New SCC business center gaining ground
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By MELISSA LEE / Lincoln Journal Star
Yes, they know National Entrepreneurship Week doesn’t start until Saturday.
Nope, they didn’t get their dates mixed up.
They just can’t wait any longer to cut that ribbon.
Southeast Community College will host a grand opening ceremony for its new Entrepreneurship Service Center. It’s free and open to the public.
When: 3-5 p.m. Wednesday
Where: The center’s headquarters, 285 S. 68th St. Place (the former Gallup building at 68th and N streets)
Why go?: Receive a tour of the facilities, meet SCC leaders, snag promotional offers from businesses housed at the center and get information on how you can start your career there. Plus, there’ll be cake and punch.
Just seven months after getting an official go-ahead, Southeast Community College’s Entrepreneurship Service Center has plenty to show for itself — and it’s throwing a little party to celebrate.
SCC leaders, along with Mayor Coleen Seng and other local dignitaries, will host a grand opening ceremony today for the entrepreneurship center, a new point of pride for one of Nebraska’s fastest-growing colleges.
The center, housed in a former Gallup Organization building at 68th and N, is months away from turning out its first graduates, young leaders the school hopes will stick around and start their own local businesses.
It’s also become home to two infant companies trying to gain footing before moving out into the real world, as well as Lincoln Public Schools’ new entrepreneurial focus program.
Catch the center’s director, Tim Mittan, on the phone, and you’ll find he’s a tad breathless but excited nonetheless.
“We want people to know we’ve got something good here,” he said as he prepared for today’s celebration, which will feature tours of the 10,000-square-foot facilities and promotional offers from the companies based there.
“We’ll serve anybody that walks through the door. We all really believe in this.”
Mittan and other SCC administrators had long dreamed of an entrepreneurship center, a safe haven where bright young minds could make low-risk ventures into the business world.
A generous private gift, along with moral support from Gallup and the University of Nebraska, made that dream possible.
Now, 50 students are enrolled in the school’s new two-year degree program in business administration with an emphasis in entrepreneurship. Three will graduate in June.
And two companies — one in photography, one in life coaching — now call SCC a temporary home. A third company is on the way and there’s room for 15 more, Mittan said.
A top priority: Staving off Nebraska’s oft-maligned “brain drain.”
Community colleges, with long histories in industry training, are especially focused on entrepreneurship, SCC President Jack Huck said. SCC-trained welders, mechanics and others often look for but can’t find entrepreneurial opportunities, he said.
“We want to say to students, ‘You need these sets of skills, all of these business-related pieces,’ so we don’t have the classic failure rates we always read about,” he said.
“Students already have the spirit. We’re looking for a way to capture that spirit.”
One young SCC transfer is already taking advantage.
Vito Teruna, a 20-year-old native of Indonesia, transferred to UNL last year after earning an associate’s degree from SCC.
Teruna’s always loved photography but couldn’t find a local studio that fit his style. Then a college adviser told him SCC might be willing to lend a hand.
Now he’s the owner of Gracia Cyber Photography, and he’s doing things his way and loving it.
The cheap rent, next-to-new facilities and expert business advice right next door aren’t bad, either.
“This is my first business, and the space is good, the security is good,” said Teruna, who hopes to someday open a studio in a mall, where potential customers abound. “This is my trial studio.”
Also taking baby steps at SCC is Deb Savage, who’s working to get a life coaching center up and running.
Whether it’s saving money, getting in shape or strengthening their faith, people need help figuring out what’s important to them, Savage said, and she wants to do just that.
She’s not sure how far she could get without SCC’s help.
“It really fell into our mission — getting people what they want,” she said. “They make it so easy to start up.
“Our plan is to stick around and thrive.”
Reach Melissa Lee at 473-2682 or mlee@journalstar.com.
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