Midlands Business Journal April 12, 2019 Vol. 45 No. 15 issue by Midlands Business Journal

Midlands Business Journal • APRIL 12, 2019 •

Technology A section prepared by the staff of the Midlands Business Journal

April 12, 2019

Security, user-friendliness head tech industry’s list of imperatives by Dwain Hebda

Local technology industry experts say two of the most important priorities of the industry going forward will be the continuing struggle over security and refinement of the user experience. “Cybersecurity continues to become a greater concern, requiring more investments from our small business clients,” said Chris Vilim, president of CoreTech. “We are seeing significant advancements in the systems used to protect small business data and networks. With such a dynamic threat landscape, Vilim constant evolution and adaptation is necessary as the old tried-and-true systems and vendors didn’t keep up.” The issue of cybersecurity is problematic worldwide and has always been a concern in the tech industry. However, new guidelines adopted last year in Europe — General Data Protection Regulation — dictates what businesses must do to legally gather and handle the public’s data. These statutory guidelines mark a

Megan King, vice president of operations & customer success at LifeLoop. shift in the heretofore voluntary battle to behind GDPR and similar standards. I think our clients are going to start looking protect privacy. “With the GDPR rollout in Europe, it is for that to justify the increasing spend on only a matter of time before similar regu- cybersecurity.” Another issue on the spectrum of lations come to the U.S.,” Vilim said. “We are already moving clients into positions technology trends is refining the customer that are more aligned with the concepts experience. Technology must be simple in

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order to catch on with the wider public. Megan King, vice president of operations and customer success for LifeLoop said ease of use is quickly becoming a “must have” product attribute and therefore a major priority for most tech companies’ design teams. “While clients are always looking for new and exciting technology solutions, at the end of the day they want something that is user-friendly, provides value to their business operations and provides the most functionality,” she said. “Having a vast amount of solutions Kubicek can actually be a deterrent for a client as they have to think about the implementation and training of all these different platforms.” King said streamlined technology products help a client integrate all stakeholders more quickly, saving time and money. “Being able to consolidate and have multiple operations in one place is one of the most sought-after things we are seeing,” she said. “Customers are far more Continued on page 7.

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Technology — inside APRIL 12, 2019

THE BUSINESS NEWSPAPER OF GREATER OMAHA, LINCOLN AND COUNCIL BLUFFS

THIS WEEK 'S ISSUE:

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VOL. 45 NO. 15

Investors Realty thrives with trend-tracking tools by Richard D. Brown

Hands-on management keeps Neptune’s Water Gardens flowing. – Page 2

40 er d Un 40 Huff succeeds through risk taking, thinking big at Hutch. – Page 4

s es sin es u a B ag ah nal P m O Jour

Dogtopia caters to growing need for dog care in Greater Omaha. – Page 27

Although Omaha-based commercial real estate firm Investors Realty has gained 6,000 square feet with its recent move into 16,000 square feet of the 1.2 million-square-foot facility that once housed one of the region’s largest telecommunications production works, President R.J. Neary sees a bit of irony in the new location of the business he heads. “Specifically, our space was where the Western Electric/Connectivity Solutions tool shop was — where they made the parts for their machines,” Neary said. The veteran Omaha commercial Realtor said Investors Realty is coming off a 44-year record which saw revenues up by almost 20% in 2018 over the previous year. The firm, which had 40 employees seven years ago, has added seven staff in its property management department in the past two years and two brokers. Neary said the new location makes ample use of through-space, Continued on page 10.

President R.J. Neary … Long-time commercial real estate firm sees record revenues, invests in tech(Photo by MBJ / Becky McCarville) nology and training.

Mergers, product diversification embody UNICO Group’s history over its 30 years by Michelle Leach

When UNICO Group got its start just north of 30 years ago, the Lincoln-based firm was primarily a property and casualty shop. Its suite of product offerings has since expanded, as has its Greater Omaha presence at 12120 Port Grace Boulevard in La Vista. “We’ve expanded to where, if it has the word ‘insurance’ in it, we do it,” said President Tom Cham-

poux. “Over the course of time, we realized to serve clients, we needed to serve them in all realms and all their risk management needs. Clients’ expectations and desires were to come to the same place and say, ‘Hey, we have a risk. How can you manage it?’” The business that started Oct. 1, 1988 as the result of a merger between established property/ Continued on page 10. Taproom Managing Partner Beau Starkel … Opening multiple taproom locations in Nebraska in the coming year.

Thunderhead Brewing Taproom expanding its Nebraska presence by Becky McCarville

President Tom Champoux … Lincoln-based comprehensive commercial, personal risk management services firm poised for Omaha office expansion off anniversary year.

Even though Nebraska’s craft beer scene has been around for some time and has grown to nearly 50 breweries in the state, the industry continues to blossom, said Beau Starkel, managing partner of Thunderhead Brewing Taproom. “There’s still a lot of upside in the craft beer business — I think it’s just getting started,” he said.

“There have been a lot of breweries that have opened and that’s fine; competition is good. Then you just have to create a better product, a better experience. The customer wins.” Starkel opened the Thunderhead Brewing Taproom’s first Omaha location near 132nd and Center streets in 2016 and expanded to include event space a year Continued on page 31.

• APRIL 12, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal

Hands-on management keeps Neptune’s Water Gardens flowing by Dwain Hebda

Launched in 2008, Neptune’s Water Gardens has steadily built a loyal clientele, both in the residential and commercial markets. That growth hasn’t changed the company much, or its owner Jason Heller, who still gets his hands dirty on a regular basis.

Neptune’s Water Gardens Phone: 402-699-0384 Address: 11514 South 168th Str., Gretna 68028 Service: outdoor water feature design, installation and service Employees: 4 Industry outlook: Neptune’s Water Gardens handles jobs large and small and has begun marketing systems that don’t require any added water to operate, but instead work off of rainwater. Heller called these systems the future of the industry. Website: http://www.neptuneswatergardens.com/

“I wish I could delegate but I don’t,” he said. “I still muddle in it and I like it. It’s my passion. I really love taking a feature from the dirt all the way up. I like to get my hands into it. “There’s nothing more dynamic in a landscape than a water feature. No matter the season, it’s always changing, it’s always moving. It’s just a beautiful, audible, visual piece of art.” Heller’s enthusiasm for his work is infectious and his knowledge of what separates sound design from shoddy borders on the obsessive. “I can’t walk anywhere and be around a water feature because I just pick it apart,”

Owner Jason Heller … The company has grown to include a long list of residential and commercial clients for water feature design, installation and service. he said. “Give me 10 minutes and I can “They’ve got lights on their ice and it’s identify what’s wrong with a feature that’s running and everything’s fine. It’s an artisnot working right.” tic masterpiece created by nature." Heller started the company after 13 Heller said only 2% to 3% of American years of working for other nurseries where homes have a water feature, compared he honed his skills with water features. with Europe where the range runs closer to Doing that helped him understand how 5% to 10%. He views that discrepancy as to construct a feature that delivers yearlittle more than an opportunity for growth, round, even in Nebraska’s fickle climate. especially when people find out they can “I’ve got people that have them runhave all the benefits of a feature for a lot ning even when they have ice,” he said. less money than they expect.

The Midlands Business Journal's

Business Minute Name: Elizabeth Hansen. Age: 49. Title: Chief development officer. Place of employment: Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Midlands. Associations/ Ti t l e s : M e m b e r of Association of Fundraising Professionals. Hometown: Omaha, Nebraska. Education: Bachelor of Arts and Science, University Hansen of Nebraska-Lincoln. How I got into the business: I re-entered the job market after staying home with three boys and wanted to do something where I could give back and also utilize my years of professional volunteering. Accomplishments or milestones: I have three wonderful sons and a career that fills my bucket. First job: I worked at the Limited at Westroads Mall. Biggest career break: Feeling ready and prepared to step up from events manager to the CDO position when my boss

Elizabeth Hansen, chief development officer, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Midlands

retired. The toughest part of the job: Omaha is an extremely philanthropic city, which is wonderful but also can create donor fatigue. Making sure that our mission is relevant and articulated well so the community understands the value of our program can be a challenge. The best advice I have received: My grandmother use to say, “everything within reason in moderation.” About my family: I am fortunate to have my folks both living in Omaha and doing well in their 70s and 80s. I have three healthy wonderful boys and a great rescue dog named Maggie. Something else I’d like to accomplish: I still dream about owning my own store someday but not sure that will happen. Book I finished reading recently: “Start with Why” by Simon Sinek. Something about me not everyone knows: I lived in Boston, Massachusetts for a short time. How my business will change in the next decade: I think the way we connect to donors and volunteers will continue to evolve

as technology changes. Since most of my job is based on relationships, nothing can replace an in-person visit or a phone call, but there will be more opportunities to engage and inspire donors in more efficient ways in the years to come. Mentor who has helped the most in my career: I have to say my family who have always supported me and been there for me. Outside interests: I love the mountains, running, and shopping. Pet peeves: People who are not willing to be positive about a project or new idea. Favorite vacation spot: Colorado. Other careers I would like to try: I love coaching and managing my team so maybe some type of leadership training or coaching. Favorite movie: The Breakfast Club. Favorite cause or charity: Big Brothers Big Sisters. Favorite app: Pinterest because I can get dinner ideas quickly. (Editor’s note: To nominate an interesting businessman or woman for the Business Minute, please e-mail information about the person to news@mbj.com.)

“Something as simple as a boulder and some gravel with a pop-up vase underneath it that’s bubbling and the birds come to it and you get the sound,” he said. “Just a little $1,500 piece can really just transform from just having your backyard to living the water garden lifestyle.” The company’s offerings range from modest appointments to grand statement-making displays for corporate clients as well as a whole new generation of self-sustained systems that utilize rainwater. Heller said these represent the future of the industry. “A self-sustaining ecosystem water feature does so many things to your yard and solves so many problems,” he said. “You may be in west Omaha and you’ve got compacted ground and water doesn’t infiltrate very well. Instead of having standing water in the backyard, we divert that to a basin that holds what it can, and it diverts the rest out. Basically, you’ve got a water feature that you never add water to.” Such systems have already caught on in other part of the country, namely California, Arizona, Chicago and other places with overtaxed sewer systems. Locally, sales of the new systems are slower, which is fine by Heller who said he’s not interested in Neptune growing at a leapsand-bounds pace anyway. “My plan at the moment is to continue to serve eastern Nebraska and take care of the water feature products people need,” he said. “We’ll continue to do the best work possible for the size company that we are. If fortune shines on us and we’ve got a bunch of big projects, we may look to hire more. But I went through a growth phase a couple years ago and wasn’t real happy with it. I’m kind of like status quo is OK for a little while.”

Midlands Business Journal Established in 1975

PUBLISHER & FOUNDER, Robert Hoig

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The Midlands Business Journal (ISSN 0194-4525) is published weekly plus one by MBJ Inc. and is available for $2.00 per individual copy or $75 per year. Editorial offices are 1324 S. 119th St., Omaha, NE 68144. Periodical postage paid at Omaha NE POSTMASTER; Send address changes to Midlands Business Journal, 1324 S. 119th St., Omaha, NE 68144. All submissions to the Midlands Business Journal become the property of the Midlands Business Journal and will not be returned.

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Midlands Business Journal • APRIL 12, 2019 •

• APRIL 12, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal

Huff succeeds through risk taking, thinking big at Hutch Editor’s Note: This is one of a series of profiles featuring Midlands Business Journal 40 Under 40 award winners — entrepreneurs, business owners, managers and professionals under 40 years of age.

by Dwain Hebda

To hear Nick Huff tell it, the story of his design empire all happened by accident. “It actually started in college. I loved thrift clothes and going to thrift shops; when you're a broke college student that’s the best you can get,” he said. “Fast forward, I met Brandon [Beed] and when we started dating we didn't go to restaurants or bars or anything, we went to thrift shops. It was just this fun thing for us to do.” Those early shopping trips honed Huff’s eye and it’s been a keen compass for what soon followed. It also piled up more furniture than they had room for, more than 100 pieces in six months, and the pair knew they had to do something. They started staging and photographing furniture with the intention of selling it on Craigslist. “We went to congratulate a friend on opening a clothing store in the Old Market,” Huff said. “We saw the basement of the store was empty. Brandon and I looked at each other and said, ‘Well I wonder if we couldn’t just sell our stuff here.’” That space became Hutch, a vintage furniture venture, that was an immediate success. So much so that less than two years after it opened 2013, the couple moved the store to a 5,000-square-foot location at Midtown Crossing, where it resides today. Over time, new furniture was introduced into the mix, both from large manufacturers and local makers, eventually replacing the vintage inventory altogether. “The reason our company is called Hutch is because the first piece we ever bought together, we borrowed his dad’s truck and we drove to Lincoln and found this 1960s china hutch,” Huff said. “We thought it was so cool. It was listed for 50 bucks, we bought it for 42.

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We still have it.” A Kansas City location followed, which would have cemented most entrepreneurs’ legacy. But Huff was just getting warmed up. Having never forgotten where his Nebraska roots lie, or the artisans that live and work in the state, Huff and his team organized HutchFest in 2016. “Since we have local makers in the store at Hutch, we did this event called HutchFest with 250 regional makers,” he said. “We had 8,000 attendees last year.” From this sprang his latest retail venture, Made in Omaha, following the same ethos by showcasing 150 local artisans and their handiwork. For this and other efforts cultivating and supporting local makers, he received a 2018 Fashion Impact Award from Fashion Institute Midwest. Along the way, Hollywood has called and utilized Huff’s interior designs and furniture on television shows Treehouse Masters in 2016 and Tiny House Hunters in 2017. He was also featured in an episode of Queer Eye, the popular Netflix makeover series. Beed and Huff recently branched into commercial design, bringing the same eye for detail and sense of style to the workplace. “The next change is going to be more focused on design services and commercial projects,” he said. “We’re putting in a lot of

Co-owners Brandon Beed, left, and Nick Huff … Expanding love for vintage and local items into new retail concepts and event. (file photo) time and energy to grow that business. It’s roles, he’s been an Omaha Fashion Week really fun because a lot of companies want judge and panelist since 2015. In 2015, he that interesting atmosphere that blends a was a Greater Omaha Chamber YP Summit little bit of residential and a little bit of Change Makers speaker and in 2017, he commercial.” was co-chair for the Kaneko Open Space Huff has also dialed into the wider Soirée. He has also danced in Dancing with community. Among his community service the Omaha Stars events.

Proud Sponsors of the 2018 40 Under 40:

Agriculture real estate going high-tech and global

estate businesses are utilizing more online by Lee Nelson Agriculture real estate companies have offerings from record keeping, data reportbeen changing the last few years to satisfy ing, analysis for production and all things to keep clients better informed and provide the demands of clients. “Our company’s main focus is farms more interaction, he said. “And in this business like any other with 80 acres and larger — farms purchased for production agriculture,” said industry, the more knowledge you have Eric Geiger, sales associate at Mid-Conti- with all aspects, the better,” he said. “That means knowing regional soils, nent Properties in Omaha. “For agronomy background, equipmany of our buyers, if a farm ment used in agriculture and difhas improvements, they must ferent farming techniques for the be in top condition to bring any boots on the ground portion.” value.” Roger Koertner, general Farms today are expansive, manager/accredited rural aphe said. The location and the praiser at Pathfinder Company structures need to be able to in Fremont, said that many landaccommodate large equipment, owners who inherit the family large quality commodity storfarm are more removed from age. To some buyers, a house the farming practices today than may be of importance if the Geiger previous generations that grew operation is looking to accomup on the farm. modate a returning family member. “They have a greater learning curve to “In the last two years, we have moved more land sales back to listings as opposed understand how and why things are being to auctions,” Geiger said. “As prices rose done on the farm as they are,” he said. “The dramatically from 2009 to 2015 and into principles of investment returns remain the the steady prices of 2016, auctions were same, but profit margins have narrowed the best way to maximize the sale price in in recent years, challenging ownership returns. Nebraska farmland owners are also a given market.” In the last couple of years as prices facing real estate property taxes that have have reeled back, going back to a listing tripled over the past six to seven years.” He also said that there is a demand for is a way to hold on to prices, he said. Auctions still play an important role. For acreages in rural areas that are close to example, prime farm ground still benefits employment opportunities. “The size of the property is largely from the auction platform. Like many others in business, agri-real driven by the investment dollars available

and the objectives of the client,” Koertner said. “The majority of farm investors are looking for unimproved farm properties having minimal maintenance needs and costs.” A good agriculture real estate broker can provide educated answers with honesty and an unbiased motive, he said. Scott Henrichsen, real estate agent at Hertz Land Management in Omaha, said today’s real estate brokers for agriculture sales must be tied into a national internet marketing service, yet still stay grounded in their marketing through newspaper ads and direct mail marketing. To keep up with their clients’ needs, agents are using drone technology, satellite technology and harvest maps as well as knowing the fertility of the farm, which includes providing soil sample results when available and documented improvements, he said. “We live in a world where today’s clients desire, and in some cases expect, the data to come instantaneously to them as they can download and view the information on their smartphones, tablets or personal computers, and in most cases, all at any one time,” Henrichsen said. Clients are looking for a variety of types of farms. As a general rule, highly productive, well-maintained farms hold their value during the challenging times of farming, as well as increase in value the most during more prosperous times, he said.

Midlands Business Journal • APRIL 12, 2019 •

Technology A section prepared by the staff of the Midlands Business Journal

April 12, 2019

Security, user-friendliness head tech industry’s list of imperatives by Dwain Hebda

• APRIL 12, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal

• Technology

Customer relationship management software popularity growing by David Kubicek

Over the past several years, customer relationship management (CRM) software has been gaining popularity as a way to help businesses run more efficiently and provide better customer service. CRM is not a glorified Rolodex, according to Jack Pereira, chief cloud consultant at Nuvem Consulting. It covers the customer

Pereira Gengenbach relationship from lead generation to closing the sale. “All of these touchpoints are on a ‘campus’ with a 360-degree view of the customer,” Pereira said. “For a number of years the highest level of strategic interest across all businesses has been in the CRM area.” Customers are more educated as buyers than ever before, and information is more relevant and more available to everyone. Customers expect certain things from interaction with any business. “Companies are using CRM more and more, especially big firms with a more complex customer base, to help them under-

John Ludwig, marketing communications manager at Tigerpaw Software. stand and compartmentalize their customers’ service time, so firms can be sure they’re needs,” said Todd Gengenbach, technology meeting their service level agreements. & management consulting infrastructure A CRM application can help identify manager at RSM US LLP. target markets by measuring how potenCRM systems range from basic platforms tial customers are receiving the message, that manage customer relationships to more identifying who is engaging with the firm’s complex configurations, which manage any website, online surveys and other marketing kind of relationship. The systems help com- tools, and by providing feedback customized panies by sharpening their understanding of to the audience the company is engaging. customer needs, engaging personally with John Ludwig, marketing communications key customers, and enhancing the quality of manager at Tigerpaw Software, said firms products and services. CRM can also measure should do research to find the best CRM

platform for their business. “Some CRMs do very little, and some do much more than you need,” he said. Having business and customer data in a CRM allows anyone at the firm to get a clear view of where that customer is at, what recent interactions they have had, and what they need. “Instead of just accounts and contacts, CRM platforms are incorporating key features like ticketing and service orders, service language agreement (SLA) tracking, documents, proposals, and quotes, and the ability to automate repeating tasks and activities such as sales follow-ups or Wade emails and calls that need to be sent,” Ludwig said. The robust CRM platforms even have additional features and integrations that may include: inventory capabilities, warehouse tracking, serialized product numbering, purchasing and receiving, linking contracts to accounts, tracking for a team’s billable hours, and a host of sales tools to help move prospects through the funnel. “CRMs used to be almost exclusively by sales and marketing teams,” Ludwig said. “Now, the robust ones are being used across departments and at multiple levels in an organization. When everyone has Continued on page 11.

Technology •

Midlands Business Journal • APRIL 12, 2019 •

User-friendliness Experts urge multi-layered approach to data security Continued from page 5. concerned with how they use technology than how it works, and they also have to take into consideration how they will be able to provide ease of use for their staff.” Satisfying the demands of today’s technology consumer is one reason why the field keeps evolving as quickly as it does. According to Angie Kubicek, chief marketing officer for Firespring, two technologies in particular are on the brink of exponential growth in application and widespread use. The first, blockchain marketing, allows for decentralized communication between different parties while providing documentation and verification of the legitimacy of those parties. The other, artificial intelligence, is already in use via several well-known product features from which it is expected to grow exponentially. “AI will be huge because we will see it have the ability to self-learn,” she said. “Google Voice, Alexa and Siri will all have the ability to learn and optimize based on their interactions. By 2020, we will see these machines equipped to help us with taking accurate and useable meeting notes, discovering the right information versus sharing the wrong response and with online shopping. “Google Duplex is already doing this for us; for those with an Android device like the Pixel, Google Duplex can pick up your calls and screen them to see if the call is spam. It can also make calls, schedule reservations and set appointments.”

by Lee Nelson

Cybersecurity can be intimidating and is often seen as an expense that can be spared, said Cory Rutten, security account manager at Infogressive. “Every company should have layers of security in place, and not everything costs money. So, start with the basics that can have a huge impact,” he said. Those include using strong passwords that contain letters, numbers and special characters; never reuse passwords and train employees what Rutten to look for to avoid phishing emails, he said. “Over 92% of breaches begin with an email, so be very cautious of every email you receive,” he said. “Be suspicious of an email you weren’t expecting especially if it’s from someone you do not know. Stranger danger applies here.” On the local front, Infogressive hears about a lot of business emails being compromised when the thief acts as or impersonates the CEO/ CFO or others in upper management to trick employees into transferring money to criminal bank accounts, Rutten said. “There is no silver bullet when it comes to cybersecurity. For that reason, a layered approach is your best option,” he said. Puja Kandel, principal owner at CMIT Solutions of West Omaha, said businesses

need a cybersecurity strategy to protect their customers and their data from growing cybersecurity threats. “They should consult and partner with a cybersecurity expert. If they decide to do it on their own, then they should hire a dedicated

Kandel Osborn IT employee and install antivirus and other key software and update the operating system patches on a regular basis,” she said. Businesses are being affected by the worst cyberattacks around the world. Some of the biggest U.S. companies’ security issues include Under Armor with 150 million records breached in May 2018 through the MyFitness Pal platform that tracks users’ diet and exercise, and Facebook with at least 8 million records breached in March 2018, she said. A few best practices for small business to take as the best routes, she said, include: providing firewall security for your internet connection, securing your Wi-Fi network, training employees in security principals on how to handle and protect customer information and other vital data by using strong

passwords, and creating a mobile device action plan. Brad Osborn, IT services manager at Bizco Technologies, said you just must continually evaluate and evolve your defenses. “There is no single solution that provides the best protection. Deploy a next-gen firewall that can detect malware and viruses before they enter the network. Deploy an AI-based anti-virus product to your endpoints that can learn what is normal and abnormal on your network as opposed to more traditional anti-virus products that rely on definitions to tell them what is bad and what isn’t,” he said. You also need to make sure that these products are deployed completely across the network. Having even 99% coverage still leaves you vulnerable, Osborn said. “Delete stale users and computers from active directory and harden your infrastructure using a principle of least privilege approach, which means giving users or process access to only those privileges on the network that is essential for them to perform their daily functions,” he said. “This approach can drastically reduce the damage that could occur if a user or personal computer does become infected with malware.” He said the worst cyberattack in the new recently is the Norsk Hydro Ransomware attack that caused initial losses of over $40 million. “We continue to see more attempted phishing attempts, especially via domain spoofing,” he said. “As the Norsk Hydro attack proves, ransomware that was prominent two or three years ago is still evolving and wreaking havoc.”

