SIDNEY / Cheyenne County OUTLOOK 2005
Prepared by Gary Person (02/06/05)
Sidney City Manager
Sidney/ Cheyenne County Economic Development Director

Sidney and Cheyenne County has provided a consolidated economic development partnership from 1991-2005 that has resulted in unprecedented growth and strong momentum heading into the future. Economic indicators surged significantly upwards and the 2004 economic demographics indicated the Sidney area has one of the strongest economies among Nebraska�s largest communities, despite state and national struggles. We look for the trend to continue strong in coming years.

The 15 year span from(1991-2005) saw over $275 million in new community and economic development projects completed in the Sidney area creating a pro-business atmosphere where the economic indicators blossomed to record levels and the annual average wage income soared to the number one position of the 300 miles stretching over the 65 western Nebraska counties west of York.

Sidney and Cheyenne County now rank in the top 5 counties for per capita wages in Nebraska.

Sidney leads all Panhandle communities in population growth since 1990 and the smaller farming communities in Cheyenne County are also seeing positive gains in population unlike most of their rural neighbors. The City of Sidney�s economic development efforts have become the economic engine that is the driving force the well-being of the southern Panhandle and northeastern Colorado.

In 2003, despite a down national and state economy, Sidney registered its second best construction year in history at $16 million in new building permits issued, second only to 2001's record $20 million. This followed four previous record breaking years in Sidney from 1997-2000. In 2004, permits were just under $10 million, the 8th consecutive year the local economy hit or exceeded this economic barometer.

Sidney has always enjoyed location advantages sitting on the east-west Interstate-80 (San Francisco to New York), north-south U.S. 385 (Canada to Mexico), east-west U.S. 30 and Highway 19 from the Colorado front rage; along with the two major railroads, Burlington-Northern Santa Fe and Union Pacific, which cross paths at Sidney and are connected by Sidney and Lowe Railroad.

Approximately 45 percent of the work force for Sidney�s 6,400 jobs commutes here from neighboring communities in a 60 mile radius. Much effort has went into this as 15 new housing subdivision developments moved forward in recent years and two home owner down payment assistance grants also awarded to the community. Another major low and moderate income housing development called �The Village at Sidney� will break ground in the Spring of 2005.

The past 15 years brought diversification to the southern Panhandle area economy with manufacturing and trade growth and interstate commerce development that helped offset the ups and downs of the agriculture sector.


While the growth of the mid 1940's and 1950's were significant in the Sidney area due to the construction and operation of the Sioux Army Depot; the discovery of oil and gas; a strong farm economy and the eventual implementation of the Minuteman Missile system in the 1960's, those economic boosts eventually dwindled or suffered downturns. These were factors influenced by outside sources - the federal government and mother nature.

The private sector (home grown and recruited industries) economic base that was established in the 1990's and continued to expand in the current decade has proved to bring more balance and stability to economic progress for many years to come. Since the formation of the Sidney / Cheyenne County Economic Development partnership the Sidney area economy has seen:

* Retail sales tripled. Taxable sales increased each year from $46 million in 1990 to $138 million in 2004. Sidney led all major Nebraska communities in retail growth during this time. Adding those retail sales that are non-taxable, approximately $185 million in annual sales occurred in Sidney this 2004 year, according to the Nebraska Department of Revenue. With the local option
sales tax, SIDNEY has $2.25 million annually now goes towards property tax relief, community development organizations and projects and economic development job creation incentive programs.

* Lodging revenues quadrupled from $1.1 million annually to over $5 million in 2004. Motel rooms increased from 220 to 550 during the decade and a Holiday Inn conference center was built and helped land approximately 500 regional and statewide conferences in the past eight years here. A local lodging tax is overseen by the Cheyenne County Visitors Committee, for tourism promotions. The lodging tax was doubled the past year giving greater impetus for tourism promotion and development for the coming years.

* Building permits have totaled $10 million, $16 million, $12 million, $20 million, $14 million, $11 million, $13 million and $10 million respectively the past eight, setting an all-time record in year 2001. There has been over $100 million issued in building permits the past seven years compared to $75 million in the decade of the 1990's and $27 million in the 1980's..

