Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
We're joining this morning by the out of the Omaha
Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce, Heath Mellow Heath, great to.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Have you here, Great to be here with you. Gary.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Big question of the week, of course, since this news
broke is what is the future of this railroad in
Omaha the headquarters? It is speculated by some am going
to switch to Atlanta. I don't think so, what do
you know?
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Well, you know, I think for to start things off,
I think most people need to take a step back
and really look at the big picture. That the announcement
was fairly historic, and we look at it from a
perspective that for a fortune two point fifty company like
Union Pacific to announce the first transcontinental railroad to be
(00:40):
able to connect the east and the west of this
magnitude puts the city of Omaha in the Omaha region
really the epicenter of the transportation and logistics industry. And
so that alone, I think is a is a significant
win for the Omaha metro region Jays, because that just
truly is going to provide a tremendous you know, media
(01:05):
and economic opportunity for us, which just that alone, Now
a lot of folks clearly have been asking about what's
the future of UPS headquarters, what's going to happen with
Norfolk Southern. You know, I think you have to look
at what UP. You know, what UP said publicly, what
Norfolk Southern said. You know, Union Pacific has announced that
they're they're proud to call Omaha home, and I think
(01:27):
I can't speak for them, no one else can speak
for them, And I think we all need to really
look and emphasize that they're proud to call Omaha home.
And I think we're going to have to emphasize and
really celebrate that day in and day out and be
grateful that a fortune two fifty company calls Omaha their
home base. But I think the way the Great Oaha
Chamber looks at it, conversations with local and state federal
(01:49):
elected officials over the last forty eight hours, we all
see this as a tremendous opportunity for us to be
able to really be able to grow and enhance the
number of jobs through this merger.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
Well, it's different, uh, UP is a man is a
heavy industrial business, unlike Schwab, for example, which moved from
San Francisco to Dallas, and that was a very big deal.
They didn't have to move trains and train tracks and
maintenance facilities and everything else. They didn't have the Bailey
Yard and North Platte like up does, which is the
largest railroad transportation exchange facility in the world. But the
(02:27):
question becomes, what do we do with these high end
employees at Norfolk Southern. Now, you spoke to me about
the incident in Kansas City when Pfiser moved a bunch
of their employees to Kansas City, but it took some
sort of economic incentive package to do so. Now, in
the world of Rosie the economic incentive packages. Do you
want to keep your job? You're moving to Omaha. That's
(02:50):
That's one of the reasons I'm not the CEO. Now
what about this? What needs to happen and what's Omaha
going to do?
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Jim? That is that is that is the reality we
live in. Economic development, not just here in Nebraska but
across the country requires that states have to compete with
economic development incentives. And what we saw in the state
of Kansas with Fiserv showed that in the new world,
if you want to recruit companies to expand one hundred
(03:20):
thousand dollars plus jobs, particularly white collar jobs. You're going
to have to be able to develop a package that
is really there to try to entice them to want
to bring those jobs to your community. In this particular instance,
we feel that with up being such a cornerstone of
Nebraska's economy, both in Omaha and North Platte, the opportunities
(03:42):
to be able to try to relocate jobs from Atlanta,
from Charlotte, from Chicago, all of the areas that Norfolk
Southern has potential jobs spread around the country. We feel
that there's an opportunity to be able to do that
with potential policy and legislation. It's going to require a
number of stakeholders working together to be able to make
(04:02):
something of that magnitude happen. But I think when people
see the opportunities that exist moving forward, that's something that
doesn't just impact Union Pacific. This is a bigger conversation
about economic development itself, that we have an opportunity to
drive that in the future with our economy of enhancing
our economic development programs.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
Talking about Omaha with Omaha jam Or CEO Heath Mellow
for another minute, how do you gauge the let's call
it the political economic climate in Omaha. Now the new
administration and new city Council. You've obviously have been in
touch and have contact with Mayor Ewing and going forward,
if it comes down to this, are you optimistic at
(04:42):
this city political leadership will step forward?
