Catch Up With Chuck | Episode 7

Rural Futures Institute Author

12/14/2017 Added

8 Plays

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In this recorded episode of Catch Up With Chuck, Chuck is joined by the State Director of the Nebraska Business Development Center, Catherine Lang, who serves as a RFI Community Innovation Fellow. They will discuss crossing institutional lines to create entrepreneurship and economic development opportunities across Nebraska.

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[00:00:05.818]Welcome to Catch Up with Chuck.
[00:00:07.759]I'm Chuck Schroeder, Executive Director
[00:00:09.200]of the Rural Futures Institute
[00:00:11.143]at the University of Nebraska.
[00:00:13.417]We do these periodic broadcasts from the institute
[00:00:16.551]to look at issues that are critical
[00:00:20.170]to those folks in rural communities
[00:00:21.973]in Nebraska and the Great Plains.
[00:00:24.078]We're trying to go from where they are
[00:00:25.342]to where they'd like to be.
[00:00:27.006]One thing that we know about a rural community
[00:00:30.291]and its capacity to thrive is that
[00:00:32.218]there has to be genuine economic activity.
[00:00:35.396]No fairytales, Rumpelstiltskin does not work there.
[00:00:39.126]We have to build economic opportunity
[00:00:41.815]for the families and the folks
[00:00:42.787]that are gonna live there,
[00:00:44.707]survive and thrive over a long period of time.
[00:00:48.330]Typically that stems from locally grown small businesses.
[00:00:52.199]So today we're gonna talk about
[00:00:54.931]ways in which the University of Nebraska
[00:00:56.830]and its partners can help encourage
[00:00:59.146]that kind of economic activity.
[00:01:01.806]We're fortunate to have my good friend, Catherine Lang,
[00:01:05.468]with us here today, who is the director
[00:01:08.240]of the Nebraska Business Development Center,
[00:01:11.349]which is based at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
[00:01:14.594]So Cathy, welcome.
[00:01:16.826]Thank you, Chuck.
[00:01:18.405]When it comes to business and economic development
[00:01:20.778]in Nebraska, this ain't your first rodeo.
[00:01:23.135]That's correct. As we say.
[00:01:25.048]You've been a varsity player in this realm.
[00:01:27.268]You've been in a number of different roles
[00:01:30.124]in the public sector, private sector,
[00:01:32.482]crossed all those lines.
[00:01:34.049]Talk just a little bit about the history
[00:01:37.016]of Cathy Lang that brings you
[00:01:38.625]this very important role for Nebraska.
[00:01:40.565]Well, thank you, Chuck.
[00:01:41.398]And it's great to be here and visit with you.
[00:01:43.031]I'm glad to catch up with you today.
[00:01:45.347]I have been, had the opportunity
[00:01:49.177]to serve the state of Nebraska for over 33 years now.
[00:01:53.417]I started out at the State of Nebraska
[00:01:55.026]as a law clerk at the Department of Revenue.
[00:01:58.057]And I had taken a few tax classes
[00:02:01.179]early on in law school, fell in love with tax,
[00:02:04.351]and the Department of Revenue
[00:02:05.492]was looking for a law clerk,
[00:02:06.878]and I was lucky enough to be brought on board.
[00:02:09.274]And one of the areas of focus
[00:02:11.399]for my early years at revenue
[00:02:13.631]was property assessment and property taxation.
[00:02:17.193]Huge issue, oh my gosh. Huge issue, yes.
[00:02:20.077]And served the State Board of Equalization and Assessment,
[00:02:24.569]back in the day when we had
[00:02:25.746]the State Board of Equalization and Assessment.
[00:02:28.299]And because of that focus,
[00:02:31.794]in 1996 I had the opportunity
[00:02:36.453]to then begin to serve as the property tax administrator
[00:02:39.393]for the State of Nebraska.
[00:02:41.057]And I did that for 10 years.
