Highlights of REAP Activities over the Year
From attending trainings, to kicking off new REAP services, to giving testimony and awards, REAP staff were busy improving their capacity to better serve members.

• REAP participated at the Center’s Annual Meeting in November 2001. Several sessions focusing on small business were presented. The 2001 REAP awards were distributed at the annual meeting. REAP Small Business of the Year was Ken and Colleen Duncan, Friend of the Year was Susan Schichting, Officer of the Year was Luella Philippi, and Extra Mile Awards were presented to Troy Gagner and David Taladay.
   
• The Center for Rural Affairs created a new award. The Entrepreneur Award is for an innovative person working with REAP who is in the forefront of microenterprise development. Longtime REAP member Ed and Vicki Oxford, Logs & More, Sargent, NE were the first-ever recipients of this new award.
   
• REAP of the Center for Rural Affairs was recognized by the Nebraska Rural Development Commission (RDC) as one of the Commission’s Top 100 Rural Development Initiatives for 2001.
   
• REAP WBC Director Glennis McClure, REAP Administrative Assistant Peggy Mahaney, and Center for Rural Affairs Staff Accountant Hayley Hallstrom attended the SBA Women’s Business Center (WBC) orientation in Washington DC.
   
• REAP Program Director Jeff Reynolds and Self Employment Loan Fund (SELF) Director Rick Wallace gave testimony before the Appropriations Committee of the Nebraska Unicameral in favor of LB-327 funds that support microenterprise programs in the state.
   
• REAP staff provided comments at the public hearing on small business transfer and entrepreneurship at Hastings, NE. The public forum was hosted by the Nebraska Rural Development Commission and focused on retaining and planning for business succession in rural communities.
   
• REAP staff held a regional Advisory committee meeting at Hickman, NE. A total of 16 including REAP staff attended the meeting. Topics included REAP activities, officer duty updates, and key discussion questions.
   
• REAP Program Director Jeff Reynolds attended a FIELD Scale Cluster meeting at Washington DC on December 5-7, 2001. Fund for Information, Effectiveness, Learning Dissemination (FIELD) is a project of the Aspen Institute, Washington DC. REAP received a two-year, $100,000 grant in April 2000. The funding is to help REAP explore strategies in “achieving scale” which will allow REAP to increase overall client reach and program efficiency. The meeting brought together various programs involved with this cluster and shared experiences since beginning the achieving scale work.
   
• The Women’s Business Center celebrated its opening celebration on Sept 18, 2001 in Nebraska City. Approximately 40 people attended including friends of the Center for Rural Affairs, REAP, the SBA, and various elected officials.
   
• REAP Program Director Jeff Reynolds participated as a panelist with a session at the Association for Enterprise Opportunity (AEO) Annual Conference at Ft. Lauderdale, FL. The session was entitled “Framework for National Rural Microenterprise Policy.” AEO is the trade association for microenterprise programs in the US and provides the premier national microenterprise training conference each year.
   
• REAP staff attended the AEO national conference in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

Contact: Jeff Reynolds, REAP Program Director at 402.645.3296 or jefff@alltel.net for more information.