After its annual meeting in December in Lincoln, the Nebraska Corn Growers Association held its regular board meeting and elected officers.

Dan Nerud of Dorchester was elected president. Other officers elected include Andy Jobman of Gothenburg, vice president; Chris Grams of Upland, secretary; and Tom Nathan of Meadow Grove, treasurer.

Dan Wesely, past president of NeCGA, moved to chairman of the board. The board thanks Wesely for his two years of service leading the organization.

During the annual meeting, NeCGA delegates elected two at-large members to the board. Rick Gruber of York was re-elected, and Michael Dibbern of Cairo was elected. Curtis Rohrich of Wood River did not seek re-election. He continues to be active in the Buffalo Hall Corn Growers Association.

AFAN names Steve Martin executive director

Steve Martin has been named executive director of Lincoln-based Alliance for the Future of Agriculture in Nebraska. The announcement was made by AFAN board of directors President Lori Luebbe.

Martin, of Firth, comes to AFAN from the Nebraska Department of Agriculture, where he was agriculture promotion coordinator.

AFAN works with livestock producers and communities to promote the development and expansion of the agriculture industry in Nebraska. Martin's experience fits AFAN's mission, Luebbe said.

Martin's responsibilities at the Department of Agriculture included recruiting dairy, poultry and swine operations to build and grow in Nebraska, promoting and growing the Livestock Friendly County program, and advocating for livestock producers across the state.

Engler entrepreneurship contest winners named

University of Nebraska-Lincoln student entrepreneurs took their proposed businesses a step further through two competitions hosted by the Engler Agribusiness Entrepreneurship program last year.

In the Engler Open, undergraduate students gave a three-minute pitch on a business idea and answered two minutes of questions from a three-judge panel of Engler alumni.

Winners of each of the three $1,000 awards included:

The second contest, the Engler First Ascent competition, focused on the progress of students starting their own companies. Competition judges were Aaron Rerucha of OxBows Rustic Furniture, Tullen Mabbutt of UBT Catalyst, and Echo Bell of CFO on the Go — Bell Solutions.

The two winners included:

Mabbutt also awarded Brenna Backemeyer, a business, marketing and information technology major from Elmwood, $500 to continue to develop her business, My Pop-Up Shoppe.