[00:02:43.650]And after 10 years, I felt that leadership change
[00:02:49.765]was vital for the continued success
[00:02:52.732]of the work that had begun
[00:02:54.521]between the Department of Property Assessment and Taxation
[00:02:58.224]and the county assessors and county boards across the state.
[00:03:01.302]And I went back to the Department of Revenue
[00:03:05.279]as the deputy tax commissioner for two years,
[00:03:07.334]which was great to be back at my home agency.
[00:03:10.174]And one afternoon I got a phone call from Governor Heineman
[00:03:12.936]and we had a conversation and he asked
[00:03:15.725]if I would be his commissioner of labor.
[00:03:18.674]And I never turn an opportunity down,
[00:03:22.404]and I felt that if the governor believed
[00:03:26.354]that I could be successful as his commissioner of labor,
[00:03:29.712]I was willing to give a try.
[00:03:31.209]So in 2008 I began to serve as the commissioner of labor.
[00:03:37.477]And it was at a time when the state of Nebraska
[00:03:39.961]was just going in to the economic recession.
[00:03:44.277]And the department was experiencing
[00:03:47.219]incredible work activity because of the increase
[00:03:50.713]in unemployment and unemployment benefit processing.
[00:03:54.714]At the same time, we were faced
[00:03:56.761]with a financial situation that had developed
[00:03:59.805]over many years, where we were,
[00:04:04.556]we had some issues with our federal funds
[00:04:06.734]and we needed to work our way through those.
[00:04:08.514]So it was a very exciting time to be there.
[00:04:10.500]It is as great agency with incredibly dedicated people
[00:04:14.515]who serve those, that at the time many people
[00:04:17.296]were going through unemployment
[00:04:19.823]for the first time in their career,
[00:04:21.851]and so it was very, very stressful for them.
[00:04:25.207]Then in 2011, the governor became interested
[00:04:28.316]in the synergies that existed
[00:04:30.406]from what he was hearing from the business community
[00:04:33.453]and from what he was hearing from young people.
[00:04:35.902]The business community was telling him
[00:04:37.694]we're struggling to find a quality workforce.
[00:04:40.800]The young people were saying
[00:04:42.769]we need to leave Nebraska to be successful.
[00:04:45.340]So he looked at the two agencies,
[00:04:47.729]Department of Economic Development
[00:04:49.133]and Department of Labor, and wanted them to work together.
[00:04:51.848]So I had the opportunity to serve
[00:04:53.359]as the director of both.
[00:04:54.987]And in that--
[00:04:56.016]You were the first person to do that,
[00:04:56.959]I assume, that I know of.
[00:04:58.365]I am the first person to serve two agencies
[00:05:00.231]at the same time, so that was pretty unique.
[00:05:02.800]But we also then developed strong partnerships
[00:05:05.025]with other agencies to create greater collaboration
[00:05:08.263]among all of our services
[00:05:09.819]to better serve the state of Nebraska.
[00:05:12.925]In 2014 I worked for a not-for-profit
[00:05:16.718]called Accelerate Nebraska.
[00:05:18.540]It was a policy think tank looking at
[00:05:21.661]the education spectrum to workforce
[00:05:24.259]and I was honored to serve with Greg Adams there.
[00:05:27.050]And then in 2016, I came to the University of Nebraska-Omaha
[00:05:31.382]to serve as the state director
[00:05:32.607]for the Nebraska Business Development Center.
[00:05:35.041]Well, it was a treat for me
[00:05:36.890]when I came on board with the Rural Futures Institute
[00:05:39.597]to get to work with you and Greg
[00:05:42.046]and the work you were doing with Accelerate Nebraska
[00:05:44.480]'cause the two of you, again,
[00:05:46.272]this whole partnership and collaboration theme
[00:05:48.822]is important in all that we do in today's world.
[00:05:52.601]And I saw you doing that, and Greg, anyway.
[00:05:54.918]I thought that was an important development.
