U. Nebraska program helps businesses get started

Bryan Ottoson
University Wire
11-02-2001
(Daily Nebraskan) (U-WIRE) LINCOLN, Neb. -- As a University of Nebraska-Lincoln student, Sean Wieting said he always wanted to open a teriyaki restaurant.

So when Wieting graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, he said he decided to go with an established restaurant chain and opened up a Samurai Sam's Teriyaki Grill at 230 N. 17th St.

Wieting said the College of Business Administration entrepreneurial program allowed him to meet his current lawyer and business people who critiqued and improved upon his business plan.

Wieting is an example of UNL students whose businesses have benefited from the entrepreneurial program.

"They really want to help students, especially those serious about business," Wieting said.

Terry Sebora, director of the Nebraska Center for Entrepreneurship, said the goal of the entrepreneurial program is to improve existing or start-up businesses and to enhance a student's business skills.

He said the program provides critical feedback, and successful business owners offer advice to the business students.

Sebora said the program "creates a climate of support."

He said business students benefit from meeting with business people at conferences to improve productivity and efficiency.

Dixie Doughty, assistant director of the entrepreneurship center, said an average of three to seven new businesses are started each year by UNL students.

Brandon Dupsky, a UNL graduate, started Sell2all, a Lincoln-based business that helps companies liquidate excess inventory over the Internet.

He said his business started three and a half years ago from scratch and currently is close to becoming a million-dollar revenue business.

Dupsky said the entrepreneurial program was supportive in helping him start his business.

"I give them a lot of credit for the help they provided," he said.

Dupsky said he learned the business basics in school, and the entrepreneurial program provided the moral support.

Jon Norman, a UNL graduate, said the entrepreneurship program improved his cleaning service, Ducts Unlimited.

"I think it's great," he said. "It's truly beneficial for people in business or for those have business aspirations."



(C) 2001 Daily Nebraskan via U-WIRE