Sidney mayor taking long shot at pursuing a new Apple campus

SIDNEY, Neb. - Sidney, Neb. is preparing for a post-Cabela's future and the town's mayor has a new idea to bring another major company in to fill several vacant office buildings and properties left behind by the outdoor retailer when it was sold to Bass Pro Shops. Joe Arterburn and his wife of 30 years, Cathy, posted a message on Facebook encouraging residents to write a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook, telling him why the town of 6,888 would be a great location for Apple's new headquarters. "We would like everyone to tell him what we love about living here, raising our families here, what Sidney has to offer in a two-hour radius or whatever you would like to share about our town," Arterburn said. The iPhone maker announced it will spend $55 billion with domestic suppliers and manufacturers in 2018 and will create more than 20,000 new jobs through hiring at existing Apple campuses and a new one for technical support. Apple already employs 84,000 people in all 50 states. Bass Pro’s $5 billion purchase of the company closed in late September, and integration of the two companies is well underway. Some jobs have been cut, and it’s unclear how many headquarters jobs will remain in the western Nebraska town when the dust settles. Sidney is an agricultural community located in the southern panhandle, two and half hours from Denver and six hours west of Omaha. Interstate 80, two major highways (Hwy 30 and Hwy 385) and the two major railroads run through town. Sidney residents have until Jan. 31 to write a letter on a personal letterhead and email it to Economic Development Director Melissa Norgard at [email protected]. Arterburn says they also plan to send these letters to other companies to spark an interest in Sidney. Full letter to Sidney residents from Mayor Arterburn Dear Friend, As we all think about ways to build a new Sidney, we’re sure you have seen the news about Apple looking for a second headquarters location. Although it may be a long shot getting Apple here, we would like to ask everyone to write a letter to the CEO of Apple, Tim Cook, telling him why Sidney would be a great location for his new headquarters. We would like everyone to tell him what we love about living here, raising our families here, what Sidney has to offer in a two-hour radius or whatever you would like to share about our town. This is from a news article: The iPhone maker said it will spend $55 billion with domestic suppliers and manufacturers in 2018 and will create more than 20,000 new jobs through hiring at existing Apple campuses and a new one for technical support. Apple already employs 84,000 people in all 50 states. We would like you to write a letter and email it to [email protected]. We will print and mail them in specially colored envelopes all on the same day so they will stand out when they are received. We hope this will make a bigger impression on him. If you have any suggestions, please include them in your email. Also, we would like the letters to look professional so please put them on a personal letterhead. We would plan to also send these letters to other companies to spark interest in Sidney. Thank you for helping in this effort. Please pass this on to all your friends and relatives and ask them to write letters too. We would like to receive all the letters by January 31st. We can have an impact if we all work together. Best Regards, Joe & Cathy Arterburn