The Nebraska Business Development Center (NBDC) released its 2024 annual report, highlighting the accomplishments of its four core services while sharing the success stories of those it served throughout the year. The program saw a year of statewide impacts and rebranding — all with the underlying goal of continuing to promote NBDC as an accessible resource for entrepreneurs. 

NBDC offers services, nearly all at no cost, to entrepreneurs ranging in topics from small business planning to government funding. As a statewide program to assist all Nebraskans, NBDC has offices across the state, including Chadron, Kearney, Lincoln, Norfolk, North Platte, Omaha, Scottsbluff and Wayne.

In the annual report, NBDC estimated that it served more than 2,000 clients and contributed $716.5 million to Nebraska’s economy in 2024. In an email to SPN, NBDC Communications Director Kelly Jefferson said NBDC’s economic impact calculations are based on the awards, contracts and investments received by the center’s clients. 

“The total value of these dollars is expected to translate into the production and sales of goods and services in the Nebraska economy,” said Jefferson. 

NBDC Executive Director Dan Curran said he was proud of the program’s numbers for 2024. While he said it was important for his team to monitor trends and the number of clients helped, Curran said he wanted NBDC to prioritize impacts rather than mandate quotas. 

“Our goal is to help these businesses — not just beat last year’s metrics,” said Curran. 

On top of its economic influence across Nebraska, Curran said another achievement was updating NBDC’s branding to better reflect its relationship with the University of Nebraska system. The program is headquartered at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) within the UNO College of Business Administration.

NBDC has other university partners like the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), University of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK), Chadron State College (CSC) and Wayne State College (WSC). In addition, the program has government partnerships with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and the Department of Defense (DoD). 

Curran said these collaborations all tie to NBDC’s role as a “resource navigator,” helping connect entrepreneurs to different programs, organizations and experts to further advance their businesses. 

“We’re trying to remove friction in the system,” said Curran. 

NBDC core services offered statewide

The four core services provided by NBDC are:

• Nebraska Small Business Development Center (SBDC)
• Nebraska APEX Accelerator program
• Innovation and Technology program
• SourceLink Nebraska

Nebraska SBDC provides small business owners and prospective entrepreneurs confidential consultations in topics like business and financial planning. The service can assist with funding options beyond banks and assess opportunities to export to foreign markets. 

According to the annual report, NBDC helped businesses secure more than $30 million in investments in 2024. 

The Nebraska APEX Accelerator focuses on federal, state and local government contracting opportunities for Nebraska businesses. Consultants walk entrepreneurs through registration requirements, researching the market, as well as the proposal and bidding processes. 

According to the annual report, NBDC helped clients earn more than $350 million in government contracts in 2024. 

The Innovation and Technology program helps connect entrepreneurs with federal research funding for early-stage product research and development, including grant writing and patent options. Consultants specialize in America’s Seed Fund SBIR/STTR programs: competitive, non-dilutive sources of funding through federal agencies aimed at supporting U.S. for-profit entities in building and testing technology for commercialization.

According to the annual report, NBDC helped businesses receive more than $500,000 in SBIR awards in 2024. 

SourceLink Nebraska connects entrepreneurs and business owners to state resources. It curates resource lists that align with individual needs and offers general guides to get users to specific tools and opportunities. It also hosts a statewide calendar of networking and training events. 

NBDC Innovation Business Consultant Kevin Thompson said there is a high level of collaboration between the leaders and advisors of the NBDC’s different services. He said they are all there to help entrepreneurs navigate government acronyms and potential funding obstacles, as well as point them in the right directions for their various business needs. 

“For me, it’s not what you know,” Thompson said. “But who you know.”

Getting R&D funded by the Department of Defense

Aulendur, an Omaha-based startup that specializes in artificial intelligence and machine learning solutions for national defense and security, is one of the companies that benefited from working with NBDC in 2024.

The startup was awarded a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I contract earlier this year in March by the DoD. The contract funds up to $200,000 in research and development costs for the company’s proposed system to detect and analyze nuclear threats.  

Aulendur was co-founded in 2024 by CEO Aaron Parker and CTO Jorden Gershenson, friends and veterans who have experience solving science, engineering and technology problems for the U.S. Air Force — such as nuclear treaty monitoring — while serving careers as Scientific Applications Specialists. 

“This project…is our first foray into getting a firm footing in not just building a company that is warfighter and defense oriented, but really trying to target the labor market Nebraska is growing,” said Parker.

Parker and Gershenson said their military backgrounds helped them find and apply for the SBIR contract back in October 2024 as they were familiar with the program. They said that while their work experiences likely made them desirable candidates for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) and its requested topic of research, they both encouraged young entrepreneurs to utilize NBDC and to explore how their individual companies can fit into the interests of the federal agencies.

“The government stuff, it’s intimidating,” said Gershenson. “[NBDC] will make sure you submit… make sure your T’s are crossed and I’s are dotted.”

Deepening roots in Norfolk with a small business loan

Krishna Velagapudi, M.D., is a cardiologist at Faith Regional Services in Norfolk. Seeing an opportunity to further introduce himself and his Indian culture to the community, he and his wife decided to open their family’s restaurant named Aroma Circuit. 

“They’ve embraced [us] with open hands,” said Velagapudi. “More than just getting the food out, it’s also about me interacting and having those personal conversations.”

Starting Aroma Circuit out of a motel around 2018, Velagapudi, who had never run a restaurant before, said the process has been educational and matured his business skills. Finding success and wanting to connect with more of the community, he and his wife decided to move the restaurant’s location to a more prime spot. That decision led to Velagapudi reaching out to the city and mayor at the time, who then suggested he talk to NBDC. 

Velagapudi said NBDC has been extremely helpful, connecting him to resources he didn’t know existed, navigating financing options and savings incentives, and simply reaching out to him to check in and remove some stressors. 

“They actually went through the pain of walking me through this whole thing,” said Velagapudi. 

According to the annual report, Nebraska SBDC assisted Velagapudi last year in securing a $350,000 loan to relocate his business. Velagapudi said he plans on opening Aroma Circuit’s new location this spring and hopes to open more locations in the future. 

Goals for 2025

“Federal funding, while it can be substantial, is definitely not enough to fully support a new business in the ways that are really necessary for you to get on your feet,” said Parker, of Aulendur. “And that’s where the state of Nebraska has been pretty incredible in the support that programs provide.” 

In an always changing landscape of government policies and funding mechanisms, Curran said the NBDC team stays vigilant, updates materials when needed and keeps clients informed. 

“We will make sure that we’re up to date on anything that will affect us,” said Curran. 

Curran said a primary focus in 2025 is making sure NBDC’s services are reaching all corners of the state so that small businesses and entrepreneurs of all stages are aware of the program. 

He said NBDC representatives frequent events to connect with the entrepreneurial ecosystems in Nebraska and introduce the program to residents and university bodies who may be unfamiliar. Thompson, for example, often attends the networking event 1 Million Cups Omaha. 

“Being approachable is the most important thing,” said Thompson. Curran added it is all part of their efforts to show that NBDC is accessible to all Nebraskans.

“Give any one of our offices a call,” said Curran. “We want to help.”

You can read NBDC’s full annual report here.