Looking Back, Looking Forward

January always brings a sense of hope and renewal. As we look forward to another year of growing jobs in Lincoln and raising our national profile, I do so with confidence based on our successes in 2016.

Membership in the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce grew to an all-time high of 1,760 individuals, businesses and non-profit’s. We are excited that more and more organizations are seeing and experiencing the value of a Chamber membership.

Lincoln received numerous awards and rankings from national publications including a number one ranking from ”Global Trade Magazine” for Best Workforce, a number one ranking from “Forbes” magazine for Cities for Job Seekers and a number three ranking for Nebraska from “Forbes” for Best States for Business. You can see a complete breakdown of Lincoln’s national rankings on the Lincoln Chamber website: www.lcoc.com.

Other Lincoln Chamber accomplishments I want to highlight for 2016:

Produced and distributed a new Relocation Guide to enhance Lincoln’s marketing effort and to help sway individuals looking to relocate for employment

Launched two new websites (livelovelincoln.org and startuplink.com) designed to support Lincoln’s national reach and provide a one-stop location for resource information for startup businesses

Created LNK DNA week to combine previously separate YP Week, Startup Week, Lincoln Calling music festival and other community events

Successfully lobbied for funding from the State of Nebraska to begin the East Beltway project while ensuring construction begins on the South Beltway by 2020

The Lincoln Partnership for Economic Development (LPED) also points to a number of successes. Lincoln’s startup business scene has become nationally recognized and the awards are a direct result of the innovation and entrepreneurship promotional efforts from the Partnership.

Here are a few more LPED accomplishments to highlight from last year:

Job growth continues to flourish in Lincoln with 4,500 more jobs over just one-year ago.

Worked through the Nebraska Legislature to expand internship opportunities and enhance incentive provisions for startup businesses and high-impact innovation

In November, “CBS This Morning” ran a four-minute news story on the Silicon Prairie and named Lincoln and its startup community specifically

The Lincoln Convention and Visitors Bureau enjoyed the highest single month for Lodging Tax collection in the history of Lancaster County. Among the events driving the record year were the USA Volleyball Olympic qualifying matches and the World Ten Pin Bowling youth championships.

Other CVB highlights for 2016 include:

Hosted USA Roller Sports 2016 Indoor National Championships at a new venue, Speedway Village. All five roller sports disciplines were featured together for the first time, resulting in increased attendance

Women of Faith returned to Lincoln for a third time at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Lincoln was the only city on the tour with a population under approximately 1 million

82-percent of all proposals were for regional and national events a five year high

As I look forward to 2017, I can’t help but be excited for what’s ahead for Lincoln. New businesses are starting every day as a result of the work of the entrepreneurship community. New employers are looking to Lincoln because we have worked together to ensure our city is vibrant and people are choosing to stay in Lincoln to join the workforce each year.

I know the next 12 months will hold something special for Lincoln’s future.


Logo-Lincoln-Chamber-of-CommerceThe Chamber’s mission is to improve the lives of Lincoln residents by providing increased economic opportunity and can only be accomplished together. For more information on the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce, (www.lcoc.com) please contact Jaime Henning at jaimehenning@lcoc.com.