Midlands Business Journal June 21, 2019 Vol. 45 No. 25 issue

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Buy/Sell Your Home .......... Pages 4-5 Building an Insurance Benefits Package ............... Pages 8-9 Technology ......Pages 12-13

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rone Amplified receives national grant to develop intelligent drone based aerial ignition.

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Speece ewis infrastructure.

ngineers plays vital role in rebuilding ood damaged aging Page 3

Valentino’s establishes catering presence in Omaha; expands concessions, targets Iowa.

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Lincoln Business Journal — inside JUNE 21, 2019

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VOL. 45 NO. 25

Deloitte eyes small business for statewide growth opportunities

by Richard D. Brown

40 er d Un 40 Hogan helps seniors navigate care needs at Home Instead. – Page 3

gy olo n ch Te Data protection evolving with allin-one solutions for organizations.

– Page 4

e urc so nt e n R me ma nage u H Ma

Resources evolve for talent development professionals amid employment challenges. – Page 26

With about 200 customers in Nebraska and a goal to increase that number by 10% annually, the state office of Deloitte & Touche, LLP, is eyeing multiple initiatives to address the needs of the small business community.

“As opportunities evolve we want to direct more of our expertise and perspectives to helping enterprises compete in the new digital economy,” said Omaha office Managing Partner Dan Kinsella.

Kinsella, a Millard native, said modified auditing regulations and the significant changes in the federal tax laws, necessitate more attention to the needs of business decision-makers.

Kinsella was recently appointed managing partner of the 150-employee Nebraska office, located in suite 3100 of the First National Tower, 1601 Dodge St. He is replacing Rob Mitchell who is retiring within the next year.

The ‘97 University of Nebraska at Omaha graduate with both an Continued on page 9.

Managing Partner Dan Kinsella … Boosting services geared toward small businesses to assist those (Photo by MBJ / Becky McCarville) clients in the digital economy.

Restaurants, corporate cafeteria projects boon to Fisher Fixture Co.

by Michelle Leach

From its new Elkhorn showroom, Fisher Fixture Co. is benefiting from a “mixed bag” of client projects — large corporate cafeterias to mom and pop shop remodels — amid a fiercely competitive environment.

“We had considered the move to Elkhorn even when we made the move to G Street,” said co-owner Cheri Bliemeister of its Omaha lo-

cation of around six years at 8603 G St. “At the time, we felt for us to go centrally to where we were might be a better move for the business than for us to move all the way out to Elkhorn.”

With their lease up, owners Craig and Cheri Bliemeister ultimately relocated the retailer and consulting business, specializing in food service equipment, dinnerContinued on page 10.

President and CEO Jen Amis … Expanding behavioral telehealth opportunities by partnering with long-term care communities and corrections companies.

Encounter Telehealth aims for rapid growth to meet demand for mental health services

by Becky McCarville

Owners Craig and Cheri Bliemeister … Food service equipment supplier, consultant rightsizes showroom in new Elkhorn location, distinguishes with qualities like face-to-face visits, free site consult in competitive global environment.

Since President and CEO Jen Amis acquired Encounter Telehealth on Nov. 1, 2015, she has grown the company from serving about 200 to 250 patients to nearly 3,000 and expanded its reach from Nebraska and Iowa to include North and South Dakota, Kansas, Colorado, Montana, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Maine thus far. Since 2015 the company has

nearly doubled its annual revenue year over year.

Dr. Rod Markin, COO of the University of Nebraska system, venture capitalist and owner of Prairie Ventures, which previously owned Encounter Telehealth, serves on the company’s board.

Mike Cassling founded the company in 2012.

“We are for profit but with Continued on page 22.

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• JUNE 21, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal

GolfUSA Omaha emphasizes services, custom club amidst rising online sales

by Gabby Christensen

Founded in 1988, GolfUSA Omaha has been committed to offering the local golf scene personalized services paired with a local approach, according to owner Jason Gomez, who took ownership of the store a little over four years ago.

GolfUSA Omaha Phone: 402-334-9303 Address: 4207 S. 120th St., Omaha 68137 Founded: 1988 Service: golf supplies, custom club fittings, full service club repair and golf lessons Employees: 7 Goal: Branch out through community service while also expanding clientele by offering additional fitting and demo day opportunities.

Website: https://www.golfusaomaha.com

Gomez first began working at the store in 2002 as a 16-year-old kid who was eager to learn more about the golfing industry.

Today, Gomez said the locally-owned and -operated business is thriving partly due to competitive pricing and plenty of stock options.

“When customers come in they know they are going to see the same faces and that we will go above and beyond to help them reach their goals,” he said. “I also really think our willingness to fit and custom order products for customers for no additional charge sets up apart from our competition.”

Owner Jason Gomez … Combatting online sales with custom fitting services.

As a top 100 fitter, as listed by Mizuno and in customers realizing that having their clubs PING, GolfUSA offers golfing supplies, as well custom fit for them will make a big difference as other services such as custom club fitting, golf in their games. lessons and full service club repair.

“We are carrying more brands and more Located at 4207 S. 120th St., the store custom options than ever, while at the same serves any level and age of player, but primarily time carrying slightly less stock product,” he sees middle-aged male golfers. said. “The negative effects of the internet drag Gomez said he’s starting to see an uptick down some of our soft goods and used club

Business Minute

Lisa Strutzel Family Office Services Director, Lutz Associations/Titles: CPA, CAP, Nebraska Society of CPAs, CAP advisory board, Hope Center for Kids board president.

Hometown: Bloomington, Minnesota.

Education: BBA, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.

How I got into the business: I didn’t know what a family office was until being hired to consult for one. The opportunity resulted in full time employment with a single family office and my current position with a multi-family office.

Accomplishments or milestones: I founded a financial consulting business at age 31 because I needed more flexibility as a working mom.

First job: I sold Avon as a high schooler.

Biggest career break: I was hired to work as a public accountant by Arthur

Andersen after college. The opportunity set the stage for all my other career experiences.

The toughest part of the job: Working with family enterprises requires you to continuously manage risk and opportunities.

Remaining relevant takes a great deal of time and effort.

The best advice I have received: Listen with the intent to understand versus the intent to reply.

About my family: My husband and I are empty nesters with a very spoiled rescue dog.

We raised two great kids, a daughter who is married and lives in Denver and a son who resides in Omaha.

Something else I’d like to accomplish: I’d like to find the time to write a book about family office best practices.

Book I finished reading recently: “The Legacy Spectrum” by Mark Weber. It is a very well written book about passing your wealth with thought and meaning.

Something about me not everyone knows: I love the mountains; there’s something about their majesty that puts everything

into perspective for me.

How my business will change in the next decade: New technology developments and changing client expectations will require wealth advisors to be highly adaptable to stay competitive.

Mentor who has helped the most in my career: Johnny Danos, former KPMG managing partner. He was my first mentor from my days in public accounting.

Outside interests: Hiking, aerobics, and reading.

Pet peeves: Potholes, definitely potholes!

Favorite vacation spot: Tucson, Arizona.

Other careers I would like to try: Anything that involves helping individuals create their legacy.

Favorite movie: The Lord of the Rings film trilogy.

Favorite cause or charity: The Hope Center for Kids.

Favorite app: Fitbit – It gets me up and moving around!

Interested in being featured in the Business Minute? Email news@mbj.com for more information.

sales. To counter that, we try to provide superior service and extremely competitive pricing to keep as many of our customers shopping local as possible.”

Since 2015, Gomez said he’s seen year to year increases in sales through changing the business model to be more service-heavy and custom club oriented.

“There are many things in golf that you need professional help with and we strive for those offerings to be in abundance and at great prices every day,” he said. “Overall, we have a great position in the Omaha marketplace that should enable us to keep growing for years to come.”

Like all business owners, Gomez said time management can be a struggle; however, that isn’t so bad when you love what you do.

“It’s extremely rewarding to have new customers come in for fittings because they were referred by someone that had a really positive experience,” he said. “It always makes me happy when a customer calls to tell me that they love their clubs and will be back in the future for any further products they may need.”

Recently, the store was remodeled and added a full custom fitting suite.

Gomez said the next step in working to grow the business will be finding ways to be more active in the community.

“For the past few years I have been working with the DREAM Foundation by helping them with their after school athletic programs, as well as their golf fundraiser,” he said. “I hope to do more things like that in the future. I also want to get more fitting and demo day opportunities for players around the metro area and possibly further. Perhaps, I’ll even purchase a van for traveling fittings in the future.”

Above all else, though, Gomez said the store will remain loyal to its local roots.

“Being that we are locally owned and operated you can always come back to us and deal with the same people and experience the same results every time you stop by,” he said.

Midlands Business Journal Established in 1975

PUBLISHER & FOUNDER, Robert Hoig

ADMINISTRATION VP OF OPERATIONS, Andrea “Andee” Hoig

EDITORIAL EDITOR & VICE PRESIDENT OF NEWS, Tiffany Brazda EDITORIAL ASSISTANT, Savannah Behrends STAFF WRITER, Becky McCarville

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(402) 330-1760 Zane D. Randall (1925-2006) Co-founder LeAnne M. Iwan (1932-1986) First News Editor

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.

Written permission must be obtained from Midlands Business Journal and MBJ, Inc., to post any of our stories or other published materials on a website. Under no circumstances, because of spamming potential and other issues, will permission be granted to transmit our stories by email.

-The Publisher.

Midlands Business Journal • JUNE 21, 2019 •

Lakelyn Hogan, gerontologist and caregiver advocate … Raising awareness to growing need of home health care for seniors.

Hogan helps seniors navigate care needs at Home Instead 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

Growing up around the senior living business, Lakelyn Hogan developed an early interest in helping others. Even as she eyed other professions during college, the pull of serving older adults was too strong.

“I grew up around a lot of seniors,” she said. “My parents founded Home Instead Senior Care, but I didn’t envision going to work for the company right out of the gate.

I always thought I would go on to do something different, but I had a great opportunity after I graduated with my MBA to help start up a second franchise here in Omaha.

“To be able to help start a small business that serves local seniors really was a perfect blend of my business degree and my love for helping others, especially older adults.”

Great opportunity though it was, the business potential for the second franchise took a back seat to her natural inclination as a nurturer and advocate, Hogan said.

“As I was going through my [college] coursework, the business classes were fine, I did well in them, but I loved the gerontology classes and my interest continued to pique,” she said. “I have continued to pursue more and more education around older adults because there’s a growing number of them. They are such a vulnerable population that have so much to give and have given so much to society. It’s just an honor now in my role to serve them.”

Hogan, gerontologist and caregiver

advocate, holds an undergrad in marketing from University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She earned a graduate certificate of gerontology from University of Nebraska at Omaha where she also earned an MBA and a master’s in social gerontology. She’s working on her doctorate in philosophy, also through UNO. She balances continuing education against real-world experiences she gains through her business and combined, they’ve given her unique perspective and understanding.

