Nebraska
Nebraska needs immigrants • Nebraska Examiner
Nebraska emerged from the pandemic in 2022 with the worst workforce shortage in the U.S.
Businesses and governments statewide had more than 80,000 job openings and only 32 people looking for work for every 100 of those openings, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Unfortunately, according to the same dataset, Nebraska and Utah currently have the lowest available worker ratio to job openings in the U.S. Only 56 Nebraskans are looking for work for every 100 job openings, while the national average is 84 people looking for work for every 100 openings.
This is not a short-term problem. In 2022, there were 2,000 fewer Nebraska students enrolled in kindergarten than in the 12th grade, according to Nebraska Public Schools data.
A possible solution
Business and trade association leaders say: “Immigrants are the solution!”
Omaha Together One Community (OTOC) leaders conducted more than 100 meetings over the past three years with Nebraska agricultural, health-care, labor, education, hospitality, philanthropic, faith, construction, immigrant, legal, banking, and community leaders to learn more about our workforce needs.
We learned that an owner of a dairy farm had been awake for almost 48 hours milking his cows because his short-term immigrant staff had to leave Nebraska when their work visas expired. We heard of immigrants with work visas who can come to the U.S. with their families, but their spouses and working-age children are not allowed to work.
We learned of Nebraskans who travel 90 miles each way to see an elderly grandmother because their local long-term care facility is closed due to an inability to hire adequate staff.
We also heard of community leaders who were concerned that their schools and churches were at risk of closing. They no longer had pharmacies, hardware stores and car repair shops. They were at risk of losing their grocery stores and coffee
shops. They said loud and clear: “We don’t need immigrant workers! We need immigrant families!”
A new alliance
As result of these meetings, a statewide non-partisan alliance has formed. The Nebraska Alliance for Thriving Communities includes leaders from across the state. This 70-member Alliance agrees on a common-sense set of immigration priorities to enrich our communities and address Nebraska’s
workforce shortage.
According to a recent study funded by the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce Foundation, “There is universal and widespread business support for immigration reform as a means to address the workforce gap in Nebraska. Participants clearly understood that the demand generated from the state’s current economic growth trajectory will exceed the state’s projected workforce supply. Nebraska’s decreasing birth rate coupled with a high labor force participation rate will require a talent influx in order to meet the needs of the state’s strong projected economic growth. There was universal consensus that immigration is critical to the state’s ability to continue to grow and prosper.”
Omaha Together One Community agrees! Nebraska needs more immigrants, not less!
Kathleen Grant is a leader of Omaha Together One Community Omaha Together One Community, a 30-year-old organization of 30 church congregations and community organizations that trains leaders to work across barriers for the common good.
GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.
ALLIANCE, Neb. (WOWT) – Carhenge, a replica of the world-famous Stonehenge made of old cars, opened in the Nebraska Panhandle in 1987.
According to Visit Nebraska, it was constructed in Alliance by the Jim Reinders family in memory of his father during a family reunion.
Carhenge also includes sculptures made of old cars and car parts.
It is open year-round and free to visit.
MORE LOCAL HISTORY
—
On July 4, 2026, our country will celebrate its 250th birthday. Every day leading up to it, First Alert 6 will take a look at the people and events that shaped our area.
—
Get a first alert to severe weather approaching your area. Download the First Alert 6 Weather app.
Copyright 2026 WOWT. All rights reserved.
LINCOLN, NEB — With less than 1% of Nebraska’s native tallgrass prairie remaining, Lincoln officials say a newly acquired tract of land could help preserve a disappearing part of the state’s landscape while expanding outdoor recreation opportunities for future generations.
Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird and city leaders announced the purchase of nearly 100 acres southwest of Pioneers Park for $924,630 through a partnership involving the City of Lincoln, the Lower Platte South Natural Resources District, and Solidago Conservancy.
The acquisition advances the Prairie Corridor on Haines Branch project, a long-term effort to establish a continuous conservation and recreation corridor stretching from Pioneers Park Nature Center in Lincoln to the Spring Creek Prairie Audubon Center near Denton.
Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird said the project will provide additional opportunities for residents and visitors to experience Nebraska’s prairie landscape while protecting natural resources.
“Advancing the Prairie Corridor, we create more opportunities for residents and visitors to hike, bike, explore nature, and experience the beautiful landscape that defines our region,” Gaylor Baird said. “We protect vital natural resources that improve water quality and help reduce flood risk downstream, and we preserve an important part of Nebraska’s natural heritage for future generations.”
The newly acquired Prairie Corridor Link property is intended to help connect Pioneers Park Nature Center and Spring Creek Prairie Audubon Center through a continuous protected prairie and trail system.
Plans for the Prairie Corridor include restoring over 5,000 acres of prairie lands (~2,000 acres of tallgrass prairie, and ~3,400 acres of native prairie) and constructing a 14.5-mile multiuse trail that will connect to Lincoln’s existing trail network.
“This property is a piece of a long-term vision to connect Pioneers Park Nature Center and Spring Creek Prairie Audubon Center through a continuous corridor, protected prairie, and trail,” Gaylor Baird said.
Parks and Recreation Director Maggie Stuckey-Ross said approximately over a majority of the Prairie Corridor Trail project has now been secured.
“Once complete, the corridor will include a continuous 7,400-acre passage of tallgrass prairie and a 14.5-mile multiuse trail, and in just nine years, nearly 70% of the Prairie Corridor trail corridor has been secured,” Stuckey-Ross said.
Project leaders say the Prairie Corridor has the potential to become a destination for hikers, cyclists, students, and nature enthusiasts from across Nebraska while helping preserve one of the state’s rarest ecosystems for future generations.
More information about the Prairie Corridor on Haines Branch is available at PrairieCorridor.org.
-
Maine4 minutes agoYou drew a Maine moose permit. Here’s what to do right now.
-
Maryland11 minutes agoMaryland Gov. Moore champions the spirit of Juneteenth and togetherness at AFRAM 50
-
Michigan14 minutes agoInsider: Shaky polls cause uproar in Michigan Senate, governor races
-
Massachusetts19 minutes agoSwimmer pulled from Houghton’s Pond after search
-
Minnesota26 minutes agoAurora clinches division championship with 4-1 win over River Light
-
Mississippi29 minutes agoMississippi Lottery Mississippi Match 5, Cash 3 results for June 20, 2026
-
Missouri34 minutes agoSilverfield Might Have Master Plan For Arkansas to Finally Take Down Missouri
-
Montana41 minutes ago
Montana Lottery Powerball, Lotto America results for June 20, 2026
