Middle Cities Podcast

Jeff Slobotski and Shonna Dorsey talk with Garry Clark, President and CEO of the Greater Fremont Development Council, about his work leading significant economic development efforts in rural Nebraska and helping entrepreneurs. Garry's drive to succeed and entrepreneurial spirit were ignited at a young age when growing up in public housing and homelessness in Washington D.C. forced him to come up with ideas to survive. Garry wrote about his life in his memoir Unlikely Viking.Learn more about the GFDC at https://www.fremontecodev.org/GFDC Facebook https://www.facebook.com/GreaterFremontNEGFDC Twitter https://twitter.com/fremontecodevGarry's book, Unlikely Viking https://www.clarkspeaks.com/book/Garry's Instagram https://www.instagram.com/unlikelyviking/

Jeff Slobotski and Shonna Dorsey talk with Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird of Lincoln about the role of innovation and entrepreneurship in local government and within the Lincoln community. Mayor Baird was elected in May 2019, and previously served as a planning commissioner and city councilwoman.Learn more at https://www.lincoln.ne.gov/city/mayor/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MayorLeirionInstagram https://www.instagram.com/MayorLeirion/Twitter https://twitter.com/MayorLeirion

Shonna Dorsey and Jeff Slobotski sat down for a conversation with Nancy Williams, CEO and Co-Founder of No More Empty Pots. No More Empty Pots is a grassroots nonprofit corporation that connects individuals and groups to improve self-sufficiency, regional food security, and economic resilience of urban and rural communities through advocacy and action. To help support this effort, No More Empty Pots collaborates with an array of public and private organizations, businesses, communities, individuals, and entrepreneurs. Learn more about No More Empty Pots http://nmepomaha.org/ Twitter http://twitter.com/nomoreMTpotsInstagram http://www.instagram.com/nomoremtpots/  The Millwork Commons team is conducting a series of interviews with local and national entrepreneurs, creatives, community leaders, and other experts about the difficulties and opportunities created during the 2020 global pandemic. Millwork Commons is a collaborative community designed to inspire and support the work of innovators and creators by providing engaging spaces to work, live, connect, explore, and unwind. Located on the Silicon Prairie in Omaha, the neighborhood is a hub for tech, art, design, and community growth. Learn more at http://millworkcommons.comLike Millwork Commons on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/millworkcommons Follow us on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/millworkcommons Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/millworkcommons

Millwork Commons sat down with Rick Turoczy, Entrepreneur, Mentor, Advisor (and more) within the Portland Startup Community. The Millwork Commons team is conducting a series of interviews with local and national entrepreneurs, creatives, community leaders, and other experts about the difficulties and opportunities created during the 2020 global pandemic. Millwork Commons is a collaborative community designed to inspire and support the work of innovators and creators by providing engaging spaces to work, live, connect, explore, and unwind. Located on the Silicon Prairie in Omaha, the neighborhood is a hub for tech, art, design, and community growth. Learn more at http://millworkcommons.com Like Millwork Commons on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/millworkcommons Follow us on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/millworkcommons Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/millworkcommons

Paul Jarrett is the CEO & Co-Founder of Bulu, the industry authority in creating private-label Subscription Box businesses for the world's largest retail brands. 

Tom Chapman founded Chapman and Company in April 2016. He has worked with hundreds of startups - including roles as a founder, funder, early executive, and sales person. He has expertise in the startup world from many different angles and has been successful frequently, but not every time - that means he can also empathize with the challenges and emotions that are encountered as a company is starting. Tom is also regarded as one of the leading entrepreneurial ecosystem leaders in the world. He has particular expertise in measuring and creating metrics for entrepreneurial ecosystems. His work has been referenced, cited, and quoted in numerous publications around the world, and he is an active speaker on entrepreneurial ecosystems and their importance. Beyond his work for Chapman and Company, Tom helped grow Beehive Industries (a Lincoln based government technology company), Nebraska Global (a Lincoln based funding organization), and is an alum of Enron and American Electric Power in the energy industry. Tom has both a J.D. and an M.B.A from the University of Nebraska and undergraduate liberal arts degrees from Creighton University.

In our second eposide, we sat down with Andy Saladino, Executive Director of Amplify Arts, to learn more about the work that he and the team are doing within the community. Amplify Arts wants to build an Omaha that is recognized across the country as a destination for artists and creatives of all disciplines; where artists are valued for their contributions and have the capacity to forge their own path toward a sustainable career.

In our debut eposide we sit down with Steve Gordon, owner of RDQLUS Creative and one of our region's most dynamic creators.