The messages delivered at Wednesday’s Falls City Economic Development and Growth Enterprise, Inc. (EDGE) Annual Banquet and Meeting were overwhelmingly positive. And they were heard by a large number of investor members who nearly filled the banquet room at the Elks Club for an excellent dinner, catered by A & G Steakhouse, and meeting.

Featured speakers for the evening were Kevin Malone, President of the EDGE Board of Directors, Chuck Whitney, EDGE Executive Director, and Steve Kottich, Vice President of Marketing and Sales, an EDGE Board position. Kottich praised the tireless and selfless efforts of Malone and the executive committee, who take time from their jobs and do “a tremendous amount of work” on behalf of economic development in and around Falls City. He singled out Whitney, Bart Keller for his fundraising work and Beth Sickel who he described as “the most talented member of the executive committee” and one who devotes much time to the EDGE effort.

EDGE, Kottich said, provides an invaluable presence in Falls City and the surrounding area. “It is great for me to see where we are at now compared to five or 10 years ago,” said Kottich. “We are all working for the same thing” and with that commitment, “we can’t help but succeed.” While not to be confused with David Letterman, Kottich visually illustrated the top 10 EDGE accomplishments for 2007, including the development of the Falls City brand logo and various materials, including the website, that “effectively market and sell” Falls City as a business and industry “product”. He said the website alone received “over 103,000 hits since it was launched in February.”

EDGE is currently working on a labor survey, Kottich said, in order to “prove that the labor force is here.” He said EDGE continues to develop and work with a number of prospects, not only in the United States but also abroad. EDGE has “proactively marketed Falls City and strengthened relationships with the State of Nebraska and regional marketing partners,” Kottich said, “resulting in significant increase in the number of qualified prospects and site visits to Falls City.”

He thanked Phil Michels of Nebraska Economic Development for his work on behalf of Falls City and EDGE. Not only does EDGE work to find new business and industry, it also encourages and facilitates the retention and expansion of existing businesses, said Kottich. “Falls City manufacturing employment is at the highest level it has been in recent years,” he said. EDGE also played a valuable role in the sale and current refurbishment of Hotel Stephenson and worked with investors who opened the new Runza® restaurant.

Kottich also noted the EDGE role in arranging for a Rural Enterprise Assistance Project consultant to work with small Falls City businesses on a monthly basis, the enhancement of the “competitiveness of the Falls City business location product” through such projects as the new Business Parkway, the welder’s training program and the upgrade of existing industrial properties. “EDGE”, Kottich said, “played a key role in new community development projects, including the new hospital,” while contributing to the improvement in Falls City’s image. He said he has seen an “overall positive attitude among the residents.” This new perception of Falls City and attitude within the community constitute “our most impressive accomplishment. … EDGE has done an excellent job of establishing the organization in the community” and is a “well respected organization,” Kottich said. “A key indicator of success is (that) investors are continuing to invest” in EDGE.

(Kevin) Malone agreed that the number one achievement of EDGE has been to “change the attitude” in Falls City. He said “people want to get involved” and encouraged participation in EDGE, which is an investment in the community. “If we work together, we can accomplish so much more,” Malone said. He also praised the role played by City and County government leaders.

(Chuck) Whitney thanked all of the EDGE directors and staff that have helped him settle into his new job as Executive Director. He also thanked Stephanie Shrader, who served as interim director and “will continue to play a big role in what we accomplish.”

In one other development at the meeting, Charlie Radatz was unanimously elected to an EDGE Board position.

Source: Falls City Journal, January 23, 2008

For more information on Falls City EDGE, please contact EDGE Executive Director at 402.245.2105 or email.

A new Southeast Nebraska club for investors, inventors and entrepreneurs is strengthening the region’s entrepreneurial spririt. The first meeting of the I2E club was held on Tuesday, January 22. The club is designed to provide inventors, investors and entrepreneurs with networking opportunities as well as education and training.

