Norfolk Daily News

Monday – February 25, 2008

A proposal has been put forth to have the City of Norfolk share office space in a new building with several other entities. Their representatives say the concept makes sense, would be good for citizens and would be affordable.

City staff members say it would be more affordable for the city to go it alone, possibly in an existing building that would be remodeled.

Soon it will be up to members of the Norfolk City Council to make a decision.

A meeting on the topic late last week was dominated by comments and presentations from city staff members and representatives, responding in large part to the shared-office facility proposal unveiled earlier last week.

But representatives of some of the groups interested in sharing office space with the city did offer comments on the idea.

Lora Young, head of the Madison County Convention & Visitors Bureau, said the opportunity for co-location could be something that Norfolk could be a model of and that could be vital to serving and promoting tourism and industry.

Dan Mauk, president of the Norfolk Area Chamber of Commerce, noted that several of the groups interested in sharing space already are under one roof at the chamber’s office downtown. They are the Service Corps of Retired Executives, visitors bureau and Elkhorn Valley Economic Development Council. That indicates the concept of sharing space can work effectively, he said.

Mauk also said the amount of estimated office space needed in a proposed shared building is probably too high. If that proves to be the case, the cost of the project would come down.

Mauk also said the groups interested in sharing space are not asking for a subsidy — as some comments from city officials about the concept imply — but only want to see if it makes sense to share space.

R.J. Baker, director of the Elkhorn Valley Economic Development Council, agreed that the projected space needs in a shared building appear to be slightly inflated, which means the building budget wouldn’t be as high.

Tom Higginbotham, director of the Northeast Nebraska Economic Development District, said the numbers presented so far look reasonable for a shared facility and that his board has agreed to take a look at it.

The other possible partners in a shared building are Madison County, the Norfolk Area Recruiters and Nebraska WorkForce Development.