The Lincoln Partnership for Economic Development and Greater Lincoln Workforce Investment Board hosted a meeting to release the results of a study completed by AngelouEconomics. The Greater Lincoln RIG Project is a 12-county collaborative initiative to generate opportunities for further regional economic prosperity. It identifies the economic and workforce development assets within the region and provides recommendations on a strategy to strengthen the capacity of the area education and workforce systems to meet the demands of emerging target industries.
Communities today are operating in an increasingly global and knowledge-based economy. Transnational corporations are driving economic growth and are, themselves, fueled by skilled and highly educated employees. Local economic prosperity, then, is dependent on the extent to which communities can grow their set of ‘assets’ and position themselves to compete on this global stage to attract both investment and talent. In this advanced economy – and in a time where resources are scarcer than ever – communities that “regionalize” are gaining the competitive edge.
Because economies transcend political boundaries with business transactions and workforces moving within and across communities, it only makes sense that localities work to align public and private resources across counties in support of key driving regional industries. Collaborating to leverage these assets that are spread throughout a region will expand recognition in the marketplace.
This is the premise of the Greater Lincoln Regional Innovation Grant (RIG) Region strategic planning initiative. It addresses this critical reality – Lincoln, by itself, cannot continue to compete with other powerful regional collaboratives across the country. And if Lincoln has difficulty in getting that ‘recognition,’ than certainly, a Beatrice, a Seward, or a Falls City cannot go it alone either. Together, however, they can become a formidable player on the global stage.
This RIG initiative has culminated in a Strategic Action Plan that provides a roadmap for connecting, networking and leveraging important economic and workforce development assets in a 12-county southeast Nebraska region in an effort to upgrade skills of the workforce and strengthen existing companies, all while making the region more competitive for new industry opportunities.
While there are challenges to developing initiatives across twelve counties (different players, policies, politics), the region must also recognize that there are greater opportunities for widespread success. This represents a real opportunity to ensure that the region realizes its collective economic potential while creating a true best practice for others around the country.
Specific Goals and strategies were outlined in the following categories:
- Education-Enhance the pipeline of skilled workers and become a talent magnet
- Workforce Development-Better integrate economic and workforce development throughout the region
- Entrepreneurship-Expand resources and connectedness to foster entrepreneurship
- Innovation-Integrate economic development and technology transfer specifically as it pertains to Innovation Campus
- Business Retention / Attraction-Enhance efforts through regional branding, quality of life improvements and shared regional information
“Specific action steps to address these themes will continue to be a priority for the partners. We will be releasing further information and details at our Annual Economic Development Summit in June of this year,” said Jason Smith, vice president for economic development.
