Recruiters let workers know there are plenty of jobs — in Nebraska

William McDill is one of about 35 people who visited the local Michigan Works! office in Cadillac, Mich. Wednesday looking for work. Fortunately, recruiters there told him about hundreds of jobs available — in Columbus, Neb. “There are a lot of good things that are going on in Nebraska,” said Angie Ramaekers, the Drive for Five Coordinator for the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce.

“Drive for Five” refers to the Columbus Chamber’s efforts to recruit 500 workers for businesses in Columbus. They are searching nationwide. “We have 40 significant employers, said Columbus Chamber President K.C. Belitz. “In the past one or two years, most of them have grown to one degree or another,” he said. Belitz and Ramaekers came to Cadillac for one day, accompanied by a recruiter from BD Medical, a manufacturer of syringes and medical supplies.

Columbus also boasts an Archer Daniels Midland ethanol facility as well as affordable, plentiful power from a large hydroelectric plant fed by the Loup River. Unemployment in Columbus’s Platte County was 2.9% in March. “Jobs are just getting scarce in Cadillac,” McDill said. Allen Johnson of Ovid drove two hours to Cadillac to hear about Nebraska jobs. He said Michigan will always be his “hometown,” but moving to Nebraska could be worth the chance.