Economic Development « City of Omaha Mayor’s Office

Mayor Suttle Participates in Mayors’ Institute on City Design

August 12, 2010

Announcements, Economic Development, Misc News

On August 4-6, Mayor Jim Suttle had the opportunity to participate in the Mayors’ Institute on City Design (MICD), hosted in Los Angeles, California by the United States Conference of Mayors, the National Endowment for the Arts and the American Architectural Foundation.

The invitation-only conference included just eight mayors for an intensive, closed-door, two and a half day symposium intended to offer the invited mayors a better understanding of City design. Specifically, the symposium offered the opportunity for the mayors to learn how to approach the challenges present in their cities through the perspective of urban design.

Each of the eight mayors prepared a short presentation on a challenge confronting their City, and work- shopped the challenge with the other mayors and eight urban design professionals. Mayor Suttle presented information about how potential opportunities for business development and job creation in the Eastern part of Omaha could help address the City’s challenge of unemployment.

“My goal is to continue to address crime and violence in our community through education, enforcement and employment,” Mayor Suttle said. “We have the ability to develop opportunities for businesses in the Eastern part of our City by identifying shovel ready property. I will continue to work with the Omaha Chamber of Commerce and other partner organizations to identify areas of our City that are ready for re-development and would be ideal for business expansion.”

“The Mayors’ Institute on City Design enabled me to learn about successful projects in other cities and to see how strategic urban design can successfully stimulate business development. A key aspect is the proper blend of function and design into an aesthetic whole.”

Mayors representing the following cities also participated in the recent MICD session:

Los Angeles, California

Stockton, California

Portland, Oregon

County of Hawaii, Hawaii

Salt Lake City, Utah

Long Beach, California

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Mayor Suttle attended the trip at no expense to the citizens of Omaha. Eight other mayors from Nebraska have attended an MICD symposium, including Lincoln Mayor Chris Beutler and former Lincoln Mayor and current United States Senator Mike Johanns.

Click here for more information on the Mayors’ Institute On City Design.

Mayor Suttle to Expand Hilton, Add Jobs

June 15, 2010

Announcements, Economic Development, Featured

Today Mayor Jim Suttle, along with Timothy Benolken, Senior Vice President of Western North America for Hilton Worldwide and Robert Watson, Hilton Omaha General Manager, announced that Omaha will expand the City-owned Hilton Omaha by 150 rooms.

The mayor called the expansion a “major benefit to our community” for the following reasons:

It will create 200-250 new construction jobs and 75 permanent jobs at the Hotel.
It will enable the Hilton to add an additional 150 rooms, bringing the total room number to 600.
It will bring one million dollars in revenue to the City through the hotel/motel tax and property tax revenues.
It will bring increased sales tax revenue from the new meetings, conventions and sporting events that will now be able to book events into a larger hotel.

Robert Watson, Hilton Omaha General Manager, Mayor Jim Suttle, and Timothy Benolken, Senior Vice President of Western North America next to a rendering of the expanded Hilton Omaha hotel.

A key aspect of successful booking of large events is in being able to keep all of those attending the event at the same hotel. The Omaha Convention and Visitors Bureau has identified over 2600 group meetings that require a room block commitment of 350 to 500 rooms.

This expansion is part of the original design of the Hilton hotel. Support beams are already in place for additional rooms to be built on top of the existing parking structure. Five additional levels will be added over the parking garage and parking will also be expanded. The project will include a refurbishing of the Liberty Tavern, the hotel lobby, guest rooms, meeting rooms and the addition of a 7,000 square foot ballroom.

Construction is scheduled to begin in November of this year with completion in early 2012. The project will be financed through $35 million in revenue bonds, meaning that revenue from the hotel will be used to repay the bonds.

Moving forward with expansion now has major advantages:

The Hilton will be ready for major events in Omaha in 2012, including: the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, the 2012 College World Series and the US Olympic Team Trials for Swimming.
The City can take advantage of cost savings from a competitive construction environment and low interest rates.

