Valley County Sets New Paradigm for Rural Economic Growth

To many, the image of the young adult venturing out from their tiny hometown to seek the fortunes of the big city is an iconic slice of Americana. But Caleb Pollard, executive director of Valley County Economic Development, has every reason to believe big things can happen in small towns.

“Right now, there’s a prevailing attitude that rural communities are in total declination and there’s nothing there, they’re dying,” he said. “It makes me quite angry that we’re painted as a place with no opportunity.”

Based in Ord, Nebraska, VCED has taken all of its namesake county under its wing. Since its creation a decade ago, the VCED has overseen the creation of 100 new businesses, 17 business expansions and 21 business transitions. Not too shabby for a county of only 4,500 people. Thanks to LB840, a legislative bill that gave municipalities the option of increasing sales taxes by 1 percent and gifting entrepreneurs a portion of the newly accrued income in the the form of start-up capital and low interest business loans, Pollard and other residents of Valley County are caught in the epicenter of an economic explosion.

“We have two new banks in town, with a third one opening; we have two new grocery stories in a town of 2200 when most towns can’t even keep one open,” said Pollard, who ascended to VCED’s leadership position 14 months ago. “People don’t perceive this as a dying community anymore. You can see and feel and touch the business investment that’s here. It’s obvious – you can measure it.”

Other new businesses the VCED has helped sculpt and nurture include a 24-hour fitness center, a truck plaza, hair salons, restaurants and a 50-million gallon ethanol plant. And new businesses mean new jobs. Over the past decade, Valley County has outpaced both other rural areas and all of Nebraska in terms of job creation. Due in part to that commercial augmentation, the county’s unemployment rate is a mere 2.9 percent. That number is especially impressive when compared to the national average, some three times higher.

“We have what we call a ‘strategic workforce shortage,’” Pollard said. “We have a really hard time finding skilled workers in certain areas and certain industries within our community. There may not be jobs elsewhere, but we have jobs here.”

But the financial boon gives those in the area far more than a steady pay check. The perpetual investment in economic growth has spurred civic expansion as well. A portion of the money flitting about the county has been set aside for quality of life improvements, something to the tune of $22 million for a new hospital, $9.8 million for a new school and $1.3 million for a new fire hall.

“It all starts with the attitude,” Pollard said. “If people change their attitudes about rural communities, they can change the communities themselves. Everything that’s happened is pretty amazing when you think about the fact we’re a small town in the middle of nowhere and we’re not even on the interstate.”

You can follow all the VCED news and project updates at the Ord Sunshine Pumpers blog. Additional information on Valley County’s exceptional economic growth is available in this PDF.