Cortland big enough to thrive

Jeff Zvolanek and Todd Adam, owners of an air filtration and ventilation company, wanted to build their own plant after initially leasing space in Lincoln.

They scouted locations nearby and ultimately picked Cortland, becoming one of several businesses adding to the industrial base of this village of 500 people, which has held its own despite a struggling economy.

In Gage County — which had a 6.3 percent unemployment rate last year, the third-highest in the state — “Cortland is a jewel,” said county economic development official Teri Dageford.

The village benefits from its location on four-lane U.S. Highway 77, from being 20 miles south of Lincoln and 20 miles north of Beatrice, and from its rural setting, which draws people who want a quiet life but the proximity of metropolitan areas.

Cortland also is an example of a small community keeping the jobs it has and adding employment, one position at a time, even in hard times, said Richard Baier, director of the Nebraska Department of Economic Development.

Baier said plant closings by major manufacturers such as Tenneco, an auto parts maker that once employed 500 in Cozad, and Husqvarna, whose lawn mower plant in Beatrice provided jobs for 390 people, have gotten a lot of attention.

“We're in a recession era, and I don't think that we're out of it yet,” he said.

But as the economy improves in fits and starts, small businesses in towns and villages such as Cortland have produced some good news. “I would call it a resurgence in creativity within our businesses,” Baier said.

Not everyone who works in Cortland lives there. Zvolanek, for example, lives in Lincoln, and Adam lives near Crete, also about 20 miles from Cortland.

But the town's population has grown by approximately 100 people over the last 10 years, and several housing developments have sprouted in the vicinity.

“We've been on steady growth,” said Rich Douglass, vice president of the Cortland Improvement Association. “People like a small town; they can walk the street at night.”

The association sponsors the kind of festivals and events — a Spookfest in October, arrival of Santa Claus, an Easter egg hunt — that create community spirit. The village has a downtown and a park with a community center, playground, tennis courts and gazebo.

Forrest DeVries, chairman of the village board, said civic leaders have encouraged the approximately $2 million in business investments over the last four years.

Cortland can't offer financial incentives, DeVries said, but it promotes its location, its willingness to make zoning changes from agriculture to industrial, and its generally lower real estate and construction costs.

The following businesses account for the addition of about a dozen new jobs:

Ÿ United Suppliers Inc. of Eldora, Iowa, is building an $800,000 agricultural chemicals and fertilizer warehouse and distribution center set to open by December. The company outgrew space it leased in Roca, Neb., and wanted to be closer to the highway. United Suppliers will transfer its three full-time and two or three part-time workers to Cortland.

Ÿ T&T Seed Express moved to Cortland after a 2004 tornado in Hallam, 10 miles away, flattened its warehouse. T&T , which invested about $700,000 to buy and renovate an old grain elevator, employs three full-time workers and several part-time, seasonal workers.

“It's a good location for us,” said co-owner Randy Thimm.

Ÿ Frerking Custom Works in Cortland, which makes custom rifles and handguns, wants to build an indoor shooting range and add manufacturing space. The company employs between one and three workers, depending on demand. “We want to expand, whether staying put or moving to a new building,” said owner Travis Frerking, who started the business in the basement of his house north of town.

“We get plenty of Lincoln crowd, we get Omaha crowd, we get Beatrice and across the country.”

Ÿ Industrial Maid, the company owned by Zvolanek and Adam, employs seven people. The owners have invested approximately $750,000 in their plant since moving to Cortland four years ago.

Building in Cortland was less expensive than in Lincoln, Zvolanek said, in part because the company can have its own water well rather than being required to use city services.

Industrial Maid designs and assembles air filtration systems for companies such as Ford Motor Co., defense and aerospace systems supplier Raytheon and airplane and train manufacturer Bombardier. The systems are designed to clean and recirculate the air, lowering emissions, Zvolanek said.

“I can build 60 different kinds of equipment with four or five different sizes of units,” said Zvolanek, an industrial engineer. “Our cost of operation is better than in major metro areas, and the way we design and use energy is more efficient.”

The village is convenient for workers who live in nearby towns such as Lincoln, Beatrice and Crete, he said.

“It just happens to be in a good spot.”

Mike Lang, economic development aide to Lincoln Mayor Chris Beutler, said the city takes a regional approach to development and doesn't consider it a loss when companies go to towns like Cortland.

“There are places for small business, whether in a metro area or in a small city. We're all working together to be more profitable,” he said.

Cortland celebrated another important milestone recently — the reopening under new ownership of its only restaurant, now called Hwy 77 Barbecue.

“What attracted us to it was a small town, right down Highway 77,” said Jason Wagner, the restaurant's manager and cook. “We saw this was a market that could enjoy barbecue.”

The village also has two banks, two insurance businesses, a dental office, a jewelry and clock repair shop, four hair salons and a barbershop, a convenience store and gas station and three car dealers.

Its downtown is about two blocks long with a post office, a museum dedicated to local history, a Masonic lodge, an apartment building and the restaurant.

And it has Spilker Ales, which makes and distributes Hopluia beer to bars, restaurants, supermarkets and liquor stores.

“The town board has welcomed business,” brewery owner Sam Spilker said. “It's trying to be proactive and help business out.”

Contact the writer:

444-1117, joe.ruff@owh.com

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