The year that ends at midnight Thursday was a challenging one on the business front.

A look back over the News-Register’s weekly business page revealed a lot of change -- some good, some not so good -- yet overall a steady pace of progress well ahead of the curve. In a year that will be remembered historically for its nationwide recession, 2009 had many bright spots in Hamilton County.

 

What follows is a Reader’s Digest version of the local business scene.

 Jan. 7 -- Julie Crocker’s passion for nature led to the creation of her own art gallery/studio, the Mossy Pond, located at the farm home she shares with her husband, Mike. "The natural beauty I find in nature along with the love I have of birds and animals is what inspires me to paint," she said.

 

Jan. 14 -- Year-end construction totals added up to less than 2 percent of last year’s final tally, though local officials say the numbers aren’t as bad as they appear. The year-end sum of $2.7 million was a mere fraction of a record-breaking $253 million in 2007, which included a series of large projects linked to Aurora West.

 

Jan. 21 -- VeraSun Energy Corp, the nation’s second largest ethanol producer, is putting seven of its biorefineries up for auction, including plants in Central City and Ord, as part of a bankruptcy court financing agreement.

 

Jan. 28 -- A nationwide lull in the manufactured housing industry prompted BonnaVilla Homes to reduce its production schedule to 32-hour workweeks, effective Jan. 12. General Manager Jack Henry explained to his 190-member workforce that the cutbacks will remain in effect until further notice.

 

Feb. 4 -- What began as a small business in 1969 has changed significantly with the times as Lindquist Inc., in Giltner marks its 40th anniversary. Owner Jim Lindquist continues to focus on the ag sector, creating innovative machinery and equipment, all aimed at helping farms get their job done easier.

 

Feb. 11 -- A veteran local plumber with several years of experience in the business now works for a company that bears his own name. After spending eight years with ATS Plumbing in Aurora, Peter Miller branched out on his own to form Miller’s Service Plus, offering a variety of plumbing services from his home-based business.

 

Feb. 18 -- A surge of orders has BonnaVilla Homes employees back on the job four days this week in Aurora, where General Manager Jack Henry said there is reason to believe more housing orders are on the way.

 

Feb. 25 -- An Aurora-based battery franchise has expanded its reach into the all-battery market with a second location in Grand Island. Known for more than 35 years a a local distributor of car, truck and tractor batteries, Interstate Batteries ventured into new territory in 2007 by converting space in its Highway 14 location to provide smaller batteries customers use in their everyday lives. The demand for that product line convinced co-owner Zach Danhauer that it was time to expand into a larger market.

 

March 4 -- A Kansas native with 12 years experience in the automotive sales industry has become a partner and will serve as general manager with Advantage Chevrolet in Aurora. Bret Schwarz was introduced to the staff by co-owner Alan Stall, who bought the local dealership in 2001 with Dick Newton, both of Fairbury.

 

A struggling national economy continues to take a toll on the BonnaVilla Homes plant in Aurora, which announced this week that 21 employees were let go.

March 11 -- Mim and Kevin Klawonn, owners of Keepsake Studio, have been dealing with the unexpected ever since the west wall of the old Temple Craft Building at 12th and M came crashing down. The Klawonns were asked to leave as a precautionary measure and are now trying to make the best of a trying situation.

 

March 18 -- The unexpected collapse of the west wall of the Temple Craft building has created a waiting game for the owners of the China Garden Restaurant. Ever since their downtown business was closed down Feb. 25, Quiao Zhen Chen and her husband have been waiting for answers, which so far have been slow in coming.

 

March 25 -- Almost one year and $2 million later, the United Farmers Cooperative is completing the final steps of a major facility upgrade in Hampton. A new 600,000-bushel metal storage bin, scale and office complex south of Highway 34 became operational last fall, just in time for harvest, and the old grain office was hauled away to the Karl Heine farm.