“We know that older adults are fiercely independent and want to age in place as long as possible,” she said. “But many of them need support to do so. That’s one of the ways Home Instead can support older adults is by helping them stay at home. I do a lot of education about services for older adults.

“I also think that isolation and loneliness are becoming really pertinent issues when it comes to the aging population. The health impacts of loneliness and isolation are pretty vast and services like ours help reduce that loneliness and isolation. I enjoy educating people about that.”

Hogan said there are many nuances to the broader issues facing seniors and understanding these differences helps the company provide better service to its clientele.

“Years ago, Grandma or Grandpa would just move in with family and family would rally around and take care of them, across the board,” she said. “But family size has dwindled, families have spread out across the nation and even across the world.

Also, women are working outside of the household whereas they were previously Continued on page 10.

Proud Sponsors of the 2018 40 Under 40:

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Technology • JUNE 21, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal

A section prepared by the staff of the Midlands Business Journal

June 21, 2019

Data protection evolving with all-in-one solutions for organizations

by Michelle Leach

As cloud solutions “grow up,” and threats to data evolve, how organizations keep pace may also require a shift.

And it’s not always about fighting techbased threats with more technology.

“I call it ‘digital mindfulness,’” said ITPAC Consulting Founder and Manager Denise Mainquist. “With records retention, there may be a lot of stuff [organizations] don’t need in a lot of different places.”

Recalling a recent tech roundtable, she indicated the allure of “inexpensive” storage.

“But it’s not a reMainquist ally good return or value to pay somebody to store stuff indefinitely,” she said.

For instance, Mainquist referred to health care organizations that render reports every morning because they’ve done it the same way for the past 15 years. Those reports can represent a vulnerability.

“Now, most reports can be generated automatically and most people are not looking at them,” she said. “You’ve got so much info bleed.”

Consider the vulnerabilities of text messaging; she referenced secure systems that move texting to an app. The organization has some control over the communication.

“Patching operating systems still seems to be a big problem for organizations,”

Michael Miller, market director with LightEdge Solutions.

Mainquist said.

Cybersecurity and data privacy are now a Two years post-WannaCry, the ran- fact of life, and Kidwell Information Technolsomware that encrypted data on a massive, ogy Manager Kyle Kudron anticipates rules global scale, continues to bounce around, around these considerations will continue with Mainquist noting unpatched systems or to tighten in the U.S., as General Data Prothose that aren’t configured well at its root. tection Regulation (GDPR) strengthens and The patching, for instance, may have been unifies data protection in the European Union. outsourced, with failures related to a lack “Where companies store customer data, of follow-up or that call for a new vendor how they access and use this data will become altogether. even more governed,” he said. “As a managed

service provider, it’s important to understand these compliance regulations so that we can provide the right solutions to our customers.”

He said Kidwell believes security is best when “layered.”

“Having strong firewall policies, an enterprise antivirus/anti-malware product, complex and lengthy password policies and multifactor authentication is a great way to layer security,” Kudron said. “With all that, end user training may be the most important since most breaches happen because someone in the organization was compromised.”

Managed phishKudron ing campaigns tie in user training to remind one’s team of what to look for and what not click on.

“From the data privacy perspective, implementing data loss prevention (DLP), information rights management and event logging are keys to compliance,” he said.

The “cloud” and the industry are entwined.

“In recent years, organizations began adopting a ‘cloud first’ strategy where they migrated many of their applications to the public cloud to keep up with the digital transformation movement,” said Michael Miller, market leader with LightEdge Solutions in Omaha.

Now, Miller said, there has been a move Continued on page 7.

Technology •

Midlands Business Journal • JUNE 21, 2019 •

autonomy to move around and mix both real and virtual images.”

However, Boyers said this technology requires a specially trained workforce to create the content required to create virtual experiences.

“From iEXCEL we also see AR/VR impacting businesses and industries around the world, with potential to revolutionize how we learn, conceptualize, communicate and collaborate,” Boyers said. “As this new platform of technology evolves, we find head-mounted displays getting less cumbersome, quality of the images improving and the ability to commu-

nicate virtually across distance becoming possible. Thus, numerous opportunities — many of which still have to be discovered — are being made possible including prototyping and designing in 3D, allowing people to work ‘side by side’ in shared digital spaces in ‘real-time’ and even instantaneous collaboration globally.”

Eric Hill, founder/president of VR Visage, said it’s an exciting time to be involved with augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technology.

Hill said the VR headset optics are continuing to get better, which gives them more Continued on page 7.

“Negative” UNMC students study anatomy of the human eye using the latest in augmented reality technology and content developed by iEXCEL. (Photo courtesy of UNMC/iEXCEL)

Virtual, augmented reality reshapes industries from health to hospitality

by Gabby Christensen

Augmented and virtual reality have taken the technology world by storm and enhanced operations for a number of businesses.

Pamela Boyers, associate vice chancellor of iEXCEL for the University of Nebraska Medical Center, said she sees AR/VR changing the landscape for education and training, but also for the modern workforce.

“Businesses around the globe are utilizing AR/VR applications to deliver training, develop new products, enhance learning, improve knowledge transfer, increase customer satisfaction and offer different ways of looking at the world,” Boyers said. “While virtual reality is totally immersive, augmented reality allows digital 3D images to be superimposed upon the real world — meaning that the user has more

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• JUNE 21, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal • Technology

User education, layers of security key factors in protecting company privacy Hacking has evolved with technology, so users must use a combination of knowledge and layers of security to protect their personal information.

As artificial intelligence becomes more sophisticated, hackers are able to use it to create more devastating cyberattacks, according to Chris Vilim, president of CoreTech. Even in well-managed IT environments, staff

by David Kubicek

your network.”

Use a password manager to keep track of long, unique, secure passwords for each individual application.

Remember that when you use a credit card number at a shopping site, you’re trusting the site to have the appropriate security infrastructure to prevent your data from being stolen.

Educating your staff on security should

Vilim Robinson members can install rogue applications.

“A free application, downloaded by one employee, for use on one computer may not seem like a huge deal, but just because the application is ‘free’ doesn’t necessarily mean it doesn’t take something from you —like data,” Vilim said. “Also consider third-parties who may access your network. For example, if the HVAC guy logs onto your network and hasn’t maintained his technology very well, an infection could be spread from his device to

Larsen Burns be an ongoing process.

Avoid using free Wi-Fi, unless it’s a virtual private network (VPN).

“Use services that monitor your credentials, like Life-Lock and DarkWeb Monitoring,” Vilim said. “The sooner you’re made aware of an issue, the easier it is to resolve.”

Smartphones can be vulnerable it they’re not set up properly, according to Spencer Robinson, CTO of Appsky.

“Create a four to six-digit password to enContinued on page 9.

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Our knowledge is at your disposal, meaning, we want you to ask questions.

The more we can help you understand your technology, the greater benefit you can get from your solution.

Managed IT Services Server Virtualization Network Design & Optimization Wireless & Mobile Services Network Security

Technology •

Data protection Continued from page 4. back to traditional colocation and private cloud providers — summed up as “cloud repatriation.”

“This trend to bring applications and workloads back to on-premises or local hosting providers has been going on for some time but is gaining momentum for core applications that run the business, like ERP and EMR,” he said.

Miller said clients may find the cost of the public cloud isn’t as predictable or scalable as they thought it might be.

“Do your due diligence and test before you make the leap,” he said. “Many traditional applications don’t work well in the public cloud due to a need to scale up or meet strict uptime requirements, so businesses can experience more downtime in public clouds.”

Work with cloud engineers that can analyze one’s environment, give accurate cost estimates, and address the architectural viability of systems before moving, Miller said.

Nuvem Consulting works primarily with Salesforce and, as such, is affected by trends related to what primarily served as a sales tool for managing leads and contacts, according to co-founder Matt Dillon and Spencer Pereira, a certified consultant for Pardot – Salesforce’s B2B marketing automation platform.

“Gradually, [Salesforce] acquired software providers offering solutions for marketing, quoting and proposals, customer service and field services,” Pereira said.

“Companies can now run most of their

business through one platform. This growth and change has come from their customers’ feedback in various verticals and best practices in innovation.”

Pereira and Dillon also noted Salesforce responded to the shift toward more integrated, cloud-based enterprise software; an integrated suite of products allows companies to pass data from one system to another for a comprehensive, updated view of the customer.

Salesforce remains the CRM software leader, but they said providers (like HubSpot and Zoho) now offer fully-integrated platforms for marketing, sales and customer service.

As Salesforce adds products, there are opportunities for company- and community-wide growth.

“Recent research by 10k Advisors indicates that job openings for Salesforce developers outpace available talent by 4:1,” Pereira said. “The average salary for a Salesforce admin is $89,000 and $108,000 for developers.”

To attain certification, training can be done entirely on the free Salesforce tool, Trailhead.

“Organizations like PepUp Tech could be a source for inspiration when thinking about metrowide training,” he said. “PepUp Tech provides tech training to individuals from underserved groups. Community training for Salesforce jobs beyond an administrator role (developers, system architects) would require more than Trailhead.

People with technical skills and the willingness to teach would serve a central role in that effort.”

Midlands Business Journal • JUNE 21, 2019 •

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Virtual, augmented reality reshapes industries Continued from page 5. validation in the consumer market and the headsets are getting less expensive which puts them in more people’s hands.

“AR is a tool many have in their own pocket with their smartphones,” Hill said. “With the younger, more tech savvy generation now gaining purchasing power, we are seeing an explosion in AR/ VR interest. Many of our clients are companies looking for a new way to connect with clients at trade shows, conferences and sales meetings — AR/VR Boyers is a great way to do that.”

Hill said training is a large part of any company’s budget and virtual reality training applications can reduce cost, have a consistent message and create safe environments for trainees to master their craft.

“VR Visage is seeing a good portion of our business going to resorts and adventure experiences,” Hill said. “Virtual reality is very useful in this industry because it can transport a potential client to these amazing places to help them decide on which location or experience they want to book.”

Additionally, Hill said mixed reality, which melds the real and virtual worlds, is on the horizon.

James Duran, managing partner at KreativElement said the business is a Matterport service partner, meaning it creates virtual

reality spaces for clients in the real estate and commercial world.

“Virtual reality for real spaces is a growing industry that we have been in since infancy,” Duran said. “Being able to tie these into google maps/street view and being able to

Hill Duran add additional links and call outs of physical spaces inside or the virtual reality spaces has added to features.”

When it comes to augmented reality, Duran said KreativElement is tying this into image recognition.

“Various publications like Time magazine have been using this for a little while now and it’s now reaching your small to medium business markets,” Duran said. “People are thinking of new ways to use the technology every day. Some are using VR to assist in training, some are using AR and IR [implanted reality] for e-commerce and additional ways to tie print and digital marketing together. We see that AR is still in infancy and people are still working on how to incorporate into their business either through training, employee engagement, or marketing.”

