Pillen announces regional economic development grant recipients

Gov. Jim Pillen announced awards for projects in three regions of the state’s "6 Regions, One Nebraska" initiative Friday.

The initiative, which launched earlier this year, was created to fund regional economic development projects in each of the state’s community college districts.

The Southeast Nebraska Development District received a $200,000 grant to inventory the region’s water and wastewater infrastructure.

Jonathan Jank, who co-chaired the southeast region, said that wastewater is the biggest pain point for economic development in that part of the state right now.

"In economic development, you can only grow as much as your infrastructure can allow you to do that," Jank said. "You have to understand where your needs are within water and wastewater, to really understand what are the demands on it as they exist today," he said.

Spark, a nonprofit in Omaha, is receiving funds to expand its Developer Academy in North Omaha, aimed at training diverse real estate developers.

The Central Nebraska Development District was awarded funds to conduct a housing analysis to address code and zoning barriers to innovation.

Nebraska Department of Economic Development Director K.C. Belitz said the projects were determined by local stakeholders.

“This was not any of us in Lincoln or Omaha, or whatever, saying, 'Here's what you must do with these funds,'" he said. "It was truly these teams in these regions deciding what was their top priority.”

The grants are funded through money the state received from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.