NBDC’s Graduate Assistants Roll Up Their Sleeves, Experience Real-Life Business Challenges, Success

Nebraska – Serving as a consultant to actual small business clients and entrepreneurs benefits the state’s economy and the students in the Graduate Assistant program at the Nebraska Business Development Center (NBDC).

“I get to work with real clients every day,” says Sidney Therkelsen, a Graduate Assistant (GA) in the NBDC office at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). “I learn something new with every client, and I see the impact of my work. It’s 10 times better than any hypothetical situation.”

Unlike some GA programs that are limited to classroom work, lesson preparation, or research, the NBDC GA program affords opportunities for engagement by experiencing the challenges small businesses face on a regular basis. At the same time, the small businesses the GAs serve gain fresh ideas and insight, and the NBDC is able to serve a wider number of clients while fulfilling its statewide mission of supporting and building Nebraska’s economy.

“The work our GAs do comes at a very crucial time, often when a potential or fledgling business needs guidance to move forward,” says Craig Boesch, Lincoln Center Director for America’s SBDC – Nebraska, a program of the NBDC.“ Even when they work with an experienced business person, the GAs contribute crucial information that helps the clients to focus on growth. Getting business owners aligned on the right track eases transitions and can have a tremendous impact on their continued success.”

Graduate assistantships are based on academic and professional excellence. Recipients receive tuition remission, a monthly salary, and subsidized health insurance to work approximately 20 hours a week on assigned responsibilities.

The NBDC routinely employs from nine to 11 GAs each academic year, depending on program needs and funding, with most of them also working through the summer. They are hired in a staggered fashion because they do not all graduate at the same time. Depending on when they start, they work for the NBDC from one to three years, until they receive their graduate degree.

Many GAs at the NBDC have taken on permanent positions after receiving their degrees. Kiley Phelps began as a GA at the NBDC. Today, she is the Omaha Center Director of America’s SBDC – Nebraska.

“The GA experience was so valuable to me,” Phelps says. “Getting to solve real-life problems that small business owners face, and help them achieve their goals, gave me a unique insight you don’t always gain from reading case studies.”

For Therkelsen, learning the challenges small business owners face began at home, where she served as an administrative assistant for KRT Construction, Inc., an Omaha company owned by her father, Kent.

“Growing up in a family where the success of a small business was so important is one of the reasons why I chose the business field,” she says.

Though initially an accounting major, Therkelsen gradually realized she preferred an internship or job that had elements of accounting “but didn’t require me to sit in front of a spreadsheet all day.”

While an undergraduate majoring in business management at UNL, she contacted the NBDC’s Boesch and came aboard as a student worker. After receiving her bachelor’s degree in May 2022, her job at the NBDC evolved into a GA position. She is currently working toward her MBA at UNO. In addition to her duties at the NBDC office in Lincoln, she is a council member for the Clifton Foundation Global Builders Network.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) in 2021 estimated a total of 180,988 small businesses in Nebraska – which was 99.1 percent of the state’s total businesses.

Therkelsen says that high number of small businesses makes the services provided by the NBDC even more crucial to growing the state’s economy. “Being a part of the NBDC’s efforts as a Graduate Assistant offers a great balance between the analytical side and the people side,” she says. “Putting financial projections and market research into perspective can really impact people’s lives.”

She and the NBDC’s Phelps say there are several qualities that GAs share. “Being a good listener, really paying attention to a business owner’s needs, helps to form trust and a lasting relationship,” Phelps says. “A good consultant also needs an analytical mindset.”

That mindset includes being candid and realistic, Therkelsen says. “I’ll meet with a prospective business owner and learn their revenue forecast is more what they ‘hope to make’ and less of what can actually be done,” she says. “So we’ll look at the market and the projections, and sometimes have to bring them back to more realistic expectations.”

Boesch says he has seen Therkelsen become more confident professionally during her time at the NBDC. “Sidney was quite adept when she arrived,” he says. “She had a good deal of experience working in her family’s business, and her work here as a consultant has provided her perspective on many other types of business models. I’ve no doubt she’ll apply all of it toward immense success going forward.”

Until then, Therkelsen is proud to focus her efforts on others’ success. “Being a GA has fueled a desire to help people in ways that truly impact their lives,” she says. “At the NBDC, we want you to win – and we have so many resources to help you do it.”

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