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• JUNE 21, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal • Technology

Big data applications becoming more common, critical to business operations

by Dwain Hebda you market to the right person? What kind of Leveraging big data in business oper- pictures do they want to see that motivates ations is not only more mainstream, it’s them to buy?” almost mandatory for companies to remain Data has never been more plentiful for competitive. the fact that so much of what’s done today “We’ve been doing data-driven deci- leaves behind a digital footprint. Analyzing sion-making since 2008,” said Nate Watson, that data is another story. president of Contemporary Analysis. “[Big “Newer devices create much more data] was exclusive to the Fortune 20 when structured data, but sometimes these bits of we started. Then it was Fortune information need to be combined 500 and then 1000 and then 5000 with older data sets in non-usable, and then $100 million companies unstructured documents,” said and $50 million companies.

Alex Barros, solutions architect “Now, I truly believe that this with QAT Global. “There is is the minimum. You have to do substantial work to be done to some form of business analytics, make such combinations possible. predictive or not, to be successful There are tools available to make in the world today because at least the process easier, but this usually some of your competition is using requires resources small compait and you can’t compete with nies simply cannot afford. These them unless you have it. It’s an smaller companies are generally Barros arms race.” consumers of predictive results Big data is a catch-all term generated by other, bigger outfits for analyzing data to identify trends and that specialize in data manipulation.” predict behavior. One early application was Finding people with the right skillset capturing consumer behavior and offering to analyze big data is another challenging products that matched that behavior. Big aspect, Barros said. data applications are considerably more “When big data started to become mainnumerous today. stream, most professionals had an advanced “Data-driven decision-making is doing degree with a quantitative focus in statistics, more with less,” Watson said. “How do we applied mathematics, operations research make more sales by calling fewer people? or economics,” he said. “Familiarity with How do we know what customers are going coding, data mining and modeling was a real to buy before they buy it so we can order the plus. These types of professionals were, and right things and have them in stock? How do still are, difficult to find. However, with the

Nate Watson, president of Contemporary Analysis. growing industry interest more colleges are 2011 and gives students highly marketable starting to add disciplines to fill this gap.” skills. According to the Bureau of Labor Nebraska Methodist College is one Statistics, medical and health services manlocal example of this, offering a certificate agers positions are projected to grow by 20% program in health care analytics. between 2016 and 2026, Bliemeister said.

“Health care organizations generate “Future innovators to big data and its large amounts of data about patients, costs, applications will be centered on increasing supplies, staffing and procedures,” said Amy memory capacity to handle the amount of Bliemeister, dean of professional develop- data that will become available,” she said. ment. “A key challenge is to understand and “These innovators will need to further the develop insights from data to improve patient machine learning process to become more care and services. Our health care analytics efficient and produce output that makes sense certificate program teaches students how to and is interpretable. For the consumer, this identify a problem, analyze and interpret may result in better output, which may mean data, evaluate and ultimately share findings.” that diagnoses, feedback or prescriptions can The certificate has been offered since be delivered faster.”

Midlands Business Journal • JUNE 21, 2019 •

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Deloitte eyes small business for statewide growth opportunities Continued from page 1. undergraduate degree in accounting and graduate degree in management of information systems joined Deloitte in 1999 after two years of doing bookkeeping and other management chores for his uncle’s gas station, John’s Service Center, and as a small business consultant with the Small Business Development Center at UNO. The latter stop was where he remembers “learning to break hearts” of entrepreneurial aspirants who needed him to sign off on their business plan, in part, to qualify for bank financing.

However, he now views both stops as important to giving him a wider perspective of the business spectrum.

Over the past two decades at Deloitte, Kinsella has been recognized by the organization for his specialties, which include leadership in topics such as U.S. and Americas extended enterprise and third party assurance.

Specific expertise addresses advisory service delivery and transformation with shared services and the outsourcing of environment improvements.

Perhaps the most significant goal Kinsella has for growing the Nebraska Deloitte office involves technology.

“We don’t have much of it right now but my one-year goal is to establish a digital presence in Omaha to connect with the digital presence of our clients,” he said.

Kinsella is an advocate of “shared-community technology” such as blockchain shared ledgers, which while developing worldwide over the last decade, have become more realistic and pragmatic in scope over the past five years.

Protect privacy

Continued from preceding page. ter your device,” he said. “Use something like face ID as another layer of protection. Update passwords regularly, and set it up so you receive alerts if someone’s messing with your account.”

Some apps will accept a fingerprint as a login with an authentication code as a backup, but that code will often be limited to four digits.

“The code is much less secure than a print and a lot easier to get through, so if that’s your backup, a hacker will use that alternate method,” Robinson said.

“Use only official app stores like Google Play and the Apple App Store and be careful of allowing permissions,” said Jon Larsen, technology experience instructor and systems engineer at AIM Institute. “Smartphones can be vulnerable with too many permissions allowed, especially with GPS to pinpoint location data.”

Make sure devices used to access company data are audited properly. Review records of access regularly and clean out unused apps and accounts.

Add two-factor authentication to logins whenever possible. Businesses should use a single sign-on system with two-factor authentication and limit access to a few key people.

“Individuals and businesses are starting to use the internet of things to streamline and save time,” Larsen said. “For businesses, I recommend keeping any add-on devices protected on a separate Wi-Fi network and staying updated on firmware. Also, be mindful of the placement of digital assistants throughout the office to ensure confidential information stays safe.”

Phishing is the biggest threat faced by small

“We have a successful consulting practice and tax reform is giving us additional opportunities for growth,” he said.

Auditing practices and accounting requirement changes can result in clients finding they are operating too far from the new norm.

While five-year software licenses are sold, international accounting changes demand that business owners stay abreast of changes.

Kinsella said about 50% of the revenues from Nebraska clients come from audits; 20% are from tax prep and consulting and the remaining 30% is from much broader advisory and consulting projects with clients. The latter perhaps offers Deloitte its best growth opportunity.

For example, technology evaluation and risk management (as important factors in business valuations) are playing a more critical role in merger and acquisition transactions.

Work over the years has been completed for hundreds of individuals needing their taxes done and long-term relationships with entities that include Berkshire Hathaway, Blue Cross & Blue Shield, Union Pacific and Mutual of Omaha — among others — have enabled local Deloitte professionals to advise clients to operate more efficiently.

“We’re a relationship organization,” Kinsella said, of his employer, which has roots going back to 1845.

All told, services are provided to more than 5,000 private and middle-market companies, about 90% of which are Fortune 500 firms.

Services are being strengthened for and medium-sized businesses, according to Jayte Burns, sales director for Cox Business.

“More than 90% of hacking attacks today begin with an email, and nearly one in four phishing emails are opened by unsuspecting employees,” he said.

To guard against phishing scams, add an extra layer of security on top of the email application to provide detection and prevention for many common email threats.

Implement an email security training program that focuses on common email attacks, and then test user understanding with simulated attacks.

“This combination of training and testing provides quantifiable results and reduces risk by continually reinforcing good user behavior,” Burns said.

private companies that in the near future are seeking to go public. Local technology startups are also being included in that group.

With such a broad level of services offered by Deloitte, Kinsella said a chief financial officer forum is being created to enable a variety of organizations represented to learn from each other. The group will likely be made up of 10 to 15 CFOs, each at different levels of their careers.

“For example, they can learn from each other how to achieve better employee engagement and common recruiting issues,” he said.

Each CFO will host a meeting of the group, enabling members to visit various business venues.

“The client in manufacturing might be trying to figure out how to engage a geographic footprint and secure investors outside the firm’s current footprint,” Kinsella said.

Another initiative for Nebraska’s Deloitte office will include community presentations for groups of up to 200 executives about salient topics such as the new federal tax law.

Kinsella, a specialist in extended business management, said technological business models — when presented to a company’s board of directors — can enable them to take a greater interest in topics

such as digitalization and how employees can be engaged at a higher level in the investment.

By addressing financials, risk and performance, as well as increases in bottom line margin can be achieved.

More emphasis is being placed on strategic consulting.

“You want to be flexible and nimble,” he said.

Extended enterprise management is gaining more attention each year as it helps business organizations become more complex and can grow a business’s eco-system by 15% by making it better, cheaper and faster. For example, a medical organization might use a third-party provider for clinical research.

On the backside, third party monitoring can be done utilizing light and dark web technology with different search engines used for negative news.

Locally, Kinsella said a “client-focused culture” is being nurtured at Deloitte and the Nebraska office has built a great rapport with a consortium of the state’s smaller colleges in seeking talent.

Community commitments have included service for Catholic Charities, Omaha Public Library Foundation Board, Greater Omaha Chamber, Habitat For Humanity, and a new initiative with Community Alliance.

10

• JUNE 21, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal

Restaurants, corporate cafeteria projects boon to Fisher Fixture Co. Continued from page 1. ware, janitorial supplies, restaurant layout, and design-build guidance.

“We live in Elkhorn, so it made more sense to be closer here,” she said. “And we downsized our showroom to make it a little more controllable.”

The showroom, which will be a year old in August, has largely been received favorably by customers.

“The customers that we had on G Street have followed us out here, and we’re very thankful for that,” Bliemeister said. “The move has also brought new customers based out in the Elkhorn area, and they’re happy to know we’re closer to them.”

Craig Bliemeister noted how west Omaha customers who didn’t want to drive into the city have responded positively.

“We’ve developed closer relationships with customers west of 680,” he said. “There has been a lot of growth out on Maple Street, West Dodge, and up towards Fremont.”

To accommodate downtown Omaha- and

Council Bluffs-based customers, Cheri Bliemeister emphasized delivery services.

“We’re still taking care of those people,” she said.

Joined in the 72-year-old business by daughter, Carrie Howarth (who handles bid work and purchasing), the Bliemeisters have focused more exclusively on Nebraska and some Iowa clients.

In 2012, around the time of its last move, leadership highlighted some out-of-state projects in South Dakota, Kansas and Missouri. And there are plenty of new and growing clients to be had in the metro, the Bliemeisters indicated.

“There are a lot of new restaurants, bars and businesses like that in general, especially in the Elkhorn area and out west,” she said.

That said, Craig Bliemeister said the industry itself has become less regional in scope, more national- and even international-based; for instance, jobs for contract work in the military and municipal spaces are posted online and open up competition from the coasts and elsewhere.

“Those public jobs may be based on cost,” he said. “Some bylaws require them to take

Craig Bliemeister referred to work with the lowest cost-bidder, unless there is some challenge, say, past reliability or problems with Lincoln Public Schools and Grand Island Public Schools on remodels and replacements for aging finances.” equipment, and largOthers, though, er-scale projects, such may stipulate contrac- Fisher Fixture Co. as the new Aspen Creek tors have an active of- Phone: 402-342-7605 Elementary School for fice within a 125-mile Address: 1830 N. 203rd St., Elkhorn Gretna Public Schools. radius.

