Saturday Business Spotlight: 2025 Year in Review
[January 10, 2026] On
May 17th, Lincoln Daily News rolled out the first Saturday Business
Spotlight story featuring Heather Barrick of Indigo Quilt Shop. Since
that time, every Saturday edition of LDN has featured a locally owned
business from somewhere in our county.
For the past 25 years, LDN has made a habit of offering something for
nothing for our local businesses, organizations, clubs, schools,
churches and not for profits. We provide these “no strings attached”
opportunities to these businesses and groups because, as a small
business ourselves, we know how valuable it is to have our names in
local media outlets, and to share our wonderful products or talents with
the community. At the same time, we also know that constant advertising
can dig deep into the pockets of those businesses and groups. While LDN
relies heavily on local advertising, we feel like it is part of being a
“good neighbor” to once in a while do something simply because it is the
right thing to do.
In 2018, LDN began offering ribbon cutting services to Logan County
businesses because it gave those businesses an opportunity to introduce
themselves, draw in community, and hopefully get their business off to a
good start without investing a lot of dollars. Again, as a no strings
attached offering, LDN felt that it was gaining as much as it was
giving, as it helped drive home the thought that we are not just a media
source, we are a friend that supports those who need it.
That was the same
basic idea behind the business spotlight, and that idea came to us, from
one of our own. Matt Boutcher, a teacher at Lincoln Junior High, joined
the stringer staff at LDN in 2023. Over the two and a half years he has
been with LDN, he has grown in his passion not only for our paper but
for our community. He often comes up with suggestions that can be fine
tuned into something valuable for our business and our readers.
Because it was his brainchild, we asked Matt to contribute to this Year
in Review story by putting in his own words the “Story behind the
Stories.”
“My wife Abby and I have lived in Lincoln for almost five years now. We
have come to love this community and want the best for it. That is why
it broke our hearts to learn about the struggles that so many of our
small businesses have, since Lincoln is located within an hour of so
many larger towns. Then we came to learn that this was not just a
problem that we had been having, but one that our other Logan County
communities were having as well.
“One day, while sitting in our living room and talking about Lincoln
Daily News, Abby mentioned highlighting small businesses in the area.
She stated that we could use our platform to bring more attention to
businesses in the community. I liked this idea, and we started talking
out the details.
“As a free news outlet, LDN is among these small businesses. We get the
entirety of our income from selling advertisements to local businesses.
I figured that, in addition to helping bring more attention to our
businesses, LDN might be able to partner with some of these businesses
later if they felt so inclined to purchase an ad.
“Then one day in late 2024, Abby read a post on the Amigos World
Facebook page that they would no longer be open for regular business. We
had come to love this restaurant. For those who are not aware, it really
is an underdog story. Amigos Tacos started as a food truck but
tragically burned down. Then the community came together and helped them
raise money for a new truck. So much was raised that they were able to
invest in a brick-and-mortar location. Their food was excellent, but
unfortunately, they were unable to stay in regular operation.
“After this, I knew I needed to get serious about the Saturday spotlight
piece. I really started to work out the details and even started getting
a slideshow together to present my idea at our next staff meeting. In
the meantime, I got assigned an article on Barrick Transfer. John
Barrick’s daughter, Erin Barrick, was set to take over the company, and
I was tasked with interviewing them. I learned about Barrick Transfer’s
longstanding place in the Lincoln community, and it was a great story.
“At our next staff meeting, one of my editors, Jeff Wyles, printed out a
sheet on the metrics of that story. He said that it was one of our best
performing stories, and that it had been widely shared and viewed on
Facebook, and that a lot of people were going to our website to read it.
This gave me the final push I needed to finally pitch the spotlight
idea.
“Once I had pitched it, my editors and the head of our advertising
department seemed to really like the idea. They took it and did some
more fine tuning with it. After about a month, we got everything worked
out and started going to businesses all across the county to interview
the owners.
[to top of second column] |
“So far, in my
opinion, the Saturday Business Spotlight has been great. I have yet to
have a bad experience with a business owner (fingers crossed I never
do), and I have learned about so many businesses that I likely would
never have known about if I had never interviewed them.
***
As already noted, Indigo Quilt Studio was the first of the series in
2025, and the story was done by Matt.
Since that time, the following businesses in Logan County have been
featured.
Indigo Quilt Studio – Lincoln
Rustic Love Rentals – Elkhart
Sip Shack – Atlanta
Mama's Arcade – Lincoln
Stag-R-Inn, Emden
Small Town Creations – Lincoln
Guest House – Lincoln
Johnson True Value hardware - Mt. Pulaski
Missy's Sweet Shop – Atlanta
Beautiful Body & Soul - Rosemary Murphy – Lincoln
Vickies Boutique – Atlanta
Rohlf's Implement – Hartsburg
J & M Meat Market – Lincoln
Imo's Restaurant – Lincoln
Bird Song, Jean Tweet – Elkhart
Collision Concepts – Lincoln
Artful Market – Atlanta
Country Aire Restaurant – Atlanta
Logan Lanes – Lincoln
Rt. 66 Raceway – Elkhart
Dovetail – Emden
Spirited Republic – Lincoln
Prairie Threads – Lincoln
The Bee – Lincoln
Epicenter Gaming – Lincoln
Ink & Imprint – Lincoln
Market on the Hill – Mt. Pulaski
Renew Consignment – Lincoln
Village Vintage & Crafts – Emden
Little Barn Boutique – Lincoln
Copper Penny – Lincoln
Ollie's Diner - New Holland
Pizza Man - Mt. Pulaski
Going into 2026, LDN has a short list of stories for the first two
months of the year and are entertaining plenty of ideas for features to
keep us going throughout 2026. But, we know that even though between the
10 of us that work on ideas for these stories, we don’t know every
business in every community, so we want to invite our local businesses
to reach out to us with a simple “Hey I want to be in Saturday Business
Spotlight.” If you are interested in doing a story with us, email
ldneditor@lincolndailynews.com and we’ll get you on the list!
As was noted
earlier, this is a no strings attached offer to all our small businesses
in Logan County. While LDN seeks advertisers to keep our doors open,
just as you do, we will not be coming to you with a “hey we did this for
you, now what are going to do for us?” On the other hand, if you wish to
participate in advertising in Lincoln Daily News, we will be happy to
accommodate!
[Nila Smith] |
