An abandoned plant in a small Nebraska town has a new owner.

"There was talk that somebody might just buy the building just to salvage it and tear it down and I think it's too good of an asset for Nebraska to let that happen," said Dick Allen.

So Allen, who owns Prairie View Industries, bought the abandoned Vise-Grips plant in DeWitt.

"It's important that we do what we can to keep employment in Nebraska," Allen said.

Allen isn't planning on moving his Fairbury metal manufacturing company to DeWitt. Instead, he wants to attract new businesses to the 376-thousand-square-foot building.

"We are willing to subdivide that building," said Allen. "I think there's opportunity for people if you give them the chance that they'll show up and fill that space and that's what I'm hoping for."

"It's a godsend or us," said KC's Grocery owner Kim Chlupacek. "It's good. it is good because we've lost such a big part of DeWitt and everyone thought we were going to fold up and this could be our saving grace."

"The village is very excited about someone purchasing the building over here and we're looking forward to working with and helping the new owner in any way the village possibly can," said Randy Badman, the DeWitt Village Board Chairman.

"We need to do everything we can to keep population up in Nebraska, because the history is, we go the other way," said Allen.

To keep and even bring jobs to the Cornhusker state.

The Vise-Grip plant closed last October after nearly 70 years of operation. William Petersen, a Danish immigrant and blacksmith, invented the Vise-Grip tool nearly 90 years ago in DeWitt when trying to find a way to clamp down pieces of metal while he worked on them.