68022 Interesting projects “Our voice has to Founded: 1947; purchased by Bliemeisabound with specialbe heard: that we pro- ters in 2006 ized health care facilivide face-to-face ser- Service: food service equipment supplier ties; for example, small vice and offer a free site boasting showroom with items ranging from refrigerators for a dialyvisit,” he said. “Poten- equipment, smallwares and dinnerware sis clinic or pharmaceutially, a long-distance to janitorial supplies and disposable food ticals storage for a small supplier can’t do that.” service goods, and consultation with design medical clinic.

Cheri Bliemeister and build needs (restaurant layouts, equip“You can’t just take acknowledged a focus ment specifications) any commercial fridge, on military, health care Website: www.fisherfixture.com they have to be rated for facility and corporate projects — organizations with onsite cafeterias. medical storage,” he said.

Weather events presented opportunities to “The area is really exploding,” she said.

“More corporations are adding [cafeterias] partner with organizations and provide value.

“With the flooding, a few of the businesses — to have as a part of what they offer to their in the area came to us to help them get back and employees.” running,” she said. “We’re also doing remodels of businesses they had purchased, smaller mom and pop operations, so it’s a mixed bag.”

Walk-in traffic is yet another piece of their has to be wrapped up in time to move before school starts and you’ve got one of the biggest diverse client lineup; for instance, Bliemeister recalled their daughter was at the oral surgeon’s challenges around.”

For starters, parents tend to have a longer office when an assistant mentioned the icemaker wish list. Things that may be negotiable for peo- quit, and they’d love to get a freestanding comple without kids seem mandatory for parents. mercial product.

“My daughter’s waving her hand, going ‘I Think about things like safety, enrichment and community. They also place a higher impor- can help you with that,’” she said. “So, [walk-in tance on having the right number of bedrooms traffic] really is a small piece, but occasionally and bathrooms, private outdoor space and we have [someone] who may be looking for a commercial refrigerator.” community amenities.

Fisher Fixture Co. is among those businessLocation is always key but it’s a deal breakes closely watching trade-related developments. er for parents, who need easy access to daycare, “For us, tariffs are affecting pricing,” she schools and work. An endless commute means less time with the kids, especially if they go to said. “It’s hard for some customers to understand bed early. Making dinner and doing homework the shipping fees on some of those items that are coming from overseas.” can take up all your quality time.

Here at home, Bliemeister reiterated the Zillow also found that parents are more likely to have an offer or mortgage financing relocation has been a good strategic move.

“We were able to secure a spot in Elkhorn package fall through and they attend more open that’s easy access from Dodge and Maple, and houses. Despite the extra effort, two thirds of these buyers with children say they ultimately has good visibility,” she said.

Fisher Fixture is also distinguishing from made sacrifices to stay within their budget.

About a third of them sacrificed a shorter a world of competition via its membership in commute (34.1%), a larger home (31.2%) or Pride Centric Resources and the organization’s their desired finishes (32.7%), according to a new site, TheKitchenSpot.com, which connects customers with regional dealers best aligned to nationwide survey of recent home buyers.

For the record, renters with children also their needs.

The Bliemeisters have owned the company have it rough. They fill out 1.9 times as many applications as renters without kids and it since 2006. takes them a month longer to find their home.

Many renters with children also are financially vulnerable, with more than half (54.1%) saying in a survey that they couldn’t afford a $1,000 unexpected expense.

The good news is that 94.6% of parents who Continued from page 3. recently bought a home say they love it, which stay-at-home moms who transitioned into a is actually slightly higher than those without full-time caregiver for an aging parent. That’s kids. A softening home market might help too. not a reality anymore.

“As markets cool, parents will have more “We are also seeing higher rates of dementime to breathe and reflect on what tradeoffs tia in African American and Latino populations they’re willing to make,” says Olsen. “With especially, and they’re not necessarily getting interest rates back down, they’re be more able the care and support and the diagnosis that to lock in an affordable monthly payment that other populations are getting. So there is some will last through college. The trick is finding the disparity in the way people age based on various home that still fills the family’s needs as toddlers factors, whether it’s race, gender or socio-ecoturn into kids, kids into teenagers, and teenagers nomic status. That is definitely something, as into the young adults in your basement.” an aging community, we need to be aware of. ©2019 The Mercury News How we can support people no matter what part (San Jose, Calif.) of the city or the state they live in, no matter Distributed by their cultural or economic background and get Tribune Content Agency, LLC. them the services they need.”

Home buyers with kids face greater struggles, Zillow survey says

by Karen D’Souza

School’s out for summer. That means many kids are scrambling to have as much fun as possible and may parents are hustling to move into a new home Real estate before school is back in session.

Buying a home is tricky for anybody, especially if it’s your first one, but parents have a far more stressful time than those without kids, according to Zillow Research. Parents with kids

under 18 are far more likely to bust their budget and make smaller down payments. Sadly, they are also more likely to end up with crushing commutes and smaller homes than they wanted.

“Having kids is a major destabilizer in life — their needs are constantly changing and seemingly impossible to anticipate,” said Skylar Olsen, Zillow’s director of economic research.

“Combine all that uncertainty with a massive financial decision that inevitably requires tough trade offs among a limited set of options and

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Midlands Business Journal • JUNE 21, 2019 •

11

With fewer skilled stitchers to hire, Seattle-based gear company expands to California

by Keerthi Vedantam

Outdoor Research, a Seattle-based maker of tactical and outdoor gear, is opening a new production center in California to find workers with a skill that’s declining in Seattle: sewing.

CaReeRs Since the company established its first factory in Seattle in the early ’80s, its seam-sealed tactical gloves, which are meticulously stitched to lock out water and minimize bulk around the hand, have become something of a flagship product sold to the military and through outdoor equipment retailers like REI. SUPER CROSSWORD

Producing those gloves requires a sharp eye and deft hand, and automation was not an option.

“Wearing a pair of gloves, if you’re off by two millimeters, you’re going to notice it. Especially if you’re in the military,” said Jason Duncan, who runs the tactical and innovation department for Outdoor Research.

As more and more local apparel companies moved production outside of Seattle – and often out of the U.S. entirely — Outdoor Research has struggled to find highly skilled sewers.

“In Seattle, there used to be a fairly CATCHING FISH

strong sewing community and a lot of those workers either left or retired,” Duncan said.

Searching abroad for skill was not on the table. To continue working with the military, Outdoor Research needs to follow the Berry Amendment and produce its goods in the U.S. So the company settled on El Monte, Calif., a small city just east of Los Angeles, where it essentially reproduced its 105-employee Seattle facility (which will remain open).

Feng He has noticed the shrinking of the talent pool in her 23 years at the company. She started working part-time at Outdoor Research when her family moved to Washington from China. Her aunt expertly stitched together the gloves while He packaged the product.

“She’s much better than me,” He said. “I don’t know how to sew very well.”

He calls it a generational problem.

She graduated with a business degree in 2004 and went from packaging clothing to running the floor. Most of the sewing staff at Outdoor Research were first-generation immigrants, like her aunt, who had sewing jobs at factories back home. Now, they’re ready to retire.

“Their kids are all college graduates,

they’re doctors, they’re lawyers,” He said.

“They don’t join the industry.”

El Monte is less expensive. Its median household income of about $44,000 is less than half of Seattle’s. But there’s more to it: El Monte was once home to a bustling garment industry that was sometimes coupled with bleak working conditions. Over the years, companies have abandoned plants to move production overseas “at a lower cost,” said Ken Rausch, CEO of the El Monte Chamber of Commerce.

Now, said Rausch, the garment industry is growing again in El Monte, and there’s a higher demand for advanced sewing skills that the community already has.

For products other than gloves, Outdoor Research has tried to automate its process as much as possible in Seattle, using machines that can automatically stitch according to internal software, with some human guidance. But the gloves, the crown jewel of the company, still rely on the human hand.

“It is expensive and it’s very stressful,” said Duncan. “But we specialize in this area.” ©2019 The Seattle Times Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

by Elvina Nawaguna

Regarding marijuana, he said the industry wants to work with regulators, Congress and private-sector innovators to create a method for instantaneous testing like is done for alcohol impairment.

Nearly a dozen states have legalized recreational marijuana while more than 30 allow its medical use. Marijuana is still illegal under federal law.

“We simply cannot have that in the industry. … You cannot have people that are using controlled substances, that are impaired operating 80,000 pound equipment or tanks full of chemicals or petrol,” Spear said. “It is a problem that the states, we don’t believe, are taking into consideration.”

“Are you seeing in the states that have already legalized recreational use of marijuana even more of shortage of drivers being willing to take some of opportunities that are available in the industry?” asked Illinois Republican Rep. Rodney Davis, the subcommittee ranking member.

“Absolutely,” Spear responded. “We have several carrier members that pay the extra expense to do hair testing in addition to the urinalysis, and when the driver comes in and applies and they know they have to take the hair test, a lot of them just walk right out of the door.”

LaMont Byrd, director of the Health and Safety Department at the labor union International Brotherhood of Teamsters, told CQ Roll Call that while marijuana testing is a part of the problem, those who turn away for that reason are not “quite certain” what career path they want to pursue.

A bigger problem he said, is that young people are simply less interested in commercial truck driving, and those not unionized deal with poor wages and working conditions.

“For some sectors of the industry, all the hours are not paid. Fortunately, for unionized drivers, our members are paid for every hour Continued on next page.

Legal pot makes it harder to recruit truck drivers, industry leader says

Answers on page 12.

As the trucking industry struggles with a driver shortage, the president of a major lobby placed part of the blame on wider acceptance by states of marijuana use.

American Trucking Associations President and CEO Chris HiRing tRends Spear told lawmakers at a recent hearing that legalization of recreational marijuana by states is making it harder for the industry to find drug-free drivers. Still, low pay and poor working conditions are also hurdles to industry recruitment, according to a union leader.

“Obviously the use of marijuana — impairment from marijuana and opioids — these are all concerns to our industry and are added headwinds in terms of attracting talent,” Spear told lawmakers at a hearing to examine pressures the industry is facing.

The hearing at the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Highways and Transit came as the industry faces multiple challenges, including driver shortage, a rise in the number of trucking accidents and a Democratic-led House that wants more stringent regulations.

More than 4,700 people were killed in crashes involving large trucks in 2017, a 9% increase from the previous year and up 41% since 2009, Cathy Chase, president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, told the panel.

“The state of trucking today has reached a pressure point,” Chase said. “While trucking is a vital, cherished and necessary part of our country’s commerce, we can and must do better.”

Lawmakers have blamed the rise in accidents on driver fatigue due to long driving hours and short rest and meal times. But Spear said passing cars rather than truck drivers were to blame for a large portion of the accidents.

12

• JUNE 21, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal

This software titan proposes a computer museum to mark Philly’s role in starting the digital world

by Joseph N. DiStefano

“Computers didn’t start in Silicon Valley.

They started here,” in Philadelphia, says Jim Scherrer.

