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Kelsey Bergen
In February I had the opportunity to go to Washington DC with the Nebraska Corn Growers Association. You can also read more about this trip in this week’s Aurora News-Register from my husband’s perspective as president of Hamilton County Corn Growers.
Something you should probably know about me to start is that history and politics aren’t subjects that I am overly passionate about. I am a hands-on learner and always excelled at presentations and creative projects over test taking in school. For me, history and politics fell into the area of memory work and test taking in school, so it never really sparked an interest.
As a student in high school, I wasn’t overly interested in learning about the state legislature and how it functioned. Since I started my career, I have hosted legislative breakfasts with senators each year and learning about current issues happening in real-life scenarios made it much easier for me to become engaged and interested in legislation at the state level.
Through partner organizations like the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Nebraska Economic Developers Association, I receive regular updates while the Nebraska Legislature is in session. From this engagement, I have a pretty good understanding of what is happening in the Nebraska Legislature and which bills will impact economic development locally. This helps me to interact with senators to make sure the business voices of Hamilton County are heard. As a result, bills that help our businesses are supported, while bills that will negatively impact our business community are identified and opposed.
Moving my thought process from the state level to the federal level was my largest takeaway from our trip to Washington DC. There is a definite mind shift that was needed to look at issues at the federal level because policy at this level is created on a much larger scale.
Each day during our trip, our schedule consisted of a variety of meetings with advocacy organizations and other representatives of the agricultural industry. These meetings helped us learn about current issues impacting corn producers and the greater agriculture industry, which we talked about with senators later in the week. Since agriculture is the largest industry in Hamilton County, all the topics that we learned about and spoke in support of, are also relevant to the work I do in economic development in Hamilton County.
There is no need to worry that I will leave my work in economic development to pursue a political career and I still maintain that history and politics are not my favorite subjects. However, I do have a better understanding of federal policy and an appreciation for our elected representatives. Rural Nebraska and Hamilton County need to have a seat at the table, not only for the agricultural industry but all areas that impact our area. I am grateful there are people and organizations speaking up on our behalf and will continue to support their work and advocate for local business and industries.
KELSEY BERGEN serves as executive director of the Aurora Development Corporation. She can be reached at kelsey@growaurora.com
