Eighteen months ago, the Greater Omaha Chamber’s Workforce Excellence team started driving and flying to college campuses around the country with one goal: get talented students to give Omaha a real look. Not a brochure. Not a Zoom call. A real look, in person, over four days.
We handed out what we called “golden tickets.” Show up, apply, and if you are picked, we fly you to Omaha and show you around. No strings, no catch. We just wanted the chance to make our case in person.
More than 50 students applied. We picked 18. They came from blue blood universities from all across America: Arizona State, Ole Miss, TCU, Texas Southern, the University of Kansas, and the University of Tennessee. Different majors, different backgrounds, different corners of the country. All of them curious enough about Omaha to say yes…