• APRIL 12, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal

• Technology

Analytics ushers in a new age of making data-driven business decisions by Jasmine Heimgartner

In a world driven by technology, data surrounds people at every turn, whether it’s clicking on a link, doing a web search or getting directions. For businesses, using data to make better decisions may be nothing new, but the technology to turn overwhelmingly vast amounts of data into something usable by everyone within the company is becoming an essential component of success for companies across industries. “It is an incredibly smart concept for any industry and size. You are investing in yourself and setting yourself up for success,” said Ellen Myer, director at AIM Institute Interface School. “Data is factual, so you are able to make decisions — whether its personnel, financial or whatever problem — based on facts instead of emotions. That changes the pendulum toward success.” An analytics solution is not a one size fits all, but there is an underlying theme to them all. “From a business perspective, it often comes down to asking, ‘What don’t I know that I want to know?’” said Derek Kruse, chief information officer, Douglas Omaha Technology Commission. “Analytics are tools that can bring data into one collection to compare, from simple comparisons of data to very advanced algorithms to look for patterns in information to make a decision. If you need to know how satisfied customers are, you can collect the right data and use the analytic tools to figure that out.” There are different components of a data solution for overall business intelligence that go beyond the technical aspects.

“When we talk system, most people think about what technology will solve the problem,” said Mark Floersch, president and

widget. Regardless, you should be doing the science because it’s likely your competitor is. You have to be making decisions informed

Myer Kruse founder of Catch Intelligence. “When we say system, we look at multiple pieces. We look at people, processes, practices, data architecture and data governance. Those are the things that make up the comprehensive system. A lot of times the mistake people make is thinking there is an easy button. There isn’t just a piece of technology or cloud-based or big platform that will solve all needs. It is a comprehensive system that encompasses those things.” Whether starting small or expanding analytics across departments, using these types of tools allows for companies to be more forward thinking. “The majority of companies are looking at their data retroactively,” said Nathan Watson, president of Contemporary Analysis. “They are looking at what happened last week or last year. Now, people are asking, ‘What is going to happen? If March sales were good, what will April sales be?’ This transcends verticals. Every vertical sells something. Sometimes it is a service, or sometimes a

Floersch Watson by data to even keep up.” For some businesses, making the leap into the world of data may see overwhelming. There are ways to ease into the arena. “Even small businesses can benefit from the access of tools available and labor that

is focused on data science to help them answer pressing questions,” Kruse said. “You do need a person that can take that data and find something under it that can be used. For smaller businesses not ready for a big investment, maybe you hire a business analytics student as an intern. There is whole new industry and workforce geared up for that.” Gaining personal insight into the world of data science is another option. “We are about to start a 10-week course called Evidence Based Innovation,” Myer said. “It is a much more palatable approach to data-driven decisions. It teaches you to come up with right questions to ask and who to ask, and how to collect the data, analyze it and use it for risk mitigation to solve whatever your problem is. When you solve problems, you avoid risk and save money, whether big or small. There is a real financial benefit to using data science in any business.”

Integrating digital practices in higher ed, workplace bring new efficiences by Gabby Christensen

Integrating digital practices and technology in higher education and workplace settings can improve productivity and save resources, according to local tech experts. Incorporating technology in higher-education athletic facilities strengthens each facility’s flexibility and helps drive recruiting for colleges and universities, according to Erin Froschheiser, project manager for Leo A Daly. For example, Froschheiser said Leo A

Daly designed a modernization and expansion for University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Center for Healthy Living, which incorporated technology in multiple ways. “The original facility housed two multipurpose fitness rooms and the new one houses three technology-enabled multipurpose rooms,” Froschheiser said. “Now, rather than be bound by instructor availability, faculty members and students can come in their own small groups and select from fitness classes Continued on page 26.

Midlands Business Journal • APRIL 12, 2019 •

From left, Jacqelle Lane, Van Deeb and Julie Eesley.

From left, Keith Fix, Josh Rasmussen, Nate Nordstrom, David Burr and Jamie Burr.

UNO Center for Innovation, Entrepreneurship & Franchising celebrates local entrepreneurs by Tiffany Brazda

Omaha area entrepreneurs, business leaders and students gathered April 5 at The Kaneko as part of the inaugural Celebration of Entrepreneurship Gala presented by the University of Nebraska at Omaha Center for Innovation, Entrepreneurship & Franchising. Honorary co-chairs Willy Theisen and Van Deeb presented at the event, both of which have been board members for the Center since 2012. Deeb spoke of former student successes, such as Keith Fix, who recently sold his previous business Blabfeed and closed a seed round on his current venture Retail Aware, at a $2 million valuation. Theisen touched on his journey as an entrepreneur, which started with a small business loan and a drawing on a cocktail napkin. “Entrepreneurs see things others don’t see,” Theisen said. Dr. Dale Eesley, director of the Center, spoke about some

of its efforts in the community such as its partnership with Defy Ventures, a program that prepares individuals who are currently or formerly incarcerated to enter the workforce. If these individuals have a hard time getting a job, they can create their own, Eesley said. “We’re celebrating entrepreneurship tonight, and we’re trying Photos by MBJ / Becky McCarville to cast a wider net for entrepreneurship into our state prison system,” he said. Additionally, Eesley spoke of a new initiative for the Center, the Maverick Venture Fund, which invests seed capital in startups founded by UNO students and alumni. “It’s a great experience for our students, because they were trained for almost a year on how to do deals, how to do seed stage investing … they were able to use that training to assess it and structure a deal,” he said. Eesley noted recipient Appsky

Labs, an Omaha-based creative agency. The event also included a special honor for late Midlands Business Journal founder Bob Hoig. Andee Hoig, MBJ VP of operations and publisher of Metro Magazine, spoke of her father’s entrepreneurial spirit when starting MBJ in 1975. “He had this vision for small business in Omaha, Nebraska that nobody saw at that time in 1975,” Hoig said. The event was highlighted by a presentation of awards to former students of the program. The following honors were presented: Under 30 Alumni Entrepreneurship Award – Nate Nordstrom, entrepreneur; Female Alumni Entrepreneurship Award – Sarah Spooner, owner of Four Sisters Boutique; Alumni HighGrowth Business Award – Josh Rasmussen, CEO of Monday Motorbikes; Alumni Social Venture Award – Leslie Fischer, co-founder of TAGG; Corporate Culture Alumni Award – Rick Knudtson, co-founder of Flywheel.

Leah Struthers, left, and Martha Hoig participating in an ice breaker exercise.

Dr. Dale Eesley, left, and Rick Knudtson, co-founder of Flywheel, accepting the Corporate Culture Alumni Award.

From left, Willy Theisen, Andee Hoig and Dr. Wally Duff.

• APRIL 12, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal

Mergers, product diversification embody UNICO Group’s history over its 30 years Continued from page 1. casualty insurance brokerage firm, Reynolds-Simmons-Nelson Insurance and Chambers Dobson, now spans business and personal risk management solutions including workers’ compensation and

UNICO Group Phone: 402-434-7200 (Lincoln headquarters); 402-361-5905 (Omaha) Address: 1128 Lincoln Mall, Suite 200, Lincoln 68508; 12120 Port Grace Boulevard, Suite 102, La Vista 68128 Services: commercial insurance, workers’ compensation, telecommunications program, employee benefits, and auto, home, health and life insurance coverage Founded: 1988, following Reynolds-Simmons-Nelson Insurance and Chambers Dobson merger Employees: around 130 to 140 (companywide) Website: unicogroup.com

employee benefits, and auto, home, health and life insurance coverage. And, while Champoux noted it was a smaller firm, today UNICO Group is reportedly one of the largest locally-owned insurance agencies in the state. Its headquarters at 1128 Lincoln Mall in Lincoln is joined by a Columbus office that opened in 1998, and a Kearney office that resulted from its merger in 2001 with AndersonDivan-Cottrell. “We have 130 to 140 [employees] most days,” Champoux said. “The majority are in our Lincoln headquarters office, and the next majority are in Nebraska. But then we’ve probably got another 15 that don’t

live in Nebraska at all.” Those employees in states such as Oregon and West Virginia represent its UNITEL division. “That’s our national division, and we’re in nearly 50 states,” Champoux said. This telecommunications program joined the UNICO lineup in 2004 and, as Champoux referenced, represented its branching out from a local and state reach to a national one. Its evolution and expansion in products and expertise is also marked by mergers in 2009 and 2014: Greco Insurance Agency, which established its Omaha presence, and Midlands Financial Benefits, a Lincoln benefits/financial services provider, respectively. The team includes talent that has been with the firm since the very beginning, including Champoux and former President Scott Nelson, whose retirement roughly

coincided with the 30-year milestone. At the time of this writing, Champoux noted UNICO has three or four open postings. “We’re always looking for good people,” he said. He said its best employees result from referrals from existing employees who know someone who might be a good fit. In an announcement about its anniversary, Champoux isolated the organization’s “radiant culture” as an attribute that contributed to its longevity. “One of the things about that radiant culture, we’re kind of a family, and we do live by core values — professional, positive, team player and trust,” he said. Not a week goes by, Champoux indicated, where the team isn’t reminded about those values. Going forward, the company is also

expanding bricks and mortar-wise. “We’re doubling the amount of space at the Omaha office,” he said. “We’re creating an area for growth. We’ve been on top of each other sharing offices.” The La Vista office at 12120 Port Grace Boulevard is poised for an expansion to include a neighboring suite in April. “We’ve been in Omaha since 2009, so this is a big step,” Champoux said. He noted a good mix of old and new, with clients still able to go to the office they’ve come to know, and the integration of upgrades heighten UNICO Omaha’s professional look and feel. A nod to another milestone, UNICO was named the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America’s “Top Performing Agency” for 2016, reportedly honoring the great strides and growth experienced by the firm over recent years.

Investors Realty thrives with trend-tracking tools Continued from page 1. natural light, and sends a strong statement to employees and visitors that the firm, which had been in its previous location for more than three decades, is “progressive and capable in doing things in a new way.” Neary, a second-generation family member to enter the Omaha real estate market, in 1987 joined Steve Farrell and Jerry Heinrichs on Investors Realty’s ownership team. The 1975 University of Nebraska-Lincoln agriculture and economics graduate became president of Investors Realty in 2010 and over the past nine years the brokerage and property management numbers of the

business have doubled. about 40% of revenues. “One of the reasons is the value we place Neary said property management conon looking out for the client first and the other tracts have been important to Investors is the education we Realty’s growth. Aloffer our people and most all of the 180 Investors Realty the training and menbuildings and more toring system which Phone: 402-330-8000 than 6 million square we’ve put in place,” Address: 12500 I St., Suite 160, Omaha feet are located in he said. “Through our 68137 the Omaha-Council education we’ve tried Services: buy, sell, lease and manageBluffs metroplex. to minimize many of ment; facility management and consulting Facility managethe mistakes and make of commercial real estate on behalf of corment projects include sure the deals happen porate, institutional and individual clients properties rangFounded: 1975 by Steve Farrell and Jerry right.” ing from Nebraska Much of the train- Heinrichs Crossing to multiple ing comes from col- Employees: 60 University of Nebraslaboration with an em- One-year goal: Increase customers ka Medical Center served by 5%. phasis on teamwork. off-campus clinics, F o r e x a m p l e , Industry outlook: Optimism remains, the latter of which Neary, who special- although interest rate hikes and renovation require sensitive, govizes in industrial and costs in some markets are being watched. ernmentally-regulatspecial projects, heads Website: www.investorsomaha.com ed, compliance issues. a team that includes In 2016, Investors Ryan Zabrowski, who started 18 years ago Realty took over a management portfolio of right out of Creighton University and who seven office buildings. has risen to principal, and Ryan Kuehl, who Neary said Investors Realty benefits started four years ago as a student with a spe- from five-year strategic planning and via cialty in industrial, office and land projects. the process has devoted increased amounts Zabrowski, who specializes in industrial of its financial resources to technological and office projects, lauded the “learning investment. by doing” mentoring approach advocated “We added a GPS-based electronic monby Neary, in which he divided up work itoring system in 2017 which has been very on projects and split the fees with young- valuable in tracking trends,” he said. “We’ve er colleagues while they turned more also added to our accounting system and of their attention on improving client significantly to the training of our people.” service rather than producing business Of special significance are the scenarios on their own. that can be run for clients tracking return on “R.J.’s incredibly creative and thought- investment, which can be analyzed under ful,” he said. “Years ago when we were multiple options. selling the Paxton Hotel it was my first time Patrick S. Regan, retail and land-use working with a property that had multiple specialist, last month compiled a retail maroffers coming in and he coached me through keting report that showed nationally that qualifying the buyers and helping advise the neighborhood and strip shopping centers client on who had the best chance to close and continued to fill vacancies due to a decrease achieve the client’s desired result.” in construction activity and the expansion of The mentoring brought a quicker end to a retailers such as fitness users, beauty and costransaction involving one of Omaha’s iconic metics, off-price apparel, food and beverage, buildings, which had been idle for years and medical, dollar stores and other discounters rapidly decaying. with growth plans. Of 22 total brokers, 18 have come up He noted trends toward specialty-focused through internships and teaming up. retail destinations revolving around themes Real estate brokerage, sales and leasing such as health or foods. Strong malls will work provides about 60% of revenues, and continue to increase sales while weaker is likely to increase in the next five years. properties will be challenged to find ways to Property management contracts account for Continued on next page.

Midlands Business Journal • APRIL 12, 2019 •

As farmers retire, their families face difficult choices by Sophie Quinton

Driving around his potato and barley farm in his silver Ford F-150 crammed with yellowing notebooks, Thad Elliott looks out on fields that have been in his family for over a century. He didn’t want to Agriculture be a farmer as a kid growing up here in the San Luis Valley, but after decades of planting and harvesting — first as his father’s partner, and then as the farm’s owner — he’s learned to appreciate the family business. SUPER CROSSWORD

“I guess it’s just a way of life I’ve grown into,” he said, passing the field by the river, where this summer his family will throw him a 70th birthday party. “Working for yourself, not working for anyone else.” So what’s the hardest part about retiring? The finances? The family conversations? “All of the above,” he said. “Just doing it.” Of all the challenges facing American agriculture — low commodity prices, President Donald Trump’s trade wars, climate change — the coming wave of farmer retirements LITERATURE FIEND

gets relatively little media attention. But farmland must be passed down to a new generation for agricultural communities to survive. And the last time the U.S. Department of Agriculture checked, in 2012, nearly a third of U.S. farm and ranch operators were over age 65. Farm operators who don’t have children willing to take over often end up selling to developers or neighbors who may be near retirement themselves. When farmers do have a son or daughter ready to take the reins, poor financial planning, family infighting or lack of communication can still leave descendants no choice but to sell the farm. The challenge is particularly acute in Colorado, where in 2012 the average farmer was 59, a year older than the national average. From 2011 to 2018, the state lost nearly 7 percent of its farms and ranches and about 187,000 agricultural acres to other uses, according to federal estimates. Between 1992 and 2012, almost 31 million acres of farm and ranch land have been taken out of production, according to American Farmland Trust, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C. That’s an area the size of New York state. “We’re at a pivot point,” said Colorado Agriculture Commissioner Kate Greenberg. If something isn’t done to keep farmers on the land, she said, “we’re going to continue losing (agriculture) at an incredible rate.” To support family farms, her agency may expand a state program that dispatches mediators to help farmers address contentious

Investors Realty thrives

Answers on page 12.

Continued from preceding page. reinvent themselves. In Omaha, Regan said that strip center development continues in Douglas and Sarpy counties and the focus of such endeavors is on food and beverage and service-oriented tenants. Investors Realty’s Tim Kerrigan and J.P. Raynor, who authored an Omaha office market report, found that while the market remained busy in 2018 and recorded several larger transactions, it was off the usual pace. They tracked 55 notable tenants active in the Omaha metroplex seeking a total of about 900,000 square feet at the end of 2018. After removing the largest prospect, the average tenant seeking space in the market is seeking 33,000 square feet. A report by industrial specialist Kevin Stratman shows that last year more than 1.3 million square feet of new industrial and flex space — excluding data centers — was constructed in the Omaha area. More than 2.5 million square feet of projects are expected this year. However, the biggest challenge is the lack of shovel-ready industrial sites. Stratman reported a larger portion of new construction will likely be given to speculative projects. In addition to Omaha, Neary said the Investors Realty team also has projects in the Lincoln and Council Bluffs markets. No matter where a project is located, Investors Realty — which has been involved in well over 10,000 transactions — remains positioned for growth. “It’s the unique culture here that contributes significantly to the growth of our firm,” said Neary, a recent inductee into the Commercial Real Estate Summit Hall of Fame.

legal issues. Her team has been meeting with farm groups to find out what other help the state could offer. Transitioning a farm is more complicated than transitioning a typical business, said Todd Hagenbuch, a Colorado State University extension agent who mediates succession planning discussions among farm families through a nonprofit program. “It’s a family, it’s a business, it’s personalities, it’s history, it’s all wrapped into one big thing,” he said. “And that makes it exceptionally complex.” Asset-Rich, Cash-Poor Colorado’s San Luis Valley is a high-altitude plain larger than Massachusetts. Ringed by mountain peaks, the valley is flat and dry, home to small towns, the occasional river marked by cottonwood trees, and mile after mile of irrigation pivot circles. Up here, the sun shines bright and harsh. Emily Brown, Elliott’s daughter, grew up in the valley, feeding the family chickens and riding inner tubes down irrigation ditches when they filled with snowmelt in the spring. She moved away for college and work, then back to take a job running the county public health department and to be close to family after her first child was born. Now Brown’s husband, Kyler, is working for her dad as a salaried employee, and the couple — both age 36 — are considering taking over the farm, which comprises a few hundred acres. Elliott admits it would be easier to retire if he didn’t have potential successors. “If I didn’t have family around, I could probably do it real easy — I could just rent (the farm) out,” he said. But renting out land often leads to selling off idled machinery, which his children likely couldn’t afford to replace later if they decide to take over the farm. “There’d be just no way to get back into it,” he said. Perhaps the biggest challenge would-be farmers face is the high cost of land and equipment, compounded by farming’s uncertain and often low financial return. “Land values, especially in Colorado, Continued on next page.

Customer relationship Continued from page 6. access to the same data and information, your customer experience improves across the board.” Ryan Wade, tech software solutions manager at Lutz, said more business clients are moving from homegrown systems to cloudbased solutions, but the firm is also seeing more clients outgrow off-the-shelf solutions. “Businesses can customize off-the-shelf solutions or use API [application programming interface] services to integrate the systems,” he said. “We’re also seeing more businesses integrate off-the-shelf solutions with custom software. This provides a good balance of not recreating the wheel, but also maximizing control over what makes each business competitive.” CRMs can be used to integrate processes between sales and operations and to report status, which can help deliver a consistent experience for customers. “It’s about holding everyone accountable to delivering on expectations,” Wade said. “Implementing a CRM can be challenging. It’s less about the technology and more about the commitment to changing processes and systems.”

• APRIL 12, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal

As farmers retire, their families face difficult choices Continued from preceding page. completely outpace any viable agricultural business model,” said Dan Waldvogle, former director of a nonprofit program called Colorado Land Link that matches farmers and ranchers without successors with young people in need of land. He now works as the membership coordinator for the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union. Farmers can be wealthy on paper, owners of tractors that cost $200,000 and land worth millions, but still have very little money in the bank. And they can’t easily sell off their assets — to pay taxes or nursing home fees, for instance — without hurting the farm business. So young people don’t just struggle to buy farms; they also need help from accountants, lawyers and bankers to inherit them. To avoid estate taxes, farm families need to wrap their assets in trusts, limited liability companies and limited liability partnerships. They need mechanisms to allow a retiring farmer without a 401(k) to continue to draw income from the farm after his child takes over ownership. They might need livestock leases, conservation easements or options to purchase. Brown said she’s had trouble figuring out which tools would help her family. “It’s almost like you need a menu,” she said, standing outside the farm’s potato storage shed and spreading her arms in exasperation. “Here’s what you’ve got, here’s the 10 different options you have.” Jenna Keller, a lawyer based in Craig, Colorado, who helps rural clients with estate and tax planning, said expert help may be getting harder to find. “Those issues that are facing farmers and ranchers have reached such a level that they really need some specialized services,” she

said. “They need an accountant who knows the difference between a replacement heifer and a breeding bull.” But many rural tax and estate planning specialists also are retiring, Keller said. Her company has been taking over closing law practices in Colorado. “We’re trying to figure out how to keep the doors open on an office, so there’s at least some place for people to go in a community to video conference with us,” she said. Estate and succession planning also requires dealing with family drama, from sibling fights to conflicts over whether dad still gets to make management decisions in his retirement. “Farmers and ranchers, historically, are not very communicative within their family talking about these things,” says Jeff Tranel, a Colorado State University extension specialist who acts as a mediator and holds workshops on farm succession planning all over the state. Sixth-generation farmer Elena Miller-ter Kuile says her grandmother was no exception. Her grandmother’s will, which split two family properties among five children, almost cost Elena’s father, Alan Miller, the farm he’d worked for decades. Elena and Alan grow hay, oats and barley and raise sheep on 400 dry, rocky acres near La Jara, a small town in the San Luis Valley. The farm has never been a big moneymaker, and both father and daughter sometimes take odd jobs to make ends meet. Yet after Alan’s mother died in 2015, an appraiser said the farm was worth $1 million. “We have the oldest water rights on the (Alamosa) river,” Elena, 31, said of the valuation. “That’s really the bottom line.” The will set off a bitter family fight. Alan

Six ways to bounce back from bankruptcy by Dori Zinn

Filing for bankruptcy can feel like you’ve hit rock bottom. While it does wipe out your old debt, bankruptcies stay on your credit report for seven to 10 years, hurting your long-term chances of qualifying Financial for a mortgage or other credit. Despite the hardships you’ll endure after declaring a bankruptcy, there are several ways you can bounce back. Here’s what you need to know. 1. Make a budget Budgeting can be difficult, especially if you’ve never created a budget or tracked your money before. But the first step in good money management is to actually manage your money. Whether through a spreadsheet or your favorite online platform, there are plenty of ways to track expenses and income. To start, calculate all of your fixed expenses such as your mortgage payment, home bills, insurance and anything you’re required to pay monthly. Make sure your budget can cover all of these costs. Next, calculate your other needs such as food, clothing and entertainment. Leave room for discretionary and emergency savings, but make sure your projected spending falls within your means. 2. Start using cash Having a limited amount of cash on hand

will keep you on budget and prevent you from charging more than you can afford on a credit card. While you don’t need to use cash for every purchase, prioritizing cash spending can help you to save money. For instance, you may think twice about buying extra snacks at the grocery store if you end up being a few dollars short for necessities like eggs or milk. When your cash runs out, it’s gone. Using cash may only be temporary for you, but it’s a good step to help mitigate excess spending. Once you’ve got a grip on your budget, you can re-introduce cards. 3. Diligently pay on time On-time payments are a major part of your credit history, accounting for 35 percent of your overall score. Late payments tell lenders you’re not responsible enough with your money. It also makes them cautious about lending money to you in the future. To increase your credit score, set up a system that allows you to pay all of your bills by their due date. Many people find it helpful to set a calendar alert the day before a payment is due to avoid unintentional missed payments. Whenever possible, setting up auto-pay can also help avoid missed payments and ease stress associated with forgotten payments. 4. Add positive accounts to your history After bankruptcy, it may be hard to Continued on page 31.

inherited half the main farm, but he and Elena knew they couldn’t make a living on a smaller property – and they didn’t have the money to buy the rest of the land. They called in a mediator, but the family spent more time trading insults and airing grievances than coming up with a solution. Eventually, the father-daughter team hired Keller, who helped them reach a settlement that allowed them to buy the rest of the farm. They paid for it by renting out a water right and putting the property under a conservation easement paid for by the Rio Grande Headwaters Land Trust — a designation that means the farm cannot be developed and will significantly reduce the value of the property. Now Alan, 61, is facing the same dilemma his mother faced. Standing in the dusty doorway of Elena’s bungalow, sheep bleating in a field nearby, he mused over whether it was fair to bequeath one daughter a huge asset and leave his two other daughters very little. But if there’s one child taking over the farm, “then we have to support that steward,” he said. Succession planning starts long before families begin drawing up legal documents, said Callie Hendrickson, who conducts trainings on family communication for the Colorado Farm Bureau. She tries to help participants address power dynamics and resentments that can fester over time. The gruff farmers and ranchers who come to her workshops often discover they have the same problem, she said: how to deal with dad. “How do you transition from the kid, who was there to do whatever dad wanted, into a decision-maker and a manager, and eventually into making the decisions?” Hendrickson said she’s worked with

farmers who are 40 or 50 and still working for their grandpa. Young people who buy or lease land from a stranger face similar tensions. Colorado Land Link, the program that pairs young farmers in need of land with older farmers in need of successors, has struggled partly because of high land prices, Waldvogle said. But it’s also extremely difficult for farmers to give up day-to-day control over their land, he said. The Land Link program doesn’t have the resources to offer mediation or matchmaking services to ensure participants can work well together. “To probably no one’s surprise, we had a lot of epic failures with our matches,” he said. Emily Brown said her husband, who’d rather run a horse or cattle ranch than grow potatoes, researched the Land Link program before they got involved in the family farm. But they decided it was unlikely to work for them. “We’ve both realized that maybe that works in a few situations,” she said, but for a lot of families, “it’s gotta be a really special relationship.” Brown, her husband, mom and dad went to one of Tranel’s legacy planning workshops last fall. After Christmas, the whole clan, including Brown’s two sisters, headed to a local restaurant for a family meeting. Nothing was decided then and there. “My mom and dad have had plenty of conversations, we’ve tried to talk to my dad … It’s a whole process,” said Brown. She and her husband aren’t certain they want the farm. And her dad sometimes seems torn about the long-term viability of the business, she said. “I think my dad just knows that water is always an issue here, and might be getting harder,” Brown said. “And farming is hard.” ©2019 Stateline.org Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

SUPER CROSSWORD PUZZLE ANSWERS

Puzzle on page 11.