[00:05:57.143]Well listen, you know Nebraska?
[00:05:59.038]Yes.
[00:06:00.220]In your various roles, you've been
[00:06:02.952]in communities across the state, large and small,
[00:06:07.089]you've heard the demographers tell us
[00:06:11.568]that if a community is of a certain size,
[00:06:16.020]that is smaller than certain populations,
[00:06:18.424]if they are X miles away from the interstate,
[00:06:21.815]or X miles away from Lincoln and Omaha, they can't make it,
[00:06:26.638]which means small businesses can't be successful there.
[00:06:31.724]Tell me about your observations in that regard.
[00:06:34.324]That is not true.
[00:06:37.893]In my experience, both with the State of Nebraska,
[00:06:40.823]Accelerate Nebraska, and now especially,
[00:06:43.914]at the Nebraska Business Development Center,
[00:06:47.513]we know that communities and businesses
[00:06:51.933]can overcome what might seem to be an obstacle to them
[00:06:56.141]and be able to be successful.
[00:06:59.315]And what it takes is the passion
[00:07:03.940]and vision and strategy of the folks
[00:07:07.509]who live in those communities to help drive it forward.
[00:07:10.942]That becomes the most important aspect
[00:07:13.555]of the success of a community.
[00:07:15.185]And the Nebraska Business Development Center
[00:07:17.708]is across the state.
[00:07:19.321]We have offices across Nebraska and we are there
[00:07:23.278]to serve and meet the needs of each of those communities
[00:07:27.161]through their businesses.
[00:07:29.311]So I don't think it's a limitation.
[00:07:31.521]I think it's an opportunity.
[00:07:33.224]Well, I know your orientation toward people versus things,
[00:07:38.018]so that's why I wanted to ask you that question
[00:07:40.123]because we see the same thing.
[00:07:41.990]And I don't care if it's business, health care, or education
[00:07:45.663]it always comes down to who's there, not where are they.
[00:07:50.335]And I appreciate the approach that you take there.
[00:07:54.444]Well listen, small businesses come in
[00:07:57.625]all kinds of shapes and sizes.
[00:08:00.134]They face a broad array of challenges and opportunities.
[00:08:06.000]You and your team at NBDC
[00:08:09.984]have to make some judgments about,
[00:08:12.156]okay, what are the critical issues?
[00:08:13.784]Can you talk a little bit about
[00:08:15.277]what you consider to be the fundamental issues
[00:08:18.413]that will help a small business in a rural community
[00:08:22.356]be successful and kinda how
[00:08:24.073]you and your team address those things?
[00:08:26.134]So the unique aspect of NBDC
[00:08:29.225]and the consultants who work there,
[00:08:31.495]is the services that we provide are one-on-one,
[00:08:35.796]confidential, at no cost to the people we serve,
[00:08:40.004]the folks, the clients that we are serving.
[00:08:42.337]And what we do is we help guide them through
[00:08:46.100]their thought process on either
[00:08:49.295]creating and starting a new business,
[00:08:51.804]or growing an existing business.
[00:08:55.045]And for us, it's that human interaction
[00:08:59.211]with our clients together, as we help them move through
[00:09:03.258]and look at the challenges that they may face.
[00:09:06.507]Challenges of market.
[00:09:08.470]So we provide market research.
[00:09:11.740]Challenges of lending and capital
[00:09:16.070]to either open or expand an existing business.
[00:09:19.371]So we work with lenders and other service providers
[00:09:23.538]that provide capital to businesses,
[00:09:26.357]to try and package it together
[00:09:27.794]so that they can be successful.
[00:09:30.093]We are also looking at workforce.
[00:09:33.334]And while we don't directly work in the workforce area,
[00:09:38.157]our connection to our partners in the ecosystem
[00:09:43.085]becomes really important because we'll refer
[00:09:45.684]our clients to other service providers
[00:09:48.163]for other services that those businesses may need.
