McCook Daily Gazette
FORWARD, TOGETHER
Monday, Feb. 21, 2011 – 3
The tear-down
MEDC photos
The rebuild
MEDC photos
Left: Tons of rubble were removed from the Keystone Hotel in the early stages of the renovation project. Right: There were rooms underneath the sidewalk on the south side of the Keystone. The hollow sidewalks were removed, filled and replaced in the final stages of the project.
Left: The General Contractor for the project was EAD Construction of Omaha, with several local and regional sub-contractors providing support. Right: The heating and air conditioning system for the massive building takes us an entire room. The energy efficient system was a major undertaking for the renovation project.
An early Keystone tour
Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Daily Gazette
Left: Rex Nelson, right, director of the McCook Economic Development Corp., led, from right, McCook city council member Mike Gonzales, Nebraska Lt. Gov. Rick Sheehy and Andrea McClintic of the Nebraska Department of Economic Development through McCook's former Keystone Hotel, the center of a $4.2 million renovation project to create a downtown business center. Nelson told the lieutenant governor during the January 2010 tour that the creation of office spaces would be completed in the summer or early fall, and that he expected 40-some employees when the doors opened. 21st Century Systems, a developer of software applications for military and corporate purposes, now occupies the fourth floor and installed an unmanned lights-out data center in the basement. Offices for the MEDC, the McCook Area Chamber of Commerce, an attorney and an insurance agent also occupy spaces in the building. Right: The tour group stops to talk on the fifth floor. Nelson said during the tour that the sixth floor could be renovated into condominiums, but he wants to keep as much space as possible available for businesses that create jobs.
What is the Keystone Business Incubator?
Shary Skiles/McCook Daily Gazette
The training room located on the third floor of the Keystone Business Center provides state-ofthe-art facilities for meetings, with capacity for 22 in a classroom style setting. Another conference room is located on the second floor. All of the rooms are equipped with wireless internet access, dry-erase boards and markers.
The mission of the Keystone Business Center Incubator is to provide an environment that supports business growth and succession. Its vision is to help McCook create a community where new and growing businesses create jobs. In turn, these jobs will create opportunities for residents, improving the quality of life, increasing population, and building prosperity for the entire community. The incubator is designed to help small businesses get started or expand. The incubator can provide business support resources and services to the growing company. The Keystone Business Center Incubator offers limited office, general purpose, and co-working space at the Keystone. Other services available to incubator clients include marketing assistance, reception services, micro-loan programs, one-on-
one coaching, mentoring, entrepreneur network luncheons, and training in conjunction with Mid-Plains Center for Enterprise. The Keystone Business Center facilities include office space, which can vary from a part-time, drop-in desk with business center equipment support, to a stand-alone office of several hundred feet, depending on the needs of the client. All spaces are equipped with a desk, internet access, and phone capabilities. A shared break room is available on each floor. The business machines area is equipped with a fax machine, copy machine, paper shredder, binding machine, and various other office essentials. Successful completion of a business incubation program increases the probability that a start-up company will stay in business for the long term. Historically, 80 percent of incubator graduates stay in business.