Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First

Community meeting to address economic development

Join the City of Kimball and the State of Nebraska Economic Development as we host a community meeting on August 10 at 5:30pm at the Event Center and again on August 31 at 11:30am for those that missed the first one. The meetings will be used in collaboration with the City becoming a Leadership Certified Community. The meetings will be led by Starr Lehl who previously worked for the State of Nebraska Economic Development with the help of Daniel Bennett from Panhandle Area Development District and Special Projects Coordinator Amy Sapp.

The City of Kimball went through the process of updating their Comprehensive Plan in 2016 and since then have done a Brownfields Inventory (identifying all commercial and industrial sites that have been abandoned or are underutilized because of possible contamination which hinders reuse or redevelopment) and were part of a regional Housing Study to determine the housing needs in our area. These are all very important processes for economic growth but we need the help of our citizens in prioritizing projects so that we can put an action plan into motion. A Strategic plan for Economic Development will allow us to create goals, measurable metrics, and assign responsibility for items to start getting accomplished.

The meetings will be used to do a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis in order to help prioritize the needs of the community. The meetings are open to residents of Kimball. The more people in attendance and the larger the diversity and demographics, the better information we will have to move forward and help our community succeed.