Our annual economic development breakfast happened to fall 10 years to the day of the release of the Angelou Economics Strategic Plan for Economic Development. As we concluded the event, it struck me how much change has taken place in the last decade.
Since the release of the report, there has been a consistent and common theme throughout all our activities and all of our messages: We believe that new jobs create a higher standard of living and a higher quality of life for virtually all of the Lincoln area residents. We will continue to make this the core theme of the Chamber and the Partnership.
Lincoln is in as great a position moving forward as any community in the United States. We have all the necessary tools and have made many investments that will spur the new economy for all of southeast Nebraska. And from a community economic development program standpoint, the cooperation that is taking place between the private and public sector is phenomenal and one of the reasons why the Partnership is winning national awards for excellence from site selection publications and our national association.
Our breakfast program with members of the National Site Selectors Guild was extremely timely and informational. These are experienced professionals that help companies make site selection decisions all over the world. Between all five, they had over 100 years of experience. They spent three days in the Lincoln region and came away incredibly impressed with the advancements we had made in our community development efforts. However, there was a common theme among all of the site selectors as to areas we need to improve:
• Sites and Buildings for Manufacturing – Most people believe that manufacturing will have a continued important role in the American economy and that Midwestern and southern communities have an opportunity to grow their base because of the reasonable cost of doing business. However, Lincoln (and most of Nebraska) are in need of better and more site and building offerings. This is why our ongoing efforts at Airpark and infrastructure investments are so important.
• Flexible Incentives – The states making the most headway in business start-up, attraction and expansion of new economy businesses have a more flexible state and local incentive program. Nebraska and Lincoln have very rigid and standardized programs. These provide an even playing field for everyone and make us very competitive for old economy like back-office operations and labor intensive production. However, we usually fall short in the competition for more desirable technology-based opportunities. The Talent and Innovation Initiative which the Lincoln Chamber helped pass two years ago was the first step towards a new way of thinking and we have already seen $2 million injected into Lincoln-area technology-based businesses of all sizes. But it gets more competitive for all projects every day and we have to adjust accordingly.
• Increase National Marketing – The Lincoln and Nebraska budgets for national marketing pales in comparison to our peers. We compete as a community and a state with organizations that have 10-20 times the size of our marketing budgets. We have to do better. The branding effort the Chamber and its affiliates undertook over the past year has received rave reviews. We need to get the story to the rest of the world.
I want to encourage each of you to support economic development in Lincoln and Southeast Nebraska. Angelos Angelou reminded us ten years ago that economic development mattered and communities have to care about jobs in order to see jobs created and retained. Lincoln is now at the forefront nationally. The next decade should be great.
The Chamber’s mission is to improve the lives of Lincoln residents by providing increased economic opportunity and can only be accomplished together. Networking opportunities, business advocacy, and creating economic viability are critical to our success. We encourage you to become a member and help us achieve these goals for Lincoln. For more information, please contact Paul 436-2350.