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Lincoln officials get mixed = economic=20 news
BY MATT OLBERDING / Lincoln = Journal=20 Star

After receiving several pats on the back from = their own=20 consultant Tuesday morning at the Economic Report Card = Breakfast,=20 city officials got a slap in the face from a guest speaker.=20

Angelos Angelou, = president=20 of Angelou Economics. (LJS File)=20

In a pre-recorded presentation, = consultant=20 Angelos Angelou of AngelouEconomics gave Lincoln mostly = higher marks=20 on its economic development efforts and praised the city for = improved efforts in many areas.

"The news for this = particular=20 score card for Lincoln is good news," Angelou = said.

Angelou=20 gave Lincoln A-pluses in promoting regional cooperation and=20 improving business retention. The city retained its A-plus = grade for=20 education. Angelou also upgraded the city's two F grades. On = establishing a business park, the city's work on opening up=20 industrial land in northwest Lincoln paid off, as the grade = jumped=20 to a B-minus. The F for implementing new financing for large = projects rose to a C-plus.=20

Angelou credited Lincoln's willingness = to use=20 tax increment financing for improving that = grade.

"That in my=20 opinion is going to be the catalyst for future economic=20 development," he said.

Though there are still areas = where=20 Lincoln needs improvement, overall, Angelou gave the city an = A for=20 its economic development efforts.

But lest city = officials=20 start feeling too good about their efforts, Robert Siegel, = who does=20 consulting and market research for some of the country's top = home=20 builders, told the audience at the Cornhusker Marriott that = he sees=20 a much different picture of Lincoln.

The statistics, = Siegel=20 said, show that Lincoln is not creating jobs and is seeing = more=20 people move out than in.

"If you are doing so well, = why are=20 people leaving?" he asked.

Planning Director Marvin = Krout=20 said Siegel's assertion that Lincoln has failed to create = jobs is=20 wrong.

Figures from the state = Department of=20 Labor showed jobs in Lancaster County were up about 3,800 in = April=20 from the year earlier. The number of people living in = Lancaster=20 County and employed rose almost 2,000 during the same time,=20 according to state statistics.

Aside from foreign=20 immigration, Krout added, there has been a slight net = domestic=20 outmigration since 2000, but overall immigration is up and = Lincoln's=20 population continues to grow.

While Lincoln works to = upgrade=20 its infrastructure, as mentioned in the report, Siegel said = the city=20 should no longer think of it in the traditional way of = highways and=20 buildings. Infrastructure is now software and databases, he=20 said.

"You can carry around today .. all the=20 world's knowledge in your pocket," Siegel = said.

Because=20 of that, he said, Lincoln could be run more efficiently from = India.

Siegel also countered Angelou's assertion that = opening=20 an industrial park should be Lincoln's top = priority.

"You=20 have to ask yourself, =91what are you going to put in those = industrial=20 parks?" he said.

With global changes over the span of = a few=20 years that have allowed 3 billion new workers to enter = the=20 marketplace, Siegel said, nothing can be made in Lincoln = that can't=20 be made more cheaply somewhere else.

While Lincoln = may think=20 it is competing with Omaha or Des Moines or other regional = cities,=20 it is really competing with large cities and other = countries, Siegel=20 said.

"You must change your concept of competition," = he said.=20 "You must also change your concept of Lincoln."

He = suggested=20 that Lincoln should compare itself to cities such as New = York and=20 Paris rather than Omaha, Des Moines or Topeka, = Kan.

He also=20 said Lincoln should be thought of more as an idea rather = than a=20 place. He told the audience to think of Lincoln as a = computer=20 statement.

"It is your job to make sure the bottom = line of=20 that statement is going up," he said.

The city can't = do that=20 by concentrating only on trying to attract selected = businesses and=20 industries, Siegel said. "You must be responsive to = every=20 opportunity," he said.

Wendy Birdsall, interim = president of=20 the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce, said that while she didn't = agree=20 with all that Siegel had to say, she thought it was great to = hear=20 his assessment on the heels of Angelou's report because "it = tells us=20 we can never sit still."

Birdsall said that while = celebrating=20 successes is important, it's also important not to get = complacent=20 and to continue to look for ways to do things = differently.

"I=20 think he (Siegel) said, all good and fine, you got this = great=20 report, but there's a whole big bad world out there that's = working=20 while you are asleep," she said.

Lincoln Mayor Coleen = Seng=20 said she was pleased with Angelou's report, especially his=20 recognition of the work Lincoln has done to open up = industrial=20 land.

She said the Airpark West project =97 800 acres = near=20 Interstate 80 and Northwest 48th Street =97 has been the = city's No. 1=20 effort, and she was glad that Angelou was "complimentary of = our=20 efforts."

As for Siegel, Seng said she was somewhat=20 disappointed at his comments.

"I was sorry he was = quite so=20 pessimistic, and I wish he could have offered us some=20 encouragement," she said.

Seng said she hopes those = who=20 attended the breakfast don't buy in to Siegel's comments but = instead=20 use them as motivation.

Reach Matt Olberding at = 473-2647=20 or molberding@journalstar.com= .=20

3D"Weather

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