"Rome was not built in a day," and that is true of economic development programs. The Elkhorn Valley Economic Development Council has made steady progress since its inception in 2002. EVEDC has played a prominent role in Nebraska economic development circles through successful capital campaigns, aggressive marketing and a willingness to participate in state level programs. EVEDC's financial support to the Nebraska Center-Tokyo, trade trips to Japan, and the Nebraska Diplomats Passport weekend are examples of our participation. New businesses have moved to the area and local company expansions have taken place. EVEDC receives calls on a regular basis from companies interested in expanding, moving to a new location, or inquiring about the services that we offer.
Karen Linnenbrink, Director of Entrepreneur Programs, is doing an outstanding job of assisting small businesses and start-up companies, and supporting product development. During the past year, several forgivable loans have been made to small business entities throughout the four-county area.
In economic development, you win some…and you lose some. We've had some great wins during the past year. Unfortunately, EVEDC and the Norfolk community recently suffered a very disappointing loss. After 18 months of hard work by our team, and a campaign that raised over $16 million dollars in capital, Specialty Protein Producers, LLC made a decision to change their location from Norfolk to
South Sioux City. The lack of capacity in inter-state natural gas pipelines, due to the significant growth of the ethanol industry served by those lines, was the reason given for the change in location.
I will be the first to admit that I was very disappointed in Specialty Protein Producers, LLC decision to move. But, I believe this was a wake-up call for our area. So let's move forward with a positive attitude, and solve the problem with a commitment of total cooperation and teamwork.
Carol Peters, Chair
Elkhorn Valley Economic
Development Council
Printer Friendly Version