Community Builders toured St. Edward on October 8. Tour stops included Beaver’s Pub, Beaver Creek Smokehouse, Valley Creek Chiropractic, 307 Designs, St. Edward Floral, and Sal’s Shoppe.
Community Builders is a group that supports local communities and businesses by sharing ideas and resources. Partners are Central Community College, Cornhusker Public Power District, and Loup Power District. All tours are open to the public.
BOONE COUNTY LEADERSHIP ACADEMY — Dani O’Brien
Dani O’Brien gave a presentation on the Boone County Leadership Academy during lunch. She said the Academy is a way for Boone County Development Agency and Boone County Foundation Fund to invest in people that live or work in Boone County.
“The Academy is designed to discover, nurture, and equip both current and emerging leaders to take on diverse leadership roles within our communities.”
The Academy started in 2021 as a pipeline to help community groups and organizations find volunteers.
The course consists of three days of training in March, April, and May. Students learn a variety of practical skills with a focus on leadership development, communication, and public speaking.
O’Brien volunteers as Academy Coordinator along with Brandi Yosten. Molly Brummond, Assistant Dean for Student Development at the UNL College of Law, serves as Curriculum Leader.
More than 50 students have graduated from the program since its inception.
https://boone-county.org/
BEAVER CREEK SMOKEHOUSE/WERTS’ GW — Rick Werts
Rick Werts started working at the local grocery store in sixth grade. Later, he was drafted and moved to California. Then he got a call asking him if he wanted to buy the store.
“My wife and I bought the store over the phone,” Werts said.
He’s now 74 and has spent 64 years at the store.
In 2002, the family bought a large smoker for their own use. Friends and family sampled their smoked deer and soon, they were processing deer for customers. Last year alone the business processed 278 deer.
The business is licensed to sell its meat products in all 50 states and has sold in all but Alaska. Werts said they sell to a lot of retirees in Florida, California, and Arizona.
Many small towns have lost their grocery stores. Werts said their meat sales support the retail store. During their busy time, there are four meat cutters/wrappers working alongside Werts. There are 16 employees in total, many of them family members.
Brats are one of their top sellers. He pointed out that that the freezer is filled from top to bottom.
“Honestly, we can’t keep up,” Werts said. “That’s a really good problem to have.”
VALLEY CREEK CHIROPRACTIC — Hailey Eckstein Stock
Wisconsin native Hailey Eckstein Stock said she made her way to Nebraska the same way many other women have — marriage.
A friend introduced her to her now husband and she followed him to St. Edward in 2020. The following year, she opened her chiropractic practice.
Stock was a high school and college athlete and found that chiropractic adjustments helped her feel better, especially after rugby games. That fueled her initial interest.
“But then the more I learned about what chiropractic could actually do for people, the more I fell in love with it,” Stock said.
She named her business after her family dairy farm in Wisconsin, Valley Creek Farms. She was concerned about whether the business could survive in such a small town. But when a building came up for sale, she decided to take the plunge.
Today, she has patients that drive up to an hour to see her. Stock said much of that business comes from word of mouth.
The first visit includes new patient paperwork. Stock then takes full spine x-rays and uses a special probe that shows hot spots where there is nerve inflammation. This helps her better pinpoint how to treat patients.
“We can use all these different tools to help put the puzzle pieces together so it takes a lot of the guesswork out of it which is why I love the way I practice,” Stock said.
307 DESIGNS — Ashley Jones
About 10 years ago Ashley Jones started selling planner bookmarks on Etsy. She also designed tees and crafts.
When she moved back to St. Edward in 2021, she decided to expand her business to include banners, flyers, magnets, yard signs, decals, home décor, and more. She and her husband outgrew their home space and then expanded to a building at 307 Beaver Street which is how they named the business.
Today, she has two laser machines, two screen printing machines, a large-format printer, and a powder printer.
The business has an online apparel shop where customers can order apparel featuring local schools and businesses.
Jones said she is also especially busy around Christmas when families want to order custom apparel or gifts such as wood or metal engraving.
She said that they can do almost any printing or engraving project.
“There’s not much that I haven’t been able to wrap my brain around,” she said. “We’ve got a great thing going here.”
ST. EDWARD FLORAL — Heather and Cindy Stephens
Cindy Stephens attended college for horticulture. Then she moved to St. Edward and got married.
Her passion for flowers led her to open St. Edward Floral in 1989. She had two young sons at home and another baby on the way.
Her daughter, Heather, initially had no interest in helping with the business. But then she moved back home at 23 and decided to give it a whirl.
“As I grew up, I realized I do enjoy doing this,” Heather said.
Today, at 35, Heather works beside her mom stocking gifts and arranging flowers. They provide floral arrangements for funerals and weddings. Their silk designs have also been popular, and Heather decorates Christmas trees for customers.
The business has moved several times over the past 36 years. Today, they are at 301 Beaver Street, a location that previously housed the St. Edward community building. It was torn down and the duo built new.
The new, larger space allowed the business to expand its giftware selection.
“It’s just a little perk of what we get to do on top of the flowers,” Heather said.
https://stedwardfloral.com/
SAL’S SHOPPE — Kenna Jasa
St. Edward native said she’d never thought she’d be working full-time at the public school while running a business at the same time.
“But I’m back and I’m happy to be back,” she said.
Jasa said she wasn’t quite sure what she wanted to do after she graduated from college, but thought it would be fun to start a business and see how it went.
Jasa started Sal’s Shoppe boutique in 2018 with a friend. She eventually purchased the other half of the business and is running it by herself.
Her location has also moved several times over the years. She is now housed in a building that was once St. Edward Floral.
The larger space also means she can get more inventory and have a better selection.
She said the market has changed a lot in the last six years as more towns are getting boutiques and large retailers are improving their clothing selections. But her location on the highway helps with foot traffic and she said the community support has been great.
In addition to clothing, the store has a giftware and jewelry.
“I’m happy to be here and I love getting to go to market and seeing all the new trends and bringing fun things back to such a small town,” Jasa said.