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LIFE in Phelps County
Phelps County Life News
To those transplanted Nebraskans, and even to several who are not. The poem--part tongue-in-cheek, part serious--says it all.
The Poem
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Phelps County is Fourth Healthiest County in the State
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) _ A report examining how health is influenced by community says Cedar County is the healthiest county in the Nebraska, while ...
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Just the Place to Expect the Unexpected...HOLDREGE-The Movie
Life in Phelps County
Just the place to call home
It’s hard to describe life in a place like Phelps County to someone who’s never sat on a front porch in the gathering dusk, had a hot dish at a church potluck or gazed at a night sky crazy with stars. Phelps County is smack in the middle of high plains farm country. It is archetypically Midwestern, but with a modern edge. So on the one hand you get friendly, hardworking neighbors, but you also get high-speed — even fiber-optic — Internet access, a new YMCA, and a modern performing arts center.
Phelps County has good schools, great churches, up-to-date healthcare, lots of resources for youth and seniors, a whole raft of clubs and organizations, and plenty of things to do.
We have jobs and housing for people who might want to come here, and if you might want to start up a business, we definitely want to talk to you.
To get a better sense of what life is like in Phelps County, read about Phelps County along with the profiles of Holdrege, the county seat, and the villages of Bertrand, Loomis, Funk and Atlanta. Better still, why not come and visit and see for yourself why we say Phelps County is “just the place to call home.”
Matt Allmand brings skills back home to benefit family business
The way Matt Allmand remembers it, he was part of the family business – Allmand Brothers manufacturing – from the time he was a child, licking envelopes in the office and then sweeping floors. By the time he was in high school, he had a position on the assembly line. After he graduated from Holdrege High in 1994 and earned his degree in business administration from UNK, Allmand had moved up to the much more responsible post of materials purchasing for the company.
But like many – even most – young persons in their 20s, Allmand felt a restless need to get beyond the known and familiar.
“I wanted to get some outside experience, to accomplish some things on my own,” he said.
Allmand and his wife Lori moved to Minnesota where he took a job with the McNeilus Truck Division of Oshkosh Trucks, an international supplier of specialty trucks for defense, fire and emergency, concrete and refuse. He started out in materials purchasing, moved up to project management and business analysis, and eventually was made part of a team charged with restructuring the McNeilus Division.
“My team analyzed every aspect of the company, broke it down and examined it, and then decided on the best way to put it back together,” Matt said. Because Oshkosh was on the leading edge of business and manufacturing processes, Matt learned the latest project management methodologies as well as “lean” manufacturing techniques which are geared to maximizing production efficiency.
The restructuring of the McNeilus Division was an exciting, interesting project, often involving 90- or 100-hour weeks, but when it was over, Allmand said the work became stale, and besides, his home life had changed dramatically with the birth of his first daughter, Sydney, in 2004. He began looking around for other opportunities.
Although Allmand Brothers wasn’t really on his radar, Matt said his father encouraged him to consider returning to the Holdrege facility.
“I found that everything they were struggling with here were the things I’d been trained to deal with, and where I was weak they were already strong,” he said. “It was all very complementary.”
Allmand returned to Allmand Brothers in 2005. A management succession in 2008 named him president and cousin Brad Allmand CEO of the company.
Matt said that Allmand Brothers has implemented a wide range of lean manufacturing techniques, and is currently involved in a re-design of all their major projects with the goal of improving manufacturing efficiency.
He has no regrets about returning to Holdrege except for missing some of the “conveniences” of living near Rochester. He said he and Lori enjoy being close to family, long-time friends and acquaintances and are very happy with Sydney’s school experience.
“If we were still in Rochester, we would have sent her to a private school,” Allmand said. “But we have a very private-school feel in Holdrege, and it’s obviously a lot less expensive.”
Now with an uptick in the economy improving sales and a second daughter, Callie, 1, Matt Allmand has plenty of challenges to keep him occupied – and a position where he can make his own new challenges as he goes along.