According to the Nebraska Coordinating Commission for Secondary Education, about 63.5% of high school students in the state go on to college after graduation. With ongoing economic pressures, uncertainties surrounding job security due to artificial intelligence and discourse over the return on investment for earning a degree, high school students face questions and concerns over their best paths forward.

The Bay, a Nebraska-based nonprofit centered on youth engagement and workforce development, and Metropolitan Community College in Omaha are joining forces to support young adults who have not determined their exact trajectories after high school. The two want to enable these individuals to explore their potential future pathways without the burdens of committing to a four-year degree.

“I think many of us can relate to being that age and just being really disoriented or being in high school and not connecting and not learning the skills that could have helped us later,” The Bay Executive Director and Co-founder Andrew Norman said. “So now this is kind of a second chance for a lot of them.”

A pilot program between The Bay and MCC started in late August and will go on through December. Its concentration is on manufacturing and the trades, giving the current four enrollees applicable industry certifications and job shadow opportunities. The goal is to put students on a structured track toward open, skilled positions.

This partnership with MCC sets up The Bay to further establish itself and its Gap Year programming in Omaha.

Last year in October, The Bay held a groundbreaking ceremony for its 40,000-square-foot building, activity hub and skate park in Benson. The organization said it expects the site to open in the second quarter of 2027.

The Bay’s Gap Year program provides students the chance to meet with employers, develop a desirable resume and form professional networks to help them discover work pipelines they might not otherwise have considered.

Subject areas for Gap Year have ranged from graphic design and video/audio production to entrepreneurship and fashion. Through partnerships with business leaders and local industry stakeholders such as Don’t Panic Labs and Spreetail, The Bay has also offered Gap Year programming on topics including software engineering and Google certifications.

“On the business side, there’s also some shifts that we’re seeing where there is some level of movement towards more skill-based hiring rather than focusing just on a degree,” said Christina Oldfather, The Bay’s workforce education director.

By earning these credentials, connecting with real people in the industry and developing the cognitive and human skills employers are looking for in the age of AI, Oldfather said their students can break through the “friction” they have been experiencing with the job market.

Riding the momentum of Nebraska needs

The Bay began in Lincoln with a focus on skateboarding and offering kids a safe space to meet outside of school. The nonprofit has gone on to expand into educational summer camps, career mentorship and community-building efforts. The organization leads programs and activities aimed at 4-year-olds up to 24-year-olds.

Outside of Lincoln, The Bay has been growing its presence in Omaha. The nonprofit currently offers programming in addition to open skate hours out of the Benson Community Center. It has also gotten involved with youth-centric and creative initiatives serving the wider area — as seen with its acquisition of Omaha Girls Rock.

“We can’t predict what kids are going to be into,” Norman said. “All we know is that they’re going to be into things that don’t have positive adult mentors connected to them, and we want to be on the forefront of that and to listen to them.”

Norman said The Bay designed its building in Benson to mesh with young people’s interests and needs, which the nonprofit has learned over the years from its Lincoln location. It will include versatile and specialized facilities, including classrooms and production spaces, as well as an indoor skate park, music venue, esports arena and storefront to display and sell items made by attendees of The Bay.

Once finished, leadership said the new location will enable The Bay to work with more than 2,500 youth in Omaha annually.

According to The Bay’s 2025 Annual Report, the nonprofit welcomed nearly 4,000 youth into its spaces, with 1,160 counted in Omaha and 2,543 in Lincoln. Its Gap Year cohorts last year included 40 participants. 

Oldfather noted there has been earlier experimentation of programs to offer in Omaha, specifically starting with entrepreneurial-minded students from The Bay learning from the MCC Small Business Development Center.

With the most recent pilot program based on the trades, The Bay and MCC said they want to tap into Nebraska’s larger workforce trends and demands. They have been discussing further programming in entrepreneurship as well as providing students a pipeline for in-demand jobs in healthcare.

“We’re creating a model combining education, workforce preparation and life planning — rather than treating all of those things that separate experiences,” said Gary Girard, vice president for community and workforce education at MCC.

According to recent research out of the University of Nebraska at Omaha in partnership with the Nebraska Chamber Foundation, the state’s manufacturing industry employs 10% of Nebraska’s workers. Manufacturing employment in Nebraska has also gone up by 12% since 2010.

Such economic significance has encouraged collaboration among the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Nebraska Department of Labor and community colleges throughout the state. Together, they created the Nebraska Manufacturing Alliance Credential to address labor shortages in this space.

The certification enables its holders to receive recognition from prominent Nebraska employers for having proven their sought-after skillsets. Participants in the pilot Gap Year program will earn the first level of this NeMAC credential by the end of the 16 weeks.

For 21-year-old Paulina Salgadomis and 20-year-old Charles Stoltenberg, promises like this for support and a smoother transition into a job are what motivated them to join this initial Gap Year cohort.

“I’ve had a lot more luck getting jobs through programs rather than just throwing out resumes,” Stoltenberg said.

The Bay is in the midst of a fundraising campaign to supply its new building with the tools and resources to carry out its plans, such as photography equipment and 3D printers. You can learn more about how to get involved here.