SIDNEY, Neb. -- A Cheyenne County group labeled E3 meets every two weeks with the goal of keeping their community thriving.

E3 group coordinator Sarah Sinnett said E3 stands for energizing, entrepreneurial, and ecosystems.

“The goal is really to create an ecosystem of health in the community,” Sinnett said.

Sinnett said she started the group about a year ago.

“We started with just four people who were excited about it, and now it’s grown to probably 20 people,” Sinnett said.

E3 is made up of community members who are small business owners, employees for larger companies, and people who have lived in the area most of their lives.

Sinnett said the group spent the first six months learning from successful counties about what would work best to keep Cheyenne County engaged.

According to Sinnett, the main goal of E3 is to keep the community growing by having more people move to Sidney, current businesses thriving, and new businesses opening.

“You have new people moving here because they enjoy what the community has to offer,” Sinnett said, “We have great daycare, great school system, also we have people who are passionate about starting their own businesses.

Sinnett said the group hosts different networking events for the community and events to help small businesses.

“One time the group did a speed networking event that was like speed dating," Sinnett said. "Everyone showed up and spent 5 minutes talking to a stranger, exchanging contact info, and learning about other people in the community."

Sinnett said the group pays attention to what business owners say they struggle with the most, so they can help add a network of resources to open opportunities.

Sinnett said the future goal of the group is to add awareness of resources as well as partnerships, a map of all community involvement resources, the development of existing programs, and an entrepreneurial coaching guide specifically designed for small business success.

Group members include:

Sarah Sinnett

Cory Keen

Ted Sintler 

Tim Craig 

David Scott 

Jana Jensen 

Mckailie Carnahan-Kuhns 

Melissa Norgard 

Jamie Bright

Paula Abbott 

Tess Plummer 

Liz Borgmann

Wendall Gaston

Kevin Challburg

Matt Benzel

Kendra Mitchell

Bhavesh Patel

Josh Hanson

Tara Risewick