While Omaha enjoys economic growth at an impressive rate, Omaha's mayor sets his sights on tying local development opportunities with social responsibilities. And he does it "intentionally."

Mayor John Ewing Jr. discussed his goals during the 37th annual Commercial Real Estate Summit in Omaha on Aug. 22.

With a 3.6% unemployment rate, not all of Omaha's neighborhoods enjoy economic opportunities, Ewing said.

African Americans experience a 32% poverty rate, while 20% of the city's Latinos are poor, he said.

"One of the things I truly believe is if you aren't making intentional efforts to do things, then things don't get done," Ewing said. "There are parts of our city where we have people who live in poverty and who don't have as many opportunities as I would like to see. I believe Omaha is a great city, but I believe we can be the best city in America if we can begin to do intentional economic development in North and South Omaha. I was very clear when I ran for office, it wasn't about winning an election, it was about casting a vision for this great city to be even better."

Unless Omahans are willing to address issues impacting those neighborhoods and create employment opportunities, the cycle of poverty will continue preventing the city from achieving its potential, he said.

"We have to understand that if we have young people living in poverty, and we aren't doing anything to address those issues and provide economic opportunities, we are keeping those young people from having opportunities whereby they could reach their fullest potential and make Omaha an even greater city," Ewing said. "That's why I say intentional, because we have to address those issues if we're going to be as good as we can be."

Omaha's urban core is key to the city's growth, with affordable housing a major part of it, he said. With the streetcar anchoring at least $4 billion in development, Omaha realistically needs affordable housing for about 30,000 people, Ewing said.

Instead of waiting until after 2032, as originally planned, it's vital to immediately address affordable housing, Ewing said. With a donor offering to contribute $40 million towards purchasing bonds, the project can happen sooner, he said.

"One of the things I learned very quickly after taking office is that there is an opportunity to have about $100 million go toward affordable housing," Ewing said. "One of the things I believe in in leading with urgency is the key to getting things done, as well. And so we looked at how we could start that plan right now. If we waited until 2032, that need would have continued to grow rather than being addressed."

Affordable housing is important as the city expects to run out of room to grow within 25 years, Ewing said. With its population expected to increase by about 36% over that time, Omaha needs to plan for density growth, rather than more westward expansion.

With the Elkhorn River providing a natural barrier for widespread development west of Elkhorn, city planners are exploring areas to increase population density, while still providing room to grow. That means looking at areas such as North Omaha, South Omaha, and West Omaha, especially east of the Interstate 680 corridor, Ewing said.

"I think we have a lot of opportunities to revitalize areas and be able to build commercially, be able to build opportunities for the people of this community and all of you (realtors and developers)," he said.

With about 1,000 people - developers, investors, brokers, lenders, architects, engineers, and builders - attending the CRE Seminar, Ewing said the city needs their support to ensure Omaha enjoys successful growth. Ewing's administration looks to develop a new comprehensive plan because the economic landscape has drastically changed since the last plan was created almost 30 years ago.

"My call to action for all of you is to get engaged with the plans that are being developed," he said. "With our comprehensive plan that is going to be our Bible for the next 20 years, there will be committees with opportunities to be involved there, but also we are launching seven implementation task force groups dealing with affordable housing, dealing with economic development, and other areas in this community."

Ewing said he believes Omaha is on the verge of a new way of accomplishing growth, rather than relying on government to lead the way.

"We want to do this thing called life with you, rather than have government do things to you," he said. "I want to be a partner with the business community. I want to be a partner with the philanthropic community so that we can do great things. So this is a new day, a new way of looking at it, from a standpoint of partnership, rather than City Hall thinking we have all the answers." The reality is that no one person has all the solutions for what makes Omaha successful, Ewing said.

"We get the answers by talking to smart people like yourselves and you giving us thoughts on how we can be better, how we can be more effective as leaders in city government, so that we develop the partnerships and opportunities for our great community to continue to grow, continue to get better," he said.

Omaha needs to develop opportunities to keep young professionals in the city, setting them up as future leaders, Ewing said.

"One of the things I'm going to do is create a group of all of the leaders of the various young professional groups so that you will have an opportunity to share with me your thoughts on what we need to do to reduce brain drain and to keep people here," he said. "We're going to be willing to listen. We're going to be willing to partner and make this a great opportunity for the city of Omaha to continue to grow."

That also applies to ensuring Omaha doesn't lose business to other cities, he said.

"We're working every day to make sure that we retain companies, make sure that we create opportunities for them to expand," Ewing said. "We're also looking at how we can recruit organizations and companies to come to this city, so that we can continue to grow, and we can increase high-paying jobs, so that we can have the economy that allows us to be able to raise all boats in this community."

Ewing said he believes his life's path led him to City Hall, with the opportunity to lead Omaha into a new era.

Following a 25-year career with the Omaha Police Department, where he served as a deputy chief, Ewing was elected as Douglas County Treasurer in 2006, serving for more than 18 years before being elected as Omaha's 52nd mayor in May.

"One of the things I share with people is that the transition from being a deputy chief of the Omaha Police Department to being treasurer was actually a more difficult transition than going from treasurer to Mayor," he said. "The reason is that by being a deputy chief, I was one of four or five key leaders in that organization. As treasurer, becoming the guy, it all rests and falls on your leadership."

As Douglas County Treasurer, he acquired 181/2 years of executive leadership, which helped prepare him for the transition to Mayor, Ewing said.

"It gave me an opportunity to understand even more clearly how city and county government work, to be able to partner with the business community and the philanthropic community to make sure great things happen in our city," he said.

Tim Trudell is a freelance writer and online content creator. His work has appeared in Flatwater Free Press, Next Avenue, Indian Country Today, Nebraska Life, Nebraska Magazine, Council Bluffs Daily Non-Pareil and Douglas County Post Gazette, among others. He is a citizen of the Santee Dakota Nation.