Population decline slowing, but jobs effort must continue

The bad news, people continue to leave Red Willow County. The good news is, the loss is slowed and it's better than the many other parts of the state.

As you may have suspected, Lancaster County showed the most gains, according to 2000-2009 IRS data analyzed by the Center for Public Affairs Research at the University of Nebraska Omaha. Lincoln and Omaha always had net inmigration from other Nebraska counties over the period, but while Lincoln's rate has declined over the past two years, Douglas County's improved. One big change was the moving of the Gallup Organization headquarters from Lincoln to Omaha.

But rural counties are benefiting from relatively high commodity prices and a smaller rise in unemployment rates, making them more attractive economically and at least temporarily slowing the decades-long outmigration trend, according to the UNO researchers.

In fact, Nebraska counties with at least 10,000 residents had their second best net movement in the past 10 years in 2009. Hall County gained 80 residents from other Nebraska counties, below an increase of about 180 in the prior year, but those were the only times in the past 10 years that had net inmigration. Scotts Bluff County gained an even 100 percent from other Nebraska counties, slightly below a similar increase in the prior years.

Red Willow County, as well as Colfax and Dawson, each had a net outmigration to other Nebraska areas, but the amount of loss was the second smallest in the past 10 years, according to the IRS data.

While that data doesn't include demographic information, the researchers did note that many of the state's performing relatively well in 2009 shared the common characteristic of having a sizeable Hispanic/Latino presence.

The report used Red Willow County "as a good example of the trend of migration improvement. While Red Willow County has lost residents to other Nebraska areas each of the past 10 years, the loss averaged 92 persons per year during the first eight years before slowing to losses of only 7 and 22 people in 2008 and 2009 respectively."

Nearby Lincoln County, in contrast, had its worst intrastate movement in the past 10 years in 2009, down 67. Four years earlier, in 2005, Lincoln County had a net gain of nearly 250 people from other Nebraska locations.

There's no one factor to credit for the "decline in the decline" of population, just as there's no one factor that should get the credit. Unfortunately, much of the growth of trade areas has come at the expense of the smaller areas they serve.

But past efforts to bring industries like Valmont and Parker Hannifin to McCook have certainly helped diversify employment opportunities, as have the building of ethanol plants in the area, along with the boost in corn prices. McCook's role as a trade center continues to work in our favor, as do "traditional" employers such as the railroad, health care services, schools, college and retail stores.

But if we are to keep the economic center of Nebraska from slipping more and more toward the Interstate 80 corridor on through Lincoln and Omaha, we must keep up the effort to make Southwest Nebraska as vibrant and attractive as possible.