 

Pleasant Hill Grain founder Gary Hansen was honored as one of three recipients of the prestigious Nebraska Distinguished Entrepreneur Award, presented annually by the Nebraska Center for Entrepreneurship.

April 1 -- A local law firm relocated to the downtown square, hoping to expand both its office setting and legal services in Hamilton County. Svehla, Thomas, Rauert and Grafton PC attorneys Kent Rauert and Scott Grafton said they had simply outgrown the small house/office on L Street and liked the idea of relocating to the downtown square.

 

April 8 -- Jack Henry retired as president/general manager of BonnaVilla Homes, the housing division of Grand Island-based Chief Industries, Inc. Henry began working for Chief Industries in 1969 and was named president/general manager of the Aurora plant in 2000.

 

Curt Wilkerson is named president and chief executive office of BonnaVilla Homes housing division in Aurora.

April 15 -- The Aurora Cooperative noted record earnings in 2008 at its annual meeting, despite wild commodity price swings and economic troubles around the globe. President and CEO George Hohwieler reported a 51 percent increase in sales and related income, boosting the total to more than $756 million.

 

The Aurora News-Register was honored with two prestigious awards presented by the Omaha World-Herald for outstanding services to its community and coverage of the state’s leading industry.

April 22 -- Aurora is one of several Nebraska communities competing to be among the sites for new state customer service centers that will handle applications for food stamps, Medicaid and other welfare services. A field of 20 applicants was to be narrowed to four by June.

 

April 29 -- Bobbi and Ryan Roberts open Salon 18 on K Street. The new salon offers hair cuts, perms and colors, as well as a tanning bed.

 

Sack Lumber Company, located in 11 Nebraska communities including Aurora, noted change and progress as it celebrated 110 years in business.

May 6 -- Local entrepreneurs completed a nine-month course of study and graduated from the Hamilton Strategic EDGE program. Graduates included Peter Miller and Marcy Guinane with Miller’s Service Plus and Rod Blase with Old School Vineyards n Hordville.

 

The new year started with a thud in terms of local net taxable sales, which dropped 13.3 percent in the county and 28 percent in Aurora.

May 13 -- What started out as a gesture to help a friend has led to a home-based business for Pat Pickering, who established Front Porch Catering.

 

May 20 -- A traditional every-other-year marketing piece for Hamilton County is anything but traditional this year, as a bright, red, glossy magazine has begun telling a well-known story in a whole new format, this time on a statewide scale. Published as a joint venture between the Aurora Area Chamber & Development and Aurora News-Register, the new and improved "Hamilton County Guide" edition will be used to promote the area in a variety of ways.

 

May 27 -- After sitting in hot-idle-mode for five months, the Central City ethanol plant should be back up and running by the end of July. That’s the intent of Green Plains Renewable Energy, Inc., the Omaha-based company that entered into a $123.5 billion purchase agreement with AgStar Financial Services for the plants in Central City and Ord.

 

June 3 -- A couple’s love for literature and experiences teaching young children led to an atmosphere full of color, books and toys for young and old alike inside Susan’s Books & Gifts. The couple and their downtown business were profiled eight years after opening the popular book store.

 

June 10 -- Aurora’s new community daycare facility project took another critical step this week, hiring Lisa Kluck as its full-time director. An at-home daycare provider herself for the past six years, Kluck has worked hard to keep the project moving forward, saying there simply aren’t enough child care services available to meet the community’s growing need.

 

June 17 -- Jonathan Curtis decided to pursue his passion and love of woodworkng and turn it into an on-the-side business, called Curtis Custom Woodworking and Organization. The Crete native has built custom cabinets, hutches, bookcases and children’s toys for years and looks forward to creating hand-crafted items from his 1st Street shop.

 

June 24 -- The Grandview Cafe Lounge is making a comeback, thanks to the Kalkwarf family. Deb Kalkwarf became the new owner in mid-June, and her son, Ryan and wife Mandy will manage the business once remodeling work is completed later in the year.

