues such as biodiversity and nature-related risks as regulatory frameworks evolve. Development of insurance coverages that can help restore natural ecosystems and protect the businesses and communities that depend on them is in an early stage but likely to grow, experts say. More sophisticated risk management organizations that lead on managing climate risk tend to be the ones that are starting to think about biodiversity and nature risks and supporting reporting frameworks, said Amy Barnes, London-based head of climate and sustainability strategy at Marsh LLC. Some industry sectors, such as agriculture, are more exposed than others, Ms. Barnes said. “We then get into food and beverage and further up the supply chain,” and the focus extends far beyond that as well, she said. But “many clients aren’t really thinking about nature, and it’s not on their immediate horizon of things to map,” she said. Risk management focus Momentum is shifting, however. In September the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures, a market-led initiative funded by […]

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KUNR Public Radio | By Kaleb Roedel A Havelock Wool employee trims excess material from insulation panels made of sheep wool at the company’s facility in Reno, Nev. On a recent Wednesday afternoon inside a 67,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Reno, Nevada, a large machine was moving a fluffy, off-white material through a series of drum rollers. The substance was being layered into thick panels of insulation made from a material not often found inside walls in homes: wool. “Hot, cold, warm, dry – wool does it all,” said Andrew Legge, founder and managing partner of Havelock Wool. Havelock Wool insulation made of sheep wool lines the walls of a house located on Gray’s Crossing Golf Course in Truckee, Calif. The company makes insulation products entirely out of sheep wool. Legge started the company in response to the lack of healthy and sustainable choices in the insulation industry. “As an insulator, we’d like to say that evolution has occurred in nature’s R&D department – not in some lab creating a synthetic fiber that is from the onset just not going to perform as well,” said Legge. According to the Environmental Working Group, an environmental health advocacy nonprofit, commonly used materials […]

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As more companies strive to improve operations and enhance the customer experience, CIOs lead the charge to implement automation initiatives that work now, and strategies to ensure future success. Establishing the business case, however, is the first step. Credit: Life of Pix By virtue of their position between IT and effecting business strategy, CIOs can identify what processes their organizations need in order to modernize and automate. When it comes to updating core systems to drive operational efficiencies, they also have to ensure that a sound business case exists to automate them, says Laurie Shotton, VP and analyst at Gartner. That’s not surprising since CIOs typically own IT automation, as well as help drive business automation. But it’s not always a given the two aren’t working at cross purposes. “For the last 15 to 20 years, organizations have been trying to modernize core systems in order to drive operational efficiencies,” he says. “And quite often, the business case for replacing them doesn’t stack up.” Automation, the business, and the CIO Since automation can help improve KPIs and create new channels to help improve end-user experience, it’s one of the primary tools in a CIO’s toolkit to drive the business […]

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A Nashville-based logistics company plans to close two Williamsville terminals and consolidate to a Tonawanda distribution center. Yellow Corporation, which does long distance and general freight trucking, owns the terminals at 6650 Transit Road, where 120 employees work. According to a filing with the New York State Department of Labor, the site will close and employee “separations” will happen around May 28. But the company said it wants to move those employees to its larger local site on Milens Road in Tonawanda. “Out of an abundance of caution, we sent WARN notices with respect to the two closing facilities despite the fact that many of our impacted Buffalo employees will be presented with other local Yellow opportunities,” Yellow Corp. spokesperson Heather Nauert said in a statement. The terminals were home to New Penn Motor Express LLC and Holland Freight before Yellow Corp., formerly YRC Freight, acquired them. “Buffalo will continue to be an important hub for Yellow,” Nauert said. “We have a strong Buffalo employee base that serves our customers well and we remain committed to ensuring excellent customer service in Buffalo and elsewhere both throughout and after the completion of our One Yellow enterprise transformation." Nauert said the […]

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MetShape uses its sinter-based Additive Manufacturing processes to manufacture small and micro metal parts (Courtesy MetShape) MetShape GmbH, Pforzheim, Germany, has joined the European Space Agency (ESA) Business Incubation Centre Baden-Württemberg, a network supporting start-ups that are either pursuing innovative business ideas related to space technology, or that have the potential to become a reliable supplier to the space industry. After convincing the ESA’s Tender Evaluation Board of the potential for its sinter-based Additive Manufacturing processes, the funding and additional benefits of the network are expected to support MetShape in achieving its goal to become a key supplier to the space industry. MetShape was founded in 2019 as a spin-off of the University of Pforzheim and has established a customer base in industries such as medical technology, luxury, and jewellery, as well as the mechanical engineering and metal processing sectors. The ESA supports entrepreneurs and start-ups with a Europe-wide Business Incubator network. ESA BIC Baden-Württemberg is part of this network and is supporting several start-ups per year. Selected start-ups not only receive financial funding, but also benefit from the large ESA BIC start-up ecosystem and powerful network. This support is intended to enable start-ups to turn into successful businesses […]

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Sweet P’s frozen treats are now available to purchase at Dorothy Lane Market. (Sweet Ps) DAYTON, Ohio (Dayton Business Journal) — One of the area’s fastest-growing family-owned businesses is taking its sweet frozen treats to the freezer cases of Dayton’s beloved gourmet grocery chain. Fans of Sweet P’s Handcrafted Ice Pops can now buy eight of the company’s most popular flavors at all three Dorothy Lane Market locations. Cookies and Cream, Blueberry Lavender, Strawberry, Orange Banana, Key Lime Pie, Strawberry Lemonade, Coffee Latte and Coconut Water with Exotic Fruit can be purchased in packs of four at the Dorothy Lane Market stores in Oakwood, Washington Township and Springboro. The Dorothy Lane Market deal is the largest to date for Sweet P’s, which was established in 2010 as a storefront in Kettering, then later a booth in 2nd Street Market. Since then, Sweet P’s has gained a devoted following for its flavorful array of ice pops created in small batches using real, fresh ingredients. In addition to the 2nd Street Market location, the company now sells more than 300 ice pop flavors at festivals, sporting events and community gatherings, and offers catering and delivery services. Sweet P’s Handcrafted Ice Pops […]

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