Economy of Omaha, Nebraska
The economy of Omaha, Nebraska is linked to the city's status as a major commercial hub in the Midwestern United States since its founding in 1854.
Dubbed the "Motor Mouth City" by The New York Times,[1] Omaha is widely regarded as the telecommunications capital of the United States.
The Union Pacific Railroad has been headquartered in Omaha since its inception, eventually bringing the meatpacking, stockyard, and regional brewing companies to the city.
The American Smelting and Refining Company owned a large plant on the Omaha riverfront from 1881 into the 1990s, when the Environmental Protection Agency forced it to close.
As a long-time open shop the city gained the reputation for actively breaking unions; however, with the loss of large-scale railroad operations and meat production, the labor-driven protests, rioting and civil unrest of the past appears to be gone.
Omaha jobbers handled a wide variety of wholesale products along the Great Platte River Road and beyond, including groceries, dry goods, hardware, fruits, paper, and liquor.
Omaha earned its nickname, the "Gateway to the West", because of its central location as a transportation hub for the United States in the middle and late 19th century.
The meatpacking industry, built in conjunction with the Omaha Stockyards, started to grow in the 1890s, and provided financial strength to the city through the 1970s.
Omaha overtook Chicago as the U.S.'s largest livestock market and meat packing industry center in 1955, a title which it held until 1971.
[12] The Missouri River provided the initial source of revenue for young Omaha, as fur trappers such as Manuel Lisa used the area to build their inland empires with local Native American tribes.
However, the problem of transporting materials for the growing Midwestern United States needed to be addressed, which luckily opened the doorways to the city's major growth engine in its earliest years.
The second period of growth in Omaha, from approximately 1865 through the 1880s, is attributed solely to the city's railroad connections, which drew almost all significant rail traffic from the Pacific Northwest through the area.
[13] Early businesspeople who were important to the growth and development of the city include a variety of bankers, investors, promoters, lawyers, and entrepreneurs.
Omaha is said to have been founded by William D. Brown, the entrepreneur behind the Lone Tree Ferry which brought settlers across from Council Bluffs, Iowa.
Gilbert Hitchcock and Edward Rosewater were among the many influential newspaper editors in the city, founding empires that promoted, molded and drove economic development.
The Greater Omaha Economic Development Partnership identifies the defense industry, manufacturing, and information technology as important areas as well.
The Union Pacific and several other major railroads provide freight service coordinated with many trucking companies serving the metropolitan area.
[16] The insurance industry has also been important to the city's fiscal well-being, while its finance and real estate sectors have been less-so than the nation as a whole.
[1] After the AT&T breakup, US West, the phone company whose 14-state territory includes Nebraska, adopted the slogan "Dial 800 and get Omaha" to promote its services.
Other nationwide companies with major call center operations located in Omaha include PayPal, Cox Communications, and Aflac.
[20][21][22] According to USA Today, Omaha is ranked eighth among the nation's 50 largest cities in both per-capita billionaires and Fortune 500 companies.
Village Pointe houses some of Omaha's finer national retailers, such as Coach, Inc. and Apple Inc.[26] Shadow Lake Towne Center is another large scale outdoor shopping mall located in the suburb of Papillion.
Located near Crossroads Mall on 72nd and Dodge, Nebraska Furniture Mart is the largest home furnishings store in North America.
The Missouri River waterfront development project features a pedestrian bridge connecting Omaha and Council Bluffs, Iowa.
Aksarben Village is a huge complex consisting of University of Nebraska at Omaha's Aksarben Campus containing learning centers and dorms, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of NE's new Headquarters, First Data's Omaha offices, a neighborhood grocer, restaurants, shops, a hotel, lounges, bars, clubs, a movie theater, residential areas, and several other medium and small business offices.
