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Northeast Community College renewed and expanded partnerships as it celebrated the groundbreaking for its iHub technology and innovation center in downtown Norfolk.

About 120 people attended the sunny, but chilly event at 707 and 713 W. Norfolk Ave., which took place Thursday, April 4.

"I am so proud to be standing here with our community partners," said Leah Barrett, Northeast president. "This is a community effort."

The new iHub, which has been called a "game changer," is expected to benefit manufacturing, agricultural and technical industries, as well as keep more young people employed in Northeast Nebraska. It is a part of the Growing Together initiative that is expanding opportunities for young people to develop skills in technology and other fields.

Barrett said the Northeast iHub, which is projected to open in late summer 2025, west of the Norfolk Area Chamber of Commerce, will benefit innovators, entrepreneurs and builders.

The iHub will focus on several areas, including robotics education. It will be a place where students of all ages can come together and participate in competitive robotics clubs. Its automation lab will be available for manufacturers and employers who want to utilize the facility for workforce training in robotics and industrial automation. And lastly, it will be available for the whole community to inspire creativity, innovation and collaboration.

"It is about an opportunity for our workforce development partners in our industries to do training and upscaling of employees. And it is what is called a makerspace. A makerspace is a collection of equipment that people can use to finish a project, to problem solve or to create a project," Barrett said.

The iHub will be an innovation hub or an idea hub - a place full of windows and light where children and all ages can figure out how to solve problems, create jobs or manufacture products, Barrett said.

U.S. Rep. Mike Flood of Norfolk said he was excited to be back home for the iHub groundbreaking. Flood said he has driven by the buildings repeatedly and looks forward to the grand opening.

As the United States switches to a knowledge economy, it is important for the nation to become the country that makes things again.

"We need those kids in Randolph and Neligh and Wayne and Norfolk to come here and create and imagine and to build wealth by walking down the street and getting the venture capital from Invest Nebraska to start their business right here," Flood said.

Flood helped to secure a recent $750,000 appropriation for equipment for the iHub.

Norfolk Mayor Josh Moenning has provided critical leadership to the transformation of downtown Norfolk in recent years.

Norfolk must work twice as hard as other similar-sized communities in the state, Moenning said. It does not have an interstate and is not close to the metro areas. But Norfolk has an advantage in that it creates an "entrepreneurial spirit that I wouldn't trade for anything," Moenning said.

This iHub project is "the definition of innovation," the mayor said.

Dan Hoffman, chief executive officer of Invest Nebraska, said his organization wants to invest in entrepreneurial and innovation opportunities in agriculture technology to advance business opportunities in the region.

Hoffman said the iHub can enable young people from Northeast Nebraska to "dream big."