Auburn's amenities at heart of economic development certification

AUBURN – The City of  Auburn is one of the first communities in Nebraska to earn economic development certification and remains among the ranks of cities prepared to welcome new business.

Auburn is credited for recruiting a second Nebraska location for the Falls City company Fast Global Solutions. By bringing in the new employer to Nemaha County within 90 days of the news that Ariens would be leaving, up to 150 jobs were saved.

Auburn hosted a public art project, Honeybees in the Heartland, which became a Nebraska Passport destination during the pandemic, and has opened six new businesses.

Kim Beger of the Auburn Development Council said saving the jobs was a major focus, but economic development has changed since the city was first certified in 2005.

Beger: “It used to be called smokestack chasing where your only focus was recruiting new businesses to town, like a larger industry that would employ many people.”

“Not only do you have to have the land or the building for the new company, but you have to have a trained workforce. You have to have fiber.

You have to have daycare. You have to have great schools and hospitals. You have to have many amenities and good quality of life for the employees.”

She said city leaders work together to set goals and strategize about success.

Beger: “We continue to improve our community each year. This isn't something that we work on just once every five years. It is an ongoing process that you continually work on every single day.”

She said it is very important for any community to be certified.

Beger: “Without having the certification and all the work that goes into the certification we’re not going to get the looks and the interest from companies outside of our community.”

 

The Auburn Development Council is in favor of bringing a city administrator position to the city.

Beger: "That’s one of the questions that is asked on the recertification -- do you have paid staff and do you have a full-time person committed to working on all these issues -- so having a city administrator is very important and will be very helpful to Auburn."

The Nebraska Diplomats, who sponsor the Economic Development Certified Community Program,  also noted Auburn’s incentives for its retail, hospitality and personal care industries during the pandemic.

The ADC has produced a promotional video featuring Auburn, "at the corner of living and growing."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42uwR6I2ocQ&feature=youtu.be