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What the First Hemp Growing Season Will Mean for Agtech
This is a guest post by Kate Casas. The legislation surrounding the manufacture and sale of hemp products was once a complicated issue. Now, at least, there’s some clarity around it. The passage of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 removed hemp from the list of federally controlled substances, a prospect that has farmers nationwide…
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Children’s Business Fair: an Exciting Game for Entrepreneurs Ages 4 and Up
Paper Airplane Surprises would make a great band name. The combination of whimsy and imagination signals something intriguing ahead. It’s also a good name for a business. Founded by the grade-school-aged children of entrepreneur Casey Putschoegl—herself the owner of 33Vincent, a business that connects and supports remote executive assistants—Paper Airplane Surprises offers consumers a customized…
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Highlights from the Commonwealth Podcast, 11.4.19 – featuring David Graff and John Wirtz
The Commonwealth Podcast features artists, entrepreneurs and athletes to uncover their approach to leading disruptive change. Host Nick Castner provided this episode recap to Silicon Prairie News. Listen on Apple, Spotify, Stitcher, or Buzzsprout. This week, David Graff and John Wirtz, two of the founders of Hudl, sat down with The Commonwealth Podcast to discuss…
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An Interview with Seth Derner, Founder of Lincoln-Based (sort of) Vivayic
In a phone interview with Seth Derner, the founder of Vivayic, I discovered something that is truly out of the ordinary. It wasn’t the fact that Vivayic was ranked exactly number 5000 on the Inc. 5000 list for 2019. It wasn’t that a rancher’s kid from Wheeler County, Nebraska had started a customized skill assessment/training…
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Tech Crawl at Turbine Flats Caps Off Lincoln Start-Up Week
On Thursday, Turbine Flats hosted a Tech Crawl as part of Lincoln Start-Up Week. About 60 attendees over the course of two hours indulged in free beer and snacks as they toured information booths staffed by local startups and tech organizations. Participating organizations included the AIM Institute, Expansive Media, Tech Expander, the Commonwealth Podcast, Dashr…
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Margot Is Creating the Premier Wedding Planning Software
Having spent significant time with Omaha founder, Candace Kalasky, the process of building good wedding planning software opened my eyes to the complexities presented by “the big day”. Ms. Kalasky started her first business, Lovestruck Events (www.lovestruckevents.co) in 2011. It started humbly as a way to help friends with their weddings. According to Kalasky, this…
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Juno launches subscription greeting card service for busy people, draws on expertise of working artists
In our increasingly digital society, it’s easy to feel disconnected. Despite the ubiquity of social media and texting, nothing beats the thrill of face-to-face interaction, though a nice handwritten letter or a greeting card comes close. Jesse and Ross Harding, two brothers raised in Omaha, experienced such disconnection when they moved away from home. Living…
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Simple Strat – solving a not so simple problem for marketers everywhere
Last week, SPN had the chance to speak with Ali Schwanke, founder and CEO of Simple Strat. In short, Simple Strat is a Lincoln-based marketing agency that helps B2B companies with growth marketing through a variety of services including inbound and digital marketing, video, and sales enablement. However, Ali and her co-founder Tyler are also…
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Greenlight Natural Opens CBD Dispensary in Benson
In 2005, Chris Potratz was deployed in Kuwait. The war in Iraq had already taken the lives of some 2,000 U.S. soldiers, and many of those who returned were plagued with anxiety, insomnia, and chronic pain, as Potratz was. Upon completing his service, Potratz sought relief. He tried pharmaceuticals prescribed by the Veteran Affairs Medical…
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Catching Up with Tech Innovator Doug Durham of Don’t Panic Labs and Nebraska Global
Every year, the AIM Tech Celebration awards ceremony recognizes individuals, organizations, teams, students and educators furthering the cause of technology in the community. Doug Durham is one of those people. In 2016, Durham won a Tech Celebration award in the Tech Innovator category for his work as CEO of software development company Don’t Panic Labs…