Omaha Mayor Jim Suttle isn’t one to wait for things to happen. In fact, he’ll tell you, you’ve got to make things happen yourself.
 
Suttle, who has been mayor for nearly a year and a half, has set out on an aggressive agenda to improve Omaha’s economy, saddled with a 30% unemployment rate in the African-American community.
 
“I’ve been disappointed in the stimulus program,” said Suttle in an interview with PoliticsInColor.com. “I know the President had the best intentions, but the money went to the governors who sent the money out to the rural areas to protect their constituencies. … I want to make sure we protect the thing that we have here.”
 
For nearly 40 years, Suttle he has been involved in numerous aspects of the Omaha community, including a stint as the Public Works Director and council member. During the wide ranging telephone interview, he said there’s no secret on how to get the city’s economy growing, and that’s getting companies to stay in the city and attracting others to establish business there. “I’m a planner,” he said. “The economy works on industrial jobs.”
 
Suttle’s plan to help lower the overall city’s unemployment rate, and particularly the rate for African Americans, is to encourage development its industrial and warehouse district adjacent to the airport and the North Omaha – NoDo or North O– community where much of the African-American populations lives. Over the years, Suttle said, the city’s Chamber of Commerce has been well meaning, but he said that it’s been wrong in its approach to improving the lives of those living in poverty. “We try to apply a white suburban solution to a poverty problem,” he said.
 
As part of Suttle’s strategy, he has studied Atlanta because of its rich base of African-American businesses and it’s distinction as a global hub. He’s invited businesses to establish business operations in the city’s warehouse district to create jobs and broaden the tax base. BlaCon Media, one of the investors in PoliticsInColor.com, is one of those companies.
 
 The tendency for development in the city, Suttle said, has been to other parts of the city. “The only way to get unemployment down is putting jobs right next door,” he said, “And we’re talking about putting jobs five minutes way [from NoDo].”
 
Suttle said he chose Atlanta because as a former vice chairman of the Board of Directors for the Omaha-based engineering and design firm, HDR Inc., he frequently traveled to the city. When he became mayor of Omaha, he began reaching out to business in the city. 
 
“We can create 19 buildable sites near the airport and estimates show we’ll create 5,000 jobs over the next 10 years,” he explained.
 
Currently, Suttle, like many cities around the country, has presented its budget for the 2011 fiscal year. He remains positive about his plans to improve Omaha’s economy.
 
“You have to help yourself,” he said. “If you’re waiting around for people to make decisions, you’re going to be at the end of the pack. … We are poised to be on the front of the wave. We need to be one of the top five cities in the nation.”