Michael’s Story

For a rural town to survive and thrive, it needs access to high-quality health care. It also needs economic opportunities and a strong sense of community. A vibrant Main Street can be crucial, serving as a central hub for commerce, social interaction, and a sense of place.

O’Neill, a town of around 3,500 people located in the picturesque plains of northeast Nebraska, boasts all the above. O’Neill celebrates its long history and strong traditions, especially in its Irish heritage, which is celebrated with an annual St. Patrick’s Day celebration. High-quality health care is available at Avera St. Anthony’s Hospital, along with its affiliated primary care clinics and physician offices. Its vibrant downtown is full of charm and historic buildings.  

One of those structures, the historical Shelhamer building, has been a staple in O’Neill since 1944. It once served as the community gathering space – a combined café, grocery store, creamery, hatchery, and meat locker – but had deteriorated over the years. Five years ago, it started a new life as the Handlebend Building. 

Handlebend is a unique establishment. Part copper shop for the hand-crafted copper mugs it is best known for, part coffee shop, café, and taproom – all with the intention of building community.

For Michael Steppe, co-founder and co-owner of Handlebend, past is prologue. 

As a boy growing up on the outskirts of a rural town, he would explore the gentle undulations of the terrain with friends — Nebraska was their backyard. They climbed hills and traversed creek beds until they reached a bed of hidden wealth, a former dump site filled with the past. Like tiny antiquarians, they would excavate glass perfume bottles and old beer cans, relishing in their discoveries.

“I’ve had an affliction ever since I was a kid, an affinity for old things,” Michael said.

He also spent quite a bit of time in Spalding, Nebraska, visiting with his grandparents. After church, the whole town would congregate once again at the Antler Bar and Grill.

“Grandpa always had a pocket full of quarters for whatever video game was along the wall. I can still just remember the feel and the smell, the tables and chairs in that place, and the Shirley Temples,” Michael said. “It’s a big part of my childhood.”

When it came time to find a more suitable location for his growing copper mug business, he also hoped to create a center for gathering and building community. The big, prominent building on Main Street he had ridden by on his bike so many times as a boy ended up being the perfect spot. The renovation was as lovingly completed as the excavation of his childhood archaeological site. What the Antler Bar and Grill was for Spalding, Handlebend is for O’Neill.

“It’s a bar; we have beer and liquor and mules. But it’s more than that,” said Michael. “You wouldn’t have your kids in a bar at 9:30 on a Saturday night, and here it’s nothing to have a full house, a pack of kids running through the building, having fun. I think back all those years to my childhood, and it makes me proud there’s going to be a whole generation of kids that come from here that this building will have had a hand in making O’Neill their home.”

Handlebend is currently flourishing, with plans for expansion. They have spent the last 18 months building a 250-gallon still from copper and aim to open their distillery with Nebraska-made vodka, gin, and whiskey next year.  For those outside of O’Neill planning a visit, a short walk from the Handlebend Taproom is the Handlebend House – a two-bedroom, two-bath house the company rents out. For those within, Handlebend is currently hiring more staff.

“It flips the narrative,” Michael said. “For two decades, the narrative has been ‘corporate America and large cities drying up and killing the main streets in small towns in Nebraska,’ and people are spending their money on Amazon instead of the local store. Handlebend is paying good wages and salaries here on Main Street from dollars that we’re bringing in from all over the country.”

When the heart of a town beats strong with accessible health care and the warmth of a close-knit community, every resident can thrive. 

Michael Stepp
Co-Founder + Co-Owner
Handlebend