Speaker 2 (04:46):
You know, in the last month five weeks since Mayor
Ewing's been mayor and the new council member, new council's
type taking effect, we've had nothing but good dialogue about
everything that aligns with the Chambers agenda. Economic de development
is clearly one of the top priorities for Mayor Ewing
in the city Council. I think with the opportunities that
exist with the Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern merger, I
(05:10):
think will be completely aligned in the sense of wanting
to see Omaha and the Omaha region take advantage of
those opportunities. I think that's the perhaps the biggest thing,
is what can Omaha do. It's not just the state
at this point in time. The City of Omaha is
going to have to find a way to play a
role as well. Because Union Pacific is right there in
the heart of downtown Omaha.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
Eight hundred and fifty million dollar payrolls just in Alma
it's all so.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
About you, but we don't have a lot of eight
hundred and fifty million dollars payrolls rolling around town. But
what does an economic incentive look like in this way
when you talk about attracting a whole business, you're talking
about tax incentives and maybe land to build things. We're
talking about attracting employees. What does an incentive like this
look like?
Speaker 2 (05:56):
You know what some of the research, some of the
work that we've done, you know that that looks at
everything from relocation incentives. You know, when you're trying to
help relocate people from another community, that's that's everything from
helping provide an income tax credit to those individuals wanting
to help cover part of their moving expenses, which we
know when you're moving from Atlanta to Omaha. Look, that's
(06:19):
that's twenty five to forty thousand dollars or moving expenses.
And if you're trying to help relocate someone to convince
them that not just Omaha's got a lower income taxes
and a lower property taxes, but you know, to some
extent it's going to be a it's going to be
a heavy lift for them to pick up their family
and move here. That's some of the most basic I
would say incentives you that you want to consider when
(06:40):
you're looking at people people incentives, but really it comes
down to, once again, ensuring that they've got a quality job.
To some extent, they've got access to quality schools. The
housing issue, I will tell you, as part of the
concern that you know, we want to make sure that
we can address when you're trying to recruit people to
come to the Omaha metro area. So there's a let's
(07:01):
just say this, this is going to be an opportunity
for the city, for the state, for the chamber, our
partners working together to be really innovative because we haven't
had an opportunity like this gym, I'll say, for the
last twenty five years, to really put a lot of
things on the table.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
Let's stay in touch, important times, exciting times, many ways,
absolutely jaries. Thank you,
We're joining this morning by the out of the Omaha
Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce, Heath Mellow Heath, great to.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Have you here, Great to be here with you. Gary.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Big question of the week, of course, since this news
broke is what is the future of this railroad in
Omaha the headquarters? It is speculated by some am going
to switch to Atlanta. I don't think so, what do
you know?
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Well, you know, I think for to start things off,
I think most people need to take a step back
and really look at the big picture. That the announcement
was fairly historic, and we look at it from a
perspective that for a fortune two point fifty company like
Union Pacific to announce the first transcontinental railroad to be
(00:40):
able to connect the east and the west of this
magnitude puts the city of Omaha in the Omaha region
really the epicenter of the transportation and logistics industry. And
so that alone, I think is a is a significant
win for the Omaha metro region Jays, because that just
truly is going to provide a tremendous you know, media
(01:05):
and economic opportunity for us, which just that alone, Now
a lot of folks clearly have been asking about what's
the future of UPS headquarters, what's going to happen with
Norfolk Southern. You know, I think you have to look
at what UP. You know, what UP said publicly, what
Norfolk Southern said. You know, Union Pacific has announced that
they're they're proud to call Omaha home, and I think
(01:27):
I can't speak for them, no one else can speak
for them, And I think we all need to really
look and emphasize that they're proud to call Omaha home.
And I think we're going to have to emphasize and
really celebrate that day in and day out and be
grateful that a fortune two fifty company calls Omaha their
home base. But I think the way the Great Oaha
Chamber looks at it, conversations with local and state federal
(01:49):
elected officials over the last forty eight hours, we all
see this as a tremendous opportunity for us to be
able to really be able to grow and enhance the
number of jobs through this merger.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
Well, it's different, uh, UP is a man is a
heavy industrial business, unlike Schwab, for example, which moved from
San Francisco to Dallas, and that was a very big deal.
