Aurora Development Corporation is wrapping up our annual funding campaign, joining many other local organizations that kick off the year by investing in the future of our community. We are incredibly grateful for the many businesses and individuals who already support our efforts to strengthen Aurora. At the same time, this is a great opportunity to share more about who we are, how we operate, and the role we play in local growth.

Founded more than 60 years ago, Aurora Development Corporation was established as a for-profit corporation—a structure we continue today. This means we pay income tax and are owned by shareholders. Currently, 219 shareholders hold 3,803 shares, representing a strong network of local businesses and individuals who are invested in the long-term success of our community.

Over the years, funds raised through the sale of shares have been strategically reinvested into development projects across Aurora. From industrial parks to housing subdivisions and the new developments south of town, these investments have helped shape the community we see today. Rather than distributing dividends, shareholders and our volunteer board of directors have chosen to reinvest earnings back into projects that drive continued growth—creating lasting value for the entire community.

In 2019, as the organization prepared to hire a new director, the board made a forward-thinking decision to preserve these reinvestment efforts by establishing a secondary revenue stream. This led to the creation of our annual funding campaign, which supports day-to-day operations such as staffing, training, and office expenses—ensuring we can continue to serve the community without slowing development momentum.

For those less familiar with Aurora Development Corporation, it’s natural to wonder why businesses and individuals choose to support our work. The answer often comes down to both direct and indirect benefits.

Direct benefits are the services you can see and experience firsthand. These include business retention and expansion interviews, support for downtown revitalization grant efforts, assistance tailored to unique business needs, monthly business updates, community feedback sessions, and more. These efforts provide immediate value to local businesses and stakeholders.

Equally important—though sometimes less visible—are the indirect benefits. Economic development often happens behind the scenes, but its impact is felt community-wide. Supporting a local business through an expansion, for example, may not always be highly visible, but the results are far-reaching: new jobs, increased local services, a stronger tax base, and continued momentum for housing and commercial growth. These ripple effects help create a more vibrant, sustainable community for everyone.

While Aurora Development Corporation is not involved in every project across Aurora and Hamilton County, our role is to support and complement private sector efforts whenever possible. We believe in empowering local businesses and developers while providing the resources and connections needed to help ideas move forward.

If continued growth and opportunity are important to you, we invite you to be part of this work—whether through financial support, partnership, or volunteer involvement by connecting with our executive director here. We are deeply appreciative of those who already contribute to our annual funding campaign, making it possible for us to respond when opportunities arise and continue building a strong future for Aurora.

Working in economic development, it is normal to go through large and small strategic planning efforts regularly to make sure that the goals of our organization align with the goals of the community when it comes to future growth.

Our most recent strategic plan began in early 2025 and we continue to have dedicated committees that meet regularly to carry out our initiatives.  One of our committees recently created a project scorecard, which will be used internally to analyze projects that come to Hamilton County.

Assessing the benefits that a project brings to our area has always been a focus of ADC, so the scorecard is formally tracking aspects we have already considered with new projects.  The areas that the scorecard specifically covers includes project basics, utility and infrastructure requirements, local business and supply chain impacts, strategic alignment with community goals, incentives and financial considerations, community impact and risks, and community benefits.  With this information documented, it will help current and future board members understand a project fully and communicate that information with others.

Once the committee had the scorecard finalized, the next step was to take inventory on what the community of Aurora and greater Hamilton County have to offer. Why would a business, or an individual for that matter, want to locate here and how can we document that information with data.  As a committee we were easily able to list 17 different benefits of locating in the Aurora area, so I will summarize four of our top reasons.

There is a strong agriculture presence here with 312,294 acres of corn crop farm ground in Hamilton County. That number increases to 1.3 million acres in an eight-county radius. In 2025 Hamilton County was the 3^rd highest in corn production just behind York and Hall counties. We have strong agriculture business representation with businesses like Aurora COOP, KAAPA Ethanol Plant, Beck’s Corn Seed Production Facility, Specialty Ag Formulations and many more.

Aurora has a business-friendly regulatory environment, which extends to building and zoning permits.  Both processes include minimal paperwork and nominal fees when compared to larger cities.  There is also a straightforward collaboration and approvement process when working with city officials to navigate the permitting process.

There are commercial and residential shovel-ready sites for development. The Mission Critical site south of Aurora has 20 acres of shovel-ready lots that have streets, water, sewer, storm sewer and natural gas already developed and zoned for commercial and light industrial development.    There are also more than 40 residential lots ready for development on the west and north sides of Aurora.

Aurora continues to offer low tax rates to businesses and residents.  On average our community has 20% lower property tax rates compared to neighboring counties and with no city sales tax, purchases made at local businesses are taxed less than they are when shopping in nearby communities.

Together, these strengths position Aurora and Hamilton County for thoughtful, sustainable growth. By pairing data-driven decision-making with the natural advantages of our community, we are ensuring that each new opportunity aligns with our long-term vision. Our goal is not just growth for the sake of growth, but growth that strengthens our local economy, supports our residents, and builds on the foundation that already makes Aurora a great place to live, work, and do business.

Every year around this time I write about state legislative issues and how they may or may not impact our local businesses, based on guidance Aurora Development Corporation receives from the Nebraska Economic Developers Association (NEDA) and the Nebraska State Chamber.

