Bumpy road for Omaha business park boosted by $90M from state leads to first tenant, 150 jobs

OMAHA — The sometimes controversial Omaha Airport Business Park project created by a 2022 Nebraska law and seeded with $90 million in public funds has landed its first major tenant.

Nebraska-based Pacific Engineering Inc. (PEI) will lease a 150,000-square-foot industrial facility at 5906 Abbott Drive, one of the structures that make up the still-developing business park initiative.

PEI, which designs and manufactures products for military defense and commercial uses, plans to create 150 “quality” jobs over the next five years with an average salary of $74,000. Operations are to begin by the year’s end.

The announcement marking the first business park tenant was made Tuesday by the Omaha Economic Development Corp., a North Omaha nonprofit leading the development team that in early 2024 was awarded the nearly $90 million grant to launch an industrial and  business park near Eppley Airfield that targets a northeast Omaha workforce.

OEDC president and CEO Michael Maroney said PEI’s 15-year contract helps fulfill the park project’s intended purpose, to “unlock private investment, create quality jobs and deliver real economic opportunity to North Omaha.”

Dexter Myers, PEI senior vice president, said the company was excited about its expansion.

“This move supports our continued growth and creates shared benefits for our business, the community and the local economy,” he said in a statement.

With the Abbott Drive site, PEI will have manufacturing space across three Nebraska facilities, the other two being in Roca and Omaha. The company says its team of engineers, technologists and production specialists support programs that “require innovation under compressed timelines.” Its focus is on lightweight, non-corrosive composite systems for U.S. defense missions. 

The $90 million business park grant was designed to help create jobs and meet demand for large industrial and business space in an area that contains some of the highest unemployment and poverty rates in Nebraska. Gov. Jim Pillen’s administration and the Nebraska Department of Economic Development selected the OEDC-led developer team, which also included the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce and Burlington Capital, to develop shovel-ready property for manufacturers, distributors and other employers to build on.

Later, Nebraska lawmakers passed legislation requiring the new Omaha Inland Port Authority to oversee the developer team’s handling of the business park project.

The venture has faced challenges, including fierce backlash from some neighbors of an area that early on was identified as the priority site for the project. That location was eventually dropped, and the developer team shifted gears to look at a combination of sites. 

In March the OEDC-led developer team revealed it bought two sites at a combined price tag of nearly $30 million. Neither called for residential relocation. One of them was 5906 Abbott Drive, a 13-acre site anchored by a new 150,000-square-foot warehouse “shell” and 148-stall surface parking area.

George Achola, spokesman for the developer team, said other sites still could be added to the business park initiative.