* Employment growth in the private sector climbed by 85 percent from 1980-2004, according to the Nebraska Department of Labor. The Department of Labor said in Cheyenne County had 6,400 jobs and less than 2 percent unemployment. A Target Industry Study conducted in 2003 by the nationally known research firm of Deloitte-Touche-Fantas for the Nebraska Department of Economic Development ranked Cheyenne County #1 among the state�s 93 counties and Sidney #1 among the state�s 525 communities for �most jobs per capita!� The wage scale for these jobs per capita was also the highest among the 65 most western Counties in Nebraska and in the top 5 in Nebraska!

* Valuation of commercial and residential properties in the City of Sidney greater than doubled from 1987 to 2004, spreading the tax base over a larger area. Total valuation in 1987 was $119 million. That figure rose to $275 million in 2004 (it would be $295 million if vehicle valuation total was still included as it was in 1987.) Valuation in Cheyenne County rose to an all-time record level of $690million in 2004 compared to $350 million in 1987, a $340 million increase!


* The 204 tax rate decline for all property tax subdivisions in Sidney (school, county, city, natural resources district, wncc, esu, etc.) combined to reduce by 14 percent in the past six years from $2.60 cents per $100 of value in 1996 to $2.14 per $100 of value in 2004, as a result of increased valuation in the city and county, economic progress and state school aid legislation.

* Housing starts jumped significantly in the past decade. In 1989 there was only 1 housing permit issued in all of Cheyenne County, followed by 2 permits in 1990. The subsequent years, housing units built in Sidney included 1991 (8), 1992 (14), 1993 (24), 1994 (22), 1995 (15), 1996 (37), 1997 (60), 1998 (67), 1999 (40), 2000 (18) 2001 (51) 2002 (17), 2003 (38), 2004 (22).

There will continue to be much emphasis placed on housing development in the future. Twenty new housing subdivisions were created in the late 90's and early 2000's. This will be the key to Sidney and Cheyenne County�s future growth and ability to keep up with job creation.

* Traffic patterns on the three major arteries leading into Sidney - Interstate-80, U.S. 385 and Highway 19 off the front range of Colorado - increased by 154 percent since 1988. Total vehicles on those three main arteries totaled 6,680 per day in 1988. By 2002, the latest year that traffic statistics are available, that total escalated to 16,985 per day. If each vehicle represents 2.5 people, approximately 15.5 million people annually travel to Sidney on those highways each year.

All of these statistics are strong indicators of economic strength of the Sidney area. Unfortunately agriculture and the oil and gas industry, long time staples of the local economy, have been in up and down cycles. Agriculture did experience record incomes as reported in 2004. The community�s emphasis to diversify by adding emphasis on the industrial sector and interstate development over the past 15 years has helped strengthen riding the highs and lows of those two other important sectors of our economy. This strategy has paid great dividends for the local economy.

Additional emphasis will be placed in the future to bring more value added agriculture related industries to the Cheyenne County area to assist farmers and ranchers ability to diversify.

The 1997 citizens� 91 percent "yes" vote to establish a Sidney Economic Development Plan and allocate $2.5 million in development incentives for future expansions in the community, continues to pay dividends to the area. This was the highest favorable vote on an economic development plan in the history of the state of Nebraska for any community.

Seven times in the past 11 years, Sidney was named the �Nebraska Community of the Year� by various statewide organizations, including the Nebraska Diplomats, Nebraska Department of Economic Development, Nebraska Municipal Power Pool, Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska, Nebraska Community Improvement Program and Nebraska Department of Aeronautics.

As the atmosphere was created to enhance business and industry developments, area industries found the local economy conducive for growth and expansion, new investment and job creation.