[00:09:52.105]We are never doing this alone.
[00:09:54.656]We are doing it with our partners in this ecosystem.
[00:09:58.438]And so we view ourselves as one piece
[00:10:01.215]of an entire spectrum of service
[00:10:04.023]that is available for individuals
[00:10:06.663]who are going to start or grow their businesses.
[00:10:09.981]And it's those clients, those individuals,
[00:10:14.296]those citizens of Nebraska,
[00:10:16.567]that are the most important in all of this.
[00:10:19.434]They're the driver.
[00:10:20.567]They're in the driver's seat.
[00:10:22.003]They're getting up every morning to make payroll,
[00:10:24.093]to look for customers, to market their goods.
[00:10:26.856]And so it's really important for us
[00:10:28.543]to support them in what they need,
[00:10:32.170]not what we think they need, what they need.
[00:10:35.144]So listening to our clients
[00:10:36.309]is the most important thing we do.
[00:10:38.265]Well, I know you've been doing a number of things
[00:10:40.610]to try to reach out to new partners,
[00:10:43.460]different partners than have perhaps been engaged
[00:10:46.058]with NBDC over its time.
[00:10:48.434]You're only the second director
[00:10:49.495]in the history of the agency, are you not?
[00:10:51.330]That's correct.
[00:10:52.163]Am I correct about that? That is correct.
[00:10:53.452]So anyway, driving change is not always easy,
[00:10:57.902]but I know you really have spread the net
[00:11:01.441]and made it clear to folks from Rural Futures Institute
[00:11:04.861]and departments across the university,
[00:11:07.027]to other non-profit organizations,
[00:11:09.416]agencies of various kinds, as you put it,
[00:11:11.133]lenders and others to let 'em know
[00:11:13.460]that we're all in this together.
[00:11:16.703]And by the way, ought to look for opportunities
[00:11:19.406]so as to have an impact.
[00:11:20.526]So I think you're doing some pretty cool things there.
[00:11:23.319]Cathy, in the weeks ahead,
[00:11:24.392]we're gonna be talking a lot about rural broadband.
[00:11:28.083]Access to service, quality of service,
[00:11:30.665]it's become such a critical issue.
[00:11:32.635]But I'd be interested in your perspective.
[00:11:34.443]You're out there all the time.
[00:11:35.755]You know its impact on businesses and communities.
[00:11:39.743]Talk a little bit about where you see us going
[00:11:43.165]in terms of rural broadband.
[00:11:44.866]Do you see communities that are finding their own solutions,
[00:11:48.481]as we wait for this grand solution to come from on high?
[00:11:52.754]You know this stuff, so I want to hear from you.
[00:11:56.007]The one thing that I think is so important
[00:11:57.563]about that question is that it does relate
[00:12:00.324]to the success of business.
[00:12:02.372]Businesses cannot be successful if they are not selling
[00:12:06.598]their goods and services to their market.
[00:12:09.196]Without a sale, you don't have a business.
[00:12:11.630]And one of the things that we think is so important
[00:12:14.347]for the businesses that we serve
[00:12:16.138]and the businesses in all of our communities
[00:12:18.485]is for them to have access,
[00:12:20.589]as broadly as possible, to their market.
[00:12:24.025]And in today's world, their market is the world.
[00:12:28.427]And two of the programs that we provide
[00:12:31.131]to our clients are market research.
[00:12:35.091]What is the available market for your good or service
[00:12:39.735]locally, regionally, or beyond?
[00:12:43.707]And then we also provide export assistance.
[00:12:46.483]So where could you eventually market
[00:12:50.293]your good and services to the world?
[00:12:53.115]And to have broadband is going to be vital
[00:12:56.445]for the success of those market opportunities
[00:12:59.835]because you've got to be able to get to the market.
[00:13:02.702]And the market is now in that virtual space.
[00:13:07.525]Yes, brick and mortar, but the virtual space
[00:13:10.572]is a huge opportunity.
