“Word is getting around. People of every age and lifestyle are being drawn by the promise of educational opportunities, good-paying jobs, an affordable cost of living and a high quality of life.” ~ Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey

I spent the day today in Omaha, Nebraska.  At the time of this entry, Omaha has one of the most robust economies in the USA.  As evidence, I saw lots of signs saying “now hiring” on the windows of companies and lots of “sold” signs on houses.  These are both very good things!  I even heard radio ads advertising for employees and offering signing bonuses!  This is unheard of in most of the country.  So what makes the difference?

I am going to guess that a large part of this relative economic health is due to Warren Buffett and his holding company Berkshire Hathaway being headquartered in Omaha.  The effect of this kind of wealth concentration, in the relatively small area of Omaha, has got to be quite significant.

So what does this have to do with you and I and making our lives better – what can be learned from the current state of Omaha and Warren Buffett that will benefit us?  I expect that once I have the chance to model Mr. Buffett, something that I will have to do from books at first, and then hopefully face to face someday, there will a tremendous amount of useful information.  I am sure that Warren Buffett has great empowering beliefs, and habits, and philosophies that would be of benefit to adopt – at least if someone wants to be completely financially free!

Omaha and Online Business

For now, I am just going to make this very simple analysis.  If I needed to find a place where I could likely find a job that paid me well enough to support my family – then I would consider moving to Omaha.  This comes from a simple analysis of the “economy” in Omaha.  For you and I, today, if we needed to find a place where other people, ordinary people and extraordinary people, were able to make a good living with relative small startup money and a better than average chance of success – then I would say Online Business is the way to go.  I would say – in a very clumsy comparison that still feels very true – that Omaha, Nebraska is much like Online Business – a great place to consider making a move.  Wow that still sounds silly, but feels true!

Anyhow, I like Omaha.  I knew when I moved to Iowa to take care of my mom, that Des Moines would be too small for me.  I suspected that Omaha and Minneapolis and Kansas City and Chicago would end up being the markets where I spend most of my face to face time in business development and that is turning out to be an accurate prediction.  I also suspected that moving to Iowa would be a great incentive to move my business online – that has also been true.  More about that another time.

Bye for now…Jack

“‘Open for Business’ is a sign of the times in Greater Omaha.  Building upon the foundation of four Fortune 500 headquarters – Berkshire-Hathaway, ConAgra Foods, Kiewit Corporation and Union Pacific Railroad – a variety of well-known and start-up companies are being attracted by the area’s loyal workforce, extensive telecommunications infrastructure and location in the central United States.” ~VillageProfile.com