Industry expansions occurred at Cabela�s, Krone Digital-Prestolite Wire, Memorial Health Center, Egging Company, Progress Rail, Pennington Seed, Nienhueser Construction and Excavation, Adams & Son Trucking, Glover Industries, Master Trading / Convert-a-Ball, Hooter Industries, Crossroads Co-op, Scoular Grain, Security First Technology Center, K-West, U.S. Aprons, Anderson Forest Products, Burco Rail Services, Sidney Warehousing & Industrial Sites, Sioux Meadows Industrial Park, Con-serv Flag, Sloan Estates, Van Vleet �s Excellence in Publishing and our newest industry announced in January, 2005 - Commercial Resin will open in the Spring.

Three industrial park areas have now been established. Sidney recently purchased a 90 acre tract on the east edge of the community for future development. A new owner of the Sioux Meadows I-80 Industrial Park northwest of Sidney closed on the property in late 2003 with some exciting development opportunities in the works and a solid track record of development from the front range of Colorado. Sioux Meadows announced a major housing development at the site northwest of Sidney in February, 2005. Sidney Warehousing and Industrial Sites that have operated for the past three decades recently sold their properties to Adams and Son Trucking, another local entrepreneur. Adams was instrumental in the recruitment of Commercial Resin, a pipe coating company for the oil industry that will open its doors this year.

The Interstate-80 development opened in 1988 when the Sidney City Council voted to extend utilities to Exit 59 after 15 years of no I-80 development at Sidney. The decade of the 90's brought about significant change to the community with the continued development of this Interchange. Currently over 450 businesses doing $150 million in annual retail sales with $90 million of new investment with 2,000 jobs located in this area. The Sidney / Cheyenne County Economic Development Partnership is working on five additional projects at I-80 Exit 59, including a new bank, new steakhouse, new pizza bus9iness two yet to be announced projects. Four others are in the initial research stage. Wal-Mart Super Center opened in January, 2004.

Downtown improvement also saw significant change. Following the agriculture crisis of the 1980's there were several vacant buildings downtown as retailers closed their doors due to the sagging economy. The 1990's again saw a resurgence of this area and $2 million in additional public improvements occurred including a significant downtown improvement project with new sidewalks, curb and gutter, elimination of underground vaults and new public parking lots. A Sidney Main Street program directed at revitalizing Sidney�s historic corridor was adopted in 2003.

U.S. 30 was resurfaced, new street lighting was installed, a Historic Downtown designation was secured, a Christmas Lighting project enhanced its beauty, new decorative waste containers were added, parking lots were improved, the County Courthouse added landscaping and a major downtown drainage project will be undertaken and funded by the City in 2005.

The Main Street program has been adopted along with a Certified Local Government program planned for the future to enhance development. Two new community welcome signs have been installed and two more will be completed in late 2004 or early 2005, and then landscaped.

Over $25 million in state and federal grants were secured by community leaders to enhance the development that took place in the community over the past decade. The financial community also strengthened its presence and financial backing in the community, including American National Bank, Security First, First National Bank, Sidney Federal Savings and Loan and First Tier. Two new banking facilities were constructed and another historically renovated. A third new banking structure will begin construction in 2005 at I-80, Exit 59.

Dozens of other smaller commercial ventures have also been completed the past decade, with over 60 new retailers now dotting the business scene in Sidney. Even more significant is the community addressed numerous major infrastructure projects in preparation for the next century including:

* Infrastructure improvements: Sidney in the 1990's established a new water well field and distribution system as a short term solution to nitrate problems in the Lodgepole Valley and Sidney Draw area. That project proved short lived, so the City embarked upon its largest public works project in history completing an $11 million water well field development and 20 mile transmission line from northwest of Sidney in 2004-05 that will resolve long standing quality and quantity challenges for generations to come.

Sidney with the assistance of Cheyenne County constructed a new regional Subtitle D landfill in 1996, the City continues to upgrade its electrical distribution system and generating power plant, constructed a flood plain control ditch that provided safety and eliminated much of a flood plain that previously restricted building throughout much of Sidney. As mentioned, the City is about to embark on another flood control issue for the downtown area.

A four mile walking, hiking and biking trail and expanded this trail in 2001 and built a new $3 million indoor community center, and redesigned and developed new ballfields.

New highways include a $500,000 improvement to 11th Avenue at the entrance of our community and a $2.3 million five lane Old Post Road corridor at our Interstate business district. Cheyenne County continues to keep up with the challenge of maintaining hundreds of rural roads.

