Governor Pete Ricketts accepted Site Selection Magazine’s “Governor’s Cup” Monday for the third consecutive year.  The award is presented to states that have demonstrated the most outstanding economic development achievements in the nation over the past year.  Nebraska received the Governor’s Cup for having the most economic development projects per capita in the United States in 2018.

“This third win in a row once again confirms that Nebraska is one of the best places in the world to do business,” said Governor Ricketts.  “We continue to lead the nation in new investment, job creation, and business expansions.  Our talented workforce, our great communities, and our outstanding leadership across the state all contributed to this tremendous victory.”

Site Selection is known as the senior publication in the corporate real estate and economic development fields, and its yearly analyses are regarded by experts as an industry scoreboard.

Not only did Nebraska receive top honors again this year, but the Omaha-Council Bluffs (NE-IA) metro area repeated its achievement of being the nation’s top metropolitan area for corporate facilities expansion in their respective population group.  The Sioux City (IA-NE-SD) metro area came in third place in the category of metro areas with populations of less than 200,000.  Lincoln also climbed in the national rankings, achieving the fourth most capital investment projects of any metro area having a population between 200,000 to one million — five spots higher than last year’s ranking.

Nebraska’s inclusion is attributed to 118 capital investment projects in 2018 — which surpassed the state’s 2017 winning tally by eight and its 2016 total by 17.  Billions of dollars in new investments contributed to this year’s three-peat victory.  Examples include:

  • Facebook’s billion-dollar-plus new data center in Omaha
  • Veramaris’ $200 million facility investment in Blair
  • Becton Dickinson’s $200 million in new investments in its Nebraska facilities.
  • i2c’s new operations center in Omaha
  • Michael Foods’ $150 million investment in Bloomfield