One of the club’s goals is to provide an open and supportive, educational forum for individuals who are seeking assistance in the areas of entrepreneurship and inventing. A second goal of the club is to bring people and organizations together in a truly collaborative effort that is dedicated to improving economic development in Southeast Nebraska.

The Inventors, Investors and Entrepreneurs Club meets on the second Tuesday of the month at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Kimmel Education & Research Center in Nebraska City. Each session begins with a networking social at 5:30 p.m., followed by introductions and an educational session or guest speaker at 6:00 p.m.. Each evening will end with an “Ask and You Shall Receive” session, which enables participants to ask for what they want or need so the group can help them find solutions and break through barriers.

A $30 fee will be charged for individuals, businesses and organizations to join the club; however, people are encouraged to participate in one or two sessions before making a commitment. Organizers are also working to add distance-delivery components to this program. More information on the distance-delivery component will be available soon.

If you would like to be involved with or participate in the I2E Club, contact Dr. Connie Reimers-Hild at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Kimmel Education & Research Center by phone at 402.873.3166 or email or contact Falls City EDGE Executive Director Chuck Whitney by phone at 402.245.2105.

Approximately 180 citizens, officials and media representatives filled the Camp Rulo River Club Wednesday morning to hear the optimistic and determined message of members of the Tri-State Corridor Alliance.

The Alliance has evolved from a grassroots movement that began in Falls City with the objective of replacing the Missouri River Bridge at Rulo and creating a transportation corridor that would serve southeast Nebraska, northwest Missouri and northeast Kansas.

Since the objective was first mentioned by Mitch Glaeser at the annual Chamber of Commerce Customer Appreciation Banquet in November 2007, it has gathered momentum through a wildly successful letter-writing campaign and has now become regional in nature, including residents and officials from the tri-state area as well as support from the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska.

Glaeser, the Gainesville, FL, real estate developer who recently purchased and is in the process of refurbishing the Stephenson Hotel in Falls City, introduced a name for the bridge project. “I want to call this the Bridge to Somewhere,” Glaeser said, contrasting the project to the infamous “Bridge to Nowhere” in Alaska. That project, which has since been scrapped, initially won Congressional support to the tune of $223 million. It would have served a handful of people. Glaeser noted that the Congressional delegations from both Nebraska and Missouri voted in favor of the $223 million appropriation for the “Bridge to Nowhere”.

“So I am not satisfied to hear we don’t have the money to do it (build the bridge and corridor to I-29),” he said. “You could build five bridges for $223 million.”

…(Charlie) Radatz (Chairman of the Tri-State Alliance), former owner and operator of Radio KTNC and a long-time news reporter, described the bridge replacement and corridor development as a “big story,” one about “people power.” He said the citizens in the three-state area have come together on the issue of transportation and “the economic impact the bridge and corridor can have on the lives of people now and for years to come.” The issue, Radatz said, is not about Falls City, Rulo, Mound City or Hiawatha, but “about a region that needs access” to adequate transportation avenues if it is to prosper.

…”The number one reason why this bridge needs to be replaced is public safety,” Radatz said, alluding to “mirrors lost” and traffic jams and describing the general transverse of the bridge as a “scary experience.” Still, “no lives have been lost, no serious accidents have occurred,” Radatz explained. “The time to act is now before the first serious accident occurs.”

He said the number two reason for bridge replacement is “economic development.” All business today, Radatz said, relies on transportation by semi truck and the old bridge represents an “impediment” to that commerce, as well as to the recruitment of distribution centers and small manufacturing operations that the Nebraska Department of Economic Development describes as the top two types of industries “likely to locate in a region like ours.”

…Tourism is the third reason for bridge replacement and the development of a corridor (preferably four-lane) from the new bridge to I-29. Radatz cited the “tourism potential” that has gone “largely untapped” in the region because of an “inadequate U.S. Highway 159″ and the problems drivers encounter in crossing the bridge.

Source: Falls City Journal, January 18, 2008