Metro Magazine: The Diversity Issue — inside JANUARY 1, 2021
THIS WEEK 'S ISSUE:
THE BUSINESS NEWSPAPER OF GREATER OMAHA, LINCOLN AND COUNCIL BLUFFS
$2.00
VOL. 47 NO. 1
Independence, individualization drive Amber Specialty Pharmacy by Richard D. Brown
Reynolds Business Consulting, a force behind startups, guides entrepreneurs. – Page 2
Through its network and resources, EO Nebraska helps entrepreneurs succeed. – Page 4
Nephrology, essentially the specialty study of kidney function and disease, preservation of kidney health and treatment from diet and medication to renal replacement therapy, is one of seven new limited-distribution initiatives identified by Amber Specialty Pharmacy over the next year. President Aaron Weise said the 23-year-old business founded in Omaha and now a subsidiary of Hy-Vee, Inc., now has 20-some locations across much of the country. Ten new operations have been opened in the past year, the most recent four months ago in Providence, Rhode Island. Weise, a Storm Lake, Iowa native and 2002 graduate of the University of Northern Iowa Cedar Falls campus, said Amber Specialty Pharmacy provides a critical and unique service to the most vulnerable patients, ensuring they have access to life-changing and oftentimes life-saving medications they need, coupled with the necessary Continued on page 6.
Micaila Ruiz, chief operating officer/chief pharmacy officer at Amber Specialty Pharmacy … Currently filling 50,000 prescriptions per month, with a goal of increasing that number by 20 to 28% in the next year. (Photo by MBJ / Becky McCarville)
Workshop offers centralized workplace solutions made for remote environment by Michelle Leach
Experts offer guidance on avoiding bankruptcy. – Page 5
At the time Derek Homann caught up with the Midlands Business Journal in mid-December, his last day with the company he and Ben Stevinson founded and sold in October, Median, was approaching. Yet, the duo’s new company, Workshop, already boasted 1,000 users on its platform across five organizations, including well-rooted businesses like the 105-year-old Nebraska Book Co.
“We didn’t even have that many users with Median after three and a half years,” Homann said. Though, Homann indicated, the comparison between the two firms may be apples and oranges. The Omaha-based Workshop is described as a “modern employee hub” featuring a centralized space for internal announcements, company events, HR and other resourcContinued on page 6. Co-owners Tom McLeay, Jay Lund and Matt Dwyer … Reinventing a historic property to build the city’s identity and a place to congregate for Omahans and tourists.
Kimpton Cottonwood Hotel revived with Omaha history as centerpiece by Becky McCarville
Founders Ben Stevinson, left, and Ben Homann … Second business for entrepreneurial duo resonates as organizations grapple with challenges of communicating and connecting during the pandemic. (Photo courtesy of Workshop)
What was formerly the renowned Blackstone Hotel, opened in 1916 and a stop for famous guests like Bob Hope, Jimmy Stewart, Ronald Reagan, John F. Kennedy and Eleanor Roosevelt, the boutique 205-room Kimpton Cottonwood Hotel has reopened to become an Omaha destination for visitors and residents alike. Owned by local Blackstone District developers Jay Lund and
Matt Dwyer of GreenSlate Development and Tom McLeay of Clarity Development, the eight-story hotel at 36th and Farnam streets is an “exclamation point to put on the last eight years of development,” Lund said. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the city,” he said. “I really look at it as such a bigger thing than us. It was a major responsibility that we had here to Continued on page 7.
