LINCOLN, NEB. (November 7, 2008)-Ord, Lexington, and South Sioux City have been selected to participate in the Nebraska Department of Economic Development's (DED) $3 million "New Neighborhoods II" Initiative.

"If Nebraska is to remain competitive in its pursuit of new business start-ups and expansions, we must do everything in our power to ensure that affordable housing is readily available to meet the needs of employees relocating for these better job opportunities," said Richard Baier, DED director. "Along this line, our communities also must continue to pursue other projects, such as downtown revitalization and infrastructure improvements...projects that all factor heavily into people's reasons for ultimately choosing to live in one location or another."

The Department will invest up to $3 million total from the Nebraska Affordable Housing Trust Funds and the Community Development Block Grant Economic Development Revolving Loan Fund depending on the nature of the cities' projects. The projects are designed to recruit and retain local workforces through new planned unit development subdivisions, including mixed income housing and mixed uses (such as commercial development). The three cities' local Economic Development Corporations are spearheading the projects.

The goal of the "New Neighborhoods II" Initiative is to develop models for communities lacking all necessary components to meet the demand for workforce housing, which in turn, stalls business recruitment and expansion efforts. This Initiative includes planning, community development and housing components, and projects may be multi-phased and span several years.

Contacts in each city are:

• Lexington - Joe Pepplitsch - 308 324-2341
• Ord - Nancy Glaubke - 308-728-7875
• South Sioux City - Lance Hedquist - 402-494-7517

The New Neighborhoods program was launched in 2007 with the participant cities of Columbus, Holdrege and Sidney.

CONTACT: Patty Wood at 800-426-6505, 402-4711559, or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it