“The Hilton is the front door to our City on a drive downtown from Eppley Airfield,” Mayor Suttle said. ”This expansion is an investment in the City’s future as Omaha takes another step forward in becoming a destination city.”

The plan will go before the City Council for approval in the coming weeks.

Two Major Sustainability Conferences Headed to Omaha This Week

June 15, 2010

Announcements, Economic Development, Green Initiatives, Misc News

Two prominent national conferences are being hosted in Omaha this week, including the Energy Innovation Summit and the Meeting of the Minds. Omaha Mayor Jim Suttle will participate in several events at each conference, along with the City of Omaha’s Sustainability Coordinator, Kristi Wamstad-Evans. Both events are invitation only, drawing a national attendance and even international attendance for the Meeting of the Minds.”The City of Omaha is proud to help develop our community’s reputation as a leader in the green economy and on energy and sustainability issues,” Mayor Suttle said. “I applaud the efforts of Kristi Wamstad-Evans who worked hard on behalf of Omaha to help secure both of these events and help make them successful.”

The Energy Innovation Summit, hosted by the Kauffman Foundation, is the first follow-up meeting to the White House Conference on Energy Innovation that was held in Washington D.C. in May. The Summit will take place on Wednesday, June 16th. The Summit will draw entrepreneurs, state government officials, federal government leadership, selected private sector leaders, nonprofit leaders and energy innovators to Omaha to build strong regional collaboration and networks.

“The goal of the Energy Innovation Summit is for leaders across sectors to discuss challenges and opportunities in transferring unique, energy innovations to the market for use,” Wamstad-Evans said. Topics of discussion will include: regional innovation in energy, state level policies, cross-sector partnerships, and human capital. Key sponsors and supporters of the Energy Innovation Summit include: The Kauffman Foundation, Gallup, HDR, Inc. and the City of Omaha. About 120 attendees are expected. For more information about the Energy Innovation Summit, please see the attached media advisory from the Kauffman Foundation.

The Meeting of the Minds, presented and hosted by the Urban Age Institute and Joslyn Institute for Sustainable Communities, is a leadership summit for building sustainable cities. The meeting brings together more than 200 leaders from 15 countries with local and regional public, private and independent sustainability stakeholders. The goal for Meeting of the Minds is to bring leaders together from across sectors to share ideas and develop a common agenda to building sustainable cities. Both the City of Omaha and the City of Lincoln are Meeting of the Minds Partners. The meeting runs June 16, 17 and 18 at Qwest Center Omaha. For more information about Meeting of the Minds, visit: www.MeetingoftheMinds2010.org.

In addition, a joint reception and networking event for attendees of both meetings will take place on Wednesday evening. Sustainability coordinators/directors from across the region will also meet, including those from: Omaha, Lincoln, Kansas City, Minneapolis, Wichita, Ann Arbor, Columbus (assistant) and Cleveland (assistant).

The CIP: Your Bond Dollars At Work

May 5, 2010

Economic Development, Misc News

The following message from Mayor Jim Suttle appears in the City’s Capital Improvement Plan for 2010-2015:

The 2010-2015 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) provides the guidance for our city’s future. As our city continues to grow we must look to strengthen our neighborhoods, parks and libraries. We must also ensure that Omaha continues to improve public safety, foster economic development and maintain its infrastructure.

As part of the CIP, our citizens will see the continued rehabilitation of the Hummel Park and the Hummel Day Camp Building, Levi Carter, and Lynch Parks. The Abrahams Library will also continue undergoing renovation. We will benefit from major road projects across the city including Fort Street from 123rd to 132nd, West Center from 150th Street to Highway 275 and the redesign of the 42nd & Q Street intersection. The 72nd & Blondo pedestrian bridge, the Stockyards bridge and the Farnam Street Bridge over I-480 will all be refurbished. New projects added to the CIP this year include streetscape improvement projects at 63rd & Blondo that will provide a new and notable entrance to Benson.

This plan carries Omaha into the future. In the process the plan heightens the beauty of our neighborhoods, increases public safety and improves our quality of life. Omaha continues to gain national recognition as the place to live, work and raise a family. It is important that we take the right and necessary steps so that our City will become even more the city of the 21st Century.