 

It’s crunch time for Traudt Aerial, an Aurora-based company that earns its keep with aerial application of crop protection chemicals in July and August.

July 1 -- Construction activity ramped up in May, when building permits issued at Aurora’s City Hall more than tripled the year-to-date tally accumulated through the first four months of the year.

 

July 8 -- Fireworks, financial planning and family come together with a boom for Paul Bowman and his family each fourth of July. Paul and his wife, Shelly and their two daughters took on a new business venture three years ago, looking to create a spark in the children’s college funds.

 

Dohman, Akerlund & Eddy LLC announced the admittance of three new LLC members to its practice, including Troy Knust, Tim Coufal and Casey Moscrip.

July 15 -- A statewide study on family economics in Nebraska concluded that families in towns both large and small need more income to make ends meet than many realize, with the total for a family of four up to $33,500 just to get by.

 

July 22 -- Business keeps rolling along at Aurora’s Con-Way Freight distribution center, a steady source of traffic that is fast becoming a transportation logistics hub. Four years after moving from Grand Island to a Highway 14 site just off the interstate, Con-Way has expanded its staff from 27 to 35 and is making plans to expand its facility.

 

July 29 -- Hamilton County commissioners want to be ahead of the curve when it comes to collecting and analyzing data on countywide resources and they’ve hired Aurora native Adam Darbro to help accomplish that goal. Darbro started a new full-time geographic information systems administrator position July 20.

 

Aug. 5 -- The nation’s minimum wage rose from $6.55 to $7.25 on July 24, a change some local businesses said could add financial pressure when the economy is already down. The increase applies to all businesses that employ four or more employees at any one time, except for seasonal employment of not more than 20 weeks in a calendar year.

 

Aug. 12 -- A familiar dining destination came back to life in Aurora Saturday, and so to did the China Garden. Shut down since the back wall of their downtown building collapsed Feb. 25 restaurant owners Quioa Zhen Chen and her husband Wei Sum Kwok were thrilled to finally reopen the doors in a different location.

 

Aug. 19 -- Adding the familiar FedEx logo at Aurora’s 332 exchange is proof positive, state and local officials agree, that Interstate 80 gives Nebraska a solid foothold in the transportation logistics industry. The Fortune 500 company will soon open a relay station on the north end of the Woodard Subdivision.

 

Aug. 26 -- The good news keeps getting better at Aurora’s Interstate 80 interchange, where Love’s Travel Stops has announced plans to expand its six-year-old facility. Opened initially in 2003 as the anchor of the 40-acre Woodard Subdivision, the Love’s travel center has performed at or above the company’s expectations, prompting a recent decision to add a small tire facility on site.

 

Sept. 2 -- Jeff Morris looks to technology as both the source and resource of his job as a patent law attorney. Morris works from his home in Aurora writing and reviewing high-tech patents for a California law firm, and he likes it that way.

 

Sept. 9 -- Marilyn Wortman, general manager of the Memorial Hospital Auxiliary Thrift Shop in Aurora, said they have seen an increase in business over the past year, with a sluggish economy prompting many to seek bargain purchases.

 

The Aurora Cooperative remains "optimistic but realistic" about hopes of seeing the 110-million gallon ethanol plant completed, though its president and CEO is encouraged by overall developments at Aurora West. George Hohwieler said he remains hopeful that an ethanol entity will someday be a resident inside the double-loop railroad.

Sept. 16 -- This week’s sale of a 75,000 sq. ft. warehouse on the Aurora West site will create little if any visible change, though all three parties involved in the transaction say it’s a positive sign for the future. The Aurora Cooperative bought the building, which now stores 325,000 bags of Syngenta corn seed, from the Aurora Development Corporation.

 

Sept. 23 -- Nathan Collingham is following the footsteps of his grandfather and father, and has started a new business, NC Carpentry. The third-generation carpenter has helped the family business with various woodworking jobs, giving him confidence to form his own business.

