tarting a new year has always felt good to me. It sig-nals new opportunities, a chance to start over (if youneed that), and the most interesting

time of the year for old political junkies. Ican't help myself, I just love the legislativesession. I wish I was closer to Lincoln andcould visit the capitol more often. It is oneof my favorite buildings architecturally andfor what goes on there. I was fortunate tospend quite a bit of time there over thepast couple decades, and love the chanceto accompany folks there who have never visited before.

Last week, when I testified at a hearing, I got to showa colleague around. She's from another state and had

NEBRASKA NORTHWEST DEVELOPMENT

S never been to the capitol before. She's probably lucky wedidn't have more time or I might have drug her to all thenooks & crannies I've discovered over the years. The histo-ry of the building and the people is awe inspiring.

I found myself a little less than familiar though with allthe new faces on the floor of the legislature. We need totake every opportunity we can find to introduce ourselvesto all 49 Senators. It's one of the best ways to lessen thedistance between Lincoln and Chadron, by becomingfriends, or at least acquaintances with the folks who will bemaking decisions that affect us all. If they can put a face toa town mentioned, they will think a little longer beforedeciding whether a measure is truly 'good' for the wholestate.

DELTA Students pause in the Capitol Rotunda during their trip to Lincoln.

from the Director’s Desk_______________________________________________

There is nothing quite asrefreshing to me as a trip to the statecapitol with a group of young peo-ple, many of whom have never visit-ed the seat of state government. Notonly is the building stunning in itsarchitectural design, but it is excitingto be among the law makers, lobby-ists, state agency and elected offi-cials.

Ten members of the DawesCounty Entrepreneur andLeadership Training Academy(DELTA) class of 2011 had theopportunity to visit Lincoln the firstweek of February. They attendedwith the Leadership Scottsbluff classand were treated to several hours ofthe Governor and First Lady's timeat the residence. The informal con-versation and visit helped them real-ize the Governor is first and fore-most a man who believes in thefuture of Nebraska. He has a dog(Snickers) and believe it or not, puts

DELTA TravelsTo Lincoln

his pants on one leg at a time, just likethe rest of us. Taking the mystery out of'life as Nebraska's CEO' helps you real-ize the importance of your own inputand participation.

The same holds true for the StateSenators. Senators Louden, Harms,Schilz, Carlson and Utter all visited withthe students, recognized their atten-dance in the legislative gallery and hadlunch with the group, just like any othernormal person. I was impressed with

the depth of questions the partici-pants had for the Governor and theirSenators. In addition, they receivedbriefings from Richard Baier, StateDepartment of EconomicDevelopment Director and StateChamber of Commerce Executive,Barry Kennedy. The trip accom-plished just what I think it shouldhave. It provided another hands onexample and learning opportunity forour future leaders.

March2011

NewsletterPublished

Quarterly - 30111

The US Congress has made little progress in chart-ing a new course for expiring transportation programs.Essential Air Service, a subsidized program that allowsChadron and several other Nebraska cities to maintaincommercial air service has come under attack to be dis-continued. We have contacted our Senators in support ofthis program. The surface transportation program hasbeen operating on continuing resolutions for fundingalmost a year. It is unclear whether or not we will see abill pass this fiscal year. And at the state level, dwindlinggasoline taxes collected at the state level along with skyrocketing construction costs have all but halted any newhighway construction.

NNDC has been actively participating in efforts tobring these issues to our elected officials' attention.February 10, NNDC's Executive Director testifiedbefore the Nebraska Legislature's Revenue Committeein support of LB84. This is a bill that takes a steptoward the problem of funding new highway construc-tion, as well as providing the state with the alternativeof selling bonds to fund the construction. It also dedi-cates a new revenue stream to make the payments onthose bonds.

Sen. Deb Fischer's bill and corresponding constitu-tional amendment would change how we fund highwayconstruction and maintenance in Nebraska. This issueis critical statewide, and of particular note in WesternNebraska where we are trying to fund the 4-laneHeartland Expressway yet to be finished fromColorado to the South Dakota borders. We believe thisexpressway will bring business development, trans-portation business and even more visitors to our area.NNDC will continue to advocate on behalf of the busi-nesses we represent for a safe, efficient, accessibletransportation system that serves all of Nebraska.

NNDC Advocates for Transportation Issues

Board of Directors ReorganizesNNDC held its Annual meeting on Wednesday,

Jan. 19, 2011 and elected Rob Bila and Don Blauseyto the Board. The following day we elected new offi-cers with Kristie Dexter elected as President, DonBlausey as Vice President, Roy Fitzgibbon asTreasurer and Matt Reeves as Secretary.

Members of the Loan Review Committee are RoyFitzgibbon, Chair, Rob Bila, Rob Wahlstrom, LueJensen and Lori Heibult. We have adopted an annualoperating budget and a new multi-year strategic planthat can be viewed on our website. This will guide theorganization with priorities, projects and direction forour programs. The Board of Directors meets monthly,the third Wednesday at 7 a.m. The meetings are opento the public any anyone is welcome to attend. Wemeet at the Country Kitchen.

Kristie Dexter, new NNDC President congratu-lates Past President Eric Fuller.

NNDC Board of Directors 2010Kristie Dexter ........................PresidentDon Blausey..................Vice PresidentRoy Fitzgibbon .....................TreasurerMatt Reeves .........................SecretaryEric Fuller .....................Past PresidentRick Koza................................ DirectorBryce Landen...........................DirectorJake Stewart ............................DirectorRob Bila ...................................DirectorRob Wahlstrom ........................DirectorDonny Grantham ....................DirectorRick Koza.................................DirectorEd Kuhnel ................................Director

Sandy Powell ......................Ex-Officio, City Manager

STAFFDeb Cottier, Executive Director

Nebraska Northwest Development Corp.706 West 3rd StreetChadron, NE 69337

432-4023 (work) • 430-5959 (cell)432-4757 (fax)

dcottier@gpcom.netor nndc@gpcom.net

The semester- long class project under-taken by the UNL architectstudents last year resultedin 9 proposed projects, rang-ing from landscaping alonghighways 20 & 285 to elabo-rate ideas for housing, retailspace, community buildings,industrial sites, conservationand environmental rehabilita-tion.

Chadron is fortunate to havebeen selected for the project and our hopesare that the ideas presented will spark interest,investment and 'ownership' of one or more of theprojects. It's understandable that any proposedprojects will need to be tweaked (or changed con-

UNL Architect Students Unveil Projects siderably) due to the reality of

community input and funding.But what a great thing tohave so many proposals

from which to choose!As fun as this

process has been, thenext steps will be a littlemore difficult. Putting into

action the ideas and proj-ects will require commit-ment, investment and fol-low through. Chadron can be the envy of

many of our neighbors, but not without a little work.We hope you will 'heed the call' if asked to step upand help with one of these exciting projects.

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