Midlands Business Journal • APRIL 12, 2019 •

Investing for Retirement A section prepared by the staff of the Midlands Business Journal

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Topics may include:

Investing for Retirement overview • Baby boomer retirement trends Retirement investing options for those without employer-sponsored retirement plan or pension program Home equity strategies • Post-retirement investing/wealth management • 401(k) and IRA trends

Salute to Small Business overview • Hiring and retaining employees How the generational shift is impacting small business workplaces • Buying local Business startup assistance • The benefits challenge • Finding capital What business accelerators are seeking and doing

Issue Date: April 19 • Ad Deadline: April 11

Legal g n i t e k r a M G Profession N I S I T R E ADV Promotion s A section prepared by the staff of the Midlands Business Journal

A section prepared by the staff of the Midlands Business Journal

Topics may include:

Legal Profession overview • Activities • Law school trends Women initiatives and leadership in the legal profession • Growing cybersecurity practices Trademark/patent trends • Paid parental leave • Rise of employee retaliation claims To grow business in competitive legal industry

Topics may include: Overview • Social media trends • Web development Brand • e-commerce • Defining a target audience

Issue Date: April 26 • Ad Deadline: April 18

To advertise your company’s products or services in one of our upcoming sections, contact one of our MBJ advertising representatives at (402) 330-1760 or at the email addresses below. Julie Whitehead - Julie@mbj.com • Catie Kirby - ads@mbj.com

• APRIL 12, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal

This 99-year-old federal law is stifling jobs and shifting higher costs to consumers The president has received from one of his employees, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, a report that probably tells Ross’s employer what he wants to hear: that imports of cars — “The Audis are coming! The Audis are coming!” — threaten “national security.” eorge This report is required by our lackadaisical Congress so it ill can pretend to be involved in setting trade policy. After the president’s yes-man says “Yes” to the national security threat, the president can unilaterally raise taxes (i.e., tariffs, which are paid by Americans) to slow the flow of cars to Americans who want them. Using national security as an excuse for economic foolishness, in the service of cupidity, is nothing new. What is novel nowadays is a legislator standing athwart foolishness, yelling “Stop!” Although it is impossible to imagine Sen. Mike Lee yelling. The Utah Republican, he of the white shirts, blue suits, subdued ties and measured words softly spoken in stately cadences, lacks the demeanor of a brawler spoiling for a fight. He has, however, just picked one concerning a small sliver of something vast — crony capitalism disguised as patriotism. The Merchant Marine Act of 1920, a.k.a. the Jones Act, was passed after one war and supposedly in anticipation of others. Its purported purpose was to encourage the development of a merchant marine sufficient for war or other “national emergency.” Ninety-nine years later, the nation is in a “national emergency” (presidential disappointment regarding his wall); emergencies and national security crises multiply as the ease of declaring them increases. Never mind. The Jones Act has failed to achieve its stated aims while inflicting substantial unanticipated costs, enriching a few businesses and unions, and pleasing the at least 16 congressional committees and six federal agencies that have oversight jurisdiction under the act. Lee’s Open America’s Waters Act of 2019 would repeal the Jones Act’s requirements that cargo transported by water between U.S. ports must travel in ships that are U.S.built, U.S.-owned, U.S.-registered and U.S.-crewed. Colin Grabow, Inu Manak and Daniel J. Ikenson of Washington’s Cato Institute demonstrate that under — and largely because of — the Jones Act, the following has happened: One of the nation’s geographic advantages — tens of thousands of miles of coastline and inland waterways — has been minimized by making it off-limits to foreign competition in transportation. This increases transportation costs, which ripple through the production process as a significant portion of the costs of goods. Because of the Jones Act’s costly mandates, less cargo is shipped by water, merchant mariners have fewer jobs, and more cargo is carried by truck, rail and air, which are more environmentally damaging than water transportation. Two of America’s most congested highways, Interstate 95 and Interstate 5, are along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, respectively. Yet the amount of cargo shipped by water along the coasts and on the Great Lakes is about half the volume of 1960. Since then, railroad freight volume has increased about 50 percent, and volume by intercity trucks — responsible for more than 75 percent of federal highway maintenance costs — has increased more than 200 percent. A hog farmer in North Carolina purchases corn feed from Canada rather than Iowa because delivery costs make the Iowa corn uncompetitive. A Hawaiian rancher flies cattle to West Coast feedlots and slaughterhouses to avoid Jones Act shipping costs. Although the United States is the world’s second-largest producer of rock salt, Maryland and Virginia buy theirs for winter use from Chile because of Jones Act shipping costs. As for military considerations: Troops get to today’s wars by aircraft. And the antiquated U.S. commercial shipping fleet carried just 6.3 percent of the cargo in the

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‘Opportunity zones’ spur new state tax incentives by Sophie Quinton

Governors helped the U.S. Treasury Department choose nearly 9,000 economically distressed “opportunity zones” where people can get a tax break for investing in certain businesses and properties. But the 2017 federal tax law that created the zones doesn’t allow governors or state lawmakers to steer investors’ money into certain projects. They’re trying to influence the market anyway. This year 17 state legislatures have considered opportunity zone bills, including proposals for Economy additional tax breaks to lure investors or encourage certain projects, such as affordable housing or solar energy development, according to Novogradac & Co. LLC, an accounting and consulting firm that is keeping track. The federal government is expected to announce a second round of proposed opportunity zone regulations any day now, which would give many investors confidence 2002-2003 buildup for the Iraq War. The Jones Act illustrates how protectionism creates dependent industries that then squander resources (ingenuity, money) on manipulating the government. The act also illustrates the asymmetry that explains much of what government does — the law of dispersed costs and concentrated benefits. The act’s likely annual costs to the economy (tens of billions) are too widely distributed to be much noticed; its benefits enrich a relative few, who use their ill-gotten profits to finance the defense of the government’s favoritism. Spurious “national security” concerns tend to descend into slapstick (“The Audis are coming!”) as with this hypothetical horrible imagined by a U.S shipping executive defending the Jones Act: “I wouldn’t want North Korea moving barges and tugboats up and down the Mississippi River. If you don’t have this law, that could occur.” Huck’s raft crowded off the river by Kim Jong Un’s vessels? Make your blood boil? Or your ribs ache from laughter? The Washington Post

to start striking deals. “Through the added incentives, states can encourage the type of development they want to see in opportunity zones,” said Michael Novogradac, managing partner of Novogradac & Company. Novogradac cautioned, however, that ultimately cities and counties may have more power over what gets built in a zone than states do. Last year, for example, the City Council in Boulder, Colorado, halted some development in its zone, citing the need for more planning. “I do think they can bend the curve to be sure,” Novogradac said of states. “But at the end of the day it really depends on local government and local policies.” Much of the early investment in opportunity zones is flowing into real estate. Sales of undeveloped land, previously developed but vacant land, and properties ripe for demolition and redevelopment surged in zones last year, according to a December report from Real Capital Analytics, a company that tracks real estate markets. New York City, Los Angeles and Phoenix may be the hottest markets for opportunity zone funds, the report said. Some state lawmakers want to tip the scales in favor of projects their constituents need but may be riskier or less lucrative than a new hotel or apartment building in a big city. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, has proposed a state tax break like the federal one, though it would apply only to green technology and affordable housing projects. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, wants to lure businesses into zones with additional tax breaks for creating jobs, expanded workforce training assistance, and more funding for affordable housing development and small-business loans, among other incentives. Washington state Rep. Mike Chapman also is interested in offering state tax credits to opportunity zone investors who can create jobs in economically depressed rural areas. “We don’t have a lack of construction work in this state, so it’s not like we need to build more buildings,” Continued on next page.

Midlands Business Journal • APRIL 12, 2019 •

As competition for skilled workers heats up, manufacturers improve health benefits by Dee DePass

Over the past five years, the high-tech manufacturer Protolabs has doubled its sales and nearly quadrupled its head count. With 2,700 employees today, it expects to add 650 this year. In the tight labor market of recent years, finding and keeping people has been a challenge. So the company, known for making complex prototypes on deadline, took a step that is becoming increasingly common — getting more generous with health benefits. The Minnesota company now pays 97 percent of medical costs for all manufacturing Economy employees and has brought down the price of its plan for spouses and kids. In 2015, employees paid $6,900 a year and up for a family plan, while today annual premiums run as low as $1,320, or $55 a paycheck. “I think that people are starting to look at ways that they can be creative,” said Renee Conklin, vice president of human resources. “Again, it isn’t just about money. It’s about how can you be an employer of choice and offer things that are important to employees.” In a trend that reflects both the strong economy and

the growing cost of health care, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), found that 34 percent of U.S. employers enhanced employee benefits between June 2017 and June 2018, mostly to attract and retain workers. That’s up from 19 percent in 2016. Midsize manufacturers say they have felt the pressure particularly acutely, as competition for skilled factory workers is fierce. Pipe-maker Uponor North America, which expanded several times in Apple Valley and Hutchinson, Minn., recently added a free mental-health support services program to its medical offerings after “recognizing that mental health is just as important as physical health when it comes to engaging employees and recruiting top talent,” said Kara Hayft, Uponor’s vice president for human resources. Mankato, Minn.-based V-Tek Inc. recently increased health insurance choices for workers and doubled the contribution to each employee’s health savings account from $500 to $1,000 a year. That “helped us bring in younger workers who were in their 30s or under,” said Christina Hogan, vice president of the 100-employee company that packages semiconductor components for auto, aerospace and medical firms. Young

Continued from preceding page. the Democrat said. “We need jobs in rural counties that are living wage jobs where people can consistently receive a paycheck.” A ‘Windfall to Investors’ To get the federal tax break, people must invest earnings from selling stocks, bonds or property in a fund that, in turn, invests in businesses or property in an opportunity zone. Investors who put money into such a fund can defer paying taxes on their gains right away and earn a 15 percent tax cut on the gains after holding their shares for seven years. Investors who hold their shares for 10 years don’t have to pay capital gains taxes on money they make from those shares. Most states have adopted a similar tax break. Nine states have not aligned with the federal tax break because they don’t tax incomes. Lawmakers in eight states have either declined to offer the same incentive or haven’t acted yet, according to Novogradac. But it’s not clear that creating a state version of the federal opportunity zone tax break will make much of a difference to investors. Federal tax law typically influences people’s choices more than state tax law, the California Legislative Analyst’s Office, a nonpartisan adviser to the legislature, said of Newsom’s plan in a recent report. “Any state tax benefit provided would be a ‘windfall’ to investors because they likely would have made the investment even without the state benefit,” the report said. Some progressive advocacy groups say the state tax breaks are a waste of money. “It’s going to be going to the investor class, which is not a piece of our society that we need to help,” said Jody Wiser, executive director of Tax Fairness Oregon, a nonprofit pushing to eliminate Oregon’s version of the opportunity zone tax break. “Most of the money will be spent where money was going to be spent anyway,” she said. She pointed to zones in downtown Portland that already are filling up with office buildings and trendy restaurants. Piling on Tax Breaks Lawmakers are looking for other ways to use the state tax code to spur investment, particularly in businesses. Encouraging investors to put money into businesses under current opportunity zone rules could be a challenge. State economic development officials have called for clarifying some of the criteria, such as the requirement that eligible businesses must derive half their income within a zone. That requirement could disqualify “most e-commerce companies, manufacturers, and other businesses with the potential to create significant numbers of new jobs and wealth for their communities,” officials from Rhode Is-

land, Utah and Louisiana wrote in a recent op-ed in The Hill. West Virginia Del. Joshua Higginbotham, a Republican, has proposed giving investors in zone businesses a 10-year reprieve from state income and business taxes. “What we wanted to do in West Virginia,” he said, “is make sure that our 55 opportunity zones are the most competitive of any opportunity zones in the country.” Last week West Virginia Republican Gov. Jim Justice vetoed Higginbotham’s proposal, but the legislator said he plans to push his bill again during an upcoming special session without the amendments Justice opposed. Washington’s Chapman wants his state to offer $60 million in business tax credits to investors in opportunity zone funds focused on rural, economically depressed counties. Funds would need permission from the state Department of Commerce to pass on the credits, and if they were to misuse the taxpayer dollars, they’d have to pay the state back. The Senate has amended the bill to conduct a study on rural economic development programs, including tax credits, before the state makes any investments. In Maryland, Hogan has proposed both new tax credits and expanding existing economic development programs — such as one that pays for the demolition of derelict buildings — to advance projects in opportunity zones. “We’re really tying together everything that we were already doing and trying to use it to bolster the opportunity zone investment,” said Sara Luell, director of communications for the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development. The additional state assistance would be available to any business or real estate project in a zone, she said, even those not receiving money from an opportunity zone fund. Hogan recently toured a real estate project that will turn 40 acres of parking lots near a light-rail station into a hotel, office space for health care company Kaiser Permanente, apartments, a parking garage, and shops and restaurants. An opportunity zone fund will help finance the apartment buildings, said Scott Nordheimer, a partner at Urban Atlantic, the company behind the project. But the project also relies on a long list of other incentives, he said, including state income tax credits and Prince George’s County’s multimillion-dollar investment in streets, utilities and other infrastructure on the site. Without county help, the development would still be a parking lot. “You could not privately finance the infrastructure,” Nordheimer said. ©2019 Stateline.org Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

‘Opportunity zones’ spur new state tax incentives

workers liked the higher HSA contribution. Baby boomers liked having more deductible options, Hogan said. SHRM’s survey found that 51 percent of organizations that increased benefits improved their health plans, 44 percent boosted wellness plans and 39 percent enhanced other programs and services. About 25 percent of survey respondents improved family medical leave benefits. Others cut health insurance premiums, broadened policy choices, lowered deductibles or stashed more cash into worker’s health savings accounts. Employers and employees say the changes make a big difference. When Truly Paw joined Protolabs’ Rosemount, Minn., plant in 2014, the production trainer would have paid five times the premium she pays today to cover her preemie daughter and 4-year-old son. Luckily Protolabs slashed its costs soon after she arrived. “They have a pretty good health care plan, now. I can afford it at only $55 a check,” Paw said. “If they had kept (the family premiums) at $300 a paycheck, I would never have been able to pay that. I don’t think I would have (stayed). But I think things worked out for me pretty good.” Nearly three years ago, Alexandria Industries was so pressed to keep and attract skilled workers in its rural region that it opened a free health care clinic for employees — just a block from one of its three aluminum extrusion plants in Alexandria. Workers pay nothing for clinic visits. Common prescriptions for infections, the flu, high blood pressure and cholesterol, asthma and diabetes are also free to workers and their families. The clinic helped slash total health insurance costs and was a “huge” factor in recruiting 88 new hires at a time when retirements had picked up, spokeswoman Patty Hoffman said. The clinic cost $300,000 and paid for itself by February 2018, thanks to added staff, production and sales gains that followed. “It’s absolutely a tight labor market,” but the clinic “draws people to us,” said Lynette Kluver, Alexandria Industries organizational development director. “The clinic is a game-changer.” Today, 70 percent of the 486 workers in Alexandria use the clinic. “It’s so busy we just had to add a full-time clinic administrator” to the two nurses and doctor who run the facility, Hoffman said. Human resource managers from SHRM said many factories are squeezed. While they often pay decent wages, they must keep up with benefits or risk losing their skilled workers to competitors dangling higher wages and incentives. “Finding skilled workers is really my biggest concern. Our business is highly competitive,” said Karen O’Rourke, human resources vice president for the fast-growing robotics equipment maker Par Systems in Shoreview, Minn. The Pohlad family, which owns the Twins and Carousel Motor Group, bought Par Systems in late 2017 and quickly made changes. It started a $600 health savings account for each of Par’s 160 Minnesota workers. It raised its 401K match and offered six weeks of paternity leave for the first time. The changes brought Par in line with benefits at other Pohlad Cos. manufacturers and helped when the new owners started hiring. Staff jumped 20 percent to 400 in 18 months at Par and other Pohlad plants in Oakdale, San Diego, Norfolk, Va., and Georgia. The changes feel good, O’Rourke said. “At Par, what we have always felt really strongly about is providing good benefits to our employees. We want them to have that safety net so they don’t have to worry. Because if they are worried they are not performing,” she said. It’s important to “compare well to larger companies.” Still O’Rourke admits that boosting benefits “can be a Catch-22 if your customers are already saying that your costs are too high. Your employee-related costs factor into that. So you have to have a balance.” ©2019 Star Tribune (Minneapolis) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

• APRIL 12, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal

LEGAL NOTICES MBJ legal notice instructions The following are some guidelines to consider when posting legal notices with the Midlands Business Journal: 1. Submit a written notice in either Microsoft Word or as a PDF document to Beth Grube at legals@mbj.com, fax to 402-758-9315 or mail: 1324 S. 119th St. Omaha, NE 68144. For trade names, submit a copy of approved (bar code in upper right hand corner) Application For Registration of Trade Name from the Secretary of State to the same email address. Please include your billing address and the desired duration you’d like your notice to run (trade names run for only one week). 2. You will receive a confirmation and price quote. Legal notices, except for trade names, are charged per line. The flat fee for a trade name is $50. Payment options are cash or check. 3. Deadline is 5 p.m. Tuesday for a notice to start publishing that Friday. 4. All costs include fees to file the notice with the Secretary of State and/or any appropriate courts. 5. You will receive a paid invoice copy and a courtesy proof of the notice the first week it runs and a copy of the affidavit filed with the courts the last week.

