Prosper Omaha 2.0 Raises More Than $18 Million in Economic Development Funds

The regional response to Prosper Omaha 2.0 (omahachamber.org/prosper-omaha), a strategic economic development campaign designed to fast track Greater Omaha’s preferred future, has raised more than $18 million in business pledges toward the initiative’s $32 million goal — nine months after launching the six-county initiative. A previous campaign raised $25.9 million.

A five-year aspirational plan that accelerates a people/place/business-growth model, Prosper Omaha 2.0 is transforming a region where annual median income growth (3.4% in 2017) already outpaces the national growth rate of 2.6%, according to the U.S. Census Bureau; while higher education opportunities increasingly draw students to what Ziprecruiter calls the “No. 1 best city for college graduates to start their careers in 2018.”

The inaugural Prosper Omaha strategy launched in 2014, and produced nearly 300 landed projects, grew $4.2 billion in capital investment and created more than 13,000 jobs thanks to the $25.9 million in support from 300 investors.