County fairgrounds building improvements were added, Legion Park and Lodgepole Valley Youth Camp improvements were made, a Kiwanis Park was established on Sidney�s north side with new youth recreation amenities and the Community Building in Legion Park remodeled. A new skate park and tennis courts opened in 2002.

Numerous airport improvements have been implemented, the Brownson bridge was reconstructed seven miles east of Sidney that serves two industrial park areas, Fire Department equipment upgrades have been made throughout the county, a library automation system was implemented, a County / City Communications Center was established at the Courthouse and the community�s warning system was upgraded expanded to additional expansion areas.

Sidney continues to build upon its reputation in attracting tourists. Highway traffic leading into the community has grown by 164 percent and the community boasts of the No. 1 tourist attraction in Nebraska with the Cabela�s retail store. The downtown historic designation tied together much of the history that draws visitors such as the Fort Sidney Museum and Post Commander�s Home. Memorial Gardens has continued to add improvements including a gazebo, War Memorial was established and U.S. 385 received a scenic by-ways designation. Each of the smaller villages in the county also have enhanced tourism attractions. Efforts are now under way to re-establish Sidney�s famed historic boot hill that traces its history back to 1868.

A community web site was also created at www.sidney-nebraska.com. A Sidney job site was also created at www.sidneyjobs.com.

Sidney�s golf course was expanded from 9 holes to 18 holes and a 7 hole golf course was established at Potter. The Legion Park train monument was refurbished by the Jaycees. It is hopeful a new club house will be constructed at Hillside Golf Course in Sidney in 2005.

On the Education front, Western Nebraska Community College sold its former campus and built a new downtown Center in a cooperative development effort with the City. It continues to strengthen
its relationship with Chadron State College and the University of Nebraska. WNCC and the community partnered together to build the new WNCC Aviation Maintenance School at the Sidney Municipal Airport. A community child care development center opened in 2002 on campus.

Sidney Public Schools expanded and restructured is elementary school system. West Elementary built a new gymnasium. An industry technology program was established in the school system. The city and school district worked together to build a fiber option interconnection between schools that now allows 450 computers to be linked to web site Internet connections. Sidney Public Schools ACT scores ranked above the state and national averages in the latest testing.

Consolidation of the rural schools have been very successful at Dalton-Gurley, Potter-Dix and Lodgepole - Chappell, enhancing rural educational opportunities for are students.

A Sidney Area Leadership Tomorrow program was established and a Cheyenne County Partnership formed with over 200 volunteers working on community issues, goals and projects.

On the natural resources front, a groundwater quality management area was established, a groundwater guardian program implemented and an Environmental Trust wildlife refuge area developed. Other projects have included a community forestry program, groundwater festival, tree give-away program, well decommissioning, storm water stenciling, a multi-agency equipment collaboration and Arboretum. The area is currently working through a Ground water Integrated Management Plan that will be implemented soon to further protect water resources in the area.

Sidney is a unique community because of the transportation dynamics of having four major highways and two major railroads connected by a short line railroad. Sidney�s modern day airport was named
the 1998 Airport of the Year. The area citizens ability to work together and create an environment for business and industry growth is very evident and continues to move progressively forward.

The Sidney / Cheyenne County partnership is working to open up the now defunct Hops Processing Plant with a new manufacturing process that will bring an exciting new industrial payroll into the community in 2005. Efforts are also under way to land a manufacturing prospect that will open up the new Sidney Industrial Park east of the community.

The success from 1991-2004 was a result of a very strong public - private partnership between the City of Sidney and Cheyenne County, along with the Cheyenne County Chamber of Commerce and a strong base of private companies.


This effort has made Sidney a shining example of a rural community that diversified and has gained state and national acclaim for its efforts. The community was featured in the Washington Post, on German Public Television, Nebraska Life Magazine and in a new book published nationally on successful economic development communities.

We are proud of all of these outstanding accomplishments and we feel confident in saying that we will continue to grow and prosper through our hard work and partnership efforts.