Lincoln, Neb., might not be the obvious choice for a world-class EMC (electronics testing) lab, but in fact the state is home to one of the most advanced electronics testing facilities in the world.

The Nebraska Center for Excellence in Electronics (NCEE) opened in May 2001 and plants Lincoln squarely on the cutting edge of the electronics industry. The lab allows companies or researchers to test electronic products to meet standards all over the world.

In other words, if a company develops a new product, it can bring the device to this lab and put it through a battery of tests to see if the unit will hold up in the real world.

"The room, combined with the equipment, allows us to conduct testing here just like companies like Boeing and Sun Microsystems do," said Steve Cass, general manager of the NCEE. "But the beauty is you don't have to be a company the size of a Boeing to use this facility."

The State of Nebraska pumped $5 million into developing the center in 1997. The lab officially opened in May of last year and received its EMC accreditation in March 2002.

"We've had companies from as far away as Oklahoma, Colorado, Iowa, Ohio, Kansas, and also some from Japan, Germany, and the UK use the facility," said Cass. "The German customer was extremely happy with the flexibility the facility offered him."

The NCEE is located in the Nebraska Technology Park, which is a 135-acre park adjacent to Interstate 80. The park opened in 1997, and today 19 companies employing 640 people occupy the site.

The park is just a few minutes from downtown Lincoln and only three miles from the Lincoln Municipal Airport.

"We're about nine years ahead of a normal growth schedule for technology parks," said Chuck Henderson, president of the park. "There are high-speed communication networks here, we have very competitive leasing options, and the proximity to the university is real plus."

Companies must be involved in technology in some way to be at the park. There is a business incubator center, which features biotech lab space, and there are still about 90 undeveloped acres in the park.

"The University of Nebraska is especially strong in the areas of biotech, engineering, and software development, and those are the types of companies that really like the park," said Henderson.

"Technology-based companies like to cluster together with other technology businesses, and that's certainly the case here," said Henderson. "We put up our first multitenant facility last year and already leased out 30,000 square feet of space. The access to the University of Nebraska is a big drawing card here."

Technology in the state isn't limited to the Lincoln area. In South Sioux City, Neb., near the Iowa border, the city is developing a 12,000-square-foot high-tech spec building. The facility is specifically designed for businesses that require high-speed communications infrastructure.

The building has access to a fiberoptic loop and a redundant eight-mile fiber backbone. Some potential operations at the site include financial service centers, server farms, data processing, customer service centers, or software development.

The facility is a collaborative effort between South Sioux City, The Siouxland Initiative, the South Sioux City Community Development Agency, Cardinal Development Corp., the Nebraska Department of Economic Development and the U.S. Department of Commerce.