It's not only Nebraska's offer of a down-home style of life that is more appealing to executives these days as they flee the rat race of big cities: Low cost of living and high pride in workmanship are also tipping the scales in favor of the Cornhusker State.
Omaha may come as one of America's biggest surprises. This central U.S. city has become a mecca for information technology in investment, credit cards, long-distance services and telemarketing.
| "I don't know any part of the country where the amount and the spectrum of activities are so concentrated as in Omaha. This is a unique phenomenon."
-- Dr. Wiley McKinzie, dean of the College of Applied Science and Technology at the Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, N.Y.
| |
Omaha's information technology/telecommunications roots go back to the federal government's 1948 decision to locate the Strategic Air Command (SAC) at Offutt Air Force Base near Omaha. SAC required the most advanced communications system possible. The result was a dual cable telecommunications infrastructure. What has resulted in recent history has been an eruption in telecommunications-related investment.
"I don't know any part of the country where the amount and the spectrum of activities are so concentrated as in Omaha," said Dr. Wiley McKinzie, dean of the College of Applied Science and Technology at the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, N.Y. "This is a unique phenomenon."
And no let-up in activity is in site. MGS Communications, a leading provider of communications services for businesses nationally and internationally, is building a world headquarters there. And Prairie Systems, a leading provider of integrated voice, fax, data messaging and communication software and services, is constructing a more than $3 million headquarters.
"Omaha has plenty of room to grow," said Rod Moseman, vice president of economic development for the Omaha Chamber of Commerce. "MCI, for example, has proximity to its own cables. AT&T has 240 switches here."
And there's more. In August a little-known Omaha division of Tandem Computers Inc. called Wireless Applications moved its operation to larger quarters comprising 54,000 square feet. The company creates software for the cellular and PCS mobile telephone markets and has been experiencing a 100 percent growth rate in recent years.
Strength in manufacturing
Not all of Omaha is high-tech. Canadian manufacturer Premoule announced last spring that it will expand its operations to Omaha. The company makes commercial and residential thermoplastic doors and molded counter tops and doors. Omaha is its first expansion into the United States.
"Omaha was chosen over 28 Midwest communities because of the quality of its work force, available building space and the supportive business environment," said Louis Deslauriers, the company's owner.
The Nebraska Department of Economic Development and the city of Omaha worked closely together to make this international expansion happen.
Downtown development
| Omaha has become a mecca for information technology in investment, credit cards, long-distance services and telemarketing services. |
Downtown Omaha is undergoing its own economic development renaissance. Business there is so healthy that a planned downtown redevelopment is underway involving the city and two companies.
"I believe Omaha's economy will ultimately benefit by nearly a billion dollars of activity in the next decade," said John Gottschalk, president of the Omaha World-Herald Co. "What a great launch into the 21st century."
| "I believe Omaha's economy will ultimately benefit by nearly a billion dollars of activity in the next decade. What a great launch into the 21st century."
--John Gottschalk, president of the
Omaha World-Herald Co | |
.
First National Bank of Omaha is investing $90 million to purchase 6.25 square blocks of land and build a two-story, 89,000 square foot data and operations center. It will also construct an office tower.
For $100 million, Omaha World-Herald Co. is purchasing property and building new a printing and processing plant.
The city of Omaha is also spending $21 million to create a Downtown Northeast Redevelopment Area. It also will spend about $6 million to acquire the land and build a much needed 390-stall parking garage.
Other locales
Other locales in Nebraska have their own economic development news. ACI Telecentrics, Inc., a national teleservicing firm based in Minneapolis, Minn., is opening telemarketing centers in Valentine, Chadron and Ogallala. The company plans to hire 100 new full- and part-time workers in each community.
Meanwhile, Hastings, in Central Nebraska, is gearing up to assist manufacturers in the area by turning a 97,500 square foot shell of a building into a logistics warehouse center called Central Logistics Services.
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