В Нейбраске запустили программу подготовки лидеров для развития экономики штата

Community leaders, educators and elected officials gathered Wednesday at Northeast Community College’s Lifelong Learning Center for a northeast regional meeting of 6 Regions, One Nebraska, where discussions focused on economic development and strengthening local leadership across the state. The meeting highlighted efforts to create more coordinated economic development strategies and provide training opportunities for current and future elected officials. Speaking to attendees, Leah Barrett, president of Northeast Community College, said community colleges have long played an important role in economic development and were a natural fit for the six-region model being used by the initiative. “When we were approached in the discussion of 6 Regions, One Nebraska, we were asked, ‘The community colleges are divided into a six-region model, why can’t we do that across the state?’ ” Barrett said. “Community colleges were asked over time to help with economic development.” Chamber seeks statewide strategy Joseph Young, president of the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce, said the organization plans to work closely with the state’s community colleges to build a more cohesive approach to economic development. Young said chamber leaders have heard consistent calls for stronger grassroots development efforts during visits across Nebraska. “We’ve been around the state, and there’s a thirst for more cohesive grassroots economic development strategies,” Young said. “That’s going to be one of the things we work on over the next six to 18 months.” He added that the chamber plans to become more active in public policy discussions and support leadership development efforts for future candidates seeking public office. Leaders encouraged to serve State Sen. Rob Dover acknowledged the challenges of public service and encouraged community members to consider leadership roles. “It’s not easy,” Dover said. “You want to keep everybody happy. Can you keep everybody happy in government? No.” Dover said communities should actively identify and encourage emerging leaders. “The future leaders are out working right now,” he said. “They’re dropping off their kids or picking them up, and we need to make sure that we reach out to those people.” Training planned for elected officials Denise Wilkinson, navigator for the Northeast Nebraska region, said a survey of 100 elected officials found many lacked confidence and practical training for leadership roles. Wilkinson said 6 Regions, One Nebraska intends to address those needs by offering training opportunities closer to home. “There is some great training out there, and I’m not going to compete with that,” Wilkinson said. “But what we’re offering is training in your local area because it’s hard to take a few days or a week off from your lives to travel around the country.” The planned curriculum will include responding to negative communication, responsible social media use and understanding artificial intelligence. Wilkinson also noted that leaders in southeast Nebraska are developing a leadership academy modeled after the Northeast Nebraska effort. Barrett closed the discussion by emphasizing the responsibility leaders have to prepare future generations. “How do we build opportunities for people to have these experiences, so they are prepared to be a leader and hone skills and get better and better?” Barrett said.