The sales-software mogul has been a fan of vintage computing equipment since, as a late 1970s Penn grad teCHnology student, he wandered into the “cages and boxes and blackness” in the basement of Penn’s engineering school, to find relics of ENIAC, the pioneer electronic computer that helped usher in the digital era.

Now he wants to set up a computer museum — a Compuseum — and provoke a next wave of innovation.

He poured forth this vision at a beer-laden table in the Franklin Institute locomotive room, with his friend John Gruber, who writes the Daring Fireball blog and podcasts for Apple fanboys.

This was at the pre-party — hosted by another Scherrer admirer, Chris Fralic of FirstRound Capital — for the Philly premiere of General Magic, the joyful, nerdly film about the Apple Computer refugees who designed the first smart phones and apps in the early 1990s but couldn’t plug them into the public internet because there wasn’t one.

General Magic was a spectacular case of before-their-time in Silicon Valley. Scherrer says Philly tech can relate.

The name of the nation’s premier computer industry center, Silicon Valley, recalls the raw material used by California transistor-makers who supplied integrated-circuit materials for 1970s computers.

Philadelphia radio factories had supplied earlier computer pioneers with vacuum tubes — first factory-made at RCA Victor in Camden, clipped by the millions into Philco and Atwater Kent radios, and adapted as

binary switches for innovative computing machines like ENIAC, powered by 17,000 off-the-shelf tubes.

So Philly should really be known as “Vacuum Tube Valley,” Scherrer adds: “We want to trademark that.” He acknowledged the tubes were prone to moths — “the original computer bugs.”

His bow tie and checked jacket recalls Scherrer’s long-ago stint as a Chestnut Hill Academy science teacher and as a Penn graduate engineering student, finding computer artifacts “in cages and boxes and blackness in the basement of the Moore School,” with tech’s usual lack of reverence for sacred objects once unplugged.

I asked the General Magic filmmakers: How do towns like Philly and companies like General Magic lose their early leads? Why do some companies and some regions benefit the most from innovation?

Sometimes it comes down to who’s got the best bosses, codirector Sarah Kerruish told me. “Visionary CEOs who have a good sense of market timing and who can execute on delivering products are actually rare.”

Apple’s Steve Jobs “had to go into exile to develop the skills” he would need as the iPhone CEO. And sometimes it’s cultural — about sharing, vs. selfishness, said General Magic executive producer Mike Stern. It’s not just the presence of investors, excellent tech universities, and rich military and NASA contracts — Philadelphia, Boston, and other cities had those, too — but also California’s “unique legal and business culture,” he told me.

Specifically, California and its courts refused to enforce employee non-compete agreements. With creators and engineers free to quit, seek better deals and more brilliant

Legal pot makes it harder to recruit truck drivers, industry leader says Continued from preceding page. they do work,” Byrd said. “But it’s a tough job.”

As the industry, which has an increasingly older workforce, seeks to attract new drivers, some lawmakers have proposed lowering the age requirement for commercial long-distance truckers.

A bill introduced by Sen. Todd Young, and Rep. Trey Hollingsworth, both Indiana Republicans, would direct the Department of Transportation to write regulations lowering the driving age for commercial trucks to 18.

D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, the subcommittee chairwoman, said at the hearing that lowering the minimum driver age won’t solve the cause of driver shortages.

“That’s probably wages and the really appalling working conditions that come with being a truck driver in our country today,” Norton said. “This is not an occupation in which people want to engage today, especially young people, and we need to understand it.”

The American Trucking Associations supports the bills, and Spear said that since 18 year-olds in the military are trained and qualified to operate heavy duty machinery and vehicles, they should be allowed to drive long-distance commercial vehicles.

He also asked Congress to encourage states to administer the skills test for com-

mercial driver’s licenses within seven days of application or to utilize third party testers.

“A low unemployment rate and the stigma surrounding blue-collar work makes it difficult enough to recruit drivers into the trucking industry,” Spear said. “States that make applicants wait up to two months to take their skills test contribute to this problem by discouraging applicants from following through. It also invites skills erosion.”

House Transportation Chairman Peter A. DeFazio told CQ Roll Call during a break that he too is concerned with the safety risks associated with marijuana in the trucking industry and that Congress needs to advance research into a system for real-time testing.

But the Oregon Democrat would not say if a provision on marijuana testing would be included in a surface transportation bill that lawmakers have yet to introduce.

“You don’t want someone driving a semi or a private vehicle who meets some sort of intoxication standard,” DeFazio said. “But to totally disqualify someone from employment because in a state that has legalized it, they used it on a weekend when they weren’t working, is very problematic.” ©2019 CQ-Roll Call, Inc., All Rights Reserved Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

partners, California capitalists learned to collaborate, since today’s competitor could be tomorrow’s investor or user. That’s better than trying to shut one another down, as the litigious minicomputer-makers that once lined U.S. Route 128 outside Boston did, dooming their industry as California PC-makers passed them by.

Could Philly have kept its early lead and dominated computing?

There were so many promising starts.

Philly radio-makers dominated the market but didn’t innovate and were wiped out by cheap transistor-based competition.

The builders of ENIAC, chased off campus by Penn in a patent fight, went on to start what’s now Blue Bell-based Unisys, which has distantly trailed IBM through the hardware, software, and services eras.

Sungard, based in Wayne, dominated business backup computing, but its private-equity owners failed to finance its jump to the cloud. Commodore Computer of West Chester briefly rivaled early Apple as a pioneer maker of cheap PCs but failed to deliver enduring products. AT&T spin-off Bell Atlantic was based in Center City in its innovative early phase but soon decamped for New York.

“It’s the roll of the dice,” affirmed Gruber.

“Maybe, if a butterfly in China flapped its wings,” Philly would have rolled over Palo Alto. Or Austin might have led, if Texas Instruments hadn’t been content to reissue the same high-margin calculators. Or Chicago, if Motorola had been willing to see past its popular Razr line.

Early computing teaches useful lessons, says Gruber, who “never owned a computer till I went to college, at Drexel, in 1991,” and was born after vacuum tubes were obsolete.

“To really understand, you have to know how it works,” he said. “My generation had such a leg up, evolving with this knowledge, as the computer gained complexity. There is so much young people can learn when they see how this evolved, about how people dealt with enormous technical constraints.” That’s how the building-size mainframes of old evolved into handheld internet phones with more computing power than NASA used to plant men on the moon.

Even before ENIAC, “this was the crucible of the Computer Age,” Scherrer affirmed. The Baldwin Locomotive Co. and the Comptometer adding-machine company laid groundwork, arranging women “computers” at desks arranged “in rows and columns, just like a human Excel spread sheet. We stand on the shoulders of giants.”

To be sure, there’s already a Computer Museum in Silicon Valley. The Smithsonian Institution has big technology collections of its own. “Like most museums, they have 98% of their stuff in storage,” Scherrer says, a bit dismissively.

His group — there is no formal committee — is still strategizing. Meanwhile, “people are donating objects,” said Scherrer.

A recent acquisition: “a ten-megabyte hard drive from 1960. It weighs 80 pounds. It sold for $6,000. Made by IBM and Western Digital.” Gruber marvels, noting he just spent $245 on a grocery-bag-size Samsung SSD that holds two terabytes — two million megabytes.

The Compuseum collection-in-formation is currently distributed in the attics and basements of fans’ homes. Scherrer dreams of a display, and a place for classes and training and networking, and “a space where new Continued on next page.

SUPER CROSSWORD PUZZLE ANSWERS

Puzzle on page 11.

Midlands Business Journal • JUNE 21, 2019 •

13

Opioid epidemic hurts US businesses and leads to job automation, UNC study says

by Zachery Eanes

The nation’s opioid epidemic triggered a drop in the number of people able to work, hurting companies’ ability to grow and leading to an increased investment in technologies to replace those workers, a new study from UNC-Chapel Hill’s tRends Kenan-Flagler Business School found.

The study, which hasn’t been published in an academic journal yet, says opioids “effectively make labor costlier” in some communities by shrinking the number of applicants available for jobs. That negatively affects company growth in areas heavily impacted by opioid addiction.

The study also shows that in areas with high levels of opioid abuse, companies have made more investments into technology and automation, which could cause “permanent negative effects on local labor markets.”

The effects were most significant in states with higher levels of opioid prescriptions, of which North Carolina was one.

“The substitution away from labor to capital has implications for communities,” said Elena Simintzi, an assistant professor of finance at Kenan-Flagler and a co-author of the study.

“Blue-collar workers who are middle-aged are more likely to get addicted, and these are the types of jobs that get subbed away with technology. That has a lasting effect in a community.”

She added that many of these employees will then need to be retrained or take jobs in the service economy, which often pays less than traditional manufacturing.

This isn’t the first study to tie opioid addition to labor participation rates.

The late Alan Krueger, a Princeton economist, wrote a paper that said opioids could account for “about 43% of the observed decline in men’s labor force participation.”

Former Federal Reserve chairwoman Janet Yellen also suggested a link during her time at the Fed. But UNC says this is the first study that looks at the impact on the companies that employ those workers.

In areas that had high levels of addiction, the study found a “negative and significant” relationship between opioids and the growth of companies there. In contrast, in states where levels of addiction were lower, the study didn’t find a significant relationship between opioids and firm growth.

Simintzi said this especially hurt companies that employ low-skill manufacturing workers, as low educated workers and those

A computer museum Continued from preceding page. products can be released.” Maybe next to Drexel, in the new Schuylkill Yards, a few blocks from the University City Science Center building at 3675 Market St., where Scherrer says his friends have lately been displaying an assembly of pre-ENIAC mechanical calculators.

Among the donors, he says, is Alfred Poor, former contributing editor of PC Magazine, who donated a copy of every issue after it ceased printing. Worth saving, and looking back on how it all happened, says Scherrer. ©2019 Philly.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

who are at risk for injury on the job are more likely to become addicted to opioids. These companies are often competing with other firms in countries like China or Europe that don’t have face these addiction issues, putting them at a disadvantage, she added.

The study uses a New York Times story about a Youngstown, Ohio-based boiler maker as an anecdote for this phenomenon.

That company misses out on about $200,000 worth of orders ever year because of a lack of labor to fill the orders. Many of its potential employees fail drug tests and can’t work the heavy machinery. A German company is the beneficiary of the firm’s inability to fill all of its orders, the company’s CEO told the Times.

The UNC study measured the relationship between opioid prescriptions and company growth by looking at sales and employment, using a proprietary Compustat sample of publicly traded firms and other data covering public and private companies.

A BRIGHT SPOT

However, there was a bright spot in the study.

In states that have passed laws and regulations around the dissemination of opioids, the study found a link between the passage of laws and stock price increases for the public companies based there.

The study notes that as of last October, 25 states have passed laws meant to limit prescription rates for opioids. North Carolina is one of those states, passing the NC STOP Act in 2017.

