Support for the Small Town and Rural Way of Life

A new generation of jobs and small business opportunities is waiting to be developed to revitalize the small town and rural way of life in Nebraska.

The internet has enabled small businesses to tap lucrative distant markets. Value added agriculture and agricultural tourism are flourishing, creating new opportunities for beginning farmers and ranchers. Opportunities are growing in rural manufacturing, employing the latest technology and skilled workers. Nebraska has the natural resources to become the nation’s leader in renewable energy production.

But current state policy is ill-suited to realize the full potential of these new opportunities. State government has neglected small town and rural community development. Tax incentives, economic development, and regulatory policies are biased against small business. We are only beginning to address growing workforce training needs. Nebraska has fallen far behind in policies that support renewable energy development and lags behind neighboring states in wind development

1) Foster small business development and new farm and ranch enterprises.

 Expand the Small Business and Beginning Farmer/Rancher Tax Credit – The Nebraska Advantage Microenterprise tax credit provides a shot in the arm to start or grow a business, farm, or ranch. It provides a 20%, $10,000 refundable credit for businesses with up to five employees and for beginning farmers and ranchers, but the credit is capped at $2 million annually for all beneficiaries combined. The low annual cap prevents it from achieving its potential to grow our economy, and with bigger firms each receiving tens of millions of dollars in tax breaks, it presents a clear bias against small business. Chuck Hassebrook will work to phase out the $2 million cumulative cap and gradually broaden the program to businesses with up to ten employees.

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•   Increase Small Business Training and Technical Assistance – Increase funding in the Nebraska Microenterprise Assistance Program for small business training and technical assistance from $300,000 annually to $1 million annually. A portion of new funding will be used to expand small business planning, training, and finance related services in underserved rural and urban areas. The remainder will be used to fund small business marketing assistance and assistance in technology transfer to new business startups and existing Nebraska based manufacturers.
•   Nebraska Entrepreneurs Website and Hotline – Connect entrepreneurs to loan programs and appropriate training, business planning, marketing, and technology transfer assistance through aggressive outreach and establishment of a centralized small business and beginning farmer and rancher website/hotline. The initiative will be a partnership of the Nebraska Department of Economic Development, Cooperative Extension, colleges, universities, and other economic development service providers. The initiative will also actively promote the Nebraska Advantage Microenterprise Tax Credit, encourage landowners to rent to beginners through the Nebraska Beginning Farmer and Rancher Tax Credit, and promote the Nebraska Investment Finance Authority program, which encourages loans and contract agricultural land sales to beginning producers.
•   Remove the Anti-Small Business Regulatory Bias – Conduct a comprehensive review to identify regulations that impose disproportionate costs on small business and devise common sense alternatives that achieve health, environmental, and public safety objectives in a manner practical for small business.

  2) Improve and expand job training programs.

•   Create a partnership between learning institutions and employers – Nebraska has good jobs going unfilled due to a mismatch between worker skills and available jobs. Lack of trained workers is preventing employers from growing their businesses and our state’s economy, especially in manufacturing. By creating a partnership between the state, schools, community colleges, unions, and employers, we can work together to fill good paying jobs and grow the economy.
•   Encourage dual credit classes for high school students – Make the state a partner in collaborations that enable high schools students to receive dual credit for community college courses as early as their junior year. The state can help these programs by increasing tuition assistance, and cost sharing for purchase of equipment needed for job training.
•   Expand state funded apprenticeships in workforce shortage areas
  3) Support wind development, grow the Nebraska market for corn-based ethanol, and develop a

  strategy for next generation biofuels.

 Develop Nebraska’s World Class Wind Resource – Nebraska has the nation’s best wind for electric generation, but in actual development, Nebraska lags behind most surrounding states – foregoing thousands of good jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue and landowner payments. To strengthen our rural economy and communities and make Nebraska a leader in wind generation, Chuck Hassebrook will:

Provide leadership to enable Nebraska to become a leading exporter of wind generated electricity by drawing on the transmission study being prepared by the Nebraska Power Review Board to connect Nebraska wind farms to growing markets for renewable electricity in high population states.

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Develop a state production tax credit to jump start wind development that supports local businesses and provides an opportunity for Nebraskans, including wind farm employees, to share in wind farm ownership. The cost of the tax credit could be quickly recaptured – a typical 100 turbine wind farm generates $1 million annually in local tax payments, which can be used to increase property tax relief. Wind farms also generate state tax revenues from payments to landowners, direct jobs, spin-off jobs, and related income and sales.

 Champion Nebraska Ethanol – As America’s second leading ethanol producer, Nebraska needs an outspoken ethanol champion as its top elected official. Our corn ethanol industry has made significant investments that have created good jobs across rural Nebraska, while protecting farmers from price depressing surpluses and providing an environmentally friendly, cost effective fuel source. As Governor, Chuck Hassebrook will:

Stand up for Nebraska’s ethanol industry by challenging anti-ethanol attacks like the EPA’s proposal to reduce the amount of ethanol used in the nation’s fuel supply under the Renewable Fuel Standard.

Expand Nebraska markets for Nebraska ethanol by shifting the state’s fleet of vehicles to E-15 and working with commodity boards and the ethanol industry to finance and promote an increase in the number of blender pumps in our state. It’s common sense to use more of our ethanol close to home, where we have a large, low cost supply.

Develop a strategy for next generation biofuels from grass, crop residue, and other sources of cellulose, with the help of a task force of farmers, ethanol producers, scientists and environmentalists. To create goods jobs and genuine opportunity, we must keep our state on the forefront of biofuel production, while protecting our soil and water and addressing the growing challenge of climate change.

4) Create a new partnership between the state of Nebraska and small towns to foster community development.

•   Community Grants – Reauthorize and refine the Building Entrepreneurial Communities Act and award $1 million annually in matching grants to small towns to support entrepreneurship, community philanthropy, leadership development, and community development.
•   Loan Forgiveness for Rural Health Professionals – Sustain the recent increase in educational loan repayment assistance for health professionals who work in underserved rural areas.
•   Planning and Technical Assistance to Small Towns and Rural Communities – Work in partnership with local development districts, local governments and the University of Nebraska’s Rural Futures Institute to provide training to local leaders and technical assistance in community planning, zoning, and housing development. Help communities use historic preservation tax credits, community development block grants, and local philanthropy to revitalize rural Main Streets and refurbish aging storefronts as business incubators.