[00:13:12.230]And so broadband becomes very, very important
[00:13:14.276]to communities to be able to have that service
[00:13:17.932]so that their businesses can access
[00:13:20.189]the broader market for their goods and services.
[00:13:23.505]Pretty hard to expect these young people
[00:13:25.250]that are coming from the University of Nebraska
[00:13:27.208]and other places with an interest in a rural community,
[00:13:29.909]pretty hard to expect them to go build a business there
[00:13:32.241]if they don't have that broadband access.
[00:13:34.074]Absolutely.
[00:13:34.907]Yeah, I'm glad you're worrying about it.
[00:13:36.541]And we are.
[00:13:39.081]Last week we had Dr. Lindsay Hastings here,
[00:13:42.708]who made the point that we are coming to a time
[00:13:47.832]in Nebraska and America, rural America in particular,
[00:13:52.678]where there's gonna be this massive transfer of wealth,
[00:13:55.806]what we've not talked about so much
[00:13:58.181]is the transfer of business leadership
[00:14:01.824]and business ownership that comes along with it.
[00:14:04.315]Is that something that NBDC worries about
[00:14:06.827]or helps to address as well?
[00:14:08.349]Oh, absolutely.
[00:14:09.396]And working with our economic development partners,
[00:14:12.099]whether that's a development district as a region,
[00:14:15.769]or individual communities or counties,
[00:14:17.938]or our public power districts,
[00:14:19.623]we are all looking at that issue
[00:14:21.880]of what we think of as that business transition piece.
[00:14:25.240]So the Nebraska Business Development Center
[00:14:28.779]does have staff members who are credentialed
[00:14:33.155]in business valuation, business transition,
[00:14:37.586]and exit planning.
[00:14:39.035]These are services where we do charge a nominal fee.
[00:14:43.173]So we're very careful about the services
[00:14:44.875]that we provide at no cost
[00:14:46.741]and the services that we do provide at a charge.
[00:14:48.949]This is an area where we do provide services at a charge.
[00:14:52.010]But what's so important about it is that,
[00:14:55.702]first of all, if you've owned a business for 30 years
[00:14:59.465]and you are thinking about the opportunity to transition,
[00:15:02.864]you're going to be very, very quiet
[00:15:04.611]about it to begin with.
[00:15:05.851]You're not gonna share that news with a lot of people.
[00:15:08.629]And what we see as important steps
[00:15:12.331]is what is the value of your business?
[00:15:15.184]What is the realistic value of your business?
[00:15:18.918]Could you potentially think about transitioning
[00:15:21.946]your business to employees?
[00:15:23.770]And some of the work we've done with business transition
[00:15:26.444]has been to an employee ownership of the business,
[00:15:29.640]to continue its continuity in the community.
[00:15:32.671]If you're going to sell it,
[00:15:35.195]how can we without violating confidentiality with you,
[00:15:40.329]help to find a potential person to come on board?
[00:15:44.588]One of the things many of us
[00:15:46.231]in the economic development community
[00:15:47.664]are thinking about right now is
[00:15:49.128]is there a way to create a matchmaking opportunity?
[00:15:53.087]We know that we have young people
[00:15:55.086]who are interested in opening their own businesses.
[00:15:57.792]You see them every day We do.
[00:15:59.550]Here at the university coming through with your programs
[00:16:02.808]or with the programs, such as the Engler program,
[00:16:05.957]and if we could find a way,
[00:16:10.021]and we're thinking about this, we're not there yet,
[00:16:12.157]but we're thinking about this,
[00:16:13.471]if we could find a way to create that connection,
[00:16:16.110]wouldn't be that wonderful? Sure.
[00:16:17.993]The business wouldn't close.
[00:16:19.608]The building wouldn't be vacant.
[00:16:21.579]And it would still be a thriving
[00:16:24.118]job-producing opportunity in our communities.
[00:16:28.509]We think that's an incredibly important opportunity for us.