The Strengthen Opioid Misuse Prevention or STOP Act limits doctors to prescribing no more than a five-day supply of opioids such as Percocet during an initial visit to treat a patient’s pain issue, The News & Observer reported. Two years ago, the state also implemented an Opioid Action Plan to expand treatment in the state and reduce the oversupply of prescriptions.

From 1999 to 2016, the opioid epidemic claimed 12,590 lives in North Carolina. But the state reported it made some progress in

fighting the epidemic earlier this week at the 2019 Opioid Misuse and Overdose Prevention Summit.

Since the state implemented an Opioid Action Plan two years ago: -Opioid dispensing has decreased by 24%.

-The use of addiction treatment drugs has increased by 15%.

-Opioid-related emergency room visits dropped in 2018, the first such decline in over a decade.

“We are making headway,” Gov. Roy Cooper said at the summit.

“The numbers show progress, but it’s the stories that paint a picture,” he continued.

“Behind those numbers are lives saved, families kept whole. But we haven’t won yet, far from it. We have not yet stopped this disease in our state.” ©2019 The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Ex-offenders in Minnesota are slow-but-growing pipeline for employers

by Neal St. Anthony

The administration of Gov. Tim Walz wants more Minnesota criminal offenders to find a job and housing and fewer to return to prison.

The Minnesota Legislature this session mostly approved HiRing tRends more money for the Department of Corrections for increased staffing in the wake of violent in-prison altercations that resulted in the deaths of two prison guards.

However, Deputy Commissioner Sarah Walker, who once worked with ex-offenders and lobbied for the Second Chance Coalition, said the long-term strategy is to reduce incarceration for low-level, nonviolent offenders and curtail technical parole violations that can send former inmates back to prison. It’s estimated that up to half of offenders are back in jail within a couple of years.

“In Minnesota we have two positions open for every person seeking a job,” Walker said. “There’s a huge opportunity right now.”

Employers are slowly hiring more former convicts as a historically tight labor market offers them incentives to look past the stigma of a prison record. The effort to further bolster hiring faces limits. Some types of felons are barred from working in certain industries like health care, financial services or around children. But, there has been some movement at the Legislature to relax some prohibitions that can keep ex-offenders from landing a job or place to live.

Over the last two years, CEO Isabelle Day of Quality Ingredients of Burnsville, Minn., has hired eight former felons, now 15% of her 56-person workforce, through Minneapolis training-nonprofit Twin Cities Rise, after struggling to retain workers who start at $15 an hour.

She’s been lauded by state corrections officials for her outreach and for helping former offenders with transportation and other issues.

She is delighted with their work ethic, attendance record and what they bring to the company. Quality Ingredients has improved its 401(k) retirement plan to up to 10% of compensation, whether the worker puts anything in or not. And the company has a

short-term, interest-free loan fund.

“A business … must take care of customers, but we must equally take care of employees,” Day said. “We love Twin Cities Rise and will continue to work with them to provide jobs (to former inmates).”

According to Walker and state statistics, Minnesota prisons cost taxpayers more than $50,000 per inmate per year. State jails are near capacity, more than 9,500 inmates.

Another 111,000 adult offenders, including those released from county jails, are on yearslong probation. Most have served time for crimes against people, property, drug and drunk-driving offenses.

“We look to reduce the number of people revoked from supervised release as way to (reduce) the prison population, which creates greater staff safety and also allows for evidenced-based (solutions) such as drug-and-alcohol or mental health treatment,” Walker said.

The Department of Corrections spends about $600 million annually on prison-and-probation services.

Minnesota First Lady Gretchen Walz, a career educator, has made prison reform a mission. She sat in on the job interview of Department of Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell, and she encouraged Walker to apply for the deputy commissioner job.

Minnesota prisoners are disproportionately people of color who underachieved in grade school and have drug-or-alcohol issues.

Dan Pfarr, a veteran nonprofit executive who runs 180 Degrees, which includes the Minneapolis halfway-house Clifton Place, gets $68 per person per day to house up to 200 ex-offenders for up to three months. While at Clifton Place they need to get trained and find a job and housing.

“The question becomes how much money drops down to us in community programming,” Pfarr said. “We do the monitoring, the drug tests, helping to find (affordable) housing and job training That takes a partnership.”

Since 2017, Pfarr has cut ancillary programs, sold a group home and tried to increase funding from foundations, businesses and anyone who will listen to his hopeful message that community-based housing-and-training agencies can be more

successful that prison at helping ex-offenders acquire skills and get jobs in a worker-hungry economy.

“We take guys who have been in prison for six to 20 years and the Department of Corrections gives us (60 to 90 days) to get them housing and a job,” said Arriel McDonald, a 180 Degrees case manager. “Most of them are afraid of committing another crime. But the pressure can lead them to mental health issues, drug or alcohol relapses” and back to old habits.

The illicit-drug business can be the best job around for a tough kid in a rough neighborhood.

“I went from being a crack head and a deadbeat dad for years to a taxpayer…,” said Chris Harris, 44, who started selling drugs at age 13 and spent 23 years in prison. “I now work two full-time jobs. I went from ‘zero to hero’ according to my 14-year-old daughter.

“I made up my mind to go through treatment through the Salvation Army (several years ago). I just feel more productive, mentally, physically, spiritually and financially.

Some days, I work 18 hours. I don’t cheat or steal. I positively influence people.”

Harris works with transitional ex-offenders at 180 Degrees. He also works for Simpson Housing Services. He makes $15 to $17 an hour.

“Nothing happens until a person decided to change,” said Harris, who got his highschool equivalency degree during his last prison stint.

The prison boom since the 1980s locked up disproportionately low-income minority men, most tied to drugs. Blacks are 35% of the Minnesota state-prison population although blacks make up less than 10% of the population, according to U.S. Census estimates. .

McDonald left Chicago 30 years ago to attend the University of Minnesota on a basketball scholarship.

McDonald, who also played professional basketball overseas for years, had a run-in with the law eclipse his professional plans.

Twelve years ago, he was charged with drunken driving following a Gophers reunion at the U. A $100,000-plus job offer from Continued on page 21.

14

• JUNE 21, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal

In order to beat Trump, Democrats must practice modesty “It is a great advantage to a president,” said the 30th of them, “and a major source of safety to the country, for him to know he is not a great man.” Or, Calvin Coolidge would say today, a great woman. While today’s incumbent advertises himself as an “extremely stable genius” and those who would replace him promise national transformation, attention EORGE should be paid to the granular details of presidential politics, which ILL suggest that a politics of modesty might produce voting changes where they matter, and at least 270 electoral votes for a Democrat.

If the near future resembles the immediate past, which it often does, the Democratic nominee in 2020 will be, as the Republican nominee was in 2016, the person favored by the party faction for whom government is more a practical than an ideological concern. For Republicans in 2016, the faction — non-college-educated whites — felt itself a casualty of an economic dynamism that has most benefited people who admire this faction least. In 2020, the decisive Democratic faction in the opinion nomination contest is apt to be, as it was in 2016, African Americans, whose appraisal of government is particularly practical: What will it do regarding health care, employment, schools? For them, packing the Supreme Court, impeaching the president, abolishing the electoral college and other gesture-promises probably are distractions.

African Americans were at least 20 percent of the vote in 15 of the 2016 primaries, and in all the primaries combined, they gave 76 percent of their votes to Hillary Clinton. This is why Trump did not get a chance to defeat Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who narrowly defeated Clinton among white voters in the primaries.

These numbers are from the National Journal’s Josh Kraushaar, who referred to a 2016 Pew Research Center survey that found just 27 percent of African American Democrats identify as liberal, and a plurality describe themselves as moderate. Some of that plurality surely resent the idea of reparations for slavery as a badge of an irremediable damage. And the importance of ensuring robust African American turnout for Democrats is illustrated by this fact: If in 2004 John Kerry had received as many black votes in Ohio as Barack Obama was to receive in 2008, Kerry would have been the 44th president.

Furthermore, in the 110-day sprint between the end of the Democratic nominating convention in Milwaukee and Election Day, the earliest voting — this is subject to change — begins Sept. 18 in Minnesota , and at least one-fifth of 2020 voters will probably cast their ballots before Election Day. The decisive voters might be those who crave not transformation but restoration — the recovery of national governance that is neither embarrassing nor exhausting. So, the Democratic Party, the world’s oldest party, which for the first time in its history has won the popular vote in six of seven presidential elections, should be keenly focused on how to subtract states from Donald Trump’s 2016 roster, and to do so by carrying more than the 487 counties (out of 3,142) that Clinton carried. Democrats might try to decipher the almost 41-point swing in northeast Iowa’s inscrutable Howard County, the only U.S. county that voted in a landslide for Obama over Mitt Romney (by 20.9 points) in 2012 and four years later in a landslide for Trump over Clinton (by 20.1 points).

Democrats must make amends with the 402 other counties that voted for Trump after voting for Obama at least once.

This will require the Democrats’ progressive lions to lay down with the Democrats’ moderate lambs, a spectacle as biblical as it is inimical to progressives’ pride about their wokeness. They might, however, be encouraged to be more politically ecumenical by remembering this: In 2016, Clinton won cumulatively a million more votes than Obama did in 2012 in New York, Massachusetts and California but won 1 million fewer than he received everywhere else.

Everything, however, depends on Democrats jettisoning, before they allow it to influence their selection of a candidate, their self-flattering explanation of 2016. As William Voegeli, senior editor of the Claremont Review of Books, has written:

G W

Did your child return from college a better person?

When assessing America’s or any of the Western world’s universities — wondering whether you should send your child to one; whether you should pay for a child to attend one; whether you should go into great debt to attend one; whether you should donate money to one; and related ENNIS questions — it would seem that the single most important question to be RAGER answered is: What type of person does the university produce?

It is hard to imagine any parent — left, right, liberal, conservative or apolitical — who would disagree with asking this question. They would disagree about what constituted a desirable outcome — obviously left-wing parents would want their child's college to send home a child with left-wing views, and a parent on the right would not be happy if their child returned home with left-wing views — but every parent would agree that the question, “What type of person did college produce?” is an important one.

My belief is that most of the time, colleges today produce a worse human being or, at the very least, a person who is no better, wiser or more mature than when he or she graduated high school.

Let’s begin with behavioral issues.

There is a good chance your son or daughter will have spent much of his or her free time at college partying, which often means getting drunk, smoking marijuana and hooking up with someone for casual sex. While none of those activities necessarily means your son or daughter became a worse human being, all of us can agree that none of them made your child a better one.

Regarding college drinking, Alcohol Rehab Guide, an online alcohol addiction site, reports: “A large percentage of college students consume alcohol by

D P

“Ascribing the 2016 election to your opponents’ bigotry makes clear that the problem was not that Democrats didn’t do enough to deserve people’s votes, but that the people weren’t good enough to deserve Democrats’ governance. . . . One imagines that, sooner rather than later, even Democrats will come to suspect that denigrating people until they vote for you lacks a certain strategic plausibility.” Sooner than the Milwaukee convention?