They didn't have to move trains and train tracks and
maintenance facilities and everything else. They didn't have the Bailey
Yard and North Platte like up does, which is the
largest railroad transportation exchange facility in the world. But the
(02:27):
question becomes, what do we do with these high end
employees at Norfolk Southern. Now, you spoke to me about
the incident in Kansas City when Pfiser moved a bunch
of their employees to Kansas City, but it took some
sort of economic incentive package to do so. Now, in
the world of Rosie the economic incentive packages. Do you
want to keep your job? You're moving to Omaha. That's
(02:50):
That's one of the reasons I'm not the CEO. Now
what about this? What needs to happen and what's Omaha
going to do?
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Jim? That is that is that is the reality we
live in. Economic development, not just here in Nebraska but
across the country requires that states have to compete with
economic development incentives. And what we saw in the state
of Kansas with Fiserv showed that in the new world,
if you want to recruit companies to expand one hundred
(03:20):
thousand dollars plus jobs, particularly white collar jobs. You're going
to have to be able to develop a package that
is really there to try to entice them to want
to bring those jobs to your community. In this particular instance,
we feel that with up being such a cornerstone of
Nebraska's economy, both in Omaha and North Platte, the opportunities
(03:42):
to be able to try to relocate jobs from Atlanta,
from Charlotte, from Chicago, all of the areas that Norfolk
Southern has potential jobs spread around the country. We feel
that there's an opportunity to be able to do that
with potential policy and legislation. It's going to require a
number of stakeholders working together to be able to make
(04:02):
something of that magnitude happen. But I think when people
see the opportunities that exist moving forward, that's something that
doesn't just impact Union Pacific. This is a bigger conversation
about economic development itself, that we have an opportunity to
drive that in the future with our economy of enhancing
our economic development programs.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
Talking about Omaha with Omaha jam Or CEO Heath Mellow
for another minute, how do you gauge the let's call
it the political economic climate in Omaha. Now the new
administration and new city Council. You've obviously have been in
touch and have contact with Mayor Ewing and going forward,
if it comes down to this, are you optimistic at
(04:42):
this city political leadership will step forward?
Speaker 2 (04:46):
You know, in the last month five weeks since Mayor
Ewing's been mayor and the new council member, new council's
type taking effect, we've had nothing but good dialogue about
everything that aligns with the Chambers agenda. Economic de development
is clearly one of the top priorities for Mayor Ewing
in the city Council. I think with the opportunities that
exist with the Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern merger, I
(05:10):
think will be completely aligned in the sense of wanting
to see Omaha and the Omaha region take advantage of
those opportunities. I think that's the perhaps the biggest thing,
is what can Omaha do. It's not just the state
at this point in time. The City of Omaha is
going to have to find a way to play a
role as well. Because Union Pacific is right there in
the heart of downtown Omaha.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
Eight hundred and fifty million dollar payrolls just in Alma
it's all so.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
About you, but we don't have a lot of eight
hundred and fifty million dollars payrolls rolling around town. But
what does an economic incentive look like in this way
when you talk about attracting a whole business, you're talking
about tax incentives and maybe land to build things. We're
talking about attracting employees. What does an incentive like this
look like?
Speaker 2 (05:56):
You know what some of the research, some of the
work that we've done, you know that that looks at
everything from relocation incentives. You know, when you're trying to
help relocate people from another community, that's that's everything from
helping provide an income tax credit to those individuals wanting
to help cover part of their moving expenses, which we
know when you're moving from Atlanta to Omaha. Look, that's
(06:19):
that's twenty five to forty thousand dollars or moving expenses.
And if you're trying to help relocate someone to convince
them that not just Omaha's got a lower income taxes
and a lower property taxes, but you know, to some
extent it's going to be a it's going to be
a heavy lift for them to pick up their family
and move here. That's some of the most basic I
would say incentives you that you want to consider when
(06:40):
you're looking at people people incentives, but really it comes
down to, once again, ensuring that they've got a quality job.
To some extent, they've got access to quality schools. The
housing issue, I will tell you, as part of the
concern that you know, we want to make sure that
we can address when you're trying to recruit people to
come to the Omaha metro area. So there's a let's
(07:01):
just say this, this is going to be an opportunity
for the city, for the state, for the chamber, our
partners working together to be really innovative because we haven't
had an opportunity like this gym, I'll say, for the
last twenty five years, to really put a lot of
things on the table.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
Let's stay in touch, important times, exciting times, many ways,
absolutely jaries. Thank you,
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