CHARLES E. DORWART, P.C., L.L.O., Attorney GOVIER, KATSKEE, SUING & MAXELL, PC, LLO 10404 Essex Court, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 LEGAL NOTICE In the County Court of Douglas County, Nebraska. PR19-395 Estate of David R. Kistler, Deceased Notice is hereby given that on March 22, 2019, in the County Court of Douglas County, Nebraska, the Registrar issued a written statement of Informal Probate of the Will of said Decedent and that Jeffrey R. O'Brien, 13519 Redwood Street, Omaha, NE 68138, was informally appointed by the Registrar as Personal Representative of the Estate. Creditors of this estate must file their claims with this Court, located at Courtroom No. 30, Third Floor, Probate Division, Douglas County Hall of Justice, 17th & Farnam Streets, Omaha, NE 68183, on or before May 29, 2019 or be forever barred. CARROL L. MILLS Registrar First publication March 29, 2019, final April 12, 2019 KOLEY JESSEN P.C., L.L.O., Attorneys 1125 South 103rd Street, Suite 800, One Pacific Place Omaha, Nebraska 68124-1079 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF STUDY INTERNATIONAL, LLC The name of the Company is Study International, LLC. The Designated Office of the Company is: 13815 Burdette Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68164. The Registered Agent and Office of the Company is: Koley Jessen P.C., L.L.O., 1125 South 103rd Street, Suite 800, Omaha, Nebraska 68124. This limited liability company commenced business on March 22, 2019. First publication March 29, 2019, final April 12, 2019 FREDERICK D. STEHLIK, Attorney GROSS & WELCH, P.C., L.L.O. 2120 South 72 Street, Suite 1500 Omaha, Nebraska 68124 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF CC KRIGLSTEIN, LLC a Nebraska Limited Liability Company Notice is hereby given that CC KRIGLSTEIN, LLC, a Nebraska Limited Liability Company, has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska, with its registered office located at 2120 South 72 Street, Suite 1500, Omaha, Nebraska 68124. The general nature of its business is to engage in and do any lawful act concerning any and all lawful business, other than banking or insurance, for which a limited liability company may be organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The Certificate of Organization was filed in the office of the Nebraska Secretary of State on March 14, 2019, the Company commenced business thereon, and shall have perpetual existence. The affairs of the Company are to be conducted by the Managing Member. First publication March 29, 2019, final April 12, 2019 LAWRENCE F. HARR, Attorney LAMSON, DUGAN and MURRAY, LLP 10306 Regency Parkway Drive Omaha, Nebraska 68114-3743 NOTICE OF DOMESTICATION OF TIER ONE INSURANCE COMPANY Notice is hereby given that a corporation that was formed under the laws of the State of Oklahoma has completed the domestication procedure to Nebraska, and that the name of the corporation is Tier One Insurance Company. The Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation electing to be treated as a corporation under the Nebraska Model Corporation Act is on file with the Nebraska Secretary of State. The corporation is authorized to issue 300,000 shares of voting common stock. The name and street address of the corporation's registered agent and office ii Frank J. Barrett, 10306 Regency Parkway Drive, Omaha, Nebraska 68114. First publication March 29, 2019, final April 12, 2019 Notice of Organization Cerberus Security Services Notice is hereby given that Cerberus Security Services, a Nebraska Limited Liability Company, has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska, with its initial agent for service of process as Stephen Garcia, and with its initial designated office at 4621 N. 176th Street, Omaha, NE 68116. First publication March 29, 2019, final April 12, 2019

NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF CASTLEMAN CONSULTING, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that Castleman Consulting, LLC (the “Company”) has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The Designated Office Address of the Company is 6631 S. 171st Circle, Omaha, Nebraska 68135. The company commenced business on March 21, 2019, and its affairs are to be conducted by the manager Joshua J. Meyer. The Registered Agent of the Company is Joshua J. Meyer, 6631 S. 171st Circle, Omaha, Nebraska 68135. First publication March 29, 2019, final April 12, 2019 AMANDA M. BARRON, Attorney P.O. Box 597 Fremont, Nebraska 68026 LEGAL NOTICE TO THE DEFENDANT(s), KEVIN ARMSTRONG & CATHLEEN ARMSTRONG You are hereby notified that Credit Bureau Services, Inc., a corporation, filed its complaint in the County Court of DOUGLAS County, Nebraska on 01/10/2019 on Case Number CI19-497, the object and prayer of which is to recover the sum of $237.00, plus interest, attorney fees and court costs. You are required to answer the complaint of the Plaintiff on or before 05/12/2019 or the allegations in said complaint will be taken as true and judgment entered accordingly. CREDIT BUREAU SERVICES, INC., A CORPORATION First publication March 29, 2019, final April 12, 2019 KOLEY JESSEN P.C., L.L.O., Attorneys 1125 South 103rd Street, Suite 800, One Pacific Place Omaha, Nebraska 68124-1079 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF SYLVAN PEAK INVESTMENTS, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that Sylvan Peak Investments, LLC has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The designated office of the limited liability company is 9807 Ascot Drive, Omaha, Nebraska 68114. The registered agent and office of the limited liability company is Koley Jessen P.C., L.L.O., 1125 South 103rd Street, Suite 800, Omaha, Nebraska 68124. The limited liability company commenced business on March 22, 2019. First publication March 29, 2019, final April 12, 2019 MARK J. LAPUZZA, Attorney PANSING HOGAN ERNST & BACHMAN LLP 10250 Regency Circle, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114-3728 NOTICE OF INCORPORATION OF WAKELEY PLAZA CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION 1. The name of the Corporation is Wakeley Plaza Condominium Association. 2. The Corporation is a mutual benefit corporation. 3. The address of the registered office is 10250 Regency Circle, Suite 300, Omaha, Nebraska 68114, and the name of the registered agent at that office is Mark J. LaPuzza. 4. The name and street address of each incorporator are as follows: P.J. Morgan, 7801 Wakeley Plaza, Omaha, NE 68114 Derick Lewin, 7801 Wakeley Plaza, Omaha, NE 68114 5. The Corporation will have members. First publication March 29, 2019, final April 12, 2019 DENNIS P. LEE, Attorney LEE LAW OFFICE 2433 South 130th Circle, Suite 300 P.O. Box 45947 Omaha, Nebraska 68145 NOTICE OF SUIT TO: MICHELLE L. WYATT, 3723 North 40th Street, OMAHA NE 68111, you are hereby notified that on February 14, 2019, CREDIT ACCEPTANCE CORPORATION filed a suit against you in the Douglas County Court at docket CI19-3796, the object in prayer of which was to secure a judgment against you in the amount of $4,503.98, together with court costs, interest and attorney's fees as allowed by law. Unless you file your Answer with the Douglas County Court on or before the 20th day of May, 2019, the Petition against you will be considered as true and judgment will be entered against you accordingly. First publication March 29, 2019, final April 19, 2019 ABRAHAMS KASLOW & CASSMAN LLP, Attorneys 8712 West Dodge Road, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION Johnson Homes & Remodeling LLC has been organized as a limited liability company under the Nebraska Uniform Limited Liability Company Act. The street and mailing address of the initial designated office of the company is 8712 West Dodge Road, Suite 300, Omaha, Nebraska 68114. The name and street and mailing address of the initial registered agent of the company for service of process are Nicole Seckman Jilek, Abrahams Kaslow & Cassman LLP, 8712 West Dodge Road, Suite 300, Omaha, Nebraska 68114. First publication April 5, 2019, final April 19, 2019 KOLEY JESSEN P.C., L.L.O., Attorneys 1125 South 103rd Street, Suite 800, One Pacific Place Omaha, Nebraska 68124-1079 NOTICE OF AMENDED CERTIFICATE OF ORGANIZATION OF GERHEAUSER, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that Gerheauser, LLC has changed its name to: Gutschow, LLC. The name change was accomplished by the filing of an Amended Certificate of Organization with the Nebraska Secretary of State on March 18, 2019. First publication March 29, 2019, final April 12, 2019

LEGACY DESIGN STRATEGIES 9859 South 168th Avenue Omaha, NE 68136 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION 1. The name of the Limited Liability Company is A & B’S LEGACY, LLC 2. The address of the designated office of the company is 9859 South 168th Avenue, Omaha, NE 68136. 3. The name of the initial agent for service of the Company at such address is Andrew C. Sigerson. The initial mailing address of the initial agent for service is Andrew C. Sigerson, P.C., L.L.O., 9859 South 168th Avenue, Omaha, NE 68136. 4. The purpose for which the company is organized is to engage in any and all business which is lawful under the Uniform Limited Liability Company Act of the State of Nebraska. 5. The company commenced its existence on March 20, 2019, and the period of duration of the Company shall be perpetual. 6. The affairs of the company shall be conducted by its Manager, Laura S. Beahm, 604 Patrick Circle, Gretna, NE 68028, in accordance with the company’s operating agreement. Ross M. Berg Andrew C. Sigerson, P.C., L.L.O First publication April 5, 2019, final April 19, 2019 BRANDON K. DICKERSON, Attorney LIKES MEYERSON HATCH LLC 444 Regency Parkway Drive, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF K&H DREESSEN FARMS LLC Notice is hereby given that K&H Dreessen Farms LLC, a Nebraska limited liability company (the “Company”), has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The street and mailing address of the Company’s initial designated office, and the street and mailing address of the Company’s initial agent for service of process, is 444 Regency Parkway Drive, Suite 100, Omaha, Nebraska 68114. The Company’s initial agent for service of process at such address is Robert J. Likes. First publication April 12, 2019, final April 26, 2019 BRANDON K. DICKERSON, Attorney LIKES MEYERSON HATCH LLC 444 Regency Parkway Drive, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF MIDWEST ROCK SCHOOL, LLC Notice is hereby given that Midwest Rock School, LLC, a Nebraska limited liability company (the “Company”), has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The street and mailing address of the initial designated office and registered office of the Company is 500 Elm Street, Springfield, Nebraska 68059, and the Company’s initial agent for service of process at such address is Matthew Szymczak. First publication April 12, 2019, final April 26, 2019 BRANDON K. DICKERSON, Attorney LIKES MEYERSON HATCH LLC 444 Regency Parkway Drive, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF FIVE PROPERTIES LLC Notice is hereby given that Five Properties LLC, a Nebraska limited liability company (the “Company”), has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The street and mailing address of the Company’s initial designated office, and the street and mailing address of the Company’s initial agent for service of process, is 1515 S. 218th Street, Elkhorn, Nebraska 68022. The Company’s initial agent for service of process at such address is Brett Clarke. First publication April 12, 2019, final April 26, 2019 ERICKSON l SEDERSTROM, P.C., Attorneys 10330 Regency Parkway Drive, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF AMENDMENT TO ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION On April 2, 2019, Articles of Amendment to the Articles of Incorporation of Hope for South Sudan Development Foundation were filed to change the name of the company to Hope for Cush Christian Development Foundation. First publication April 12, 2019, final April 26, 2019 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that Zen Room Omaha, LLC (the “Company”) has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The Designated Office Address of the Company is 230 S. 25th Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68131. The Registered Agent of the Company is Abigail Korth 11025 Hascall St, Omaha, Nebraska 68144. First publication April 12, 2019, final April 26, 2019 RUSSELL S. DAUB, Attorney 2800 South 110th Court, Suite 1 Omaha, Nebraska 68144-4818 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION FOR MARY ZICAFOOSE TEXTILES, L.L.C. Notice is hereby given that a Company has been formed under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The name of the Company is MARY ZICAFOOSE TEXTILES, L.L.C. The address of the registered office is 3323 S. 104th Avenue, Omaha, Nebraska 68124 and the name of the company’s initial registered agent is MARY ZICAFOOSE. The Company shall engage in any lawful business for which a Company may be formed under the Nebraska Limited Liability Company Act. The Company commenced business on April 9, 2019, and its duration shall be perpetual. The affairs of the Company are to be conducted by its Members. First publication April 12, 2019, final April 26, 2019

Midlands Business Journal • APRIL 12, 2019 • LEGAL NOTICES KOLEY JESSEN P.C., L.L.O., Attorneys 1125 South 103rd Street, Suite 800, One Pacific Place Omaha, Nebraska 68124-1079 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF SCOREBOARD, LLC The name of the Company is Scoreboard, LLC. The Designated Office of the Company is: 1125 South 103rd Street, Suite 800, Omaha, Nebraska 68124. The Registered Agent and Office of the Company is: Koley Jessen P.C., L.L.O., 1125 South 103rd Street, Suite 800, Omaha, Nebraska 68124. This limited liability company commenced business on March 20, 2019. First publication March 29, 2019, final April 12, 2019 AMANDA M. BARRON, Attorney P.O. Box 597 Fremont, Nebraska 68026 LEGAL NOTICE TO THE DEFENDANT(s), JAQUAIS D JOHNSON You are hereby notified that Credit Bureau Services, Inc., a corporation, filed its complaint in the County Court of DOUGLAS County, Nebraska on 12/26/2018 on Case Number CI19-495, the object and prayer of which is to recover the sum of $703.20, plus interest, attorney fees and court costs. You are required to answer the complaint of the Plaintiff on or before 05/26/2019 or the allegations in said complaint will be taken as true and judgment entered accordingly. CREDIT BUREAU SERVICES, INC., A CORPORATION First publication April 12, 2019, final April 26, 2019 KOLEY JESSEN P.C., L.L.O., Attorneys 1125 South 103rd Street, Suite 800, One Pacific Place Omaha, Nebraska 68124-1079 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF MYB2BCOACH, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that MyB2BCoach, LLC has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The designated office of the limited liability company is 2014 S. 107th Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68124. The registered agent and office of the limited liability company is Koley Jessen P.C., L.L.O., 1125 S 103rd Street, Suite 800, Omaha, Nebraska 68124. The Certificate of Organization was filed with the Nebraska Secretary of State on March 20, 2019. First publication March 29, 2019, final April 12, 2019 DENNIS P. LEE, Attorney LEE LAW OFFICE 2433 South 130th Circle, Suite 300 P.O. Box 45947 Omaha, Nebraska 68145 NOTICE OF SUIT TO: ANNETTE LOPEZ, 2909 Dupont Street, Omaha NE 68105, you are hereby notified that on January 3, 2019, SHELTER MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY filed a suit against you in the Douglas County Court at docket CI19-192, the object in prayer of which was to secure a judgment against you in the amount of $16,741.29, together with court costs, interest and attorney's fees as allowed by law. Unless you file your Answer with the Douglas County Court on or before the 22nd day of April, 2019, the Petition against you will be considered as true and judgment will be entered against you accordingly. First publication March 22, 2019, final April 12, 2019 DENNIS P. LEE, Attorney LEE LAW OFFICE 2433 South 130th Circle, Suite 300 P.O. Box 45947 Omaha, Nebraska 68145 NOTICE OF SUIT TO: SHEILA GORE, 627 S 36th Street, Omaha NE 68105 and ROBIN RAY JORDAN, 627 S 36th Street, Omaha NE 68105, you are hereby notified that on December 26, 2018, AMERICAN FAMILY MUTUAL INS. Co., S.I. filed a suit against you in the Douglas County Court at docket CI18-26886, the object in prayer of which was to secure a judgment against you in the amount of $7,010.98, together with court costs, interest and attorney's fees as allowed by law. Unless you file your Answer with the Douglas County Court on or before the 22nd day of April, 2019, the Petition against you will be considered as true and judgment will be entered against you accordingly. First publication March 22, 2019, final April 12, 2019 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION of a Limited Liability Company Notice is hereby given the registration with the Nebraska Secretary of state’s office of Duo Construction, LLC under the laws of the State of Nebraska as follows: The name of the company is Duo Construction, LLC. Registered agent and office of Javier Saenz at 8215 Wilson Drive Apt. 10, Omaha, NE 68127. Initial members: Javier Saenz and Rafael Andrade Vargas. General nature of the business is the general construction and to transact any and all lawful business for which limited liability companies are allowed by statute. The LLC was organized on April 2019 for the perpetual duration and is managed by its members. First publication April 12, 2019, final April 26, 2019 KOLEY JESSEN P.C., L.L.O., Attorneys 1125 South 103rd Street, Suite 800, One Pacific Place Omaha, Nebraska 68124-1079 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF GBR19, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that GBR19, LLC has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The designated office of the limited liability company is 14321 Cornhusker Road, Omaha, Nebraska 68127. The registered agent and office of the limited liability company is Koley Jesse P.C., L.L.O., 1125 South 103rd Street, Suite 800, Omaha, Nebraska 68124. The limited liability company commenced business on April 5, 2019. First publication April 12, 2019, final April 26, 2019

ABRAHAMS KASLOW & CASSMAN LLP, Attorneys 8712 West Dodge Road, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF DISSOLUTION OF APOLLO BUILDING CORP. Apollo Building Corp., a Nebraska corporation, has been dissolved pursuant to the Nebraska Model Business Corporation Act. The corporation has collected its assets, disposed of its properties which were not distributed in kind to its shareholders, discharged or made provision for the discharge of its liabilities, distributed its remaining property among its shareholders according to their interests, and done every other act necessary to wind up and liquidate its business and affairs. Terrence J. Ficenec, President of the corporation, was the person who was responsible for winding up and liquidating the business and affairs of the corporation. The corporation has no remaining assets or liabilities. First publication April 5, 2019, final April 19, 2019 BARBARA MEDBERY-PRCHAL, P.C., L.L.O., Attorney 10305 Joseph Circle La Vista, Nebraska 68128 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF Cavey & Associates, LLC Notice is hereby given that a limited liability company has been formed under the laws of the State of Nebraska, and that the name of the company is Cavey & Associates, LLC The name and street address of the company’s initial registered agent is Law Offices of Barbara Medbery-Prchal, P.C., L.L.O., 10305 Joseph Circle, La Vista, NE 68128. The designated office is located at 6317 S. 120th Plaza, Omaha, NE 68137. Scott Cavey, Member First publication April 5, 2019, final April 19, 2019 DVORAK LAW GROUP LLC 9500 West Dodge Road, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF 2602 HARNEY ST, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that 2602 Harney St, LLC (the “Company”) has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The Designated Office Address of the Company is 8750 Frederick Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68124. The Registered Agent of the Company is DDLG Business Services, Inc., 9500 W. Dodge Road, Suite 100, Omaha, Nebraska 68114. First publication April 5, 2019, final April 19, 2019 WHITMORE LAW OFFICE LLC 7602 Pacific Street, Suite 200 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION Notice is hereby given that Nova Home Worx, L.L.C. (the “Company”) has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The designated office of the Company is 15822 Valley Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68130. The registered agent of the Company is Leslie Guffey, 15822 Valley Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68130. The Company was formed on March 27, 2019 First publication April 5, 2019, final April 19, 2019 DVORAK LAW GROUP LLC 9500 West Dodge Road, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF DTC RELOAD, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that DTC Reload, LLC (the “Company”) has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The Designated Office Address of the Company is 400 S. Ridge Road, Fremont, Nebraska 68025. The Registered Agent of the Company is DDLG Business Services, Inc., 9500 W. Dodge Road, Suite 100, Omaha, Nebraska 68114. First publication April 5, 2019, final April 19, 2019 Notice of Organization Haley Rose Company Notice is hereby given that Haley Rose Company, a Nebraska Limited Liability Company, has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska, with its initial agent for service of process as Haley Rogers, and with its initial designated office at 106 Merwood Street, Bellevue, NE 68005. First publication March 29, 2019, final April 12, 2019 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF FRACTIONALEXEC, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that FractionalExec, LLC (the “Company”) has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The Designated Office Address of the Company is 26501 Taylor Street, Valley, Nebraska 68064. The Registered Agent of the Company is Scott Mingus, 26501 Taylor Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68064. First publication April 5, 2019, final April 19, 2019 KOLEY JESSEN P.C., L.L.O., Attorneys 1125 South 103rd Street, Suite 800, One Pacific Place Omaha, Nebraska 68124-1079 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF LONG UNLIMITED, LLC The name of the Company is Long Unlimited, LLC. The Designated Office of the Company is: 1125 South 103rd Street, Suite 800, Omaha, Nebraska 68124. The Registered Agent and Office of the Company is: Koley Jessen P.C., L.L.O., 1125 South 103rd Street, Suite 800, Omaha, Nebraska 68124. This limited liability company commenced business on March 28, 2019. First publication April 5, 2019, final April 19, 2019 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION Notice is hereby given that Rad Tek Medical LLC, a Nebraska Limited Liability Company, has been organized under the laws of the state of Nebraska, with its initial designated office at 21216 Arbor Court, Elkhorn, NE 68022. The initial agent for service of process of the Company is Timothy E Smith, 21216 Arbor Court, Elkhorn, NE, 68022. The company is member-managed. Nature of the Company is Medical Equipment and Devices. First publication April 5, 2019, final April 19, 2019

WESLEY E. HAUPTMAN, Attorney 17826 Monroe Street Omaha, Nebraska 68135 LEGAL NOTICE In the County Court of Douglas County, Nebraska. PR19-432 Estate of VERNON B. DEWILD, Deceased Notice is hereby given that on April 2, 2019, in the County Court of Douglas County, Nebraska, the Registrar issued a written statement of Informal Probate of the Will of said Decedent and that David B. DeWild, whose address is 1511 Stover Lane, Spirit Lake, IA 51360, was informally appointed by the Registrar as Personal Representative of the Estate. Creditors of this estate must file their claims with this Court, located at Courtroom No. 30, Third Floor, Probate Division, Douglas County Hall of Justice, 17th & Farnam Streets, Omaha, NE 68183, on or before June 5, 2019 or be forever barred. CARROL L. MILLS Registrar First publication April 5, 2019, final April 19, 2019 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION Notice is hereby given that Dot Property Solutions, LLC has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska with the following registered agent and registered office: Andrew P. McCormick, 7664 Shirley Street, Omaha, NE 68124. The general nature of the business to be transacted is any or all lawful business. The business commenced on March 8, 2019, and it shall continue in perpetuity. First publication April 5, 2019, final April 19, 2019 AMANDA M. BARRON, Attorney P.O. Box 597 Fremont, Nebraska 68026 LEGAL NOTICE TO THE DEFENDANT(s), THODORE L SCHMITZ & CHRISTINA L SCHMITZ You are hereby notified that Credit Bureau Services, Inc., a corporation, filed its complaint in the County Court of DOUGLAS County, Nebraska on 01/01/2019 on Case Number CI19-1161, the object and prayer of which is to recover the sum of $425.00, plus interest, attorney fees and court costs. You are required to answer the complaint of the Plaintiff on or before or the allegations in said complaint will be taken as true and judgment entered accordingly. CREDIT BUREAU SERVICES, INC., A CORPORATION First publication April 5, 2019, final April 19, 2019 KOLEY JESSEN P.C., L.L.O., Attorneys 1125 South 103rd Street, Suite 800, One Pacific Place Omaha, Nebraska 68124-1079 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF ARBOR CARE CENTERS VALHAVEN, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that Arbor Care Centers – Valhaven, LLC has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The designated office of the limited liability company is 18807 Sahler Street, Elkhorn, Nebraska 68022. The registered agent and office of the limited liability company is Kenneth W. Klaasmeyer, 18807 Sahler Street, Elkhorn, Nebraska 68022. The limited liability company commenced business on April 4, 2019. First publication April 12, 2019, final April 26, 2019 KOLEY JESSEN P.C., L.L.O., Attorneys 1125 South 103rd Street, Suite 800, One Pacific Place Omaha, Nebraska 68124-1079 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF LIND ASSETS MANAGEMENT, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that Lind Assets Management, LLC has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The designated office of the limited liability company is 5117 Parker Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68104. The registered agent and office of the limited liability company is Koley Jessen P.C., L.L.O., 1125 South 103rd Street, Suite 800, Omaha, Nebraska 68124. The limited liability company commenced business on March 13, 2019. First publication April 12, 2019, final April 26, 2019 DANIEL J. WATERS, Attorney LAMSON, DUGAN and MURRAY, LLP 10306 Regency Parkway Drive Omaha, Nebraska 68114-3743 NOTICE OF THE ORGANIZATION OF JOEKOBOJI ENTERPRISES, LLC Notice is hereby given of the formation of a limited liability company under the laws of the State of Nebraska, and that the name of the limited liability company is Joekoboji Enterprises, LLC. The name and address of the registered agent and office is LDM Business Services, Inc, 10306 Regency Parkway Drive, Omaha, Nebraska 68114. The general nature of the business to be transacted is all lawful business. The company commenced existence on March 20, 2019 and shall have perpetual duration. The affairs of the company shall be conducted by the Members, as prescribed by the Operating Agreement. LDM Business Services, Inc., Organizer First publication April 12, 2019, final April 26, 2019 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION Notice is hereby given that SonLit Investments, LLC has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska with the following registered agent and registered office: Jill Michalski, 17428 Woolworth Avenue, Omaha, NE 68130. The general nature of the business to be transacted is any or all lawful business. The business commenced on April 5, 2019, and it shall continue in perpetuity. First publication April 12, 2019, final April 26, 2019