The Washington Post

binge drinking. ... For men, binge drinking involves drinking five or more alcoholic beverages in two hours. On the other hand, binge drinking for women is considered four or more drinks within a two-hour time period.”

The website also states that “Roughly 80 percent of college students — four out of every five — consume alcohol to some degree. It's estimated that 50 percent of those students engage in binge drinking ...”

BMC Public Health reported in 2013: “One young adult in two has entered university education in Western countries. ... (This) is often associated with risky behaviour such as excessive alcohol consumption. ... We found that the more a student was exposed to college environmental factors, the greater the risk of heavy, frequent, and abusive drinking.

Alcohol consumption increased for students living on campus, living in a dormitory with a higher number of room-mates, and having been in the University for a long spell.”

And we are all aware of the sexual activity that emanates from college drinking and can be regretted the next day (usually by the woman).

Then there is depression and mental illness at college. In the words of clinical psychologist Gregg Henriques through Psychology Today, “It is neither an exaggeration nor is it alarmist to claim that there is a mental health crisis today facing America's college students. Evidence suggests that this group has greater levels of stress and psychopathology than any time in the nation's history.”

Now, let’s move on to values and character.

Did your son or daughter (or niece or nephew, grandson or granddaughter) return home from college: More, less or equally kind a person?

More, less or equally respectful of you, his or her parent(s)?

More, less or equally grateful to you for the monetary sacrifice you made to enable him or her to attend college?

More, less or equally proud to be an American?

More, less or equally respectful of religion?

More, less or equally wise?

More, less or equally committed to free speech?

More, less or equally open to hearing views he or she disagrees with?

I think I know the answers to those questions, in most instances. But far more important than what I assume is what you will find Continued on next page.

Midlands Business Journal • JUNE 21, 2019 •

15

Survey: 40% of top economists expect Fed to cut rates over next year

by Sarah Foster

The U.S. economy has been sending mixed signals in recent days, but the nation’s top economists say there’s likely more harm than good.

Escalating trade tensions between the U.S. and China, slowing growth around the world and waning fiscal stimulus are all acting as a headwind to growth, according to the 20 leading experts polled for Bankrate’s Second-Quarter Economic Indicator survey. The majority (80 eConomy percent) of respondents say that these risks are more heavily tilted toward the downside, while just 10% say they’re tilted toward the upside — down from 19% in the prior quarter’s survey.

“Monetary policy has overly tightened, and fiscal stimulus will dry up by the end of the year,” says Dan North, chief economist at Euler Hermes North America. “Add in trade fears, decaying housing and manufacturing sectors, global weakness, and geopolitical tensions, the result is definitely more downside risk.”

At the same time, respondents’ forecasts for the unemployment rate a year from now averaged out to 3.88 percent, the same as the preceding survey and near a half-century low. The majority of economists (90 percent) also expect the 10-year Treasury note — the benchmark for 30-year fixed mortgage rates, which has been inverted with the three-month yield for more than a week — to pick back up over the next 12 months.

“Labor market data continues to be impressive, but a slower trend in payroll gains is expected,” says Jack Kleinhenz, chief economist for the National Retail Federation. “Meanwhile, consumer spending should be (solidly) supported in the coming months, thanks to the strong jobs market, rising incomes and upbeat consumer sentiment.”

This mixed backdrop has many implications, especially for policymakers at the Federal Reserve. But for consumers, the message is clear: It’s time to make financial hay while the sun is still shining, in preparation for an economic downturn.

That means paying down high-cost debt and building up your emergency savings.

What will the Federal Reserve’s next move be?

This cloudy, uncertain picture has led the Federal Reserve to re-evaluate where its interest rate policy will be heading — and so have the nation’s leading economists.

During the prior survey period, the majority of economists (65 percent) expected that the Fed would hike borrowing costs again this year. Now, just 15% of respondents expect this from the Fed, according to the second quarter survey.

Instead of hiking, the majority of economists (45 percent) now say the Fed will be on hold for the next year.

“Despite a strong domestic economy and job market, the global economy is slowing, financial markets are skittish, and inflation is low, all leading the Fed to take this ‘wait-andsee’ approach,” says Mike Fratantoni, chief economist at the Mortgage Bankers Association.

That’s in line with what officials have communicated.

Records of the Fed’s April-May policy meeting show that officials expressed interest rates would be on hold for “some time,” even if the economy shows improvement. In its March projections, the Fed slashed its forecasts for growth and signaled through it’s so-called dot plot that it also would not be raising interest rates for the rest of this year.

Return from college a better person?

Continued from preceding page. out. Please ask not only the college students and recent college graduates but their parents and other relatives these questions.

Then decide whether you want to risk sending your child to a place that will greatly increase their chances of being depressed, engaging in binge drinking and learning nothing important — while being taught how awful America is, why speech he or she doesn't agree with should be suppressed, how pathetic religious Christians and Jews are, how wonderful religious Muslims are and how important skin color is.

I acknowledge that students who are entering STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields must attend college.

But for most of the rest, sending your child to college is playing Russian roulette with their values, character and even joy of life.

Copyright 2019 Creators.com

But as trade tensions ramp up even further, with the Trump administration threatening additional 25% tariffs on virtually all of China’s remaining imports, the picture has looked even gloomier. Forty% of economists now say that the Fed will be forced to cut rates this year — an outcome that not one economist had expected during the first quarter survey.

“By the first quarter of next year, the economic slowdown will be visible enough to prompt a rate cut from the Fed,” says Scott Anderson, chief economist at San Francisco-based Bank of the West.

Market participants see it that way as well, with nearly 98% of investors betting the Fed will cut rates in January.

That total was 53% a month ago, according to CME Group’s FedWatch.

Though many Fed officials have made clear that it’s too soon to cut rates, such as Chicago Fed President Charles Evans, others have explicitly stated that it might be in the cards. St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said Monday that an interest rate cut could be “warranted soon,” in light of these escalating uncertainties and low inflation, which has stubbornly remained below the Fed’s 2% objective.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said Tuesday that the committee would be closely monitoring the situation and is prepared to “act as appropriate to sustain the expansion,” thought that doesn’t explicitly mean that the Fed is going to cut rates.

Where will the job market head in the year ahead?

But amid these uncertainties, one aspect of the current expansion has continued to flex its muscles: The U.S. job market.

Over the past three months, the U.S. economy has created an average of 169,000 new jobs each month. The exceptionally low number of new positions added in February was higher than initially reported, while the unemployment rate in April dropped to 3.6 percent, which is now the lowest level since December 1969.

To date, the current expansion has added more than 20 million new positions during more than 100 months of job gains.

Strength in the job market should continue, economists said in this latest survey, with the average forecast calling for monthly payroll gains of 153,380. Though that’s down from the three-month moving average and what the prior survey called for (165,905), it’s still enough to stay ahead of population growth, says Greg McBride, CFA, Bankrate’s chief financial analyst.

Forecasts have likely shifted lower because of tightness in the labor market, he says. Employers across the U.S. have said it’s difficult to find enough workers to fill open positions, holding down the pace of growth, according to the Fed’s April Beige Book. Employers in the Chicago Fed’s district, for example, were in such need of lower-skilled workers that they reported an “increased willingness to hire and keep workers who had failed drug tests.”

“The primary challenge of the labor market is supplying need skilled labor in sectors like construction, transportation, and manufacturing,” says Robert Dietz, chief economist at the National Association of Home Builders. “A renewed focus on community college and trade schools will lift worker productivity and fill the large number of open, unfilled positions in the economy.”

Where can you expect the 10-year Treasury yield to go?

The 10-year Treasury yield has been trading below the rate of the three-month bill since May 23 — a metric that many experts call a “recession predictor,” as it means that investors believe it’s riskier to trade over the short term than the long term. But that likely won’t last for long, if economists’ predictions come true.

The average of all economists’ forecasts calls for a 10-year Treasury rate of 2.67 percent. Though that’s down from the 3.04% forecasted in the prior quarter, it’s higher than where the rate is trading now: 2.10 percent, as of Wednesday.

The main cluster of agreement lies between 2.59% and 2.94 percent. If the 10-year yield were to reach the upper bound of that projection, it would be at a level that hasn’t been reached since the beginning of December 2018.

Twenty% of economists surveyed expect that the yield will be higher than 3 percent, while 30% are predicting a yield of 2.5% or less.

Where will growth be heading?

Last year was a banner year for both the domestic and the global economy. Countries were expanding across the world, and gross domestic product (GDP) in the U.S. — the total output of goods and services — reached nearly 3 percent, the strongest since 2015.

This year is shaping up to be much different, with growth looking like it’s peaked.

The survey also asked economists whether that assessment was true. The overwhelming answer? Yes. “The U.S. annualized GDP growth rate has peaked this cycle. It is unlikely that there will be another quarter with a 3% or higher growth rate anytime soon,” says Bernard Markstein, president and chief economist at Markstein Advisors. “Investment appears to slowing. Consumer spending is likely to slow in the face of higher prices due to increases from imported goods.”

Economists partially blame slower growth on fading fiscal stimulus. The Trump administration’s tax cuts in 2017 helped provide a boost to growth, sending the U.S. economy on a sugar high and propelling growth in the second quarter of 2018 above a whopping 4 percent. That lift, however, appears to have all but faded, economists said.

But the other culprit is the escalating trade war with China. The Trump administration on May 10 hiked tariffs to 25% on $200 billion worth of goods and now threatens to tax all remaining Chinese imports. This is expected to weigh on consumer spending, as well as business confidence and investment, economists in the survey said.

“The trade shock will yield a recession, or near to one,” says William Poole, distinguished senior scholar at the Mises Institute who formerly served as president of the St. Louis Fed. “Thus, growth in 2019 will slow.”

Consumer takeaways Though the U.S. economy has been sending off some mixed messages, it’s continuing to hum along, with low unemployment and rising incomes, McBride says.

Meanwhile, expectations for the 10-year Treasury yield indicate that the mortgage benchmark could start to pick back up from its current near two-year low. Those shopping around for a home loan should compare mortgage lenders to make sure they’re getting the best rate possible.

But perhaps the most pressing issue is the growing uncertainties that are clouding the outlook and threatening the expansion altogether. It’s important to start preparing for the next downturn now, McBride says.

“Eighty% of the economists polled see the risks as tilted toward the downside,” he says. “Heed the warning and stabilize your finances now. Boost your savings, pay down and pay off high-cost debt to create some breathing room in your budget that may come in handy whenever the economy slows and your income is reduced.”

