FLASHBACK: Nebraska Towns Aim To Keep Their Young People

Back when this blog was just getting started, we spotlighted central Nebraska communities and their efforts to retain their young people, while also recruiting young families back to their hometowns.

The article, published in The Grand Island Independent, profiled small-town economic development proponents who were aggressively seeking new ways stabilize their population and grow their economy. 

The story quotes Nancy Glaubke, the business development coordinator for Valley County Economic Development in Ord, who said decades ago, returning home usually meant you had failed someplace else. But after realizing the potential consequences of losing too many young people, she had seen her community begin to champion efforts to reverse that trend.

Valley County Economic Development launched a young professionals group last winter to nudge its younger residents toward making valuable social connections. The group was formed after a community survey revealed a resounding message from its young people: It's hard to get to know people my own age, and it's even tougher to get involved when it seems like everyone has known one another for most of their lives.

"We just kept hearing that over and over," said Bethanne Kunz, Valley County Economic Development's executive director. 

So the group started simply, with a Husker game. Soon, they had steadily added names to a countywide database that alerted to social events geared toward singles, couples, and young families. Their database had grown to 170 adults under age 40. 

Ord was one of four central Nebraska communities that had kicked off networking groups for young professionals in the past year, joining Grand Island, Hastings, and Aurora.

To recruit natives back to their hometown, several communities started targeting high school graduates with mailings and a website. For example, Burwell planned to launch its program, aimed at alumni ages 27 to 35, within the next month. The high school is developed a website touting the town's assets to alumni. 

Burwell Economic Development sent mailings to about 200 alumni. The organization hoped to attract at least one or two new families back to the area each year by emphasizing Burwell's low cost-of-living and the area's opportunities in start-up businesses and working from home.

More than 15 years later, it would be interesting to follow up on the experiences of these communities. Moreover, it would great to implement any best practices learned.