Ag & Home Expo Continues To Get Bigger And Better

The 3rd annual Ag & Home Expo is set to kick off on Tuesday, March 6, at the Antelope County Fairgrounds in Neligh.

The two-day expo will showcase business from across the county that provide services for consumers in both the agriculture and home markets. Lauren Sheridan-Simonsen, the assistant director for the Neligh Economic Development Office, said that the expo helps to show what is available close to home.

“We are promoting different business and services that are available right here in our area where you don’t need to go to other places to find them, and to put them under the same roof at the same time,” she said.

The idea for the expo came from a proposal from a chamber committee. Simonsen said that, although she wasn’t one of the initial brains behind the event, she hit the ground running and worked to make the idea come to life.

“I walked in after it had originally been discussed with Craig and Melissa Smith, Wade Pitzer, and Greg (Ptacek), and I ran with it and did everything I could to make it successful,” she said.

The marketing plans for the event have drastically changed since the start of the expo, and has started to include partnerships with local media to help get the coverage it needs. Simonsen said that without these partnerships, it would not be what it is.

“I really do believe that our partnership with the Antelope County News and KBRX made the event successful,” she said.
Partnerships are a common theme in the planning and organizing of the expo. Simonsen said that without other help, the event would not be possible.

“None of this would have happened without partnership with the Antelope County Ag Society. We could not do that without them . . . They are a vital part of the program,” she said.

Simonsen said that partnership and the ability for businesses to be able to work together are key to making business better.

“We are a community, whether or not we are in the same business, we can still elevate and make business better by working together. One of my favorite quotes is ‘A rising tide lifts all boats.’ By working together, we make everyone better.”