Special Series Wrap Up & Thoughts: ‘Talent and Innovation Initiative’

In this four-part series, Tom Chapman, director of innovation and entrepreneurship for the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce, broke down four bills that are a part of Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman’s “Talent and Innovation Initiative.” Here’s a run down of the bills and links to the posts: LB 386: Nebraska Internship Bill – Special Series…

Governor Heineman gives the State of the State Address on January 13, 2011, from governor.nebraska.gov.

In this four-part series, Tom Chapman, director of innovation and entrepreneurship for the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce, broke down four bills that are a part of Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman‘s “Talent and Innovation Initiative.”

Here’s a run down of the bills and links to the posts:

Before I share my thoughts, Tom had four other initiatives that he thought deserved to be noted:

First, the current budget includes a one-time allocation of $25 million to the University of Nebraska at Lincoln’s Innovation Campus currently under construction on the former State Fair Park site. Second, the budget allocates $8.5 million of a virtual high school that will bring advanced science, math and other classes to 9-12 graders from around the state. Third, a bill has been presented that would create a young professional’s advisory board for the Department of Economic Development regarding image and branding of the state – in both recruitment and tourism. Fourth, and lastly, LB 345 would provide $375,000 over the next two years to create an economic gardening pilot in the State of Nebraska. This was one of the recommendations from the LB 1109 Innovation Committee that studied ways to encourage innovation-based economic development in the State.

Tom’s analysis of the bills is both comprehensive and thought-provoking. Each wrap up is lengthy (nearly 4,500 words total), but worth reading in their entirety. I do, however, have a few choice nuggets from the posts which I found to be particularly interesting.

From Special Series: ‘Talent and Innovation Initiative’ – Internship Bill:

However, retaining more students is not the only issue – we need to recruit more students who have no or limited ties to the Silicon Prairie. We also need to do a better job of helping all people with unique skill sets see the Prairie as a place where they can be nourished, enriched and accomplished.

From Special Series: ‘Talent and Innovation Initiative’ – Angel Tax Credit Act:

In general, the Nebraska Angel Tax Credit Act is a major step up for the State but also stands as a significant improvement to a number of angel tax credit rules around the country.

From Special Series: ‘Talent and Innovation Initiative’ – Site & Building Dev. Act:

From a Silicon Prairie News perspective, the biggest issue is that we have had a number of good projects that would have brought talented individuals to the region fail to consider Omaha due to a lack of land that is ready for development. Some other states, Texas, as an example, have significant resources devoted to ensuring that sites are available in most of their major communities.

From Special Series: ‘Talent and Innovation Initiative’ – Business Innovation Act:

From an economic development perspective, I think that this is the right decision and probably will create more jobs in general – so it is hard for me to argue if we are within a zero sum game.

This series is one of the most in-depth that we’ve published on Silicon Prairie News in a long time, if not ever. Thanks again to Tom for not only his recap of the proposed bills, but his analysis, thoughts and opinions. It’s my belief that this is a critical step in the right direction for the state of Nebraska with regards to all of the things we care about here at Silicon Prairie News.

It wasn’t so long ago that nobody was talking about these issues – innovation and entrepreneurship. Tom says it best: “Since 2006 and before, the forces of good have pleaded with the State of Nebraska to bring the State into the 21st century regarding incentives for new innovative ventures.” In just a few years’ time, we now have the beginnings of what appears to be competitive legislation to help spur more of this type of activity. That’s a notable accomplishment, and one that we hope will have a lasting effect.

This story is part of the AIM Archive

This story is part of the AIM Institute Archive on Silicon Prairie News. AIM gifted SPN to the Nebraska Journalism Trust in January 2023. Learn more about SPN’s origin »

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