Joseph Young built his career working on Nebraska’s economic development with stints at the Nebraska Department of Economic Development, the Greater Omaha Chamber and the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce & Industry.

Now, he’ll be back at it again as the new president and CEO of the Nebraska Chamber. 

“We’ve always loved this state first and foremost, so it was not a hard decision to come back and lead an organization that I really care about,” Young said about himself and his wife, Michaela. The couple had been living in Florida the past several years.

“Not only does Joseph have extensive experience leading both state and Omaha chamber government relations, but he’s worked in business development and government affairs,” said Pat Keenan, board chair of the Nebraska Chamber, in a press release. 

“The array of experience in the roles he’s had, combined with his demonstrated ability in leading teams, building culture, and managing with accountability, makes him a great fit for the Nebraska Chamber,” Keenan said.

Young takes the reins at a complicated time for the state. Nebraska has faced and continues to face budget deficits, with the business community worried about a brain drain crisis along with a stagnation of jobs and wages. 

Economic development policy has also had a rocky time. DED has lost staff and the Business Innovation Act, the cornerstone startup support program, was slated for cuts until Nebraska business and community leaders successfully lobbied for a funding increase.

Young recognizes the challenges but is also confident that the state can pull through.

“It’s going to be incumbent upon, not just the tech and innovation industry, but all of the leadership in the state to come together and coalesce around things that we can support,” he said. “This is not the first time we’ve ever been in situations like this, and every time this happens, we come out stronger on the other end.”

Young committed to continued support for the BIA, a program with which he is very familiar. As an employee at DED in 2011, Young was part of the lobbying effort for the Nebraska Legislature to pass the BIA. 

“That’s been one of the best economic development public policy initiatives maybe ever in this state,” Young said.

At the time, he also worked with and befriended Dan Hoffman, the CEO of Invest Nebraska, the nonprofit venture capital organization. That led to his serving on Invest Nebraska’s board for nine years.

Young’s experience there informs his approach to the chamber’s work. His top three priorities are workforce development, technology and energy infrastructure. All three intersect with the startups Young has seen at Invest Nebraska.

“We would have entrepreneurs come here from out of state,” Young said. They were attracted by Nebraska’s location, business climate and support programs like the BIA.

“People are very willing to move to Nebraska when they learn about the opportunities that exist here,” he said. “So I know that we have the infrastructure to do very well with workforce development.”

Young is especially focused on how artificial intelligence will affect the state, including around manufacturing. 

“We need to understand how that affects the business community, especially manufacturers, as it relates to robotics and other things,” he said. “But also as it relates to our workforce because as we try to tackle these workforce challenges, AI is going to affect that, either negatively or positively or both.”