• APRIL 12, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal

LEGAL NOTICES SMITH SLUSKY POHREN & ROGERS LLP 8712 West Dodge Road, Suite 400 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF ACE DENTAL REMOVABLE, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that on March 15, 2019, Ace Dental Removable, LLC was organized as a limited liability company under the Nebraska Uniform Limited Liability Company Act, with a designated office at 8260 Hascall St., Omaha, Nebraska 68124. The Company’s initial agent for service of process is Wayne S. Rasmussen, 8712 West Dodge Rd., Suite 400, Omaha, Nebraska 68114. First publication March 29, 2019, final April 12, 2019 BARBARA MEDBERY-PRCHAL, P.C., L.L.O., Attorney 10305 Joseph Circle La Vista, Nebraska 68128 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF Ben McClelland, LLC Notice is hereby given that a limited liability company has been formed under the laws of the State of Nebraska, and that the name of the company is Ben McClelland, LLC The name and street address of the company’s initial registered agent is Law Offices of Barbara Medbery-Prchal, P.C., L.L.O., 10305 Joseph Circle, La Vista, NE 68128. The designated office is located at 9639 Sprague Street, Omaha, NE 68134. Ben McClelland, Member First publication March 29, 2019, final April 12, 2019 BARBARA MEDBERY-PRCHAL, P.C., L.L.O., Attorney 10305 Joseph Circle La Vista, Nebraska 68128 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF Holman Properties, LLC Notice is hereby given that a limited liability company has been formed under the laws of the State of Nebraska, and that the name of the company is Holman Properties, LLC The name and street address of the company’s initial registered agent is Law Offices of Barbara Medbery-Prchal, P.C., L.L.O., 10305 Joseph Circle, La Vista, NE 68128. The designated office is located at 1011 Skyline Drive, Elkhorn, NE 68022. Christopher Holman, Member First publication March 29, 2019, final April 12, 2019 BARBARA MEDBERY-PRCHAL, P.C., L.L.O., Attorney 10305 Joseph Circle La Vista, Nebraska 68128 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF ACTON ACADEMY OMAHA, LLC Notice is hereby given that a limited liability company has been formed under the laws of the State of Nebraska, and that the name of the company is Acton Academy Omaha, LLC The name and street address of the company’s initial registered agent is Law Offices of Barbara Medbery-Prchal, P.C., L.L.O., 10305 Joseph Circle, La Vista, NE 68128. The designated office is located at 2118 N. 162nd Ave, Omaha, NE 68116 Chris Benson, Member First publication March 29, 2019, final April 12, 2019 PHILLIP A. BELIN, Attorney BELIN LAW FIRM, P.C., L.L.O. 12341 Westover Road Omaha, Nebraska 68154 NOTICE OF AMENDMENT On March 21, 2019, The Uplifting Life, Inc. filed articles of amendment to its articles of incorporation. The articles changed the corporation's name to Vineset, Inc. First publication March 29, 2019, final April 12, 2019 First publication March 29, 2019, final April 12, 2019 KOLEY JESSEN P.C., L.L.O., Attorneys 1125 South 103rd Street, Suite 800, One Pacific Place Omaha, Nebraska 68124-1079 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF DUTCH HALL RIFLES, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that Dutch Hall Rifles, LLC has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The designated office of the limited liability company is 7402 Dutch Hall Road, Omaha, Nebraska 68122. The registered agent and office of the limited liability company is Steven A. Bloemker, 7402 Dutch Hall Road, Omaha, Nebraska 68122. The limited liability company commenced business on March 22, 2019. First publication April 5, 2019, final April 19, 2019 BARRY S. GROSSMAN, Attorney 1905 Harney St., Suite 600 Omaha, Nebraska 68102 LEGAL NOTICE In the District Court of Douglas County, Nebraska TO: Manuel Diaz-Arroyo, whose whereabouts are unknown and upon whom personal service of summons cannot be had, defendant in said proceedings. You are notified that on the 3rd day of January, 2019, Mirian Diaz, as Plaintiff, filed her complaint against you in the District Court of Douglas County, Nebraska, Case No. CI 19-56, object and prayer of which complaint is to obtain a dissolution of your marriage on the grounds that the marriage is irretrievably broken, designation of property, and restoration of former name. You are required to answer the said complaint on or before May 27, 2019 or said petition against you will be taken as true. MIRIAN DIAZ, Plaintiff First publication April 5, 2019, final April 26, 2019

MARK J. LAPUZZA, Attorney PANSING HOGAN ERNST & BACHMAN LLP 10250 Regency Circle, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114-3728 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF 13th Street TIF, LLC Notice is hereby given of the organization of 13th Street TIF, LLC. 1. The name of the limited liability company is 13th Street TIF, LLC. 2. The street and mailing address of the initial designated office is 7801 Wakeley Plaza, Omaha, Nebraska 68114, and the name and street address of the initial agent for service of process is Mark J. LaPuzza, 10250 Regency Circle, Suite 300, Omaha, Nebraska 68114. First publication April 5, 2019, final April 19, 2019 ABRAHAMS KASLOW & CASSMAN LLP, Attorneys 8712 West Dodge Road, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION Current Benefits, LLC has been organized as a limited liability company under the Nebraska Uniform Limited Liability Company Act. The street and mailing address of the initial designated office of the company is 8712 West Dodge Road, Suite 300, Omaha, Nebraska 68114. The name and street and mailing address of the initial registered agent of the company for service of process are Thomas J. Malicki, Abrahams Kaslow & Cassman LLP, 8712 West Dodge Road, Suite 300, Omaha, Nebraska 68114. First publication April 5, 2019, final April 19, 2019 KOLEY JESSEN P.C., L.L.O., Attorneys 1125 South 103rd Street, Suite 800, One Pacific Place Omaha, Nebraska 68124-1079 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF LOUP HOLDINGS, LLC The name of the Company is Loup Holdings, LLC. The Designated Office of the Company is: 1125 South 103rd Street, Suite 800, Omaha, Nebraska 68124. The Registered Agent and Office of the Company is: Koley Jessen P.C., L.L.O., 1125 South 103rd Street, Suite 800, Omaha, Nebraska 68124. This limited liability company commenced business on March 29, 2019. First publication April 5, 2019, final April 19, 2019 BENJAMIN J. PICK, Attorney PANSING HOGAN ERNST & BACHMAN LLP 10250 Regency Circle, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114-3728 NOTICE OF AMENDMENT TO THE CERTIFICATE OF ORGANIZATION OF LEGACY COURT, LLC Notice is hereby given that pursuant to the applicable provisions of the Nebraska Limited Liability Company Act, the Certificate of Organization of LEGACY COURT, LLC, a Nebraska limited liability company (the “Company”) has been amended to change the name of the Company to 9140 West Dodge, LLC. The Amended Certificate of Organization was filed with the Secretary of State of the State of Nebraska on March 29, 2019. In all other respects, the Certificate of Organization remains unchanged. First publication April 5, 2019, final April 19, 2019 KOLEY JESSEN P.C., L.L.O., Attorneys 1125 South 103rd Street, Suite 800, One Pacific Place Omaha, Nebraska 68124-1079 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF SAFETY FIRST FLOORING SOLUTIONS, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that Safety First Flooring Solutions, LLC has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The designated office of the limited liability company is 5103 Nicholas Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68132. The registered agent and office of the limited liability company is Martin C. Sheridan, 5103 Nicholas Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68132. The limited liability company commenced business on April 1, 2019. First publication April 5, 2019, final April 19, 2019 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF TenFifteen Properties, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that TenFifteen Properties, LLC has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska, with it's designated office at 4206 Walnut St, Omaha, NE 68105. The Registered Agent of the Company is Legalinc Corporate Services Inc. 4611 South 96th St, Ste 111, Omaha, NE 68127. First publication April 5, 2019, final April 19, 2019 JOHN Q. BACHMAN, Attorney PANSING HOGAN ERNST & BACHMAN LLP 10250 Regency Circle, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114-3728 NOTICE OF INCORPORATION OF FALLING WATERS – PHASE II HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION Notice is hereby given of the incorporation of Falling Waters – Phase II Homeowners Association under the laws of the State of Nebraska as follows: 1. The name of the nonprofit Corporation is Falling Waters – Phase II Homeowners Association. 2. The Corporation is a mutual benefit corporation. 3. The name of the Corporation’s initial registered agent is John Q. Bachman and the address of the initial registered office is 10250 Regency Circle, Suite 300, Omaha, Nebraska 68114. 4. The names and street addresses of the incorporators are: Dennis Van Moorleghem, 7002 South 131st Avenue, Omaha, Nebraska 68138 Steven Janicek, 7002 South 131st Avenue, Omaha, Nebraska 68138 5. The Corporation will have members. First publication April 5, 2019, final April 19, 2019

WILLIAM J. LINDSAY, JR., Attorney GROSS & WELCH, P.C., L.L.O. 2120 South 72 Street, Suite 1500 Omaha, Nebraska 68124 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF FMP FARMS, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that FMP Farms, LLC, a Nebraska Limited Liability Company, is organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska on March 22, 2019. Its designated office is located at 10906 Newport Avenue, Omaha, Nebraska 68164. Its initial registered agent for service of process is CorporAgent, Inc., with an address at 2120 South 72nd Street, Suite 1500, Omaha, Nebraska 68124. First publication April 5, 2019, final April 19, 2019 DAVID M. HOHMAN, Attorney FITZGERALD, SCHORR, BARMETTLER & BRENNAN, P.C., L.L.O., Attorneys 10050 Regency Circle, 200 Regency One Omaha, Nebraska 68114-3794 NOTICE OF DISSOLUTION OF LISA M. POWELL INSURANCE AGENCY, INC. Notice is hereby given that Lisa M. Powell Insurance Agency, Inc., a Nebraska corporation (the “Corporation”), has been dissolved under the laws of the State of Nebraska effective as of March 28, 2019. The Corporation has collected all of its assets and will convey and dispose of those assets as may be necessary to pay, satisfy, discharge or provide for all liabilities and obligations of the Corporation. Any assets remaining after satisfaction of all liabilities and obligations of the Corporation will be transferred and distributed to the shareholders of the Corporation in cancellation and redemption of all shares of stock of the Corporation. At the time of the dissolution, the Corporation had no assets or liabilities, other than the expenses incurred in this dissolution. Lisa M. Powell, President and Treasurer of the Corporation, is responsible for winding up and liquidating the business and affairs of the Corporation. Any creditors or claimants of the Corporation shall present a detailed claim setting forth all relevant claim information and the amount of the claim in writing to the Corporation at the following address: Lisa M. Powell Insurance Agency, Inc., 16168 Emmet Circle, Omaha, NE 68116. Any claim against the Corporation shall be barred unless a proceeding to enforce such claim is commenced within three years after the publication of this notice. Dated the 29th day of March, 2019. First publication April 5, 2019, final April 19, 2019 MYRONS J. KAPLAN, Attorney McGILL, GOTSDINER, WORKMAN & LEPP, P.C., L.L.O., Attorneys 11404 West Dodge Road, Suite 500, First National Plaza Omaha, Nebraska 68154-2584 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF 3905, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that 3905, LLC, a Nebraska limited liability company, is organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska, with a registered office at 3850 South 149th Street, #108, Omaha, Nebraska 68144. The general nature of the business is to engage in any lawful business for which a limited liability company may be organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The limited liability company was formed on March 20, 2019, and its duration is perpetual. Management of the Company shall be vested in its Managers. First publication March 29, 2019, final April 12, 2019 ERICKSON l SEDERSTROM, P.C., Attorneys 10330 Regency Parkway Drive, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF DISSOLUTION OF ODY OPTOELECTRICAL, LLC ODY Optoelectrical, LLC, a Nebraska limited liability company, has filed a Statement of Dissolution with the Nebraska Secretary of State. The terms of the dissolution provide for the payment of liabilities of the company and the distribution of any remaining assets. The Company requests that persons with claims against it present them in accordance with this notice. Any claimant shall describe the claim and mail the claim to the above address. A claim against the company will be barred unless a proceeding to enforce the claim is commenced within five years after the publication of this notice. First publication April 5, 2019, final April 19, 2019 ERICKSON l SEDERSTROM, P.C., Attorneys 10330 Regency Parkway Drive, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF INCORPORATION Corporate Name: Heather Doll Counseling Services, P.C. Registered Agent: Erickson & Sederstrom, P.C. a limited liability organization Registered Office: 10330 Regency Parkway Drive, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 Authorized Number of Shares: 10,000 Incorporator: Heather Doll Erickson & Sederstrom, P.C. 17021 Lakeside Hills Plaza, Suite 201 Omaha, NE 68130 First publication April 5, 2019, final April 19, 2019 DVORAK LAW GROUP LLC 9500 West Dodge Road, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF 3D CONCRETE, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that 3D Concrete, LLC (the “Company”) has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The Designated Office Address of the Company is 3941 X Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68107. The Registered Agent of the Company is DDLG Business Services, Inc., 9500 W. Dodge Road, Suite 100, Omaha, Nebraska 68114. First publication April 5, 2019, final April 19, 2019

Midlands Business Journal • APRIL 12, 2019 • LEGAL NOTICES BREASCH FINANCE & TAX CONSULTING INC. 4879 S 132nd Avenue Omaha, NE 68137 CERTIFICATE OF ORGANIZATION OF RELIEF PLUMBING SERVICES LLC A NEBRASKA LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY 1. The name of the limited liability company is RELIEF PLUMBING SERVICES LLC 2. The period of duration for RELIEF PLUMBING SERVICES LLC is perpetual. 3. RELIEF PLUMBING SERVICES LLC is organized for the purpose of conducting any and all business as permitted by the Nebraska Uniform Limited Liability Company Act. 4. The address of the initial designated office for RELIEF PLUMBING SERVICES LLC in Nebraska is 7607 N 29TH Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68112. 5. The name and address of the registered agent for RELIEF PLUMBING SERVICES LLC in Nebraska is Jacob Minturn, 7607 N 29th Street, Omaha NE 68112. 6. Additional provisions, not inconsistent with the law, for the regulation of the internal affairs of the limited liability company shall be provided for in the Operating Agreement. 7. Jacob Minturn, organizer(s) of RELIEF PLUMBING SERVICES LLC has signed the Foregoing Certificate of Organization effective this 22th day of March, 2019. Jacob Minturn First publication April 5, 2019, final April 19, 2019 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF PORTRANE HOUSE, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that Portrane House, LLC (the “Company”) has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The Designated Office Address of the Company is 15660 California Street, Omaha, NE 68118. The Registered Agent of the Company is Adrian Blake, 15660 California Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68118. First publication April 5, 2019, final April 19, 2019 KELLOGG & PALZER, P.C. 10828 Old Mill Road, Suite 6 Omaha, Nebraska 68154-2647 NOTICE OF NON-PROFIT INCORPORATION 1. The name of the non-profit corporation is EVANGELIUM INSTITUTE, INC. 2. The registered office of the Corporation is 10828 Old Mill Road, Ste 6, Omaha, NE 68154. The registered agent at that office is Jeffrey T. Palzer. 3. The corporation is a public benefit corporation and the general nature of the corporation is religious formation. 4. The corporation commenced on March 28, 2019, and shall have perpetual existence. The name and address of the incorporator is Deacon Omar F. A. Gutierrez, 2307 S. 33rd St., Omaha, Nebraska 68105. 5. The corporation will not have members. Jeffrey T. Palzer, Attorney at Law, Kellogg & Palzer, P.C. 10828 Old Mill Road, Suite 6 Omaha, Nebraska 68154 Phone: 402-333-9200 Fax: 402-333-0508 First publication April 5, 2019, final April 19, 2019 ROBERT J. LIKES, Attorney LIKES MEYERSON HATCH LLC 444 Regency Parkway Drive, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 LEGAL NOTICE In the County Court of Douglas County, Nebraska. PR19-228 Estate of Richard I. George, Deceased Notice is hereby given that on March 27, 2019, in the County Court of Douglas County, Nebraska, Janice K. George, 611 Park Lane Drive, Omaha, NE 68104 was informally appointed Personal Representative of the estate. Creditors of this estate must file their claims with this Court, located at Courtroom No. 30, Third Floor, Probate Division, Douglas County Hall of Justice, 17th & Farnam Streets, Omaha, NE 68183, on or before June 5, 2019 or be forever barred. CARROL L. MILLS Registrar First publication April 5, 2019, final April 19, 2019 KOLEY JESSEN P.C., L.L.O., Attorneys 1125 South 103rd Street, Suite 800, One Pacific Place Omaha, Nebraska 68124-1079 NOTICE OF AMENDMENT NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Certificate of Organization of KJPC Holdco, LLC, a Nebraska limited liability company, has been amended as follows: the limited liability company has changed its name to S.J. Taylor Company II, LLC. The Amended Certificate of Organization was filed with the Nebraska Secretary of State on April 2, 2019. First publication April 12, 2019, final April 26, 2019 KOLEY JESSEN P.C., L.L.O., Attorneys 1125 South 103rd Street, Suite 800, One Pacific Place Omaha, Nebraska 68124-1079 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF RUCK CABINET DOORS MINNESOTA, LLC The name of the Company is Ruck Cabinet Doors Minnesota, LLC. The Designated Office of the Company is: 2445 Deer Park Blvd., Omaha, Nebraska 68105. The Registered Agent and Office of the Company is: Koley Jessen P.C., L.L.O., 1125 South 103rd Street, Suite 800, Omaha, Nebraska 68124. This limited liability company commenced business on April 5, 2019. First publication April 12, 2019, final April 26, 2019

DANIEL J. WATERS, Attorney LAMSON, DUGAN and MURRAY, LLP 10306 Regency Parkway Drive Omaha, Nebraska 68114-3743 NOTICE OF INCORPORATION OF MISSION DIRECT PRIMARY CARE, PC Notice is hereby given that a professional corporation has been formed under the laws of the State of Nebraska, and that the name of the corporation is Mission Direct Primary Care, PC. The corporation is authorized to issue 1,000 shares of common stock. The name and street address of the corporation’s initial registered agent and office is LDM Business Services, Inc., 10306 Regency Parkway Drive, Omaha, Nebraska 68114. The name and address of the incorporator is Dr. John D. Hallgren, MD, 5112 Nicholas Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68132. Dr. John D. Hallgren, MD, Incorporator First publication April 12, 2019, final April 26, 2019 KELLOGG & PALZER, P.C. 10828 Old Mill Road, Suite 6 Omaha, Nebraska 68154-2647 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION 1. The name of the Company is SASSE DENTAL, LLC. 2. The street address of the initial designated office is 705 Rosewood Ave, Papillion, NE 68133. 3. The registered agent is Kelsey Sasse, DDS and the Register Agent's address is 705 Rosewood Ave, Papillion, NE 68133. 4. The general nature of the Company is the practice of dentistry. 5. The Company commenced on April 3, 2019, and shall have perpetual existence. 6. The affairs of the Company are to be conducted by Members, the President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and such other officers as the Members shall determine. First publication April 12, 2019, final April 26, 2019 KELLOGG & PALZER, P.C. 10828 Old Mill Road, Suite 6 Omaha, Nebraska 68154-2647 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION 1. The name of the Company is LRP ELEVATOR, LLC. 2. The street address of the initial designated office is 4089 S. 84th St., Suite 114, Omaha, NE 68127. The registered agent is Jeffrey T. Palzer and the Register Agent's address is 10828 Old Mill Road, Suite 6, Omaha, Nebraska 68154. 3. The general nature of the Company is elevator repair and maintenance. 4. The Company commenced on April 8, 2019, and shall have perpetual existence. 5. The affairs of the Company are to be conducted by Members, the President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and such other officers as the Members shall determine. First publication April 12, 2019, final April 26, 2019 ERICKSON l SEDERSTROM, P.C., Attorneys 10330 Regency Parkway Drive, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF GROWEST GENETICS, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that GroWest Genetics, LLC, a Nebraska limited liability company (the “Company”) with its designated office located at 3961 South 194th Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68130, has been duly organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska, designating its registered agent as Erickson & Sederstrom, P.C. a limited liability organization with its registered office at 10330 Regency Parkway Drive, Suite 100, Omaha, Nebraska 68114. First publication April 12, 2019, final April 26, 2019 DENNIS P. LEE, Attorney LEE LAW OFFICE 2433 South 130th Circle, Suite 300 P.O. Box 45947 Omaha, Nebraska 68145 NOTICE OF SUIT TO: EMILY MICHELLE HUGHES, 2809 N 20th St E, Omaha NE 68110, you are hereby notified that on December 26, 2018, AMERICAN FAMILY MUTUAL INS. Co., S.I. filed a suit against you in the Douglas County Court at docket CI18-26885, the object in prayer of which was to secure a judgment against you in the amount of $6,199.10, together with court costs, interest and attorney's fees as allowed by law. Unless you file your Answer with the Douglas County Court on or before the 3rd day of June, 2019, the Petition against you will be considered as true and judgment will be entered against you accordingly. First publication April 12, 2019, final May 3 , 2019 CATHERINE E. FRENCH, Attorney LAMSON, DUGAN and MURRAY, LLP 10306 Regency Parkway Drive Omaha, Nebraska 68114-3743 APPLICATION FOR REGISTRATION OF TRADE NAME Trade Name to be registered is: Do Space Name of Applicant: Community Information Trust Address: 10050 Regency Circle, Suite 101 Omaha NE 68114 Applicant is a Corporation If other than an Individual, state under whose laws entity was formed: Nebraska Date of first use of name in Nebraska: April 16, 2015 General nature of business: Community technology library CATHERINE E. FRENCH Signature of Applicant or Legal Representative April 12, 2019

WHITMORE LAW OFFICE LLC 7602 Pacific Street, Suite 200 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION Notice is hereby given that The Ashlar Group, L.L.C. (the “Company”) has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The designated office of the Company is 7617 Maywood Street, Ralston, Nebraska 68127. The registered agent of the Company is Thomas E. Whitmore, 7602 Pacific Street, Ste. 200, Omaha, Nebraska 68114. The Company was formed on April 4, 2019. First publication April 12, 2019, final April 26, 2019 WHITMORE LAW OFFICE LLC 7602 Pacific Street, Suite 200 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION Notice is hereby given that WH Foods, L.L.C. (the “Company”) has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The designated office of the Company is 10000California Street, #2801, Omaha, Nebraska 68114. The registered agent of the Company is Wei Dong, 9763 Q Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68127. The Company was formed on April 4, 2019. First publication April 12, 2019, final April 26, 2019 DVORAK LAW GROUP LLC 9500 West Dodge Road, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF 204TH STREET CAR WASH, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that 204th Street Car Wash, LLC (the “Company”) has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The Designated Office Address of the Company is 222 S. 15th Street, 1404S, Omaha, Nebraska 68102. The Registered Agent of the Company is Christopher Erickson, 222 S. 15th Street, 1404S, Omaha, Nebraska 68102. First publication April 12, 2019, final April 26, 2019 ROBERT J. LIKES, Attorney LIKES MEYERSON HATCH LLC 444 Regency Parkway Drive, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 LEGAL NOTICE In the County Court of Douglas County, Nebraska. PR19-454 Estate of Christa M. Tracy, Deceased Notice is hereby given that on April 4, 2019, in the County Court of Douglas County, Nebraska, Kathryn J. Tracy, 1154 South 95th Street, Omaha, NE 68124, was informally appointed by the Registrar as Personal Representative of the Estate. Creditors of this estate must file their claims with this Court, located at Courtroom No. 30, Third Floor, Probate Division, Douglas County Hall of Justice, 17th & Farnam Streets, Omaha, NE 68183, on or before (two months after first publication date) September 15, 2016 or be forever barred. CARROL L. MILLS Registrar First publication April 12, 2019, final April 26, 2019 ERICKSON l SEDERSTROM, P.C., Attorneys 10330 Regency Parkway Drive, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF DISSOLUTION On March 26, 2019, Aksamit Family Foundation, a Nebraska nonprofit corporation (“Corporation”) filed Articles of Dissolution with the Nebraska Secretary of State. The terms of the dissolution provide for the payment of all liabilities of the Corporation and the distribution of all remaining assets for one or more exempt purposes within the meaning of §501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Gary Aksamit as sole Director is to wind up and liquidate the corporate affairs and distribute its assets. The Corporation has no assets or liabilities. First publication April 12, 2019, final April 26, 2019 MONTE L. SCHATZ, Attorney VANDENACK WEAVER LLC 17007 Marcy Street, Suite 3 Omaha, Nebraska 68118 APPLICATION FOR REGISTRATION OF TRADE NAME Trade Name to be registered is: Meridian Mental Health and TMS Center of Omaha Name of Applicant: Mary Jo Hanigan M.D., P.C. Address: 6910 Pacific Street, Suite 100 Omaha NE 68106 Applicant is a Corporation If other than an Individual, state under whose laws entity was formed: Nebraska Date of first use of name in Nebraska: 2-26-2018 General nature of business: Mental Health Therapy MONTE L. SCHATZ Signature of Applicant or Legal Representative April 12, 2019 APPLICATION FOR REGISTRATION OF TRADE NAME Trade Name to be registered is: Adam's Acres Name of Applicant: Thiessen Brothers, Inc. Address: 221 Hackberry Dr. Gretna NE 68028 Applicant is a Corporation If other than an Individual, state under whose laws entity was formed: Nebraska Date of first use of name in Nebraska: February, 1, 2019 General nature of business: Organic Vegetable and Fruit Market Farming ADAM THIESSEN Signature of Applicant or Legal Representative April 12, 2019

