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Sarpy County economic development director reports three 'landed' projects, debates data-center strategy and infrastructure limits
Summary
At the Nov. 18 meeting, Lisa Sheave updated commissioners on three 'landed' projects and a slower pipeline, and a commissioner pressed on regionwide coordination and power availability for data centers, citing OPPD constraints and county sewer investments.
Lisa Sheave, Executive Director, told the Sarpy County Board of Commissioners on Nov. 18 that the county's economic development organization has three "landed projects" this year and a pipeline that remains active though "a little bit" slower.
"So far we've had 3 landed projects for the year," Sheave said, naming the Metropolitan Community College campus, Kelly Engineering in Gretna and an expansion in Papillion by Omaha Stakes. She said the organization is focusing on community engagement, business retention and strategic choices about which industries to pursue.
Sheave said firms reported a shift in outlook between 2024 and 2025: more companies signaled potential reductions in employment this year than the previous year. She highlighted labor costs, regulatory environment and workforce availability as top pain points and said site readiness—particularly infrastructure timelines—remains a limiting factor for some prospective projects.
On data centers, Sheave said the organization is "not going after any large scale hyperscale data centers" but will consider smaller-scale facilities to support existing operations. An extended exchange followed, with a commissioner questioning that approach and raising concerns about electricity availability from Omaha Public Power District (OPPD) and the county's role in regional infrastructure planning. The commissioner argued the county has invested heavily in sewer infrastructure to support economic development and asked why the county was not more involved in regional decisions about power and annexation.
Sheave said staff do keep county partners informed and that Bonnie Moore, the county administrator, sits on her organization's executive committee. She offered to meet one-on-one with commissioners to discuss priorities and site-development plans for 2026.
Sheave also told the board the organization is rethinking its events for 2026 to maximize impact and attendance and that they will address site-development and land-option strategies in a December planning meeting.
The discussion ended without formal action; commissioners directed staff to continue coordination on infrastructure readiness and to include the concerns in upcoming planning sessions.