This year, my schedule has been no different, and I spent a couple of days in Lincoln working on behalf of our local businesses.  One week I participated in two council meetings with the state chamber on the topics of Agribusiness, Environment and Energy.  Then I met with NEDA to discuss economic development bills we support or oppose and then we headed to the capital to meet with senators.

I correspond with Senator Lippincott a fair amount, so I was able to text with him that morning to let him know that I would be stopping by the capital and we decided to meet in the rotunda because he was introducing a priority bill later that morning.

For individuals who don’t connect with their senator as often, it is also possible to schedule a meeting by phone or email ahead of time through their office staff.  The other way to speak with a senator while they are in session, is to check in with one of the individuals wearing a red coat in the rotunda.  You can fill out a white slip of paper indicating which senator you would like to speak with and what topic you want to discuss, and they will deliver it to the senator, so they can come out to speak with you when they are free.

While I have made numerous trips to the capital to talk with senators over the years, I have never used this method for connecting with a senator, which is why I made the mistake of wearing a red coat myself to the capital.  Since it was a busy morning for Senator Lippincott, I waited in the rotunda around 30 minutes to speak with him.  Due to my clothing choices, I was handed a white slip of paper to pass along to a senator, while I was waiting.  In the end it was a fellow NEDA member giving me a hard time for wearing a red coat.  So, learn from my mistakes and don’t wear a red coat to the capital.

If you aren’t interested in navigating the endless hallways of our capital or the dynamics of the rotunda, you can also communicate your business related concerns to our office and we will pass them along to Senator Lippincott on your behalf.

I am one of several people who receives the building permit list from the city each month.  Some months I am looking for projects I have worked on that finally reached the building permit stage and other months I am surprised by projects that I had no idea were in the works.  I don’t typically talk about building permits, since the Aurora News Register does a great job of covering this topic, but I continue to track this information each month in a database that started back in the year 2000.

When I was asked to give a quote about building permit totals for 2025, the brief information provided was that total permits were $17.3 million, down from last year’s $53.6 million.  This information is true and will likely be the headline, but it made me curious to look further back, knowing we had amazing building permit totals in 2023 and 2024.

Looking back over the past 25 years, building permit totals have ranged from a low of $1.7 million in 2002 to a high of $255 million in 2007.  Taking out the four years that were over $20 million, the annual average comes out to $7.9 million.  It is also important to note that this year’s total is the 5^th highest building permit total in the last 25 years.  Given that perspective, I think it is safe to say that building permit totals of $17.3 million in 2025 is something to celebrate.

Something else that is important to point out and celebrate is the type of development that has happened in 2025.    The majority, if not all, of the building permits issued in 2025 came from within the community.  This means that there was growth in the residential, commercial, and industrial sectors which are already located in Aurora.

When people think of Aurora Development Corporation, we are usually tied to the new businesses that are attracted to the community.  While we do work on those projects, our greater goal is to make sure businesses and residents located in Aurora and Hamilton County are successful, whether they just moved to the area or have been here for decades.  When we have a year where most/all of the growth comes from within, and it was a significant amount of development at that, we know we are reaching that greater goal of success for our entire community.

There is no greater sales pitch than proven community success.  I think it is safe to say that 2025 provided great evidence that opportunity grows here.

Something I do each week is drive around Aurora and check on Aurora Development Corporation (ADC) properties.  Between commercial and residential lots, ADC owns ground in five different areas of Aurora that I check.  I drive around once a week for many reasons, but one of the highlights is seeing developments take shape over time, particularly in housing.

Currently ADC plays a supporting role in housing efforts as the Aurora Housing Development Corporation (AHDC) has hit the ground running since receiving Rural Workforce Housing Funds in 2021 and 2023.  As a supporter of housing efforts, ADC mainly helps with some development costs, holding lots and office resources in updating housing materials.

One thing that always sticks out to me on my weekly drive, is how fast housing development can happen.  One week there will be a basement dug, the next week concrete will be poured, shortly after that the walls start going up, and before you know it there is a stone with a new last name on it and a trash can, which is a sure sign that someone is living there.

Since I started driving around in 2020, there have been 9 new homes built in the Northridge subdivision, which is located north of the 4 Diamond Sport softball/baseball complex. In the Streeter Subdivision, which is everything west of Westfield Quality Care, there have been 27 single-family homes, 18 duplexes (36 living units), and a 12-unit apartment complex built in the last 6 years. This is an amazing amount of development for a community of less than 5,000 people.

Using average assumptions, this housing development has moved more than 180 people into Aurora.  Now, I know that some of those people already were in Aurora, but the house they left was then opened for people moving into the community or up in housing.  This is actually the scenario that we envision for the new duplex townhomes, built on Cottage Park Drive.  We assumed people would move into these duplexes to downsize, which would open their previous larger home for families.  In reality, most of those residents are new to the community, moving to Aurora to be centrally located to other family members.

Looking at the economic impact of this housing development, we know that in addition to increasing our population, this has also created $20.3 million in new investment in the community through construction costs.  Additionally, with a median household income of $66,588 in Aurora, the economic impact of this new housing is adding more than $5.6 million to the local economy each year.

I am excited to see new housing and commercial development as I continue my weekly drive around Aurora.  While it is easy to see commercial and business development happening in our community, it is important to remember that housing is also a key piece of community growth.  Over the past 6 years, Aurora has excelled at housing development and that is a trend we plan to continue in the future.