Nebraska Rural Projects Act

The Nebraska Rural Projects Act will provide matching funds to Nebraska nonprofit economic development organizations with projects to build new rail access business parks in counties of less than 100,000 people. Eligible Applicants An applicant must be a nonprofit economic development corporation. The Applicant must be registered as such with the Nebraska Secretary of State and must be recognized as a 501(c) entity by the Internal Revenue Service. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 77-3,114 prohibits foreign adversarial companies from receiving benefits under an incentive program of the State of Nebraska. Prior to applying, please see the Foreign Adversarial Company Memo found in the Guidance Documents section. Applicants meeting the definition of foreign adversarial company will not be approved for benefits. Eligible Projects To be eligible for matching funds, the project must: (i) develop a new industrial rail access business park and (ii) be located in a Nebraska county with less than 100,000 inhabitants. To be regarded as developing a new industrial rail access business park, the project must undertake at least one of the following objectives: (i) add rail access to an existing business park, (ii) add a new business park to a currently served rail site, or (iii) create a new business park and create new rail access to serve the new business park. Matching Funds Subject to adequate appropriation of funds, an applicant may be eligible for two dollars of matching funds for every dollar of investment in the project up to the first $2,500,000.00 of investment. Five dollars of matching funds may be made available for every dollar of investment in excess of $2,500,000.00. Matching funds will be available to the applicant on an annual basis. No more than $30,000,000.00 of matching funds will be paid for any one project. Apply Now Nebraska Rural Projects Act Projects to build new rail access business parks in counties of less than 100,000 people. Application Periods: Jan. 3, 2022 – June 30, 2023 at 5 PM CT Sept. 3, 2025 – Dec. 31, 2025 at 5 PM CT Email Notifications To stay up to date on the latest news, subscribe to the Nebraska Rural Projects Act email list here. Subscribe Application and Program Resources Title File Type Date Foreign Adversary Company Form May 4, 2026 MEMO 25-04: LB 644 (2025) Foreign Adversarial Company PDF October 22, 2025 NE Rural Projects Act – Memo 23-01 Costs Related To Investment And Use of Matching Funds PDF January 17, 2023 NE Rural Projects Act – Annual Workbook Excel July 19, 2022 NE Rural Projects Act – Frequently Asked Questions PDF December 21, 2021 NE Rural Projects Act – Memo 22-01 Date of Investment PDF April 5, 2022 NE Rural Projects Act 01 – Guidelines PDF October 29, 2025 NE Rural Projects Act 02 – Application Guide PDF December 21, 2021 NE Rural Projects Act 03 – Checklist PDF December 21, 2021 NE Rural Projects Act 04 – Schedule Excel December 21, 2021 NE Rural Projects Act 05 – Matching Funds Investment Calculator Excel December 21, 2021 NE Rural Projects Act 06 – SAMPLE Application PDF December 21, 2021 Have questions? Benjamin Goins Attorney [email protected]   |  402-471-0822