 

Sept. 30 -- Picket Fence Quilt Shop is now serving its customers on the other side of Central Park Square. An opportunity to operate next door to a scrapbooking store and have more room prompted the move.

 

Oct. 7 -- Matthew Epp of Aurora and his nephew Jonathan Goertzen decided to branch out from their experiences in electrical, cabinet building and construction work to start their own business. Epp and Goertzen created Invision Woodworking and Construction, opening the doors on Aug. 1.

 

BonnaVilla Homes in Aurora, a housing division of Chief Industries, has changed its name to Chief Custom Homes.

Oct. 14 -- Jane Siebrass and her husband, Dave, of Aurora hope to help customers feather their next with a new M Street business bearing the same name. Feather Your Nest Design ad Gallery is a dream 13 years in the making which will open soon near downtown Aurora.

 

Oct. 21 -- Hamilton County’s net taxable sales dropped 11.1 percent in July, while Aurora totals were lower than the previous year for the ninth consecutive month. Vehicle sales totals offered far better news as Hamilton County led the region in percentage gain with a 16.9 percent gain.

 

Oct. 28 -- An open house Friday will mark both a change of ownership and new location for a downtown real estate company. Hoot Gibson, who has been involved with local real estate off and on since 1975, has sold his interest in Gibson & Associates to Julie Wetherington.

 

Nov. 4 -- Area residents saw first-hand Saturday why the word "custom" is in the new company name at the housing manufacturing plant on the west edge of town. Three finished units on display at the annual open house for Chief Custom Homes featured a variety of trim packages, higher-grade cabinetry and Anderson windows. Those features are all part of a new line of products which GM Curt Wilkerson said can be custom made to order.

 

Nov. 11 -- A 1998 FFA project for Neal Ely of Sutton has continued to grow into the successful business near Grafton. Ely, a graduate of the Enhancing, Developing and Growing Entrepreneurs (EDGE) program, said the business plan he wrote and lessons he learned in the 15-week program helped him expand his line of pickled asparagus.

 

Nov. 18 -- Sallans Chiropractic and Massage Therapy in Aurora has expanded its offerings with a new tattoo studio. Owner Greg Sallans opened Doc’s custom Demographics Studio, offering customized body art.

 

Nov. 25 -- Diners looking for a little "taste of Mexico" for three days of the week can satisfy that craving in downtown Aurora. La Mexicana On Wheels is an extension of the La Mexicana Restaurant in Grand Island, owned by Adolfo Flores.

 

Dec. 2 -- Handling freshly made pet food has become a business within a business at the Procter & Gamble plant west of Aurora. It’s become such a specialized function, in fact, that P&G hired Exel, Inc. five years ago to run its warehouse operations.

 

Dec. 9 -- State officials announced that Aurora is not among the future locations of the Department of Health and Human Services four new customer service centers. Though the community survived several rounds of preliminary cuts in the past year and was listed as a finalist, state officials gave the nod to Lexington, Scottsbluff, Lincoln, and Fremont.

 

A 10-unit housing subdivision planned on the southeast edge of Aurora boosted the city’s building permit total in November to $1.4 million. Year-to-date, permits issued at city hall total $4.6 million, nearly doubling the $2.4 million posted through 11 months in 2008.

Dec. 16 -- Old Man Winter made its presence felt in Hamilton County, prompting an increase in shopping of the non-holiday variety. Local grocery stores and hardware stores, in particular, saw a steady flow of customers during a two-day storm that blanketed the region.

 

Hamilton County’s net taxable sales took a double-digit percentage drop in September, , down 14.2 percent, while Aurora totals were lower than the previous year for the 11th consecutive month.

Dec. 23 -- Jena Lomasney of rural Aurora felt like she wasn’t getting to spend enough time at home with her children, yet also knew she wanted and needed to help support the family. The solution: open Little Acres Daycare in her home on Highway 34.

by Kurt Johnson