The Executive Board heard testimony Feb. 3 on a bill that would create a task force focused on innovation and entrepreneurship in Nebraska\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n
LB1083, introduced by Gothenburg Sen. Matt Williams, would adopt the Next Generation Business Growth Act. The bill also would create a Venture Development and Innovation Task Force consisting of six senators appointed by the Executive Board.<\/p>\n
Williams said Nebraska needs to increase the number and diversity of high-wage jobs across the state.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor Nebraska to succeed it needs to grow,\u201d Williams said. \u201cGrowing is not easy and it takes a long-term strategy; it takes a plan and it takes commitment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel Duncan, executive director of Nebraska Innovation Campus Development Corporation, testified in support of the bill on behalf of the University of Nebraska. The state can be a powerful partner in developing new companies and fostering their growth, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cGovernmental agencies at all levels can help create a climate and a culture that helps innovation and entrepreneurship develop,\u201d Duncan said.<\/p>\n
The task force would be charged with developing a statewide strategic plan to cultivate a climate of entrepreneurship and innovation in Nebraska. The strategic plan would include:
\n\u2022\tan inventory of existing state-sponsored and locally sponsored programs and resources that are targeted to small businesses, microenterprises and entrepreneurial endeavors in the state;
\n\u2022\tan economic impact analysis of the existing programs under the Nebraska Business Innovation Act;
\n\u2022\tan overview of best practices from other states; and
\n\u2022\ta review of previously issued statewide strategic plans focused on high-growth businesses and various policy options.<\/p>\n
In consultation with the Executive Board, the task force would employ a nonprofit organization to assist in development of the strategic plan by Dec. 1, 2016. The $75,000 in funding for development of the strategic plan would come from the Community Development Assistance Act.<\/p>\n
The Next Generation Business Growth Act would terminate on Jan. 1, 2017.<\/p>\n
No opposition testimony was offered and the committee took no immediate action on LB1083.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Executive Board heard testimony Feb. 3 on a bill that would create a task force focused on innovation and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[26],"tags":[157],"class_list":["post-18318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-executive-board","tag-sen-matt-williams"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18318"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18318\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18319,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18318\/revisions\/18319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}