Star City Six: Steve Bors
The SCC Entrepreneurship Center (www.southeast.edu/entrepreneurship) is a full-service resource hub for entrepreneurs in all stages of business development, from idea to growth and expansion. Steve Bors is the Director of the Entrepreneurship Center at Southeast Community College.
Tell us a little about your business. – We help people achieve their dreams of business ownership. The most important first step is to determine if a person’s business idea is feasible. In business, just because you build it, doesn’t mean people will come! So we help people identify some of the assumptions they are making and then give them advice on how to test their assumptions before they launch their business. We answer questions, make referrals to other service providers and help people with common obstacles like obtaining financing, hiring employees, bookkeeping, sales and marketing. We have an on-site small-business incubator that is a good fit for some businesses. Businesses in our incubator have affordable office space and access to our business coaches and training events. And of course Southeast Community College offers a number of business-related classes, both credit and non-credit.
Tell us a little about your family. – My wife is a kindergarten teacher at Norris, and we have a son and daughter. We live on a small acreage with our Golden Retriever, a cat and a rabbit.
What do you see as one of the biggest turning points in your life? – The day I married my wife.
What is your favorite thing to do on a day off? – I love to work outside and get dirty! I like spending time on my John Deere lawn tractor, mowing and hauling leaves and firewood. The perfect day off also includes a Husker game and throwing something on the grill.
What is the most unique or interesting thing about you that most people probably don’t know? – I worked as a navigator on civilian cargo ships for three years after I graduated from college. It was a great adventure, and I was fortunate to have the opportunity.
What are you the most proud of? – I’m very proud of how many people our Entrepreneurship Center staff have been able to help with their dream of owning a business. We have a small staff, but we were able to conduct approximately 900 business coaching sessions in 2015. It is very rewarding to hear some of the success stories experienced by the people we have assisted.
What local non-profit organization(s) are you passionate about or involved with, and are there any special reasons why? – My family is active in Messiah Lutheran Church in Lincoln. And I have a soft spot in my heart for Golden Retriever Rescue in Nebraska (GRRIN) because that’s where we got our dog.
What is your favorite book or the last good book you read? – Business Reading: “All in Startup” by Diana Kander and “The E Myth Revisited” by Michael E. Gerber. Personal Reading: The Border Trilogy by Cormac McCarthy and “A River Runs Through It” by Norman Maclean.
What is your favorite TV show? – I’m reluctant to admit this publicly, but I’ve never missed an episode of The Walking Dead!
What is your favorite local restaurant? – Lazlo’s, Valentino’s and Fortune Palace.
If you could have dinner with one famous person from the past or present, who would it be? – Abraham Lincoln.
If our readers would like to contact you, how should they do so? – I can be reached by phone at (402) 437-2524 or email at sbors@southeast.edu. You can also stay connected with SCC’s Entrepreneurship Center online – Website: www.southeast.edu/entrepreneurship; Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SCC.Eship/; Twitter: @SCC_Eship.