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• FEBRUARY 14, 2020 • Midlands Business Journal
Only in Nebraska
A section prepared by the staff of the Midlands Business Journal • February 14, 2020
Iconic Nebraska companies share their histories; recipes for success by Michelle Leach
It’s hard to imagine it now, but Nebraska’s most recognizable brands grew up from the likes of a mail truck-turned-food truck, and a smallscale meat market launched by immigrants who had fled Europe to escape religious persecution. “Nebraskans are inherently proud of things, when wellmade here in Nebraska,” said Bakers Candies CEO Todd Baker. “It doesn’t matter if it’s a foil-wrapped chocolate meltaway, everyBaker body’s favorite orange salad dressing, a red hot dog, or an oven-stuffed sandwich. I don’t have to even mention the brands behind these iconic foods because, as a Nebraskan, you already know them!” Baker’s father (and founder), Kevin Baker, leveraged his aerospace background to develop a manufacturing process that predates the recipes, which led to the Greenwood-based business in 1987. “Bakers Candies was the first candy company in the history of the world to start with a 100% fully-automated custom manufacturing process and no recipe,” he said. “Our recipes were custom-made for the manufacturing process. Reverse engineering chocolate gave
Michael Schwartz, owner of Wohlner’s. Bakers a huge advantage.” plus million chocolate meltaways sold during Described as “simple Midwestern common- the 2019 holidays — about a dozen chocolates sense,” Bakers was among the first gourmet per Nebraskan, reportedly making their chocchocolate manufacturers to individually twist- olates the state’s most popular Christmas gift. wrap and color-code meltaways, and to sell “The Baker family goes back five generagourmet-quality chocolates in bags. It was said tions in Cass County, Nebraska and there are 10 that “modest Midwestern consumers” balked at ‘next-generation’ Baker kids now growing up in buying themselves “a fancy box of chocolates.” the family business in order to ensure that the Bakers Candies produces and sells 30-plus future of Nebraska’s chocolate industry is kept million chocolates annually in the state, with 20- in good hands,” Baker said.
Reaanddit
Donald Everett Jr. knows the aforementioned stuffed sandwiches intimately; his grandmother, Sally Everett, began selling the beloved beef and cabbage fare from the Runza Drive Inn near Lincoln’s Pioneers Park in 1949. “It was truly a small business with one location for 17 years,” said Everett, Runza president. “My father had the tenacity to open a second location at 56th and Holdrege. He had a vision this could be more than a small family restaurant.” A former walk-on Simon with the Husker Football program, Donald Sr. sold Runzas outside of the stadium on game days, and from the back of a used mail truck — long before “food trucks” were common parlance. “Coach Devaney said, ‘Why don’t you start selling in the stadium?’” Everett recalled. Runza is the official partner of University of Nebraska Athletics, and Everett said he and his sisters are “actively training and educating generation No. 4.” “The original Runza restaurant didn’t have a drive-through and had a limited menu,” he said. “We evolved into a company that was willing to pivot, but we never changed the recipe to the Runza sandwich. We’ve always had crinkle-cut french fries. We’ve stayed true to our core menu items.” The late Donald Sr. said, “Anyone can be low on price. Stick with quality with whatever you do.” “That could be facility maintenance or ground beef,” Everett said. “We live our ‘difference is real motto’ in everything we do. When we consider wild proposals, we ask ourselves, ‘Is this true to our mission and to our values?’” Runza weaves itself into communities’ fabric, supporting local softball teams, chambers of commerce and fundraisers. Communities have responded in kind; a ribbon-cutting at its Milford location attracted 10% (or 200) of the town’s residents. Wohlner’s Grocery has remained true to the neighborhoods around it; be it its home of 74 years on Leavenworth Street in Omaha or, today, at Midtown Crossing. Mike Schwartz’s late father, Sidney Schwartz, purchased the business from his father-in-law, founder Al Wolhner, in 1962. The third-generation owner put a spotlight on its meat department. “Each product is selected specially for the Continued on page 9.
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Only in Nebraska — inside FEBRUARY 14, 2020
THE BUSINESS NEWSPAPER OF GREATER OMAHA, LINCOLN AND COUNCIL BLUFFS
THIS WEEK 'S ISSUE:
$2.00
VOL. 46 NO. 7
Strawhecker Group finds niche monitoring payments industry by Richard D. Brown
Lowe launches boutique law firm focusing on a personalized approach. – Page 2
40 er d Un 40 Moheiser achieves career ambition with ITS Healthcare Consulting. – Page 3
h alt e He ranc u Ins
Insurance leaders weigh in on how the industry is aiming to control costs. – Page 22
From fin-tech startups to Fortune 500 companies on five continents, clients of Omaha-based The Strawhecker Group are being offered the consulting expertise and vital decision-making data to successfully operate in the volatile global payments industry. The father-son duo of Kurt Strawhecker — managing partner and board chairman—and Mike Strawhecker — president and partner — is enjoying an annual 20% increase in revenues in an industry where the average is half that. The Strawhecker Group has grown from 15 to 40 employees over the past decade and recently moved its offices from a 6,500-square-foot suite into 10,000 square feet on the third floor at 11605 Miracle Hills Drive. Satellite offices are located in Sacramento, Denver and London. Fortune 500 companies served by the 14-year-old firm include JP Morgan Chase, Mastercard and Visa Worldwide. Kurt Continued on page 10.
From left, Kurt Strawhecker, managing partner/board chairman and Mike Strawhecker, president/ partner … In the volatile payment industry, the firm is seeing growth. (Photo by MBJ / Becky McCarville)
Mercury Builders, Contractors soars with diverse residential, commercial activity by Michelle Leach
Multi-faceted Mercury Builders and Mercury Contractors is leveraging momentum represented by the Associated General Contractors of America report that Omaha is the fastest growing market for construction jobs within the 358 metropolitan areas surveyed late last year. Bright external factors are coupled with internal advantages, no less embodied by co-owner Jeff Gehring’s 40-plus
years of expertise as a builder and in project management. “We are a design-build company, too,” Gehring said. “So, a lot of what we do on the commercial side depends on the project we’re getting brought into.” From Mercury Builders and Mercury Contractors’ home at 2828 S. 148th Avenue Circle in Omaha, the team helps wide-ranging projContinued on page 10.
Owner Michael Torres … Creating one-of-a-kind environments for corporate events and weddings with vintage, rustic and modern décor design and rental services.
de la Torre Event Design capitalizes on gap in event rentals and design by Becky McCarville
Co-owner Jeff Gehring … Features across price points, in-house capabilities resonate with home- and commercial-build clients.
Whether fabricating animal habitats for the Nashville Zoo, dressing the set and building props for TV commercials and films, or creating themed environments and décor rentals for corporate events and celebrations, Michael Torres’ attention to detail is the overarching theme of his creative career. As owner of the newly established de la Torre Event Design, a
design and décor rental company targeting the corporate event and wedding industry, and de la Torre Art Design, a company created in 2015 specializing in museum and zoological exhibit fabrication, Torres brings together his 20-plus years of industry experience. His career has spanned television commercial work to working in the theming industry in Orlando and Texas to Continued on page 31.