Laurel is honored as Accomplished Community

LAUREL — The City of Laurel was awarded the Doug Bereuter Accomplished Community Award during the Northeast Nebraska Economic Development District’s annual meeting, Thursday.

The honor was handed out at a special event at The Stables in Norfolk.

This award is given to a community that has worked in a collaborative manner with local organizations and citizens, as well as outside resources to make their community, region, and state a better place to live.

Some of the City’s recent accomplishments include building a new Fire/EMT Hall, and a new Community Center that will include a Senior Center and City Offices, which will be located in Downtown Laurel. A Downtown Revitalization project that will revamp 3-1/2 blocks of the downtown with new streets, sidewalks, lighting, and storm sewer replacements.

More construction will also be happening soon as the community also approved an $18 million bond to expand the local school.

Laurel was also recognized as one of the 40 Nebraska communities to earn the Economic Development Certified Community status. The City received the original certification in 2010 and was recertified in 2015 and 2021.

“Laurel is an extremely proactive community. They have a very knowledgeable staff and residents that support and actively participate in community development,” said Community Planner Jan Merrill. “I am excited to see the positive outcome that each of these development projects will have on the downtown district and the community as a whole.”

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