GOTHENBURG- On Wednesday, Gov. Jim Pillen, speaking to a crowd of around 300 people, celebrated the recent announcement of "Project Meadowlark," a planned $750 million factory set to be built in Gothenburg that would use electricity instead of natural gas to make "eco-friendlier" fertilizer. Local economic leaders in Gothenburg also spoke at the event, calling the factory one of the largest investments ever seen in central Nebraska.

"It's a big deal, and it's going to help a wide swath of Nebraska producers," Pillen told the crowd, "Everything we can do to decrease our costs and reduce the use of a gallon of diesel fuel or fossil fuels is good for the planet, and good for business." The new factory is set to be built by JWC Gburg LLC, and will, according to Gothenburg Mayor Will Rahjes, bring immense workforce growth to the town and allow the community to build more workforce housing.

Workforce housing, especially in rural areas, was a key part of this year's budget, with Sen. Teresa Ibach's LB249 being adopted into the mainline budget bill. LB249 would have provided funding for rural workforce housing initiatives, but Gov. Pillen line-item vetoed around $40 million set to be allocated towards these projects. Despite this, Ibach, who lives near Gothenburg in Sumner, stated that she plans to introduce a similar bill to LB249 next year, saying she understands why Pillen had to remove her portion from this year's budget bill.

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