• APRIL 12, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal

LEGAL NOTICES AMANDA M. BARRON, Attorney P.O. Box 597 Fremont, Nebraska 68026 LEGAL NOTICE TO THE DEFENDANT(s), GINA ANTISDEL You are hereby notified that Credit Bureau Services, Inc., a corporation, filed its complaint in the County Court of DOUGLAS County, Nebraska on 01/14/2019 on Case Number CI19-1454, the object and prayer of which is to recover the sum of $197.58, plus interest, attorney fees and court costs. You are required to answer the complaint of the Plaintiff on or before 05/26/2019 or the allegations in said complaint will be taken as true and judgment entered accordingly. CREDIT BUREAU SERVICES, INC., A CORPORATION First publication April 12, 2019, final April 26, 2019 AMANDA M. BARRON, Attorney P.O. Box 597 Fremont, Nebraska 68026 LEGAL NOTICE TO THE DEFENDANT(s), NATHANIEL J LOUDERBACK You are hereby notified that Credit Bureau Services, Inc., a corporation, filed its complaint in the County Court of DOUGLAS County, Nebraska on 01/01/2019 on Case Number CI19-1160, the object and prayer of which is to recover the sum of $259.07, plus interest, attorney fees and court costs. You are required to answer the complaint of the Plaintiff on or before 05/26/2019 or the allegations in said complaint will be taken as true and judgment entered accordingly. CREDIT BUREAU SERVICES, INC., A CORPORATION First publication April 12, 2019, final April 26, 2019 AMANDA M. BARRON, Attorney P.O. Box 597 Fremont, Nebraska 68026 LEGAL NOTICE TO THE DEFENDANT(s), MARLA J FERNANDEZ You are hereby notified that Credit Bureau Services, Inc., a corporation, filed its complaint in the County Court of DOUGLAS County, Nebraska on 01/01/2019 on Case Number CI19-1159, the object and prayer of which is to recover the sum of $185.00, plus interest, attorney fees and court costs. You are required to answer the complaint of the Plaintiff on or before 05/26/2019 or the allegations in said complaint will be taken as true and judgment entered accordingly. CREDIT BUREAU SERVICES, INC., A CORPORATION First publication April 12, 2019, final April 26, 2019 AMANDA M. BARRON, Attorney P.O. Box 597 Fremont, Nebraska 68026 LEGAL NOTICE TO THE DEFENDANT(s), KERRI E MCMANN You are hereby notified that Credit Bureau Services, Inc., a corporation, filed its complaint in the County Court of DOUGLAS County, Nebraska on 12/25/2018 on Case Number CI19-414, the object and prayer of which is to recover the sum of $199.40, plus interest, attorney fees and court costs. You are required to answer the complaint of the Plaintiff on or before 05/26/2019 or the allegations in said complaint will be taken as true and judgment entered accordingly. CREDIT BUREAU SERVICES, INC., A CORPORATION First publication April 12, 2019, final April 26, 2019 THOMAS H. PENKE, Attorney 12020 Shamrock Plaza, Suite 200 Omaha, Nebraska 68154 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION Notice is hereby given that Madison River Investments, LLC, has organized pursuant to R.R.S. Section 21-101 et seq. The registered office is 12020 Shamrock Plaza, Suite 200, Omaha, Nebraska 68154 and the registered agent is Thomas H. Penke. The nature of the business to be transacted is any lawful business. The business commenced on March 15, 2019, and is perpetual. The affairs of the company are to be conducted by the President, Secretary and Treasurer. First publication April 12, 2019, final April 26, 2019

How student loans can fatten or shrink your tax refund by Susan Tompor

Most of us know we need to pay attention to things like our mortgages when doing our taxes. But who would imagine that student loan debt could possibly help you get a bigger tax refund? Here’s a look at how you might be able to write off some interest paid on student loans, as well as other tax tips relating to college debt. Big clue: Don’t default if you want a fat tax refund. Despite some rumors to the contrary, many people can lower their tax bill by tapping into a deduction on federal income tax returns for interest paid in 2018 on federal and private student loans. “It’s a nice benefit to have,” said Cari Weston, director of tax practice and ethics for the American Institute of CPAs. But she warns that it’s a tax break Financial that only applies to a limited group of people, often younger consumers who aren’t making much money. Married couples — who both are paying off student loans — face some unexpected limits, too. The good news is that it’s possible to claim this deduction even if you take the standard deduction. “It’s not an itemized deduction,” said Jackie Perlman, principal tax research analyst at H&R Block’s Tax Institute. Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, more people will take the standard deduction instead of itemizing. Even if that’s the case, you could still be able to use the deduction for student loan interest if you qualify, Perlman said. It’s an above-the-line tax break so it would reduce your taxable income by up to $2,500. But again, it’s one tax break that you cannot always bank on. Weston said clients may hear about the deduction but not realize all the hurdles. “People get very confused,” Weston said. As a CPA, she’s had to break the bad news and tell clients things such as: “But in your case, you make too much money, and you’re not going to get it.” If you’re single, for example, the dollar amount of the student loan deduction starts being reduced significantly once your modified adjust gross income goes above $65,000. If single, you can’t claim it at all if your modified adjusted gross income is $80,000 or more. For 2018, the phase out limit for married couples is between $135,000 and $165,000 if you file a joint return. You can’t claim the deduction once you hit $165,000 or more if you file a joint return. You’re not eligible for this deduction if married filing separately. Some married student loan borrowers do file separately to be able to have lower monthly payments under income-driven repayment plans. As a result, though, they could lose out on the deduction for interest payments on student loans. You cannot claim this deduction if you or your spouse, if filing jointly, can be claimed as dependents on someone else’s return. In the case of married couples, the deduction is per return, not per person. If two borrowers get married, their deduction will drop from up to $2,500 each on single returns to one combined $2,500 deduction on the joint return, warned Mark Kantrowitz, publisher and vice president of research for Savingforcollege.com. So if you’re newly married, don’t expect that you both can take this tax break. “I call this the classic marriage penalty,” Weston said. Read the rules carefully. See Chapter 4 of Publication 970: Tax Benefits for Higher Education for information on the student loan deduction. Go to www.irs.gov. There is a worksheet for filling out the student loan interest deduction, which you’d claim on Schedule 1 for the 1040, Line 33. Make sure to see Line 7 Adjusted Gross Income to claim the deduction on page 2 of the new shorter 1040 form. It could be confusing to some. You don’t see the student loan deduction spelled out on the 1040 form even though you’d include it on Line 7 under adjusted gross income. Student loan help from employers is taxable Some employers, such as Dearborn, Michigan-based Carhartt, now are offering job perks that include paying some money toward student loan debt. Currently, though, payments under employer loan repayment assistance plans are taxable

to the employee. “It’s not a tax-free perk from your employer,” Perlman said. Scott Thompson, CEO of Tuition.io, a California-based platform for employee student loan contributions, said some employers will “gross up” and offer more money to cover the extra taxes. But not all employers do that, so employees need to take time to understand the benefits that are spelled out. In the future, you might get a better break. Kantrowitz noted that there is bipartisan legislation in Congress — dubbed the Employer Participation in Repayment Act — that would exclude up to $5,250 in such benefits from taxes a year. Student loan forgiveness is mixed bag The good news is that student loan debt that is discharged after Dec. 31, 2017, because of the student’s death or disability is no longer taxable. This tax break expires after 2025, and the disability must be a total and permanent disability, according to Mark Luscombe, principal analyst for Tax & Accounting at Wolters Kluwer in Riverwoods, Illinois. The change was part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which took effect in 2018. The new rule isn’t retroactive. It applies to federal or private education loans. Kantrowitz said his research and reading of the statute is that this new change applies to the discharging of debt on a Parent PLUS loan when the student dies. Some tax experts, though, say more guidance may be needed from the IRS on some specific issues. But other types of student loan forgiveness may be taxable currently. You’d receive a 1099-C if the cancelled debt is $600 or more. But it’s important to research the exceptions to what’s taxable and what isn’t, Kantrowitz said. Student loan forgiveness, for example, that’s associated with working in certain occupations for a set period of time is tax free. That includes Teacher Loan Forgiveness and Public Service Loan Forgiveness. Many times, borrowers need to work in certain under-served areas to qualify for such forgiveness, Weston noted. It’s important to understand all the specific rules so you’d qualify for loan forgiveness and be able to avoid being taxed on any benefits. “Sometimes, people are blindsided by that,” Perlman said. To exclude canceled student loan debt from your income, your loan must have been made by a qualifying lender to attend an eligible financial institution. So, for example, such exclusions relating to this tax break wouldn’t apply to any cancelled credit card debt, Perlman said. Sometimes, students can become overwhelmed with credit card debt too, especially if they pay for tuition with a credit card and then let that interest build and build. Defaulting on student loans reduces refunds Tax filers are often shocked when they expect a tax refund of $5,000 or more and then discover they’re not getting all that money. Some or all may be used to pay back a federal student loan that was in default. If you’re missing money out of your tax refund, it’s possible it was collected through the Treasury Offset Program to collect delinquent debts owed to federal agencies and state governments. “Most people are going to have ample notice before a refund is garnished,” said Weston, at the American Institute of CPAs. “Just simply not paying your loan for a month or two is not going to send them into that kind of aggressive action,” she said. Student loan default takes place when you don’t make the required payment on your student loan for 270 days — or nine months — or more. Default is more serious than delinquency. Tax filing season is here, and the overhaul of tax laws means some potentially big changes for your budget. Did you get refund, or do you owe the IRS? -Josmar Taveras, USA TODAY Some students, though, do lose track of loans when the debt is sold to another lender and unknowingly they don’t make payments. After not making those payments, some report being shocked to have their tax refund garnished. Defaulting, of course, also can hurt your credit score and drive up the cost of taking out a mortgage or a car loan. ©2019 Detroit Free Press Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Midlands Business Journal • APRIL 12, 2019 •

Does ‘sustainably sourced’ really help the environment? Yes, with a caveat by Greg Stanley

The label on the grocery package contains the reassuring words, “sustainably sourced.” But what does that actually mean for the environment? Researchers at the University of Minnesota are trying to Environment answer that question with a careful study of one of the world’s largest commodities — sugar. They examined a project called Bonsucro, which promotes a set of voluntary water-use and farming standards for sugar cane and has been adopted by some of the world’s biggest sugar buyers, including General Mills and Coca-Cola. The findings, published last month, show that if sugar cane growers and major buyers across the globe meet Bonsucro standards, the environmental benefits would be great: Greenhouse gas emissions from sugar production would be halved and water use would be cut by two-thirds. It’s a groundbreaking and rigorous vindication of the ever-expanding “sustainability” certifications that companies are vowing to meet. But it comes with a big catch. The problem is that attaining the full benefits of Bonsucro would require what may be practical and political impossibilities, such as closing off a third of India — the world’s second-largest sugar producer — to sugar farming because it doesn’t get enough rainfall. As a result, companies might not be able to achieve 100 percent compliance by a certain date unless the standards are relaxed, exceptions are created for regions like India, or a third of that nation’s sugar farmers receive enough incentives to replace sugar with a new crop, said Derric Pennington, one of the study’s authors and adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota. “These are wicked problems,” Pennington said. “It’s not an individual company issue, it’s an industry issue.” For General Mills, the study shows both the potential and the hard realities of Bonsucro certification, said Kevin O’Donnell, the company’s director of sustainability sourcing and operations. The Twin Cities food and cereal giant has committed to having 100 percent of its sugar cane come from Bonsucro-certified producers within the next few years. While the potential benefits are heartening, he said, it is very difficult to shift the production of sugar cane to different areas of the world. You can’t tell India, “Sorry, you can’t grow sugar cane anymore,” O’Donnell said. “That doesn’t mean you can’t make progress,” he said. “It’s just harder to do.” The company met its 2018 goal to have 70 percent of its sugar cane certified and is still on track to get to 100 percent, O’Donnell said. Minnesota logging Bonsucro was created by a large coalition of environmental advocates and major growers and buyers such as PepsiCo and Coca-Cola. It’s promoted by the World Wildlife Fund and based in London. It sets dozens of criteria for sugar production, including labor standards as well as pesticide use, carbon reduction and bans on using land classified with “high

conservation value.” Certifications like Bonsucro exist for just about everything that grows, from palm oil and cotton to salmon. The state of Minnesota boasts that more than 90 percent of the forests under its management have been certified as “sustainable” for logging, allowing for the lumber to be sold with that label, often at a premium. Yet there’s been little research into the actual global environmental benefit that results from the approved practices, or what would happen if more major players adopt them, Pennington said. Pennington and the U hope the study can serve as a framework allowing governments, corporations and shoppers to judge the merits of such certifications. The Bonsucro study is designed to be replicated for other commodities and certification standards, he said. ‘Locations matter’ Too often, companies and governments using sustainability standards measure success by the percentage of farmers or produce that gets certified under a standard, Pennington said, rather than by the actual reduction in, for example, greenhouse gas emissions.

That’s a problem because, as the case of sugar shows, the location of the growers matters much more to the environment than the number who achieve certification. The study found that greenhouse gas emissions would be cut by 51 percent if every sugar grower in the world became Bonsucro-certified, even if they produced twice the amount of sugar as they do today. Water usage, a huge problem at Pepsi and Coca-Cola plants in India, would be cut by 65 percent, while the amount of pollution caused by fertilizer runoff would be reduced by 34 percent. But half of those benefits come from just 10 percent of the land where sugar is currently grown, the study found. Put another way: If 90 percent of the world’s growers adopted the sustainable practices, it would have the same effect as if 10 percent did in the most sensitive areas of the globe. “Locations matter,” Pennington said. “The regions that produce the biggest impact are the furthest from compliance.” The study does not detail the added costs of meeting certification goals, which would be much different for farms in rain-heavy Brazil than in drought-

prone parts of India and Pakistan. Those costs have to be borne by someone, and who bears the cost could play a major role in how effective these certifications become, said Stephen Polasky, an economist at the U. “It almost has to be viewed as a cost of doing business — where enough of the big players buy in to establish a new norm,” Polasky said. Bonsucro’s leaders are using the study to revise some of their standards. Pennington would like to see more research to show how some of the regions furthest from compliance can get there and whether that’s best accomplished by government incentives, stricter regulations or consumer demand. “We have to start asking these questions,” Pennington said. “Should we have floating standards for different parts of the world? Should we water down some of the standards to try to at least get farmers to be better? Or is that just kicking the can down the road because it still wouldn’t be sustainable?” ©2019 Star Tribune (Minneapolis) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

by Jim Spencer

for Rural America has given out a total of $117,000 in $1,000 quick relief payments to people who have had barn roofs collapse from snow accumulation, Hebrink said. As he spoke in one congressional hearing, the National Pork Producers Council, whose membership includes many Minnesota hog farmers, submitted written testimony in a neighboring hearing. It offered an ugly assessment of what retaliation to President Donald Trump’s protective tariffs on steel, aluminum and Chinese imports has done to places like Minnesota that lead the country in hog production. China, which bought $851 million worth of pork in 2018, now has retaliatory tariffs totaling 50 percent on American pork products, the council reported. Mexico, which could not charge tariffs under the North American Free Trade Agreement that Trump scrapped, has placed a 20 percent tariff on U.S. pork in retaliation to the protective levies the U.S. placed on Mexican steel and aluminum for reasons of national security.

Congress has yet to approve Trump’s renegotiated trade deal with Mexico and Canada — the United States, Mexico, Canada Agreement (USMCA). Without it, some economists say U.S. pork producers risk losing a Mexican market that was worth $1.3 billion in 2018. Losing the Mexican market “would be cataclysmic for the U.S. pork industry and for all of American agriculture,” the pork producers council said. Meanwhile, anticipated increases in pork sales to Japan and other Pacific Rim countries under the Trans-Pacific Partnership fell off the table when the White House withdrew the U.S. from that free trade agreement. Hebrink said the tariff battle “exacerbated” an already grim situation. “There’s more nervousness now,” he said. “Farmers are optimistic by nature. But there is a reality setting in.” ©2019 Star Tribune (Minneapolis) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

‘There’s bleeding going on’ in U.S. farm economy, ag lender says America’s depressed agricultural economy is not yet at “a tipping point where vast numbers of farms will be lost,” the CEO of one of the country’s biggest agricultural lenders says. But “there’s bleeding going on” thanks to Agriculture a confluence of low commodity prices, bad weather and tariffs. It’s forcing some farmers to refinance loans and convincing others to retire. “It’s a slow erosion,” said Rod Hebrink, chief executive of Compeer Financial, a 43,000-member cooperative operating in the Midwest. Hebrink, a native Minnesotan who still lives in the state, testified to a congressional subcommittee Tuesday about current challenges facing U.S. growers and livestock producers. In an interview with the Star Tribune, Hebrink did not predict an agricultural meltdown on the scale of the 1980s. He said Compeer, one of the nation’s biggest rural lenders, has not been forced to deny new loans to many customers. But the cooperative is now counseling some to rethink the way they do business. A prolonged downturn “has impacted farmers of all ages, experience levels and sizes,” Hebrink said in his testimony. The University of Minnesota recently reported that farm income in Minnesota is at its lowest level since the state began keeping that statistic. Many grain farmers have not generated income for four or five years owing to bad market and weather conditions, Hebrink said. They have been living off working capital. “You can’t draw on equity forever,” he said. Now, bad weather has added another burden. Farmers in the Upper Midwest face possible catastrophic floods as the winter’s heavy snowfalls melt. Even where floods have not ruined property, Compeer’s Fund

• APRIL 12, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal

UPCOMING

SECTIONS

IN THE MIDLANDS BUSINESS JOURNAL

APRIL 19

SALUTE TO SMALL BUSINESS

INVESTING IN RETIREMENT APRIL 26

LEGAL PROFESSION

MARKETING, ADVERTISING & PROMOTIONS To advertise your company’s products or services in one of our upcoming sections, contact one of our MBJ advertising representatives at (402) 330-1760 or at the email addresses below. Julie Whitehead - Julie@mbj.com • Catie Kirby - ads@mbj.com Space and materials deadline is the Friday prior to the publication date. You may email us your insertion orders directly, or fax them to us at (402) 758-9315. We will acknowledge receiving your instructions.

REGIONAL LANDSCAPES

Briefs…

The City of Omaha is requesting $802,400 in funding from the Metropolitan Area Planning Agency’s Transportation Alternatives Program as part of a $1,003,000 project to reconfigure Leavenworth Street between 7th and 13th streets. Along this stretch of roadway, the street would change from four to two vehicle lanes with bike lanes added. The City of Omaha is also requesting $100,000 from Heartland 2050 mini-grant to conduct the corridor study along 24th Street from Mason Street to Cass Street with some additions on 25th Street and 24th Avenue. The study would focus on improvements to support transit, biking and walking. Edward J. Bonach has been elected to the Mutual of Omaha board of directors. Bonach joined CNO Financial in 2007 as chief financial officer and was named CEO in 2011. CNO Financial offers health and life insurance as well as retirement solutions through its Banker’s Life, Colonial Penn and Washington National companies. Prior to joining CNO Financial, Bonach served as CFO of National Life Group from 2002 until 2007 and spent 23 years at Allianz Life Insurance Co. of North America, where he last served as president of several business units. The Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District board of directors announced a new director to fill its Subdistrict 7 vacancy. The board selected Omahan Danny Begley to replace Patrick Leahy, who had to resign due to moving to a residence located outside of Subdistrict 7. Nebraska state law declares a Papio NRD director must reside in the subdistrict he/she represents. Begley works for the Omaha Public Power District. Subdistrict 7’s boundaries roughly comprise of the Dundee/ Benson neighborhoods to west of I-680 on Dodge Street. Revela announced a new program specifically geared toward HR professionals. In partnership with Human Resource Association of the Midlands, it launched HR Think Tank. HR Think Tank focuses on helping people develop their leadership presence in their organization. The group is designed to facilitate meaningful conversations between HR professionals to challenge their current habits, develop a growth mindset, and lead the health of the organization. The original price for HR Think Tank is $1,850; however, HRAM members will receive a special discount of $250, making their cost $1,600, which includes the materials, eight training sessions, a personality assessment, and individual coaching as needed. Merck Animal Health is expanding its west Omaha operations center. Merck produces a broad range of veterinary medicines and services. The new expansion puts the operations center at nearly 240,000 square feet. It has the ability to support over 15,000 pallets of secured storage. The site is slated to distribute more than 10 million pounds of product to over 70 international markets in 2019. Notably, the operations center is working toward a zero-waste environmental impact and is a strong supporter of recycling all waste streams. The site has earned the National Safety Council Award with distinction for 11 years running. SpartanNash has embarked on its Clean Ingredient Initiative for the company’s exclusive Our Family and Open Acres private brands. The initiative focuses on providing simpler products, reduced ingredient lists and clean, easy-to-read labels to store guests. As part of the Clean Ingredient Initiative, more than 425 Our Family and Open Acres

products have undergone reformulations or packaging redesigns since 2018, removing synthetic colors, MSG and other ingredients. In 2019, another 175 products will be added to the Clean Ingredient Initiative. Nebraska Business Development Center at the University of Nebraska at Omaha has awarded the 2018 Manufacturing Business of the Year Award to Airlite Plastics. Privately held and family-owned for more than 70 years, Airlite Plastics produces 2 billion molded units per year at its manufacturing facilities in Omaha and Nazareth, Penn. Together, the facilities total more than one-half million square feet of production and storage area, with a workforce of approximately 1,000 people. OBI Creative, a research-based advertising agency based in Omaha with offices in Des Moines, and Zirous, an IT consulting firm headquartered in Des Moines, have entered into a joint business relationship creating Zirobi. Zirobi’s CX360 pairs technology best practices with business and communication expertise to help clients plan, implement and execute a successful digital transformation strategy, with the customer as the focus. Nebraska Business Development Center at the University of Nebraska at Omaha announced the 2018 Sustainability Business of the Year Award winner, Tyson Foods Omaha Bacon Plant. Tyson Foods’ Omaha operation first partnered with the NBDC in 2012 when it began its lean manufacturing journey by sending its first team member through the NBDC Lean Certification program. Tyson’s efforts to improve sustainability and to employ more environmentally conscious practices are two elements of the company’s overall focus on creating an environment that emphasizes the importance of food safety, and the safety of its team members. The Omaha Storm Chasers have made various upgrades and enhancements to the fan experience for 2019. It has opened the Jack Daniel’s Club, a premium club area open to all Storm Tracker, Suite and Club holders. The club also functions as a special event and meeting space. The George Brett Suite is a new party suite that overlooks the playing field and can accommodate up to 36 guests. Safety upgrades were implemented with the extension of the protective netting behind home plate. Mascot Landing was added giving fans an area to interact with mascots and more than a dozen 55-inch high-definition televisions will also be added.

Health care notes…

The University of Nebraska Medical Center has established itself as one of the leading research centers in the country for pancreatic cancer. It’s estimated that 92 percent of people diagnosed with pancreas cancer will die within five years. One of the recent breakthroughs was reported earlier this month in Nature Medicine. A UNMC research team played a key role in the discovery. The team performed metabolomic analyses of pancreatic cancer cells that helped identify the role of autophagy in allowing cells to grow despite ERK inhibition. OneWorld Community Health Centers’ board of directors has elected its officers for 2019. Dan McMahon, attorney/shareholder at Koley Jessen, will serve as OneWorld’s board chair again. Correen Harrell, chief financial officer at Investors Realty, Inc., is the chair-elect. Suzi Sterba, vice president and commercial banking relationship manager at U.S. Bank, is the secretary. Milton Trabal is the treasurer. The following will continue to serve: Continued on next page.

