Pawnee City offering $50,000 incentives to entice potential residents

Pawnee City is offering a $50,000 down payment to incentivize people to move to the rural town a little more than an hour southeast of Lincoln. It’s part of the town’s new program called Vision 2030.

Along with the down payment, Pawnee City is building 25 new homes and plans on constructing more apartments.

“We think that housing is the secret sauce for small rural communities to grow, because in the virtual workplace, people can work from anywhere, and they just have to decide on a quality of life," said Steve Glenn, the chairman of the Economic Development Council for the Pawnee City Chamber of Commerce. "And we know that's the benefit of Pawnee City, is a great quality of life."

Glenn said there has already been strong interest in the new housing. At least 27 people have filled out an interest form. He added the town is also hoping to build more affordable housing in the form of apartments.

Vision 2030 is partially funded by a grant through the Nebraska Affordable Housing Trust Fund worth $650,000. It used the money to build two homes and used the proceeds from those houses to fund the down payment assistance.

“What we really need is more people," Glenn said. "So, let's attract those people that work from home and want to move their family to a great little city to live in, and provide them an incentive, a massive incentive of $50,000 to do that."

Glenn said the project has garnered the support of Pawnee City-raised Daniel Whitney, or more popularly known as his stage name, "Larry the Cable Guy." One of their funding mechanisms, Pawnee City Bold, requires town officials to go back to former residents and asking to contribute funds to continue more reinvigoration projects.

"The beauty of a small town is quality of lifestyle, and there's still a tremendous amount of value to growing up in a small town where there's accountability," Glenn said. "Your kids are safe. It's really some of the fundamentals of a quality of life. And so, we think that there's a great quality of life, and we just have to maintain it."

Another way to reinvigorate the town, according to Glenn, was the Van Horn Park amphitheater. It is the new home of pickleball courts, Saturday concerts and barbecues.