Columbus NEBRASKA COMMUNITY GUIDE www.loup.com www.columbusne.us www.thecolumbuspage.com The Table of Contents and section headings are hot linked within this Community COMMUNITY GUIDE 2 Guide. Clicking on the section headings will return you to the Table of Contents. The following pages contain basic If you like moving forward, information about Columbus, you’ve come to the right Nebraska. This information was ABOUT compiled by the City of Columbus, place! Columbus, Nebraska Columbus Area Chamber of is hard at work, building our Commerce, Loup Power District, Columbus future. Physical structures and Nebraska Public Power are being built from one end District in order to promote of Columbus to the other.... community development and NEBRASKA in fact, more construction is quality of life. going on right now than at any other time in our history! At the same time, many partners are working to build the future of our businesses and families in a variety of avenues. Columbus is home to some 6,000 manufacturing jobs with companies Contacts ranging from Fortune 500 to small, homegrown enterprises. We have low unemployment, but still have talented people looking for greater David Bell, Co-Chair Columbus Economic Council opportunities. Approximately half of the people commute to work from VP of Development/Marketing a 50-mile radius around Columbus, making this a true regional hub. Loup Power District Columbus, Nebraska As we commonly say, Columbus is where collaboration lives. If you Phone: (402) 564-3171 Ext. 257 like working together toward a common goal; then you’ll fit right in Cell: (402) 910-8903 Email: [email protected] here. In 2007, a group of organizations came together to discuss www.loup.com needed facilities. They agreed more success could be accomplished working together. That group has met every month since, and in the Tara Vasicek past year celebrated the opening of two of the four projects they City Administrator City of Columbus identified: the East-Central District Health Department headquarters Columbus, Nebraska and the Columbus Wellness Center housing the Columbus YMCA. Phone: (402) 562-4233 Project number 3, the STEM Academy will open in the newly built Email: [email protected] Columbus High School next year and the last project, a new library www.columbusne.us and arts center is in the design stage. K.C. Belitz President Columbus is proud of what we have to offer and proud that others Columbus Area Chamber of have recognized those strengths. Columbus has been named as one Commerce of the Top 100 best places to live by CNN/Money Magazine twice in Columbus, Nebraska the past decade. But we’re not resting...in fact, we are building an Phone: (402) 564-2769 Cell: (402) 270-9119 even better future and we hope you’ll be part of it. Email: [email protected] www.thecolumbuspage.com Mary M. Plettner, CEcD Economic Development Manager Nebraska Public Power District Columbus, Nebraska Phone: (402) 563-5534 Cell: (402) 750-1907 Email: [email protected] Table of Contents econdev.nppd.com 3 Geography 21 Local Government 4 Economic 23 Education Development 28 Quality of Life 7 Labor 2015 U.S. Census 38 Community Services Population 10 Market Access 40 Agriculture & Raw Columbus 22,797 12 Infrastructure Materials Platte County 32,847 17 Communications 42 Climate 19 Tax Structure COLUMBUS ● NEBRASKA 3 Geography 85 miles west of Omaha. The Columbus Micropolitan Location Statistical Area consists of Platte County. Columbus, the county seat of Platte County, is located in the east-central part of Nebraska near the confluence of the Platte and Loup Rivers. Elevation U.S. Highways 30 and 81 intersect in the city. Columbus is 1,447 feet above sea level. Columbus is 75 miles northwest of Lincoln and North S O U T H D A K O T A I O W A W Y O M I N G Columbus C O L O R A D O MISSOURI K A N S A S 4 COMMUNITY GUIDE Economic Development Firms with retail sales tax permits in Columbus reported CEC provides three primary services (recruitment, 2015 net taxable retail sales of $393,926,007, while retention, and technical assistance) to new and Platte County reported retail sales of $418,392,787. existing Columbus companies. The focus is primarily on industrial development with an emphasis on Economic Development Organizations manufacturing, technology, back office operations, and food processing. Several sites are available in Economic development activities for the Columbus the industrial park and typically one or more vacant region are carried out by the Columbus Economic buildings are ready for immediate occupancy. Council (CEC), a committee of the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce. The committee has Columbus has an Economic Development Incentive 41 members representing major manufacturers, bank Plan (840 Plan) to assist businesses in start-up and/or presidents, and city and county officials. expansion projects. Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce COLUMBUS ● NEBRASKA 5 Columbus’ Top Ten Columbus’ Top Ten Manufacturing Employers Nonmanufacturing Employers Employees Employees BD Medical - Medication & Columbus Community Hospital ............650 Procedural Solutions ..........................1,038 Medical Hypodermic needles & syringes Columbus Public Schools .....................595 BD Medical - Pharmaceutical Education Systems ...................................................732 Glass syringes Central Community College .......................456 (Columbus) Behlen Mfg. .............................................650 Education Steel buildings, agricultural & livestock equipment Nebraska Public Power District ............379 Electric utility Vishay Dale Electronics .........................616 Electronic components City of Columbus ....................................185 Government CAMACO, LLC ........................................485 Automotive seats & frames Lakeview Community Schools ..............183 Education ADM Corn Processing (Columbus) ...........430 Wet corn milling, corn starch, fructose, Platte County ..........................................175 ethanol Government FLEXcon ..................................................158 State of Nebraska (Platte County only) .......127 Pressure sensitive plastic fi lm, decals, Government package labels, holograms, adhesive Educational Service Unit 7 ......................84 nameplates Education Valmont....................................................150 Jacobs Field Services ..............................83 Steel transmission structures for utility Engineering & construction maintenance industry Columbus Hydraulics Co., Inc. ..............145 Hydraulic & pneumatic cylinders Cargill Value Added Meats .....................125 Cooked meats (beef, pork, turkey & chicken) BD Medical - Pharmaceutical Systems BD Medical - Medication & Procedural Solutions 6 COMMUNITY GUIDE Behlen Mfg. Vishay Dale Electronics CAMACO, LLC ADM Corn Processing Cargill Value Added Meats FLEXcon Valmont Columbus Hydraulics Co., Inc. COLUMBUS ● NEBRASKA 7 Unemployment Rate Labor Annual Average 2015 Platte County 3.0% Nebraska 3.0% Nonfarm Wage & Salary Employment, United States 5.3% Platte County, 2015 Annual Average Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Transportation, Warehousing & 2009-2014 Percent Change Utilities incl RR Value Added Per Dollar Other Services 3.3% Information 4.6% 1.4% Manufacturing Production Worker Wages Nebraska, Surrounding Wholesale Trade States & U.S. 5.4% 10.0 9.6% Financial Activities 8.0 Retail Trade 6.1% 17.0% 6.0 4.0 3.5% Professional & Business Services Leisure & Hospitality 1.4% 6.6% 16.8% 2.0 Goods-Producing 0.0 U.S. Surrounding Nebraska 10.2% States Total Government Surrounding states include data for states contiguous Education & 16.6% to Nebraska as a group, including Colorado, Iowa, Health Services Kansas, Missouri, South Dakota, and Wyoming. 12.2% Source: U.S. Census Bureau, www.census.gov Unionization Source: Nebraska Department of Labor Nebraska has a right to work provision in its constitution. In 2012, 6.0 percent of Nebraska’s wage and salary workers were members of labor unions Platte County Labor Supply compared to a national figure of 11.3 percent. Annual Average 2015 Local Labor Unions Platte & ● Central Community College - Columbus Contiguous Platte ○ Nebraska Education Association Counties* County ● City of Columbus (police & fi re only) Non-farm wage and ○ International Association of Fire Fighters salary workers .................... 56,148 18,509 ○ Fraternal Order of Police Total employment ............... 60,383 16,464 ● Columbus Public Schools (teachers only) ○ Nebraska State Education Association Labor force population ....... 61,995 16,928 ● Educational Service Unit 7 (ESU 7) (teachers only) ADDITIONAL POTENTIAL LABOR SUPPLY ○ Nebraska State Education Association County high school graduates ● Lakeview Community Schools (certifi ed staff only) annually ................................................. 366 ○ Lakeview Education Association Commuting out of county (2014) ............. 5,606 ● State of Nebraska - Platte County (hourly employees only) Unemployed .......................................... 464 ○ National Association of Public Employees Total ...................................................... 6,436 ○ American Federation of State, County, and NOTE: Does not include estimated number of homemakers, seasonal & Municipal Employees part-time workers, and workers who would shift from low-paying ● U.S. Post Offi ce jobs who could be expected to work for industry. *Contiguous counties include Boone, Butler, Colfax, Madison, Merrick, ○ American