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Engage reports progress on industrial sites, workforce pipelines and childcare efforts in Gage County
Summary
Engage executive director Rachel Kracenmeier told supervisors the economic development organization is pursuing an industrial site study, workforce pipelines with local schools, national site promotion and a potential economic development certification for Beatrice.
Rachel Kracenmeier, executive director of Engage (the county’s economic development organization), presented the group’s quarterly report to the Gage County Board of Supervisors on Wednesday and said the agency is actively marketing sites, building employer-driven workforce pipelines and supporting housing and childcare projects across the county.
Kracenmeier said Engage’s board approved a proposal to hire Olson to perform a new industrial site study that could identify up to eight potential sites countywide and eventually narrow the list to three or four priority parcels for site-development work. “We’re hoping up to 8 sites throughout the county,” she said.
She reported active national and international advertising of Beatrice and the Hickory Industrial site and that site-selection firms have begun requesting parcel information. Kracenmeier said Engage is also working with Lincoln Partnership for Economic Development and plans to apply for an Economic Development Certified Community designation for the city of Beatrice by the end of March.
On workforce issues, Kracenmeier said Engage is establishing talent pipelines with local employers and Tri County Public Schools to provide students with work experience. On housing and rural development, she said projects are underway in Cortland, Wymore and other rural parts of the county; an updated housing study is scheduled for late 2025 or early 2026 to quantify needed units.
Kracenmeier outlined childcare work as moving to a new nonprofit, the Gage County Childcare Collaborative, with several local providers serving on its board; Engage will remain a business‑oriented consultant to that effort. The board voted to place the quarterly report on file.
