When Nebraska College of Business grads Len and Jule set out to develop and create their own timber design kits, the couple didn’t believe the idea would get much further than their driveway. But, they also believed in trying new things and had an excitement for discovery — things they both credit to their time at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.
“We both really believe in public education,” Jule says. “You get a chance to try this or that, and learn from some excellent, excellent professors.”
“In college, you get to talk to like-minded people and people with fresh perspectives,” adds Len. “You talk about things and come up with new ideas. Whether you know what you want to do or not, you get insights from others who are trying to figure stuff out. Nebraska’s so great for people who just want to try things out and learn from the process.”
Looking back after two decades, that open-minded, collaborative outlook has taken them far. Today, they’re heading up a massive timber operation that’s built over 10,000 buildings in 49 states. And though the scale of their business has grown exponentially to include over 150 employees and additional facilities in Texas and Minnesota, the roots of Timberlyne haven’t gone anywhere.
They’ve stayed planted firmly in Wayne.
“I think that mindset is what’s kept us going so long,” Jule explains, “that, and our employees and our community. If you don’t invest in those, then you shouldn’t be in business.”
In Wayne, they currently employ around 60 at their local headquarters. They’ve also helped build a local bank branch and multi-use community building in their town.
Investing back into Wayne was never a question — it’s a deeply-held value, stemming from an unwavering belief that the state of Nebraska is primed for growth. The university, they assert, plays a big part in creating those conditions.
“Nebraska is our home, and we really cherish it,” says Len. “I think that Nebraska has really been lying fallow; we’re sort of a hidden gem. Sometimes, it just takes someone with an entrepreneurial eye or something to see what can be — I like to think that the University of Nebraska–Lincoln is a great incubator for helping create all the things that Nebraska could be.”
Sometimes, it just takes someone with an entrepreneurial eye or something to see what can be — I like to think that the University of Nebraska–Lincoln is a great incubator for helping create all the things that Nebraska could be.
Len Dickinson
Before any of these successes, however, Len and Jule had little more than an idea and a business plan — a plan they brought to a pitch competition on the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s campus.
“Participating in that competition really helped us to focus,” says Jule. “The act of just making that business plan and giving that extra effort was really great for us. As we revisited the plan years later, we were eerily accurate as to what we’d projected for our growth.”
Today, Timberlyne remains an active partner with the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Through their collaborations with the College of Architecture, Timberlyne gives students and professors alike access to their unique resources that blend traditional and cutting-edge timber construction practices.
“Being able to work with these professors — some of the best architects in the state of Nebraska — and to be able to see these great projects that they’re doing alongside our employees is incredible. Seeing the latest and greatest things being taught to all the Nebraska kids that go to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln College of Architecture that we support — I don’t know that we could ask for more than that,” Jule describes. “The fact that we’re just able to help with some of that is very, very rewarding.”
“We were proud to help the College of Architecture and University of Nebraska–Lincoln,” says Len, “and we’d like to keep doing more of it.”
