The Act provides the company income tax credits and sales and use tax refunds. The state also helped direct federal funds, through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, to the project. This money will largely be used to purchase plant machinery and equipment.

"We are excited about becoming a part of the West Point business community," said Vincent T. Corso, Valmont's vice president for operations. "The new plant will provide Valmont with much needed capacity for galvanizing our irrigation and industrial products and for expanding our custom-galvanizing business to include other manufacturers."

In 1994, the state passed the Enterprise Zone Act, which also provides tax credits for qualifying businesses. ACI Telecentrics, Inc., a Minneapolis-based national outbound telemarketing firm, cited the Enterprise Zone program as one reason it chose to open a new telemarketing call center in Chadron.

Since 1995, Nebraska's Quality Jobs Act has authorized wage benefit credits to new employees of approved companies that add at least 500 jobs and $50 million in investment, or 250 jobs and $100 million in investment in the state. Also in 1995, the state passed the Incentive Electric Rates, which allows utility companies in the state, all of which are publicly owned, to negotiate lower rates for large business customers.

J.C. Specialty Foods, Inc. benefited from the CDBG program, which makes federal funds available to the state of Nebraska. The gourmet salad dressing manufacturer will expand in Nebraska City, where CDBG funds will go toward operational costs and new equipment.

In July, First Data Corp. broke ground on a $40 million, 280,000 square foot technology facility. It will sit adjacent to the $70 million Institute of Information Science, Technology & Engineering, a project undertaken by the University of Nebraska and state businesses.

The dual projects represent a partnership of business, education, government and the community-at-large that is designed to provide state businesses with information technology workers, retain Nebraska's top students, increase employment opportunities, and become a worldwide telecommunications industry leader.

Also in Omaha, MCI built a $100 million, 180,000 square foot high-tech Mid-Continent
Data Center. Prairie Systems, which provides integrated voice, fax, data messaging and communications software and services, built a $3 million headquarters and 70-acre campus
in Omaha.

Omaha's role as a telecommunications and information technology base began in the 1940s, when the U.S. government built its Strategic Air Command nearby, where it would lead the country's military response in the event of a nuclear war.

Basic attractions, such as competitive real estate prices and an educated work force, lured more companies, and high-tech firms have continued to flow into Omaha.

Also, significantly, the state's industrial electric and gas rates are among the lowest in the country, and its water supply is plentiful. Nebraska sits on 80 percent of the Ogallala Aquifer, which contains more than six times the water found in Lake Erie.

Omaha's businesses benefit from the same advantages other companies throughout the state enjoy: no property tax on business inventories; no tax on intangibles; a sales tax refund for pollution control equipment; no sales or use tax on sales of ingredients used in manufacturing or processing a product intended for retail use.

The state also offers the Skilled Training Employment Program (STEP) for on-the-job training. The Department of Economic Development coordinates resources from STEP, local community colleges and local Job Services and cities.

Nebraska's economy is rapidly diversifying, with manufacturing and service employment outpacing farm employment. Stability is becoming a major advantage in the state.