Shamrock Nursery handing ownership to locals
O'NEILL, Neb. -- Shamrock Nursery was selected as the 2021 inductee into the Norfolk Area Business Hall of Fame by the Norfolk Daily News and First National Bank of Nebraska. Today, they're hosting an FFA event from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. with a bounce house, mechanical bull, and more. But there's one more reason they're celebrating.
Delray Kumm started Shamrock Nursery in 1982.
"I just like working in small towns," former nursery owner Kumm said.
Local business is important to him because "it's easier to get established in a small town because the community and people and banks are more willing to work for you [...] people are more friendly and supportive."
One of the reasons he opened Shamrock Nursery in O'Neill, first.
"It's the business hub of this part of Nebraska, and there was no existing business like what I was gonna do here," Kumm said
Before starting satellites in Norfolk, then Sioux City, Broken Bow, Valentine, Neligh, Blair; he soon owned seven locations.
"I like that it changes all the time, your job is different seasons, times of the year, different plants and different things to do. My favorite time is the fall," Lib Kumm said.
They're giving up ownership of most locations to different local owners since "I want to make sure those businesses are always there," Kumm said.
They will be working for the new O'Neill owner, Katie Beth Wrede, for a year and keeping a location in Verdigre -- "To scratch my horticulture itch," Kumm said.
"I'm just super excited, exhilarated almost," Wrede said.
Wrede had a ribbon cutting for joining the O'Neill Chamber of Commerce.