North Omaha Alliance Selects Study Consultants

The dedication of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Dreamland Plaza was a day of celebration.
The alliance movement in Omaha is gaining momentum.

The steering committee for the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce’s North Omaha Development Project (NODP) has selected RDG Planning and Design, Economics Research Associates (ERA) and Alex Garvin & Associates to begin the community development study announced in October 2006. 

RDG, in partnership with Robert Peters Company, will provide the local leadership while ERA and Alex Garvin & Associates bring national resources to the study. The Schemmer Associates, an Omaha-based transportation and civil engineering firm, will provide engineering expertise. Others on the consultant team include AHL Consultants, an Omaha-based research firm with experience in opinion research and the development and administration of survey tools.

The NODP is a focused commitment of the chamber, corporate leaders, elected officials, African American business leaders and the North Omaha community to make strategic investments in North Omaha. It is designed to achieve both a self-supporting private market and a neighborhood setting rewarding to its citizens and businesses.

The primary purpose of this study is to define the nature of those actions and investments. The planned three-year implementation period provides a window of opportunity for a program of specific actions and investments. The initial phase will begin immediately with an economic/market analysis, community assessments of existing resources and developments, and identification of neighborhood and community issues through public meetings.

“We understand that this project represents a unique opportunity and commitment on the part of the private sector to channel a substantial effort into the North Omaha development process,” said Robert Peters, former City of Omaha planning director. “This study must provide real, strategic guidance to maximize the impact of this commitment.” 
A trio enjoys a quiet moment in Dreamland Plaza on North 24th Street.
RDG Planning & Design has been involved in innovative community strategic planning throughout the Midwest. The RDG team brings an understanding of the long-term, historical awareness of the neighborhood and continued engagement in North Omaha and similar settings in other cities.

In addition to public meetings, the community engagement portion of the study will include an adjunct advisory group to RDG and the partners made up of members of the North Omaha community.

“We have assembled a diverse team of companies and individuals uniquely qualified to undertake this historic project – one that combines great depth of national experience and extensive local knowledge and commitment to the neighborhood,” said Martin Shukert, principal of RDG.

Current plans call for the unveiling of a detailed implementation plan in late summer of 2007. At that time, a full-time North Omaha community development project director will be hired and housed at the chamber to implement the plan and provide day-to-day communication with the steering committee and the North Omaha residents and businesses, said David Brown, chamber president and CEO.

For more information, visit http://www.ProjectNorthOmaha.org.

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