Premium ContentMouse over Home then click on Premium Content for information.By Ross Boettcher
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
Verizon Wireless turned on a pair of new wireless towers Tuesday. One will expand Verizon's coverage in Cherry County in north-central Nebraska, and another will bring additional service southeast of there to the town of Dunning.
In a statement, Verizon said the new sites are a response to increased data usage by consumers and a reliance on smartphones and the applications or "apps" that they offer.
The cell site in Cherry County is at State Highway 2 and U.S. Highway 83. Service from that tower will reach as far north as Marsh Lake, south to the Cherry County border, east to the towns of Purdum and Elsmere and west to Brownlee.
The Dunning cell site will broaden coverage 10 miles north and 13 miles south from the intersection of Highway 2 and State Highway 91. The tower will also provide coverage spanning east to Angelo and west to Halsey.
KwikShop expanding in Bellevue
The KwikShop convenience store in Bellevue's Olde Towne is preparing for an expansion that would see it grow to include a dozen gasoline pumps.
KwikShop purchased three lots to the west of its current site at 502 W. Mission Ave. as part of a plan to expand the store. A new store is to be built on the expanded area, with entrances on Jackson Street, Mission Avenue and Madison Street.
Clay Brasher, director of real estate for KwikShop, said the plans are not final but the company hopes to complete the expansion sometime this year. He said the current store is about 2,600 feet, and the planned store would be 4,512 square feet.
The new location would add the fuel pumps as well as an expanded assortment of drinks and grocery items, Brasher said. He said the expansion will help the fuel-savings loyalty program involving Baker's and KwikShop.
KwikShop's parent company, Kroger, purchased the three lots west of its current location on Dec. 20 for nearly $400,000. Brasher said he could not disclose the overall project price. — World-Herald News Service
Green Plains unit adds to capabilities
A subsidiary of Omaha's Green Plains Renewable Energy has completed a project that will boost its ability to transport biodiesel by rail.
BlendStar LLC, which operates biofuel terminals in seven states, expanded its terminal in Collins, Miss. The work was sparked by an announcement this summer from pipeline operator Kinder Morgan, which said it plans to ship biodiesel in a pipeline that runs from Louisiana to Washington, D.C.
The expansion includes loading racks that customers can access around the clock. With the added space and facilities, the terminal will be able to handle 180 million gallons of biodiesel and ethanol per year, up from 84 million gallons.
The terminal is located on a rail line operated by the Canadian National Railroad.
BlendStar, which was created in 2007, also has biofuels terminals in Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Alabama. Green Plains became a partial owner in 2009 and full owner in 2011.
Green Plains is the fourth-largest ethanol producer in the U.S., with nine ethanol plants in five states. — Erin Golden
Marketing group plans Exec Trek
The Omaha chapter of the American Marketing Association is planning Exec Trek, an afternoon out around Omaha to visit marketing executives in their offices.
The event is open to members and nonmembers.
The executives to be visited March 1 are Donna Kush, assistant vice president of corporate communications at Union Pacific; Katrina Wells Partain, chief marketing officer at First National Bank; and Dawn Ream, communications and marketing director at Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo.
Registration is $50 to $80, and the limit is 50 attendees. Visit this website to register or find out more.
Training set for pesticide applicators
Private pesticide applicators requiring recertification or seeking initial certification are invited to participate in training sessions to be conducted Feb. 15 at 1 p.m. or Feb. 16 at 9 a.m. in Fremont, Neb., at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension Office, or Feb. 17 at 1 p.m. in Dodge, Neb., at the Municipal Building.
Each session is about three hours. The certification fee is $30.
Producers should bring their current Nebraska Department of Agriculture certification card and the letter received from the Nebraska Department of Agriculture if recertifying.
For more information, contact UNL Extension educator Dave Varner at 402-727-2775. Advance registration is not required.
Discussion to focus on ethics of hiring
The ethics of hiring will be the topic at 7:30 a.m. Thursday for a panel discussion sponsored by the Business Ethics Alliance at the Gallup Group, 1001 Gallup Drive.
Panelists are Tawanna Black, CEO of Innovations by Design; David Brown, president and CEO of the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce; and Omaha Jimmy John's restaurant owner Dean Hodges.
Dip in political ads costs Meredith
DES MOINES (AP) — Meredith Corp., which owns magazines such as Better Homes and Gardens and local television stations, said Tuesday that quarterly net income and revenue fell in late 2011 because of weaker political advertising.
The profit beat expectations, and Meredith said food and home advertising was picking up. But the company also predicted earnings in the March quarter that would fall short of analysts' forecasts.
The company said net income in the fiscal second quarter, which ended Dec. 31, was $31.6 million, or 70 cents per share, compared with $40.6 million, or 88 cents per share, in 2010.
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