[00:16:32.630]Along with our partners, again,
[00:16:34.347]we will never do this alone.
[00:16:36.035]Sure, sure.
[00:16:37.304]Well, and we absolutely see that
[00:16:38.992]as a great opportunity for Nebraska
[00:16:42.785]and for our communities that have young people.
[00:16:48.413]You know, we survey young people in our communities,
[00:16:51.670]we've done this for some time,
[00:16:53.746]and we know that in spite of the notion
[00:16:57.627]that our kids in rural communities
[00:16:59.256]just wanna get through high school
[00:17:01.494]and then get out of town
[00:17:02.646]on the best paved road as fast as they can,
[00:17:05.259]we know that 56% of them are saying,
[00:17:07.426]I would like to come back to my community,
[00:17:09.738]start a business, raise my family here.
[00:17:13.101]This is where I would like to live,
[00:17:15.072]for some very, very legitimate reasons.
[00:17:16.938]So I think creating that opportunity
[00:17:20.701]for linkage to those businesses in transition
[00:17:24.273]really could be a great step toward our future.
[00:17:27.735]And that's why I'm so excited
[00:17:28.915]to be part of the Rural Futures Fellows
[00:17:32.289]and to be part of your organization together
[00:17:35.052]because what you are doing is you're actually helping
[00:17:39.084]young people see a pathway back.
[00:17:41.982]Here they are at the university.
[00:17:43.236]They're going through your student serviceship programs.
[00:17:46.223]They're going back to see the opportunities,
[00:17:48.343]either in there or a similar community across Nebraska.
[00:17:52.015]They've being connected
[00:17:53.538]with business leaders in their community.
[00:17:55.629]They're seeing the potential for their future there,
[00:17:58.483]and we're there.
[00:17:59.913]We're there to then be a supportive service to them.
[00:18:03.457]The more they know about us through you, the better we are.
[00:18:06.936]And then you're also bringing in the research
[00:18:09.161]and the expertise, not only from Nebraska,
[00:18:12.312]but the nation and around the world
[00:18:14.343]about the opportunities for supporting
[00:18:17.345]and continuing the growth of rural America.
[00:18:20.570]Well listen, it's important for our audience to know
[00:18:22.497]that Cathy is part of our inaugural class
[00:18:25.737]of Rural Futures Institute Fellows.
[00:18:28.125]Obviously, she does not come
[00:18:30.904]strictly from the academic realm.
[00:18:32.696]She comes from real world impacts.
[00:18:36.564]Comes from this remarkably interesting background
[00:18:39.849]that you shared earlier.
[00:18:41.206]And Cathy is really an example
[00:18:43.178]of the intellectual fire power
[00:18:45.315]and the get it done capability
[00:18:49.018]to have an impact on rural communities,
[00:18:51.915]that we're trying to bring together
[00:18:53.570]in this universe of folks
[00:18:54.693]who will help to achieve that thriving,
[00:18:58.424]high touch, high tech future
[00:19:00.577]for rural Nebraska and the Great Plains.
[00:19:03.205]So Cathy, we're proud to be associated with you
[00:19:05.457]and the leadership you're bringing to NBDC.
[00:19:08.163]Anything you'd like to add?
[00:19:09.611]No, this has been great.
[00:19:11.000]It's been wonderful to catch up with you.
[00:19:12.956]And I look forward to continuing to work with you
[00:19:15.839]and everyone at Rural Futures
[00:19:17.556]for the benefit of our great state.
[00:19:19.811]Thank you.
[00:19:20.662]Well listen, we're gonna be back in the weeks to come,
[00:19:23.663]talking with other people, looking at places,
[00:19:26.158]innovators, thinkers, doers,
[00:19:28.307]folks who are creating rural communities
[00:19:31.772]that are a legitimate best choice for worthwhile living.
[00:19:34.505]Thanks for being with us.

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Catch Up With Chuck | Episode 7

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