The cover of the Feb. 14, 2011, edition of the Northern Nevada Business Weekly.
NNBW File
EDITOR’S NOTE: Each week in 2021, we will feature snippets of stories that published a decade ago to provide readers a 10-year perspective of business news in the region. This week’s stories first published in the Feb. 14, 2011, edition of the NNBW.
Venture funds becoming the hot topic
Proposals to develop venture-capital and private-equity funds to finance growth of businesses in Northern Nevada are under development in numerous offices across the region.
At least five proposals — some private-sector, others involving the state government — are being hammered out. None, however, has yet made it to the starting line.
Better-organized channels to link entrepreneurs who have good ideas with investors who have money increasingly is viewed as a priority by those who believe Northern Nevada needs to pull up on its bootstraps to create new employment.
Ky Good, a managing director of C4CUBE, a business incubator in downtown Reno, says a combination of community support and local investment capital is among the key elements needed to spur creation of growth companies in the region.
— Page 1, by John Seelmeyer
Resurgent doughnut shops exploit a hole in the market
Despite the bad rap given the doughnut — and the highly publicized closure of a well-known national doughnut retailer — doughnut shops are enjoying a resurgence in the Truckee Meadows.
And Reno isn’t alone. An observer of the bakery business nationally says doughnuts may be on their way to becoming the next big thing as the cupcake boom begins to crest.
In Northern Nevada, Chris Chheth opened his first Donut Bistro store at Pyramid Way and Greenbrae Drive in March of 2010, and he opened a second store at Gateway Drive and South Meadows Boulevard on Feb. 5.
Bob Kenny, owner of Doughboys Donuts, opened a store at Damonte Ranch Parkway in March of 2009 and expects to open a second location at West McCarran Boulevard and Mae Anne Avenue this March.
— Page 1, by Rob Sabo
Discounted taxi rides to work offered, but very few take offer
Brad Bell and Jeanne O’Doan figured they had a sure-fire way to use some federal money to help out their customers. But it’s proven harder than they thought.
Whittlesea Checker Taxi in Reno — Bell is vice president, O’Doan is chief financial officer — won a $130,000 federal grant that covers 25 percent of cab fare to low-income folks who need to use a taxi for work.
They can use the discount to get to work, to get home after work, to drop off kids at daycare on their way to work, to get to job interviews or appointments at the state employment office.
To qualify, folks need to fill out a one-page application that essentially asks them their name, address and income. If their family income meets federal guidelines — $33,075 for a family of four, for example — they qualify for a discount card.
— Page 1, by John Seelmeyer
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