Podcast 208: What Rural Economic Development in Nebraska Really Looks Like in 2026 with Lisa Hurley

Economic development where everyone knows your grocery list

9 Feb 2026 — 2 min read

Episode 208 of the Econ Dev Show Podcast is out. Listen now.

In this episode of the Econ Dev Show, Dane Carlson sits down with Lisa Hurley, Executive Director of the York County Development Corporation in Nebraska, to talk about what modern rural economic development actually looks like on the ground.

Lisa shares how York County leverages its logistics position, diversified employers, and growing civic pride while navigating workforce shortages, childcare capacity, housing pressure, and community resistance to change. They discuss talent attraction campaigns, podcasting as an economic development tool, and why rural EDOs must now think far beyond traditional business recruitment.

The conversation also explores leadership, burnout, mentoring the next generation of economic developers, and how Lisa is using AI to save time while staying human where it matters most.

Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps!

Ten Actionable Takeaways for Economic Developers

Treat childcare capacity as core economic infrastructure, not a side issue
Invest in talent marketing even when results are hard to attribute directly
Use layered messaging across state, local, and employer campaigns
Build trust by proactively sharing progress and visuals with the community
Accept that some resistance to change cannot be resolved, only managed
Partner aggressively to avoid owning every initiative yourself
Use podcasts and storytelling to humanize your community and organization
Leverage AI for HR, editing, and admin work to protect business-facing time
Mentor younger economic developers to reduce burnout and build continuity
Remember that stopping a bad project can be a win, not a failure

Episode Links

🫶

The Econ Dev Show is a product of Sitehunt, and is made possible by our Econ Dev Pro members (join now) and sponsors: Convergence CRM/Tom Wengler, Econ Dev Ops, Econ Dev Tools, EDO Marketplace, Join an Economic Development LinkedIn Boost Group Jorgenson Pace, and Resource Development Group. (Become a sponsor.)

Podcast Newsletter

Dane Carlson Twitter

CEO of Sitehunt, the AI platform for economic development, site selection and RFI automation. Host and publisher of the Econ Dev Show. In Houston, Texas.