Goodbye

Today is the official end to Ord Sunshine Pumping.  We’ve growds all up and are now blogging from our new website:  www.ordnebraska.com/blog

Join us there for continued conversation about what’s going on in the greatest little town around.  I want to thank all of you for your readership and support as we moved this effort along.  60,000 pageviews in a little over a year, it’s been more than fun!!!

Big money in wildlife watching

Bald eagle at Calamus Reservoir, photo by Aaron Price

There’s big money in wildlife watching. Just look at the figures: over the past 20 years, participation in wildlife watching, particularly bird watching, has increased nationally by more than 266%. Conservative estimates put the value to the US economy alone at over $40 billion dollars. During the same time, national participation rates in both hunting and fishing continue to decline.

Jim Mallman of Watchable Wildlife Inc. will be hosting several workshops to share insights about how entrepreneurs, outfitters, individuals, businesses and municipalities can build nature-based or wildlife tourism programs. Workshops will be held in Red Cloud on May 18, Ord on May 19 and Ogallala on May 20. These workshops are especially suitable for current Nebraska outfitters looking to diversify their non-game season by building wildlife encounter experiences.

Workshops begin at 8:30am and run through 4:00pm with lunch and refreshments provided. The cost for early-bird registration is $25 if participants sign-up before May 11. The cost for late registrants is $40. For more information, including registration forms, visit the Nebraska Development Network Central Region website at www.ndncr.com or contact Sharon or Jodi at (308) 995-3190.

Ord Alumni Weekend

The Ord Alumni Committee has details out about the July 4th Alumni weekend festivities.  This brochure can give you the skinny; expect events, tours, a banquet and area lodging information on the form.  See you July 4th weekend!

Monthly Chamber Board Meeting

Reminder:  Today is the Ord Area Chamber’s monthly Board meeting (noon, Chamber offices 1514 K Street). An agenda can be downloaded here. We hope you can join us!

Ord High School Groundbreaking

Ord High School

We have word that Ord Public Schools will be celebrating the groundbreaking of the high school renovation and new gym project this April 21st at 11am. For you non-Ord viewers, this is the result of a hard fought bond campaign last November.

You’re invited to celebrate this momentous occasion with us – see you at the school!

Winding down

Alas, the day of reckoning is upon us!  No, not the end of the Mayan calendar, but the end of Ord Sunshine Pumpers and a new beginning.  This week marks the launch of the new www.ordnebraska.com website.  I expect the finishing touches to take a a couple days, but soon we’ll be blogging from http://www.ordnebraska.com/blog.

It’s been an awesome ride – regular readers here have seen some amazing things transpire over the past year and a half and I’m super excited to see where the future takes us.  We may have a couple items posted here and there, along with our formal goodbye, but that about does it for Sunshine Pumping.  Stay tuned, and farewell!

Ord Little League

The Loup Valley Jaycees are helping with Little League baseball this year and asked that we help distribute sign-up forms and rules.  Behold!  Each age group is listed below and the forms are downloadable for your little slugger.

T-ball sign-up sheet (.pdf)

Coach pitch sign-up sheet (.pdf)

Little League Pee Wees sign-up sheet (.pdf)
Pee Wee 2010 Rules (.pdf)

Pony baseball sign-up sheet (.pdf)
Pony 2010 rules (.pdf)

Formal USDA Grant Award Announcement

Here is our formal announcement for the USDA grant win we’ve mentioned a couple weeks ago.  We’ll be hosting a ribbon cutting 4/22 at 11am, with Senator Kate Sullivan, the LVRPPD Board of Directors and the Valley County Supervisors in attendance.  We’re hoping Maxine Moul (the Nebraska state director of USDA – Rural Development) will be able to attend as well.  I hope you can join us!!

—

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information, contact:
Chuck Fuhrer
Loup Valleys Rural Public Power
606 S Street
Ord, NE  68862
(308) 728-3633
cfuhrer@frontiernet.net

USDA grant won by Loup Valleys RPPD and Valley County

(Ord, NE) – The Loup Valley Area has won a $300,000 grant award to establish a revolving economic development loan fund for the LVRPPD service area.  The initial funds will be loaned to Valley County to assist in the renovation of the Valley County Courthouse. Installation of an elevator, fire exit stairway, fire sprinkler system and an upgrade to the fire alarm system will bring enhanced safety to Courthouse occupants.

The funding being provided is from the Rural Economic Development Loan and Grant program, administered by USDA Rural Development. The program provides interest free loans and grants to local utilities that re-lend money to local businesses for projects that will create and retain jobs in rural areas.

Funds from the grant will be repaid from Valley County over the course of ten years, with repayment formalizing another economic development fund for region-wide benefit.  Communities and businesses within the Loup Valleys RPPD service area interested in details of the program can contact Chuck Fuhrer at (308) 728-3633.

A formal announcement and ribbon cutting with the LVRPPD Board of Directors, Valley County Supervisors, Senator Kate Sullivan and other state dignitaries will be held Thursday, April 22^nd at 11:00 am on the steps of the Valley County Courthouse.

Monthly report now available

Our monthly report is now available.  We have a recap on the USDA grant award, upcoming area events, awesome sales tax collection figures and much more.  Have a look here.

National effort recognizes local business

Brad and Gina Babb with Gene Rahn of REAP

Waaay back in October, we mentioned that Brad and Gina Babb of Sandhills Glass and Garage Doors were recognized by the Association for Enterprise Opportunity as an exemplary model for their use of microfinance to grow their business.

AEO recently released the the first of five videos that showcases national microenterprise success stories; Brad and Gina are one of the four businesses included in the video series.  Check it out here.  (Scroll down the main page and click away on the video.)

This is yet another case of fantastic recognition for all the amazing things going on in Ord and the surrounding areas.  Brad and Gina have been great supporters of economic development and recipients of assistance from our local economic development loan fund.  Put simply, microenterprise works in rural America.  It’s nice to see a national organization that agrees with us.

A needed hat tip goes out to Jeff Reynolds at REAP, and Gene Rahn for working with Brad, Gina and myself in developing a plan to make Sandhills Glass and Garage Doors a rural success story.

Congrats Brad and Gina!