Midlands Business Journal • APRIL 12, 2019 •

REGIONAL LANDSCAPES Continued from preceding page. Michael Chase; Robert (Bo) Dunlay, M.D.; Anna Hernandez-Valencia; Cecilia Hiebner; Sen. Robert Hilkemann; Don Hutchens; Alan Jarecki; Kristina Jordan; Christina Kahler; Jillian Krumbach, M.S.N., R.N.; Sen. John McCollister; Blanca Mejia; Jaime Suarez-Delgado; Maria Wollen; and Andrea Skolkin. Children’s Physicians now offers moms the opportunity to get breastfeeding instruction and support in the comfort of their own home through a virtual visit with a certified lactation consultant. Any breastfeeding mom can call 402-955-6455 to schedule an in-person or virtual visit. Research shows that mothers have more success and longer duration of breastfeeding when there is early lactation support. Children’s Physicians’ four certified lactation consultants serve patients in three office locations — Bellevue, Embassy MEETINGS AND SEMINARS Tuesday, April 16 The Omaha Estate Planning Council will host its monthly meeting from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. Mary Vandenack will be speaking on the best practices to assure that a client testamentary and/or donative intentions are effectuated. Attendees of this seminar will understand due diligence in the estate planning process to facilitate a best practices approach and preservation of testamentary intent. This program is relevant for all estate planning professionals and offers one-hour of credit for life insurance, legal, accounting, CFP, PACE and CAP (pending approvals). The Heartland Women’s Network is hosting its montly program from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Security National Bank in Omaha, 1120 S. 101st St. This month’s speaker will be Jane Thorson, SAFE-T program director at the Salvation Army and Nebraska Human Trafficking Task Force services coordinator. Thorson will be talking about SAFE-T and how it is helping address human trafficking in Nebraska and working with network partners to assist victims. Registration is avalible online. Wednesday, April 17 The Omaha Business Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will take place from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the Holland Performing Arts Center. The evening will include hors d’oeuvres, cocktails and desert. Those being inducted include: Daniel J. Bishop, founder and chairman of the board, The Maids International; Gail DeBoer, president and CEO, Cobalt Credit Union; John W. Estabrook, president and CEO (retired), Methodist Health System; the Kavich family (Jeff Kavich, Larry Kavich, Lazier Kavich and Amee Zetzman), All Makes; and Gale L. Wickersham, chairman and founder, Wick’s Truck Trailer, Inc. Thursday, April 18 The Greater Bellevue Area Chamber of Commerce will host the 2019 Mayor’s Forum from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Tiburon Golf Club & Banquet Facility. The following mayors will speak about what is happening in their cities: Bellevue, Mayor Hike; Papillion, Mayor Black; La Vista, Mayor Kindig; Ralston, Mayor Groesser; Gretna, Mayor Timmerman; Springfield, Mayor Roseland; and Plattsmouth, Mayor Lambert. Tickets for the luncheon are available online for $20.

Park and West Village Pointe — and now via Virtual Care.

Education notes…

Bellevue University President Dr. Mary Hawkins has been named one of the Top 35 Women in Higher Education for 2019 by Diverse Issues in Higher Education. Diverse Issues is recognized as the nation’s top diversity news resource in higher education. Hawkins has served as Bellevue University’s president for the last decade and under her leadership, the university has consistently been ranked as one of the nation’s best higher education institutions for working adults, military personnel and transfer students. Bellevue University currently serves students from every state and 20-plus foreign countries and is committed to providing equality of opportunity through higher education. University of Nebraska President Hank Bounds informed the university community that after nearly four years leading NU through a period of transformational collaboration and momentum, he is stepping away from administration to transition to other educational and consulting work. Bounds, a Mississippi native who became NU’s seventh president in April 2015, will step down late this summer and return to the south with his family. Tech Mahindra Ltd., a provider of digital transformation, consulting and business reengineering services and solutions, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the University of Nebraska at Omaha College of Information Science and Technology to partner in knowledge enrichment, hiring, industry-faculty collaboration and to share mutual information technology expertise. Key initiatives of this collaboration will focus on several different elements like partnership on the advisory board, capability development, student capstone projects and internships, publication, product and patent support, potential recruitment into Tech Mahindra, industry visits and conducting workshops, webinars, seminars and events. Five Nebraska Community College Association member colleges and two Nebraska Tribal Colleges agreed to principles and standards for dual and concurrent enrollment credit. This is the first time a formal agreement for dual and concurrent enrollment has been made between institutions of higher education in the state of Nebraska. Those seven institutions are: Central Community College, Mid-Plains Community College, Northeast Community College, Southeast Community College, Western Nebraska Community College, Nebraska Indian Community College and Little Priest Tribal College. Metropolitan Community College plans to open its MCC Code School this fall. The nine-month, 20-hour per week noncredit program will enable students to secure entry-level web application positions by building competencies in high-demand information technology areas. In addition to teaching students, the MCC Code School will support employers seeking to recruit and grow talent. MCC Code School will prepare students for an Agile work environment and emulate best practices. Students will be given a job description and will undergo performance evaluations. The MCC Code School’s immersive learning culture will reflect the Agile and other best-practices used by today’s successful organizations.

Activities of nonprofits…

Kids Can! Community Center is hosting the Can Do Luncheon on April 18 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Marriott at the Capitol District. The keynote speaker will be Dr. Cheryl Logan. Logan began her position as superintendent of Omaha Public Schools in July of 2018. The 2019 Can Do Award recipients are: Deangelo Grant, Can Do Junior; St. Luke Teen Center, Can Do Future; Alexis Varoz-Norval, Can Do Provider; Christine E. Cutucache, Ph.D., Can Do Hope; and Patrick Dougherty, Can Do Mentor. Tickets are available online. Habitat for Humanity in Omaha has named the following to the board of directors: Drew Collier, chair; Vice-Chair Levi Scheppers, CEO, OrthoNebraska; Treasurer Rollie Johns, executive vice president & chief financial officer, CSG International; and Secretary George Achola, vice president & legal counsel, Burlington Capital Real Estate. New to the board are: Javier Fernandez, chief financial officer, OPPD; Dan Houghton, co-founder & EVP, Buildertrend; Ryan Iwansky, financial advisor, D.A. Davidson & Co.; Brian Miles, senior VP & chief compliance officer, Bridges Trust; and Angel Starks, chief experience officer and team lead for Team Locale, Nebraska Realty. SpartanNash Foundation presented Habitat for Humanity of Omaha with a $11,000 grant which will support Habitat and its efforts to build hope and affordable housing. Between Feb. 6-17, the SpartanNash Foundation hosted its annual Habitat for Humanity scan campaign, giving store guests the opportunity to donate $1, $5 or $10. Together with its store guests and company associates, the SpartanNash Foundation’s retail scan campaign raised $179,500 on behalf of more than 50 local Habitats in Michigan, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. The Mutual of Omaha Foundation directed approximately 25 percent of its 2018 giving to organizations that address issues of homelessness, homeless prevention and affordable housing, including the major emergency homeless shelters in the community: Siena/Francis House, Stephen Center, MICAH House, Open Door Mission, New Visions and Youth Emergency Services. In total, the Foundation granted more than $4 million to nearly 80 organizations in 2018. Of that, more than $1 million supported the homeless sector. Security National Bank of Omaha will continue accepting monetary donations from the general public in the form of cash or personal check until May 4 to benefit The Salvation Army. In its first week, the bank’s efforts garnered $11,338 for The Salvation Army. Donations are earmarked to help provide relief to those affected by the recent flooding in Nebraska, South Dakota and western Iowa. Those wishing to donate funds to the “Drive Thru Donation” effort may visit the drive thru or retail locations at any of Security National Bank’s 12 Omaha-Council Bluffs area locations.

Arts and Events…

Local musicians are invited to attend a free recycle and restring event at Dietze Music in Omaha on April 14 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sponsored by D’Addario and international recycling company TerraCycle, musicians can bring any old instrument strings for recycling and get their electric or acoustic guitars restrung with D’Addario NYXL or

Nickel Bronze Acoustic strings. Old strings collected during the event will be recycled through Playback, D’Addario’s free, national recycling program. The Greater Omaha Leadership Prayer Breakfast will be held April 19 (Good Friday), and those attending will hear a talk by Astronaut Charles (Charlie) Duke. Duke and his wife Dotty formed the Duke Ministry for Christ in the 1980s and will share a testimony for what God had done in their lives and their marriage. This, the area’s 54th annual breakfast, will be held at Embassy Suites La Vista Hotel & Convention Center. Over 500 persons are expected to attend. The sit-down plated breakfast starts at 6:30 a.m. and will end by 8:30 a.m. Individual tickets are available from $49 to $89. Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium and Diventures are hosting a free lake cleanup event at Wehrspann Lake, which is located at Chalco Hills Recreation Area, on April 20 from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. Volunteers should meet at the Wehrspann Lake entrance at noon. This event is one of three lake cleanup events this spring and summer. Throughout the day, zoo staff will be teaching participants about the qualities of a healthy freshwater ecosystem and easy ways they can help the environment in their own backyards. Attendees can also assist with testing the lake’s water chemistry. Keep Omaha Beautiful will be providing gloves and litter collection supplies for participants. Hot chocolate, cider and water will be provided for participants. Reusable water bottles and thermoses are suggested. Registration is not required. On April 20, the Strategic Air Command and Aerospace Museum will hold a Spring Fling for the entire family. The Spring Fling begins at 10 a.m. with an egg hunt in the front grassy area of the museum for youth ages 10 and under. The hunt will be separated into multiple age groups. The museum will offer hands-on activities indoors until 12 p.m. Activities include a picture with the Easter Bunny, face painting, coloring contest raffle, decorating Easter cookies, and kite making. An Easter basket will be given to one participant of the coloring contest raffle. The outdoor egg hunt is free and general admission applies to those entering the museum. Amy Goyer, a nationally known expert on aging and families for AARP, will visit Nebraska on April 24 to share her personal caregiving journey at AARP events in Lincoln and Omaha. Goyer will tell her personal journey of turning her life upside down as caregiver for her grandparents, parents and sister. There will be a lunch and learn at Lincoln’s Marriott Cornhusker Hotel from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. AARP will screen the movie “What They Had” at Omaha’s Village Pointe Cinema at 1 p.m. The film will be followed by a 30-minute conversation with Goyer. Registration for both events is requested by April 17. Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium is looking for businesses and organizations to participate in the 2019 City Nature Challenge on April 26-29. The Omaha-Metropolitan area will compete against more than 160 cities across the globe for the title of “The World’s Most Biodiverse City.” Cities compete to see who has the most observations of nature, the most different species and who can engage the most people in their community.  Businesses or organizations interested in participating should contact Pam Eby at Pamela.Eby@OmahaZoo.com.

• APRIL 12, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal

From left, Alex Epstein, Dana Bradford, Jay Noddle, CRE Hall of Fame inductee, and Jerry Slusky.

From left, Tannaz Kouhpainezhad, Hal Daub, Mary Daub and John Folsom.

CRE Summit honors the past while moving forward in its 30th year by Savannah Behrends

The annual Commercial Real Estate Summit pulled no punches in its 30th year, breaking down the industry’s biggest trends and championing the change makers. The day opened with a panel discussion on the tech talent shortage, both regionally and nationally. Dee Baird, senior vice president with the Greater Omaha Chamber, led the conversation with CQuence Health Group Chairman and CEO Mike Cassling, Flywheel CEO and co-founder Dusty Davidson, Buildertrend Executive Vice President and co-founder Dan Houghton, Conagra Brands CIO Global Business and Information Services Mindy Simon and First National Bank CTO Matt Spyers. “We need to focus on diverse and inclusive communities, enhance our ‘built environments’ to continue to create our ‘cool’ factor, build a tech district where density and creativity is obvious, develop a

strong brand between Lincoln and Omaha and focus on our education pipeline if we are going to solve this issue long-term,” Baird said. The morning breakout sessions intentionally highlighted trends that are rapidly affecting the Greater Omaha area, like co-working spaces, the evolution of retail and data centers. Morning breakouts were folPhotos by MBJ / Becky McCarville lowed by the Hall of Fame luncheon where Barry Zoob, longtime CRE planning committee chair, surprised CRE Summit founder Jerry Slusky with a memorial video. Slusky, who joked about throwing the curve ball right back at Zoob, awarded Zoob with a Chairman’s Award for his dedication to the event and industry. Slusky also presented a Chairman’s Award to Andrea “Andee”

Hoig on behalf of her late father, Bob Hoig, founder and publisher of Midlands Business Journal Publications. “My dad was passionate about the Omaha metro real estate community,” Hoig said. “Over four and a half decades he highlighted hundreds in the real estate industry, including real estate companies, agents and developers.” The final Chairman’s Award was given jointly to Todd Lieberman, executive vice president of Brinshore development, and Othello Meadows, executive director and CEO of Seventy Five North Revitalization Corporation, for their work on the Highlander Development. Keeping with tradition, the University of Nebraska at Omaha and CRE presented Jacob Franzen, a UNO student, with the $5,000 Real Estate & Asset Management Scholarship. CRE Summit nonprofit partner

Greater Omaha Chamber President and CEO David Brown, left, presented the Summit Award to Todd Heistand, president and owner of NuStyle Development Corp.

Angels Among Us also took the stage to share photos of its new space at the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Omaha. Suzie Nelson, executive director of Angels Among Us, also announced that Angels Among Us will be the 2019 charity partner for Mustache’s 4 Kids Omaha. Izabella Voelker, who spoke on behalf of Angels Among Us at the CRE Summit two years ago, also returned to tell attendees that she was named in the 2019 U.S. Cellular The Future of Good’s 16 Under 16. Voelker has raised $36,039, plus a $10,000 award from U.S. Cellular, for Angels Among Us. The Omaha Deal of Year Award, presented by Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert, recognized the team that brokered Flywheel’s new headquarters at Millwork Commons. Those accepting the award included: Barry Zoob, senior vice president, Colliers Inter-

national; Chris Mensinger, vice present, Colliers International; Ryan Ellis, president of PJ Morgan Real Estate; and Dusty Davidson, co-founder and CEO of Flywheel. “I think that it wasn’t that long ago that Flywheel was three guys in a garage and here we are today able to make an impact in our community,” Davidson said. For the first time in CRE Summit history the committee decided to recognize two projects for the Development of the Year award — one from both Omaha and Lincoln. The Omaha Development of the Year was awarded to NuStyle Development Corporation for its redevelopment of the former Creighton University Medical Center, Atlas Apartments. Todd Heistand accepted the award for the 10-story, $110 million multi-family project. Heistand was also recognized with The Summit Award. The Lincoln Development Continued on next page.

At the Angels Among Us table, from left, Executive Director Suzie Nelson, Bella Voelker, Aly Theilen, Miki Eckhardt and Shari Holl.

Midlands Business Journal • APRIL 12, 2019 •

Othello Meadows, executive director and CEO of Seventy Five North Revitalization Corporation, left, and Todd Lieberman, executive vice president of Brinshore Development, received the Chairman’s Award for the Highlander Development. Continued from preceding page. of the Year was awarded to BIC Construction for the Schwarz Paper Building redevelopment. BIC Construction partners and owners Boyd Batterman and Craig Gies accepted the award and noted that they’re often asked if they would do it again. “The answer is yes, and we already are with the building across the street,” Gies said. The Hall of Fame awards, the hallmark of the luncheon, recognized five individuals whose work was described as “transformational.” Former Omaha Mayor, Nebraska Congressman and Nebraska University Regent Hal Daub was introduced by Bricker Harding, who reminded attendees of a time before the CHI Health Center. “It wasn’t that long ago that the Civic Auditorium was our living room and look at where we are now,” he said. “I like the upgrade and I hope you do too.” Throughout his career Daub has helped shape Omaha through

the addition of the arena, the restructuring of the Papio-Missouri plan and the Riverfront Development. He’s currently senior counsel at Husch Blackwell. Joe Pogge, McNeil Company COO, had the opportunity to introduce his business partner and father-in-law, Pat McNeil. “I consider myself exceptionally fortunate to be the understudy in a construction real estate business where Pat is a mentor,” Pogge said. Allan Murow, owner of N&M Brokerage, was also introduced by a family member, his son Daniel Murow. Daniel Murow joked that he can still remember his father’s pitch for Gordman’s Stores at least a decade later. “Spending a career as a real estate broker isn’t for the faint of heart,” Allan Murrow said. “It’s not a difficult formula to master but it takes a lot of persistence and self-reflection.” Murow shares close ties with another inductee, Jay Noddle, CEO and chairman of Noddle Cos. Nod-

Barry Zoob, Colliers International senior vice president Nebraska, left, and Jerry Slusky, partner with Smith Slusky Pohren & Rogers, and founder and chair of the CRE Summit.

dle brought Murow into Grub Ellis/ Pacific Realty prior to the founding N&M Brokerage. Noddle, introduced by Dana Bradford, is synonymous with large developments across the Greater Omaha area, such as One Pacific Place, Aksarben Village, First National Business Park and more. “Under his leadership, [Noddle Cos.] took on a lot of projects that other people didn’t even understand,” Bradford said. Jay Noddle is also the only Hall of Fame recipient to share the honor with a father, the late Harlan Noddle who was inducted in 2006. Roger Morrissey, vice president of Realcorp Inc. and the final 2019 inductee, summed up every acceptance speech when he said “No award goes without the help of many and I would like to share this award with several people.” Following the luncheon, the summit kicked it back into high gear with breakouts on the evolution of multi-family housing, growing trends in the Lincoln mar-

Mayor Jean Stothert presented the Deal of the Year Award for Flywheel at Millwork Commons. Pictured from left, Mayor Stothert, Alex Epstein, Chris Mensinger, Dusty Davidson, Ryan Ellis and Barry Zoob.

ket, community involvement and legal topics. Before closing out the 2019 Summit with a networking reception, a closing panel discussed how Omaha can continue to grow. The CRE Summit will return in 2020 with new leadership — founder Jerry Slusky noted that he will be working in tandem with Alex Epstein, executive vice president of OMNE Partners. Joining the duo will be vicechairs Jay Lund of GreenSlate Development and Daniel Murow of Koley Jessen.

Andee Hoig, publisher of MetroMagazine and VP of operations at Midlands Business Journal, accepted the Chairman’s Award for her father, Bob Hoig, late publisher of the Midlands Business Journal.

Jay Lund, principal of GreenSlate Development, left, and P.J. Morgan.

• APRIL 12, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal

Will employers still test for marijuana if recreational use becomes legal in Illinois? by Lisa Schencker

The prospect of marijuana legalization might inspire visions of weed-smoking breaks at work, or grabbing a joint with co-workers after a hectic day at the office. But the reality of legalization in Illinois, if it happens at Workplace all, would likely be much hazier. Some employers might start turning a blind eye to employee use — as long as workers can still do their jobs — a trend that’s already happening in some other states where it’s legal. Other employers, however, might still ban its use, taking action against employees who test positive for pot, bolstered by federal law under which marijuana is still illegal, experts say. What is clear is that employers will be faced with questions that, a generation ago, would have been unthinkable. “Every employer is going to have to consider how they want to deal with this in their workplace,” said Bryna Dahlin, a Chicago cannabis attorney. Consider Chicago-based Relativity, a legal technology company with more than 850 employees globally. It already forgoes drug testing for prospective employees and doesn’t see that changing if recreational marijuana is legalized, said Matt Garvey, Relativity’s director of talent acquisition, in a statement. “We don’t do drug screenings for two main reasons,” he said. “First, the jobs within our organization do not require a pre-employment drug test and second we trust that our team members will make the appropriate decisions in order to be a pro-

ductive member of our teams while adhering to local laws.” Illinois’ new governor, J.B. Pritzker, has said he supports the legalization of marijuana, and lawmakers plan to consider legislation this year. If they succeed, Illinois would join 10 other states, and the District of Columbia, that have already legalized recreational marijuana. Medical marijuana is already legal in Illinois. If recreational marijuana is legalized, more people in Illinois will presumably use it. That’s what happened in Colorado, which legalized marijuana in 2014. About 15.5 percent of Colorado adults used marijuana at least once in a 30-day period in 2017, up from 13.6 percent in 2014, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment. And that means employers will face a new set of questions. Should they ban possession in the workplace? Should they fire employees who test positive for marijuana? Should they continue testing current and prospective workers at all? If rules surrounding medical marijuana are any indication, Illinois employees won’t necessarily be free to get stoned, even in their free time, if recreational marijuana becomes legal here. Illinois law bars employers from discriminating against employees for using legal products outside the workplace. But employers still have the right to have drugfree workplace policies, require drug testing and to take action against employees who violate those policies, said Stephanie Dodge Gournis, a partner at Drinker Biddle & Reath

who works in Chicago. Part of the reason for that is because marijuana is still illegal under federal law – and it will likely remain that way under the current presidential administration. “Really, until cannabis becomes declassified as a Schedule I drug, by in large, employers will still have the right to enforce their policies and take disciplinary action in the workplace,” Gournis said. Though courts in some states have sided with employees on the issue, courts in other states have sided with employers that have taken action against marijuana users, even when those workers were using it medicinally and legally. In 2015, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that Dish Network was legally allowed to terminate a quadriplegic man who used medical marijuana at home, because the drug was still illegal under federal law. A federal appeals court in Michigan sided with Walmart in 2012 after the company fired an employee with cancer who had a medical marijuana card because he had a positive drug test. Also, any company or organization that contracts with the federal government would also still likely have to bar marijuana use among employees. And transportation workers in safety-sensitive positions would also still likely be subject to drug and alcohol testing, per federal requirements. “As federal contractors we must comply with the Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988,” said Julie Pesch, a spokeswoman for Lurie Children’s Hospital. “Also, because we have to deal with safety of patients and others, we have a drug-free work environment.” That’s not to say, however, that some other companies — where workers wield Sharpies rather than scalpels — might not take a mellower approach. It’s possible that if weed becomes legal in Illinois, more companies might stop testing for marijuana use. Some companies have already made that change following the legalization of medicinal marijuana in

Illinois, the widespread use of CBD oil and potential legalization of recreational marijuana, said Dr. David Fletcher, founder of SafeWorks Illinois in Champaign, which does drug testing for employers. “We’ve actually had some employers say they don’t want to test for it,” Fletcher said. “That’s kind of the new trend.” Many private companies in Colorado don’t test for drugs and most Colorado restaurants have stopped drug testing entirely, said Markie Davis, director of employee benefits and risk management for the state of Colorado, at a recent Chicago program for employers about marijuana legalization. Employers in California, where voters chose to legalize recreational marijuana in 2016, have also started to wonder if they should stop testing for the drug, said Michelle Lee Flores, a Los Angeles-based partner with law firm Akerman. “What I’ve been finding is there’s been a lot of serious consideration of what to do and whether or not to drop THC from the standard drug panel,” Flores said, referring to the main psychoactive chemical in marijuana. Still, if other states are any indication, testing workers for marijuana use isn’t likely to go away, even with a change to the law. For example, in Colorado, about 96% of employers who used the drug testing company Quest Diagnostics in 2017 still included marijuana in their employee drug testing, said Dr. Barry Sample, senior director of science and technology for Quest’s employers solutions business. In Nevada, where recreational cannabis use is also legal, that number was 91% in 2017. “Marijuana still has negative impacts on performance,” Sample said. “It’s not perhaps as benign as some people may believe.” Even with drug testing, however, some employers might choose to ignore positive results. Otherwise, some businesses might not be able to find enough workers. Some employers might even want to advertise their lack of marijuana testing as Continued on page 31.

