(The following story by Dan Eshelman appeared on the Daily Nonpareil website on November 21.)
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa — Promoting Council Bluffs as a preferred place to live was the focus at a recent encounter among community representatives and a group of Union Pacific employees.
As part of a reorganization being implemented by the railroad company, some workers currently based in St. Louis will be transferring to corporate headquarters in downtown Omaha.
A Council Bluffs delegation traveled to St. Louis to meet with the employees and to present information about the local community.
“We wanted to encourage the Union Pacific people to consider Council Bluffs when they made decisions about where to move,” said Bob Mundt, president and chief executive officer of the Council Bluffs Area Chamber of Commerce.
He and other chamber members were in the community contingent, as were individuals representing the real estate industry, the hospitals and the schools.
The goal of the meeting was for the Union Pacific workers “to see Council Bluffs in a good light” and to recognize the benefits of establishing residence in the city, Mundt said.
The community, he said, offers many advantages, including an excellent educational system, affordable and attractive housing, abundant recreational and cultural opportunities and a thriving retail business sector that provides a wide range of products and services.
In addition, the proximity of Council Bluffs to the Union Pacific’s headquarters makes the community an ideal location for the company’s workers.
As has been pointed out many times, Mundt said, Council Bluffs is closer to downtown Omaha than are any areas in the west sections of that city.
This means it would be more convenient for the Union Pacific employees to live in Council Bluffs and journey a relatively short distance across the river to work, Mundt noted.
The meeting in St. Louis took place in a special room set up in one of the railroad company’s office buildings. About 200 employees participated in the session.
Mundt said the response from the workers to the Council Bluffs initiative was positive.
“They were impressed that we had made this effort to come down there and meet with them, and to give them information about the community,” Mundt said.
The job transfers from St. Louis to Omaha are expected to occur during the next 18 months.
Depending on their circumstances, the relocated workers may need rental properties or they may desire to purchase homes.
Both options are available in Council Bluffs, a fact stressed by the community representatives at the meeting.
The trip was a worthwhile effort, Mundt said, because it reflected a proactive approach to marketing Council Bluffs and was a viable attempt to bring in new residents.
Similar projects will be undertaken in coming months.
Meetings will be arranged with officials of Gallup University, which has opened a new campus near the riverfront in Omaha, and with authorities from StratCom, which will see an influx of personnel at Offutt Air Force Base after a reassignment of functions from a military facility in Colorado.
Along with involvement in activities to promote Council Bluffs to newcomers, the community representatives help existing businesses, industries and institutions by providing information to prospective executives and managers.
“It helps in recruiting when you can show people what Council Bluffs has and why this is good community to live in,” Mundt said.