Why We're Doing This

Growing up in Loup City, Nebraska, I often dreamed of leaving my home town and home state for some place more exotic and exciting. Like the proverbial grass on the other side of the fence, the big cities looked like the place for me.

After college, I had the opportunity to work in Downtown Washington, DC and live on Capitol Hill, and later, to start a family and business in North Carolina. All of these experiences were positive and beneficial to my career; however, I never felt at home outside Nebraska's borders.

Like many people who left Nebraska in the years immediately following college, I often thought about returning. I found the same sentiment in nearly every former Nebraskan I encountered while living out of the state. Their lives and priorities had changed since they left, and now, Nebraska life looked pretty good to them.

Unfortunately, it's often more difficult to return to a state than it is to leave a state. Many people become entrenched in jobs, buy homes and start families, making moving back a lot more complicated than it was when you could load all of your belongings in a car and hit the road after recovering the deposit on your apartment.

It's my hope that this Web site will make it easier for Nebraskans to return home and land a dream job or fulfill their desire to start their own business, whether it is in Omaha or Ogallala. If there are ways that we can improve this site to achieve that objective, please let me know.

Thanks for your time and interest.
-- Mitch Arnold, president of Preferred Partners, LLC