Integrating digital practices in higher education Continued from page 8. of varying types and durations. They use a kiosk to choose a class, which displays on a screen that descends from the ceiling.” In turn, the renovated facility has helped to increase the number of leagues and types of leagues because of the increased membership. Michael Young, owner and cloud catalyst at Tech Froschheiser nology Consulting Solutions, said integration is the biggest value segments for return in investments with technology. “Payroll, invoicing and business development progresses all have pertinent data yet reporting and management needs to centralize to build efficiency,” Young said. Additionally, Young said physical and virtual security has become a blended need as barriers of the traditional workplace lower. “Traveling sales and support teams, cli-

ent interaction and the ever-growing remote worker means being thoughtful of best practices and policies will keep you ahead of your competition as well as build a robust security policy,” Young said. “We personally like to use two factor authentication for mobile and logins that combine fingerprint or face recognition for logins and access to data.” When it comes Young to going paperless, Young said it’s a daunting task for many organizations, but selecting a firm that will help identify points or even complete the task is highly beneficial. “Scanning documents that can be stored in a digital fashion that can be indexed helps with the organizing and simplicity,” Young said. “Not only does building a digitized documents management process help an organization communicate better, but it is also a sustainable practice for low energy and environmental impact.”

Midlands Business Journal • APRIL 12, 2019 •

Manager Ashley Pruitt with her dog Akela.

Dogtopia caters to growing need for dog care in Greater Omaha by Gabby Christensen

Since opening in 2009, Dogtopia of Omaha-Papillion has worked to meet an increasing need for dog care options in the metro area by expanding to additional locations, according to avid dog lover and owner Derrick Reinhart. Currently, there are two Dogtopia locations in the Omaha area, with plans for a third and fourth location to be built later this year. Reinhart said Dogtopia is unique because it combines various services into one spot, including supervised all-day open play. Dogtopia, which utilizes live webcams, also provides day care, boarding, grooming and partners with Dog Gone Problems to

provide training classes. “Being from Nebraska, we understand that everything is not about the bottom line,” he said. “If we must lose revenue or spend our own money to do what is right, then that is what we do. At the end of the day, we are all people, and everyone should be treated fairly, from the dogs to the employees to the customers. People, and dogs, come before the bottom line.” Currently, Dogtopia has approximately 40 employees, with a goal to add an additional 15 jobs with its new locations this year. Reinhart said the store is focusing on creating a community for dogs to create long lasting relationships.

Morgan Hurtt plays with the large dogs in the Gym.

Laura Marks grooms Kenna. “They have emotions and attachments treat it that way,” Reinhart said. “What I just like humans and really need that so- love most about what I do, is that our clicialization and exercise,” he said. “Dogs ents (the pups) are always excited to come run in packs and need that connection with to our business, which is most rewarding. other pups and shouldn’t be left alone. Dogtopia is a fun business, and when cusThat doesn’t mean they need to come every tomers are happy to come to your business, that is what makes it day, but a few times so great.” a week goes a long Dogtopia Along the way, way.” Phone: 402-817-2942 he said he’s received As more people Address: 13239 Portal Drive Suite 103, support from his continue to view dogs Omaha 68138 (Papillion); 14485 W. mother as well as his as family, Reinhart Center Rd., Omaha 68144 wife, Kaitlyn, who said there will be Founded: 2009 have helped make more facilities pop- Service: day care, boarding, grooming this business endeavping up throughout and training options for dogs or a success. Omaha to cater to Employees: 40 “I really have to the growing need for Goal: To continue to expand in order give my employees quality dog care. to meet growing need for dog care and credit, as they are He said custom- offer convenience to more customers. rockstars and are the ers continue to de- Website: https://www.dogtopia.com/ ones that care for the mand the best ser- omaha/ pups each day,” he vice out there, which said. “I’m also grateful for my customers, pushes staff to do better every day. “Every day is the most exciting day both two-legged and four-legged, because for our main customers — dogs — and we without them we couldn’t do what we love.”

Parenting

- Page 28

• APRIL 12, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal

• OBJ Pages

Parenting A section prepared by the staff of the Midlands Business Journal

Omaha Business Journal Pages

April 12, 2019

Navigating parenthood in the digital age

our kids and teach them how to cope and by Jasmine Heimgartner Parenting has never been an easy job. relax without video stimulation.” Teens also now have real-time comPotential strains of work-life balance, aging parents and an overflowing calendar of munication with their peers, but that can activities only add to the difficulty. While mean an incident that once took time to get many of the basic issues remain, technol- around one school now becomes viral within ogy has significantly altered the family seconds and seen by thousands of people. “If someone is upset about landscape. something, in real-time they can The evolution of smartphones, post or send something back in tablets and endless apps have creretaliation form. Whether we are ated a world of instant access to an adult or kid, we don’t always information and communication. make the best decisions when This instant connectivity means emotional,” Vance said. “Granted potential connections with strangthere are a lot of good programs, ers and easy access, whether on but the cyber component of bulaccident or purpose, to unsuitable lying has increased the penetravisual or audio material. bility of it. It has become a group “The good side is they can use thing where everyone dumps on it to communicate safety issues. Vance the pile electronically, and it is They can tell parents where they are and have information at their fingertips,” debilitating to kids.” The effects of overusing technology not said Roberta Wilhelm, executive director at Girls Inc. “But it has made it harder for kids only have likely contributed to growing rates to digest information that takes longer than of anxiety, it also can affect a basic human 30 seconds. They are used to instant grat- need: sleep. “Kids are up way later than parents ification. If something is boring, they just touch a screen and get something different. know,” Wilhelm said. “They are on games There is also a security issue. They want to and social media. The addictions to these trust people they don’t know well enough are something that parents may not realize to trust and can make decisions that may are impacting their child’s health, as well as make then a victim of bullying and social getting to school on time.” As both children and their parents learn embarrassment.” Although not on purpose, instant grat- this new world and how to deal with it, there ification is being taught to kids at much are positive ways to face the challenges. “It’s important to teach kids about emoyounger ages. “Parent-child interaction is so important tions,” Habrock said. “Emotional literacy for brain development and self-regulation skills. All kids learn through interactions with their parents,” said Jana Habrock, director of prevention services at Child Saving by Gabby Christensen Institute. “There are times when parents Finding kid-friendly activities and prohave to cook or have an important call to grams in the metro area has never been easmake and need to keep children entertained, ier, according to local but it’s important to use media sparingly. It organizations. can intercept brain development and skills Samantha Chthey should be learning so they can be ready loupek, senior profor kindergarten.” gram director at the The overuse of media is not only a Downtown YMCA, problem for children. Parents often face an said the Y provides a overlap of work and home. variety of kid-friendly “It may seem like kids are always on activities throughout their phones, but parents are too. We are so the entire year. busy and distracted that we don’t play with “We have many little kids as much or teach them as much,” k i d - f r i e n d l y p r oChloupek said Michael Vance, Ph.D., director of grams ranging from behavioral health at Children’s Hospital & youth-friendly fitness Medical Center. “Parents may be physically classes like Yoga and Dance Fit to more strucpresent, but their phone is out and they are tured activities like School’s Out care, sumlooking at it. We need to enjoy being with mer camp, swimming lessons, youth fitness

Jana Habrock, director of Prevention Services at the Child Saving Institute. is important in helping them know when time with your kids as often as you can,” they feel sad, frustrated or mad, and being Vance said. “The second piece would be able to label them. That again goes back to make time to listen to your kids. Listen self-regulating. If they can’t label how they to their answers and ask more questions, feel, they can go straight to anger instead no matter their ages. That establishes trust of understanding that maybe they just feel and compassion between the child and the hurt.” parent. Third, which is old-school and often One trend that seems to be a timeless forgotten, but give kids compliments with factor in helping children is making time three components: make it as immediate as for them. you can, make the compliment specific and “The first thing is to spend quality keep the compliment pure.”

Omaha offers kid-friendly activities ranging from recreational to educational training, child-watch and Parent’s Night Out,” Chloupek said. “Of course, there are also our staples like youth sports, family swim and our family-friendly fitness classes. Fitness classes are a great way to introduce the whole family to healthy lifestyles and include classes like yoga and Dance Fit.” Chloupek said the YMCA works to foster a positive environment for youth to Mulkerrin grow, learn, develop and build relationships with peers and role models through these programs. “The Y is here to serve our communities and provide a safe space for all youth to be

involved in quality programming,” Chloupek said. “Every child deserves the chance to participate in quality programs that build character and commitment; the Y is here to make that happen.” Elizabeth Mulkerrin, vice president of education at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium, said the zoo has a variety of programs for kids ages three to adult, including family zoo adventures, family safari overnights and conservation heroes. “All of our programs engage kids and families in nature to discover and explore the beauty of our surroundings,” Mulkerrin said. “The conservation hero program gives families the opportunity to work together to conserve animal habitat and become stewards of the environment.” Mulkerrin said the zoo’s ultimate goal Continued on next page.

OBJ Pages •

Midlands Business Journal • APRIL 12, 2019 •

Small classes, academic excellence boost private education enrollment by Dwain Hebda

Private educational institutions are more popular than ever thanks to small class sizes promoting individual attention and spurring academic achievement. Omaha’s private schools are no exception. “Parents want a small, safe, welcoming environment for their children where they can succeed as a whole person — academically, spiritually and socially,” said Kristi Walters Wessling, principal of Mercy High School. “Private schools often have smaller populations, so there is a greater opportunity for us to get to know our students and their needs on a more personal level. “There are clearer expectations about

Kid-friendly activities

Continued from preceding page. is to inspire, educate and engage all ages to serve as life-long stewards for animals, their habitats and their conservation. “Every program we offer develops the skills and knowledge individuals need to become protectors of nature,” Mulkerrin said. “Through the zoo’s programming, area youth are discovering the natural world, developing ideas and solutions to clean up habitats or protect them from further damage; and developing the skills and knowledge they need to pursue science, technology, engineering and mathematical (STEM) careers.” Katie Shanmugam, director of match support at Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Midlands, said there are numerous activities for children to be involved in across the metro area.

academics and discipline as well as a focus on college preparation. At the same time, there are more chances to be involved in leadership and extracurricular activities like sports and clubs.” One of Mercy’s extracurricular programs is Kaleidoscope, a new four-year leadership and empowerment program. The comprehensive program maps out an individual leadership curriculum that gives students access to community groups, alumnae, business leaders and other experts to help develop a plan of personal development. “Families continue to choose private school education because they value the proven track records of success and ed“Some of the more popular ones that our matches and families attend include Kroc Center, Artworks: A Place For Curiosity - Joslyn Art Museum, CommuniTEA and Coffee, Do Space events, Family Sunday at Fontenelle Forest and Film Streams Free Movie Day on the first Monday of the month,” Shanmugam said. According to Shanmugam, trying new hobbies and exploring different events and programs help youth learn goal-setting techniques. “Youth are also able to build on their awareness of other people’s experiences; helping them develop empathy,” she said. “Having new experiences expands their sense of self, enhances their futuristic expectations and keeps them connected to the community. The Omaha metro is fortunate to have an abundance of exciting, unique and educational opportunities for our youth.”

ucational excellence that private schools provide,” Wessling said. Jeremy Moore, president of Skutt Catholic High School, said parents and students seeking a private institution should be prepared to ask questions. “Parents should look for a strong community for their child; an environment that will meet their child where they are and help them become a better person and student,” he said. “Students should look for a place where they feel comfortable to be who they are. They should feel challenged to look for new opportunities for Wessling growth and ways to give back to their communities.” Moore said Skutt had the second largest enrollment in its history this year, something he attributed to tangible differences in the quality of the student experience. “We offer a comfortable space where students are challenged and given opportunities to excel outside of the classroom,” he said. “Success stories from our alumni come as a result of them being prepared to do well at the next level. Alumni come back and talk about how they felt ahead of the game when they went to college not only in the classroom, but being on their own from the experiences they had here at Skutt Catholic. We are a small school with big opportunities.” The benefits of private education don’t

have to wait until high school or elementary school either. Certain day care companies introduce the building blocks of learning at an extremely young age, arguably the most recognized of which is Montessori. “Statistics show quality early learning experiences and environments play a huge part in children’s development,” said Julie Roy, owner of Montessori Educational Centers in Omaha. “The ages 0 to 6 are the most formative years in a child’s life. The first three years of a child’s life are the most crucial for the development of intelligence, personality and behavior; Moore the brain grows to 80 percent of its adult size by age 3 and to 90 percent by age 5.” Roy said the secret to Montessori’s success lies in creating an environment of broad educational options — from foreign language to yoga — that enable children to learn in a variety of ways. It’s an alternative concept to traditional linear learning, directed by the student’s individual abilities and interests. “The environment is the teacher, the teacher is a guide,” she said. “Observing the child, the teacher offers presentations and lessons based on the child’s interests and readiness. Our schools prepare the child for the essential skills required for success not only in school but for life.”

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• APRIL 12, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal

Husch Blackwell names Jensen Omaha office managing partner

Husch Blackwell has appointed Marnie Jensen as managing partner of its Omaha office. Jensen succeeds partner Todd Richardson, who had served as office managing partner since 2011. Richardson will continue his fulltime law practice advising clients involved in real estate transactions and Jensen operating private funds. He also provides counsel concerning federal and state securities law compliance and corporate governance matters. Jensen is a member of Husch Blackwell’s food & agribusiness industry group and routinely represents clients in and out of the courtroom in connection with a variety of disputes, including trade secrets litigation, breach of contract claims, and environmental litigation. She is also a noted speaker and writer on organic certification. Jensen received her J.D. from William and Mary Law School and her B.A. summa cum laude from Dana College. Before joining Husch Blackwell, Jensen was supervising pro se law clerk for the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska, where the bulk of her work related to assisting with complex labor and employment matters.

Mutual of Omaha hires Smith as associate general counsel

Mutual of Omaha has hired Jeanette Smith as associate general counsel. In this position, she provides legal counsel to all levels of management regarding individual insurance products. She also develops, negotiates and reviews contracts for the sale, distribution and administration of individSmith ual products and services. Prior to joining Mutual, Smith served as of counsel for Kutak Rock LLP and as general counsel for the Nebraska Department of Insurance. Smith received her bachelor ’s and law degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Reznicek

Laurenzo

Holland Basham Architects promotes Reznicek and Laurenzo to associates

Holland Basham Architects has promoted Rick Reznicek, AIA, and Allie Laurenzo, Associate IIDA, to firm associates. Graduating with a Master of Architecture from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2012, Reznicek joined the firm in 2017 with five years of prior architectural experience. Reznicek recently passed the ARE to become a licensed architect. He works with construction documents and 3D modeling in Revit in all project sectors while specializing in the production and design of corporate office buildings and pharmaceutical lab and manufacturing facilities. Laurenzo is an interior designer at HBA specializing in space planning and design of corporate office, education, multi-family housing, health care and community spaces. She connects with clients to understand how a space needs to function while being sensitive to the goals and organizational mission.

OTTR names Drelicharz manager of client services, clinical optimization

OTTR, a provider of solid organ transplant and cellular therapy patient tracking software, has promoted Janet Drelicharz, RN, MSN, to manager of client services and clinical optimization. Drelicharz has worked in the transplant community for 20 years, including positions as transplant supervisor and transplant coordinator at several leading hospitals. She most recently was a Drelicharz senior clinical analyst at OTTR. In her new role, she will serve as an advocate for OTTR customers, collaborating with them to access the appropriate OTTR software and services to improve their workflow and optimize patient care. By keeping abreast of clinical and transplant best practices as well as regulatory guidelines and reporting practices, Drelicharz also will be able to help customers maximize the functionality of their OTTR products.

Midlands Business Journal â&#x20AC;˘ APRIL 12, 2019 â&#x20AC;˘

Thunderhead Brewing Taproom expanding its Nebraska presence Continued from page 1. later because of customer demand. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re in west Omaha â&#x20AC;&#x201D; it was a risky start because everybody wanted to gravitate to downtown or Benson, heavily populated dense areas â&#x20AC;&#x201D; instead itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a destination,â&#x20AC;? Starkel said. More taprooms are set to open in downtown Omaha, West Point, Lincoln and Axtell. Brew Master Trevor Schaben founded Thunderhead Brewing Co. in 1999 in Kearney inside what is now the breweryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s restaurant and pub â&#x20AC;&#x201D; at an early time in Nebraskaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s craft beer movement. In 2009, he moved it to Axtell, about 17 miles south of Kearney, for the opportunity to expand the facility as the brewery grew. Starkel got to know Schaben over a three- to four-year time period while traveling to Kearney to visit his girlfriend.

Still test for marijuana? Continued from page 26. a sort-of perk to help attract workers, said Gournis. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Eventually, it may become more of an employee relations or recruiting issue, particularly for industries that rely on â&#x20AC;Ś temporary workers, or workplaces that do most of their recruiting from younger generations,â&#x20AC;? Gournis said. Whatever tack companies take, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s important they set those choices out in policies, should the law change, said Dr. Jonathan Baktari, CEO of U.S. Drug Test Centers. Some companiesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; policies about marijuana and other drugs were written 10 or 15 years ago and are now out of date. Employers that donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t address changes in the law are the ones that can face problems down the road, he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;You canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t just ignore these new laws that are being passed,â&#x20AC;? Baktari said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just a recipe for disaster.â&#x20AC;? ÂŠ2019 Chicago Tribune Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Having a mutual passion and very similar life philosophies, [Schaben] said, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;you should open some taprooms,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; and I said â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;great,â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;? Starkel said. A few years later, Starkel opened the west Omaha taproom and is set to open a second downtown location April 18 at 1037 Jones St., in the former Bricks and Mortar Bar & Bistro space. This location will feature a wider selection than west Omaha â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Thunderhead Brewing Co.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s brews along with 24 guest beers, including 10 to 15 other Nebraska-based craft beers and five to 10 out of state handles. â&#x20AC;&#x153;By building out the taprooms we can manage the experience, we can hit all the expectations,â&#x20AC;? Starkel said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;If not, we can adjust it.â&#x20AC;? Because of Nebraskaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tax and distribution laws, breweries canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t distribute their own beer â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the taprooms are like satellite locations and use Thunderhead Brewing Co.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s name recognition and products. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have more of a gentlemanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s agreement â&#x20AC;&#x201D; I just buy his beer off of the distributor,â&#x20AC;? Starkel said of the two separate entities. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Because of tax/distribution laws I canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t buy it directly from him. I have to buy it just like Omaha Tap House and The Good Life Sports Bar & Grill. I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get a deal, I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get a preference.â&#x20AC;? At the brewing facility in Axtell, a 20,000-square-foot expansion will be completed this summer, along with a taproom and the opportunity for brewery tours and events. With the expansion, the facility will have the capability to brew up to 25,000 barrels. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re expanding it out [in Axtell] â&#x20AC;&#x201D; itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just easier to keep it all in one location,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;You can manage all the product; you can manage consistency. We have a ton of storage. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not stacking things on top of each other like a lot of these other places because they outgrew and now theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re limited on their space. We can add on another million square feet if we want â&#x20AC;&#x201D; itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a field.â&#x20AC;?

Six ways to bounce back from bankruptcy Continued from page 12. qualify for lines of credit, a credit card or a loan. To improve your chances of getting approved for a line of credit from a lender, you can add positive accounts and current bills to your credit history. Not everything qualifies, and some bills are harder to add than others, but it can help you later on when youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re applying for new credit. Utility companies, for instance, arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t required to report your bills to credit companies since theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not official credit accounts. But Experian offers a service that allows customers to add utility and phone bills to Experian credit reports. TransUnion and Equifax donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t currently offer this service. This is a helpful tool for anyone with low or no credit score, and especially useful if youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve filed for bankruptcy. 5. Try a secured credit card A secured credit card, available to people with credit scores below 600, can help people get their feet back on the ground and rebuild credit after declaring bankruptcy. Secured cards have a credit limit based on the cash you deposit as collateral. If you can put down $250, thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s your limit.

Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll use and pay off the card like you would a regular card, but the credit card issuer canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t lose money on you. If you fail to pay off your balance, the lender taps your cash security. But remember: youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re looking to build up your credit profile, so itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s important to make on-time monthly payments. To find a good secured credit card, make sure it gets reported to the major credit bureaus. Also, try to find one with low fees and flexible repayment terms. After a few months, you may be able to transition to a regular credit card with a higher limit. 6. Avoid scams While there are some legitimate companies that can help you rebuild your credit as quickly as possible, many canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t do much more for you than you can do yourself. Companies that request an upfront fee, for example, may be trying to take advantage of consumers who are desperate to increase their credit scores. If you suspect a possible fraud on your accounts, report it to the credit bureaus. ÂŠ2019 Bankrate.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Thunderhead Brewing Co. has 27 different beers, from a light pilsner to barrel aged imperial stout. The brewery cans six beers with plans to can more down the road. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We cover the entire spectrum,â&#x20AC;? Starkel said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not focusing on a style like a lot of the breweries are, whether itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s very hop-centric or theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re just doing sours.â&#x20AC;? The IPA Frost Warning, a reference to Nebraska Cornhuskers football coach Scott Frost, is Thunderheadâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hottest selling beer right now. Starkel hopes to get it into sports bars, like The Good Life Sports Bar & Grill, this fall for the football season. Each location will have event space. The west Omaha taproom has a total of 6,000 square feet; downtown will have 5,700 square feet; West Point will have about 3,000 square feet and Lincoln will have 13,000 square feet. The brewing operation will remain in Axtell. The West Point and Lincoln locations are scheduled to open this fall and next summer/ fall, respectively. The taprooms will have the same ambiance as the west Omaha taproom â&#x20AC;&#x201D; family and pet friendly, outdoor patio and event space, no televisions or kitchen and people can bring their own food. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve got people from 90 to three months old in here,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;No TVs â&#x20AC;&#x201D; itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not a sports bar. We want our customers to either build relationships with other customers or with employees. We want conversations, we want the cell phones down. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s what creates an experience. I can go anywhere and watch TV.â&#x20AC;? For now, he said the structure of the company works, but the plan is to eventually

integrate operations. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m more the business side, the service side, the experience side,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This frees [Schaben] up so he can pontificate the

Thunderhead Brewing Taproom Phone: 402-802-1600, west Omaha taproom Address: Taprooms: 13304 W. Center Road, Omaha 68144; 1037 Jones St., Omaha 68102, coming soon Services: featuring Thunderhead Brewing Co. beers and other local beers, as well as event space Founded: 2016 Employees: about 20 Omaha taproom employees including both west Omaha and downtown Omaha locations One-year goal: Open four new taprooms in downtown Omaha, West Point, Lincoln and Axtell. Industry outlook: Nebraska state taxes, rules and regulations pose challenges for the craft beer industry. Website: www.thunderheadbrewing.com/ taproom-omaha

next best thing.â&#x20AC;? Starkel started selling wine, mostly special orders, out of the west Omaha taproom about six months ago, which has turned into about half of the business. Starkel, who has a background in finance and investment, teaches a finance class at the University Nebraska at Omaha. He recently testified in front of lawmakers against a proposed bill that could increase excise taxes for breweries, which would hit small breweries the hardest, he said.

A section prepared by the staff of the Midlands Business Journal Omaha Business Journal Pages

Topics may include: â&#x20AC;˘ Alternative Medicine overview and trends â&#x20AC;˘ Local options â&#x20AC;˘ treatments to promote relaxation and a healthy mind/body

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• APRIL 12, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal