OMAHA, Neb., June 6, 2018 – There’s something about the Silicon Prairie, and analysts say Greater Omaha – near the geographic center of the U.S. – is far from stuck in the middle when it comes to quality of life, entrepreneurship, innovation, technology, business climate and more.
Case in point: Entrepreneurs in Omaha earn twice as much as the US average; with Silicon Prairie innovators motivated by The Startup Collaborative’s more the $600,000 in seed capital available for software-centric visionaries.
For millennials on the move, CNBC recently ranked Omaha the No. 7 “top city in the U.S. for young people,” and Omaha came in second only to Cincinnati in “cities where renters can afford to live alone.”
“Call them ‘trendsetters’ or ‘trailblazers,’ this region is attracting the best-of-the best, and they are thriving thanks to a host of factors that, when combined, outpace the nation’s economic growth by 22 percent,” said David G. Brown, president & CEO, Greater Omaha Chamber.
Earlier in 2018, Brown announced the region’s five-year $32M economic development campaign, an initiative aimed at creating 10,000 jobs and $500M in new payroll – strategies that will continue to support the region’s low cost-of-living (8.3 percent below the national average) fuel innovation (up more than five percent since 2014) and maintain the region’s ranking as the nation’s No. 1 “up-and-coming tech hotspot.”
Such evidenced economic change may be one of the reasons Harvard Business School named Omaha the No. 3 “best city for economic opportunity,” and Residence Consultancy, which ranks urban destinations worldwide, flagged Omaha as the No. 2 best small city, while the Zoe Report tapped Omaha as “one of the five cities you should consider moving to ASAP.”
About Greater Omaha
Omaha is a No. 1 ranked up-and-coming-tech hotspot and Time magazine’s 2017 No. 3 Most Up-and-Coming City in America. Recognized for its “We Don’t Coast” attitude, Greater Omaha is home to more than 30 communities and nearly 1 million people, with a youthful population (more than 40 percent are age 24 or younger), low cost of living and steady economic growth that outpaces the nation. Berkshire Hathaway, Mutual of Omaha, Peter Kiewit Sons’ Inc. and Union Pacific – all Fortune 500 companies – call Greater Omaha “home.”
About the Greater Omaha Chamber
Celebrating 125 years, the mission of the Greater Omaha Chamber is to champion a thriving business community and prosperous region through visionary leadership and collaboration.