The City’s full Capital Improvement Plan is available on the Planning Department’s website. View it here.

125 Summer Youth Jobs Coming to Omaha

May 4, 2010

Announcements, Economic Development, Featured, In The Community

Today, Mayor Jim Suttle announced that Omaha will receive $603,600 in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to hire 125 at-risk youth ages 18-24 for summer employment. The program is a partnership between Metropolitan Community College and the Urban League of Nebraska.

The program will provide an opportunity for young people to gain summer employment and job training, which will help them build a resume and job skills. Work sites will include non-profit agencies and other organizations across the City, including the City of Omaha and at Metropolitan Community College.

President of the Urban League of Nebraska Tom Warren speaks at the press conference announcing the program. Also pictured is Mayor Jim Suttle and Metropolitan Community College President Randy Schmailzl.

“This is great news for our community,” said Omaha Mayor Jim Suttle. “This is a tremendous opportunity to give at risk young adults hope for their future. Employment provides a structured alternative to a summer on the streets and a deviation from the path to gangs and guns.”

Mayor Suttle continues to work on other funding possibilities to put additional youth to work this summer, including youth between the ages of 14 - 18.

For more information about applying for a position, call the Urban League at: 451-1066.

Omaha & Lincoln Receive $10 Million in Energy Efficiency Funding

April 21, 2010

Announcements, Economic Development, Green Initiatives

Mayor Jim Suttle announced today that the City of Omaha, in partnership with the City of Lincoln, will receive $10 million from the Recovery Act Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Ramp-Up Program. The application, titled the Omaha Lincoln Retrofit Ramp-Up Program, leverages resources amounting to $100 million leveraged from 27 partners across both communities to assist in the successful implementation of this program.

A key strategy of the program is to create targeted “Green Zones” for the cities to deploy comprehensive building retrofits, to include residential, commercial and public buildings. Overall, the goal of the program is to create a sustainable retrofit market focusing on the areas of: workforce development, green technology and entrepreneurship, consumer information, financial mechanisms, neighborhood advocacy, and market strategy.

The partnership between Omaha and Lincoln, including the community partners, will catalyze the region’s energy efficiency market by benefitting Nebraska’s workforce, contractors, consumers, financial lending institutions, utilities, government agencies, and supplying them with the tools needed to make Omaha and Nebraska a leader in green industry.

“I am excited to learn that the City of Omaha, in partnership with the City of Lincoln, will have the opportunity to jump-start our community’s energy efficiency through retrofitting,” said Omaha Mayor Jim Suttle. “The educational and business opportunities that will result from this grant will leave a mark on our community for years to come. This will be the beginning of major changes for our City and for our energy consumption.”

“This grant is a tremendous recognition by the Department of Energy of the region’s leadership potential in the energy efficiency markets,” said Lincoln Mayor Chris Beutler. “The public/private partnerships that will be fostered as a result of this funding will be models for the rest of the country. And most importantly, the energy and cost savings that thousands of Omaha and Lincoln residents and businesses will realize from this project will help everyone’s bottom lines for years to come.”

“I’d like to thank our partners who have dedicated the resources and time to this effort,” Mayor Suttle said. “We are looking forward to getting started on this project and announcing details to the community in the coming weeks and months.”

This program would not be possible without the continued support and advocacy from US Senator Ben Nelson on the 2009 The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. “I thank Senator Nelson for his support of this important legislation that will have great benefits for all Omahans for many years to come,” said Mayor Suttle.

Omaha and Lincoln were one of twenty-five communities selected nationwide for the program.

Read the release from Senator Ben Nelson

Read the release from Vice President Joe Biden

City of Omaha Mayor’s Office

Economic Development Archive

Mayor Suttle Participates in Mayors’ Institute on City Design

Mayor Suttle to Expand Hilton, Add Jobs

Two Major Sustainability Conferences Headed to Omaha This Week

The CIP: Your Bond Dollars At Work

125 Summer Youth Jobs Coming to Omaha

Omaha & Lincoln Receive $10 Million in Energy Efficiency Funding

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