BEATRICE – The Gage Area Growth Enterprise Board elected members at their annual meeting Tuesday night, held at Classic’s Restaurant in Beatrice.

Chad Lottman and David Norton were reelected to new terms as board members, while Heath Stuart was elected as a new member of the Board. One position represents Beatrice while two others represent rural areas of Gage County.

Andrea Schafer was reelected as President of the NGage Board. Lottman was reelected as Vice President. The Treasurer reelected is Dave Norton, and the Secretary, Traci Garnett-Froscheiser.

NGage Executive Director Rachel Kreikemeier says the organization just recently learned it will be awarded another $198,000 in the Communities For Kids program, which emphasizes increasing an area’s childcare capacity. This past year, NGage has allocated about $55,000 to assist childcare providers with expansion projects and upgrading the number of childcare spots available.  Having adequate childcare in Nebraska is viewed as a critical workforce issue, as companies seek employees and families seek childcare which makes it easier for them to seek employment.

As the Nebraska Legislature gets bogged down over controversial measures some opponents see as culture war topics…the state’s chief executive says he hopes the body can still move to pass top priority measures.

Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen was in Beatrice Tuesday night, a guest speaker at the NGage annual dinner. "The bad news is that there will be some good legislation that probably will not have enough time. We are confident that everything we put forward and most every senator's priority bill...that there will be enough time to get everything through. We're working really hard on trying to address all those issues and continue to work to have everyone on the same team...and getting those through. We're optimistic that can happen."

Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen, at Classic's Restaurant
Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen, at Classic's Restaurant  

 
Recently, the Nebraska Economic Forecasting Advisory Board set a revenue projection for the current fiscal year at $6.44 billion…and for the following two budget years at $6.47 billion and $6.55 billion…..enough to pass major initiatives, according to Pillen.  "The last report just shows that our economy is strong. We've modeled, to take the three worst years in the last 45 years...and there will still be plenty of money...and the forecast shows nothing like that. So, we're very, very bullish of the sustainability of what we're putting forward and that it is really impactful. It's important that we cut property taxes, we cut income taxes...if we don't have transformative tax policy change now, we're gonna keep running our kids away and our grandparents away. We have to grow our economy."

Pillen says the strength of agriculture in Nebraska is a key reason the state continues to weather economic challenges better than others. "The pot of gold, the Ogallala Aquifer, continues to do a great job of allowing us to raise more per acre than we ever have had in the history of our time. The renewable fuels policy has been the holy grail for the state. Livestock has done well. Our ag economy is thriving....seven-dollar corn, eight-dollar corn...it's been a lot of things....it covers up a lot of sins in the economy."

One area where Pillen has differed from former Governor Pete Ricketts is in support for a legislative measure that would allow the state to issue bonds to catch up on needed roads projects. Pillen says the state, just like a business, needs to have the ability to borrow money to grow and improve what it has.

"We need to make sure we have infrastructure....we need four-lane roads. Let's just use it here in Beatrice....Beatrice is doing awesome....I wonder what it would be like if you had two-lane roads to Lincoln. We have a number of places where the expressway has to be done. We can do that in a fiscally conservative way. It takes courage to do that, and that's what we're willling to do."