By Tena L. Cook, Marketing Coordinator, CSC
CHADRON, Neb. – Chadron State College Assistant Professor of Business Dr. Nic Fisher made a presentation at the Great Plains Economics and Business Conference in Omaha on Oct. 17 titled Unintended Side Effects: Regulatory Prescriptions.
In his abstract, Fisher stated that developing an economically viable region that incentivizes future generations to live and work in the Midwest requires not only strong employment opportunities but also access to quality housing that supports workforce attraction and retention.
“Across rural Nebraska, political leaders, employers, and educators consistently identify housing shortages as a major barrier to hiring and growth,” Fisher wrote in his abstract. “Yet, despite widespread recognition of the problem, new housing construction has failed to materialize.”
Fisher explored how legal prescriptions and regulation can create barriers to new home construction. During the past year, he examined how local platting and zoning requirements, amendments to Nebraska’s 2010 Building Construction Act mandating adoption of the International Residential Code, and federal provisions under the Dodd-Frank Act combine to constrain development in cities with populations between 2,000 and 9,999.
He said he used a mixed-methods approach including legal analysis, quantitative review of datasets from the U.S. Census, Department of Labor, Department of Housing, IRS, and the University of Nebraska Omaha Center for Public Affairs Research.
“This research identifies how overlapping regulations limit rural housing starts. The findings provide a foundation for policy reforms that address housing shortages, strengthening the ability of rural Nebraska communities to build a workforce that will remain rooted in the Midwest,” Fisher wrote in his abstract.
Fisher joined the CSC faculty in 2021 to teach Business Law and Ethics in the MBA program and contribute to the development of the Healthcare Management focus area. He has served as an advisor for the CSC chapter of Future Business Leaders of America and has been the director of the Nebraska Business Development Center for the North Panhandle Region since the summer of 2024. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees for the Chadron Community Hospital.