Methodology The Second-Quarter 2019 Bankrate Economic Indicator Survey of economists was conducted May 21-29. Survey requests were emailed to economists nationwide, and responses were submitted voluntarily online. Responding were: Scott Anderson, executive vice president and chief economist, Bank of the West; Scott J. Brown, chief economist, Raymond James Financial; Robert A. Brusca, chief economist. Fact and Opinion Economics; Diane Swonk, chief economist, Grant Thornton; Ryan Sweet, director of real-time economics, Moody’s Analytics; Daniil Manaenkov, chief U.S. economist, RSQE, University of Michigan; Sarah House, senior economist at Wells Fargo; Jack Kleinhenz, Ph.D., chief economist and principal, Kleinhenz & Associates; Bernard Markstein, president and chief economist, Markstein Advisors; Robert Dietz, chief economist, National Association of Home Builders; Joel L. Naroff, president, Naroff Economic Advisors; John E Silvia, president, Dynamic Economic Strategy; Gregory Daco, chief U.S. economist, Oxford Economics; William Poole, distinguished senior scholar, Mises Institute; Lynn Reaser; Bob Baur, chief global economist, Principal Global Investors; Mike Fratantoni, chief economist, Mortgage Bankers Association; Dan North, chief economist, Euler Hermes North America; Bob Hughes, senior research fellow, American Institute for Economic Research. ©2019 Bankrate.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

16

• JUNE 21, 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.

LEGAL NOTICE In the District Court of Hall County, Nebraska. PR17-523 STATE OF NEBRASKA, on Behalf of EMANUEL ANTONIO RIVERA, Minor Child, Plaintiff, vs. ANTONIO JAMES RIVERA, Defendant, MARTHA ROMINA RIVAS, Defendant.

TO: ANTONIO JAMES RIVERA, Defendant: You are hereby notified that Defendant Rivas has commenced an action in the District Court of Hall County, Nebraska, the object and prayer of which is for Defendant Rivas to obtain legal and physical cusody of the parties' minor child; establish parenting time and that the parties should share in the daycare expenses and unreimbursed medical expenses of the minor child; for a modification of child support effective May 1, 2019; for attorney fees; and for such other and different relief as the Court may deem just and equitable. You are required to answer said Complaint on or before July 10, 2019, or an order will be entered against you.

MARTHA ROMINA RIVAS, Defendant Joshua A. Johnson, #25260 CONWAY, PAULEY & JOHNSON, P.C. P.O. BOX 315 Hastings, NE 68902-0315 402-462-5187 jjohnson@hastingslaw.com Attorney for Defendant Rivas First publication May 31, 2019, final June 21, 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: DESHAUNA M. STARKS, 10365 Hamilton Plaza Apt 308, Omaha NE 68114, you are hereby notified that on March 26, 2019, Credit Acceptance Corporation. filed a suit against you in the Douglas County Court at docket CI19-6818, the object in prayer of which was to secure a judgment against you in the amount of $8,858.07, 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 July , 2019, the Petition against you will be considered as true and judgment will be entered against you accordingly.

First publication May 31, 2019, final June 21, 2019 JAMES WALTER CRAMPTON, Attorney 1904 Farnam Street, Suite 200 Omaha, Nebraska 68102 NOTICE OF TRUSTEE SALE TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: You are hereby notified that the following described property will be sold by James Walter Crampton, Successor Trustee, at public auction to the highest bidder at the Douglas County Civic Center, Farnam Street Level, 1819 Farnam St, in the City of Omaha, Douglas County, Nebraska on July 12, 2019, at 9:00 a.m.

Lot 9, and the East 40 feet of Lot 10, Block 126, South Omaha City Lots, now a part of the City of Omaha, as surveyed, platted and recorded in Douglas County, Nebraska.

DATED, at Omaha, Nebraska May 20, 2019.

First publication May 31, 2019, final June 28, 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: MARIO ROJAS LOPEZ, 106 N 9th St, Tecumseh NE 68450, you are hereby notified that on March 27, 2019, AMERICAN FAMILY MUTUAL INS. Co., S.I. filed a suit against you in the Douglas County Court at docket CI19-6966, the object in prayer of which was to secure a judgment against you in the amount of $7,375.77, 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 5th day of August, 2019, the Petition against you will be considered as true and judgment will be entered against you accordingly.

First publication June 14, 2019, final July 5, 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: FELICIA R GLASS & KHADIJAH MILLER, 12130 Anne St Apt 1, Omaha NE 68137, you are hereby notified that on January 2, 2019, SHELTER MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY filed a suit against you in the Douglas County DISTRICT Court at docket CI19-31, the object in prayer of which was to secure a judgment against you in the amount of $61,141.00, together with court costs, interest and attorney's fees as allowed by law. Unless you file your Answer with the Douglas County DISTRICT Court on or before the 5th day of August, 2019, the Petition against you will be considered as true and judgment will be entered against you accordingly.

First publication June 14, 2019, final July 5, 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: LONDAN YANCY, 221 E Mckinley Ave Apt 202, Des Moines IA 50315, you are hereby notified that on January 3, 2019, American Family Mutual Ins. Co., S.I. filed a suit against you in the Douglas County Court at docket CI19-254, the object in prayer of which was to secure a judgment against you in the amount of $7,171.85, 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 29th day of July, 2019, the Petition against you will be considered as true and judgment will be entered against you accordingly.

First publication June 7, 2019, final June 28, 2019

NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION Notice is given that BEAUTY SCAPES OF OMAHA, LLC has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska with the following registered agent and registered office: Jim Simmons at 5034 Corby St. Omaha, NE 68104. The general nature of the Company's business is to engage in any lawful business permitted under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The company was organized on May 17, 2019, and it shall continue in perpetuity unless sooner terminated in accordance with the terms of its operating agreement. In general, the Company's business is to be managed by its primary member Josue Lopez in accordance with the Company's operating agreement.

First publication June 14, 2019, final June 28, 2019

HALEY REAL ESTATE GROUP, LLC 10703 J Street, Suite 101 Omaha, NE 68127 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION FOR POINTE HC4, LLC A Certificate of Organization was filed with the Nebraska Secretary of State for Pointe HC4, LLC (the “Company”) on April 19, 2019. The address of the Company’s designated office is 10703 J Street, Suite 101, Omaha, NE 68127. The name and address for the Company’s registered agent is Carl J. Troia, Jr., 10703 J Street, Suite 101, Omaha, NE 68127.

First publication May 31, 2019, final June 14, 2019

HUSCH BLACKWELL LLP, Attorneys 13330 California Street, Suite 200 Omaha, Nebraska 68154 NOTICE OF CONVERSION OF SCRIBE GREETINGS, LLC TO SCRIBE GREETINGS, INC. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that SCRIBE GREETINGS, LLC, a Nebraska limited liability company, has filed Articles of Conversion with the Nebraska Secretary of State converting the limited liability company to SCRIBE GREETINGS, INC., a Delaware corporation, effective June 6, 2019. The Company has designated its registered agent as The Corporation Trust Company, with registered office at 1209 Orange Street, Wilmington, DE 19801.

First publication June 14, 2019, final June 28, 2019 DIANE B. METZ, Attorney 1823 Harney Street, ES 1005 Omaha, Nebraska 68102 LEGAL NOTICE In the County Court of Douglas County, Nebraska. PR19-760 Estate of Lucille Cochran, Deceased Notice is hereby given that on May 31, 2019, in the County Court of Douglas County, Nebraska, Charles Cochran whose address is 6304 North 40th Street, Omaha, NE. 68111 has been appointed 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 August 14, 2019 or be forever barred.

CARROL L. MILLS Registrar First publication June 14, 2019, final June 28, 2019 NOTICE OF PUBLICATION TO: MAYRA ALFARO You are hereby notified that on 01/20/19, the Plaintiff Credit Management Services, Inc., filed a Complaint in the COUNTY Court of DOUGLAS County, Nebraska, against you shown as Case Number CI19 1762 . The object and prayer of which is a judgment in the amount of 9,467.00, plus court costs, pre-judgment interest and attorney fees, if applicable.

The Complaint prays that judgment be entered against you. You are hereby notified that you must answer the Complaint on or before 07/28/19 at the COUNTY court of DOUGLAS County, OMAHA Nebraska.

Megan L. Bischoff #25206 P.O. Box 1512 Grand Island, NE 68802 (308)398-3801 Attorney for Plaintiff First publication June 14, 2019, final June 28, 2019 NOTICE OF PUBLICATION TO: KEVIN BLACKEMCCLAIN You are hereby notified that on 12/31/18, the Plaintiff Credit Management Services, Inc., filed a Complaint in the COUNTY Court of DOUGLAS County, Nebraska, against you shown as Case Number CI19 15 . The object and prayer of which is a judgment in the amount of 235.00, plus court costs, pre-judgment interest and attorney fees, if applicable.

The Complaint prays that judgment be entered against you. You are hereby notified that you must answer the Complaint on or before 07/28/19 at the COUNTY court of DOUGLAS County, OMAHA Nebraska.

Steven J. Morrison #24708 P.O. Box 1512 Grand Island, NE 68802 (308)398-3801 Attorney for Plaintiff First publication June 14, 2019, final June 28, 2019

ABRAHAMS KASLOW & CASSMAN LLP, Attorneys 8712 West Dodge Road, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION CSI Auto Sales & Service 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 Robert M. Schartz, Abrahams Kaslow & Cassman LLP, 8712 West Dodge Road, Suite 300, Omaha, Nebraska 68114.

First publication June 14, 2019, final June 28, 2019 ABRAHAMS KASLOW & CASSMAN LLP, Attorneys 8712 West Dodge Road, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF INCORPORATION Chemocharity has been incorporated under the Nebraska Nonprofit Corporation Act. The corporation is a public benefit corporation. The street address of the corporation’s initial registered office is 8712 West Dodge Road, Suite 300, Omaha, Nebraska 68114, and the name of the initial registered agent of the corporation at that office is Kathryn A. Glissman.

The name and street address of the sole incorporator of the corporation is Kathryn A. Glissman, 8712 West Dodge Road, Suite 300, Omaha, Nebraska 68114. The corporation will not have members.

First publication June 14, 2019, final June 28, 2019 DANIEL J. WATERS, Attorney LAMSON, DUGAN and MURRAY, LLP 10306 Regency Parkway Drive Omaha, Nebraska 68114-3743 NOTICE OF AMENDMENT TO ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION OF PHYSMED INCORPORATED Notice is hereby given that the Articles of Amendment to the Articles of Incorporation of Physmed Incorporated, were adopted on December 17, 2018 to increase the amount of authorized shares. The name and street address of the corporation’s registered agent is LDM Business Services, Inc, 10306 Regency Parkway Drive, Omaha, NE 68114. The full text of such Articles of Amendment to the Articles of Incorporation is on file with the Secretary of State.

First publication June 14, 2019, final June 28, 2019 DANIEL J. WATERS, Attorney LAMSON, DUGAN and MURRAY, LLP 10306 Regency Parkway Drive Omaha, Nebraska 68114-3743 NOTICE OF AMENDMENT TO ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION OF SERENECARE, INC. Notice is hereby given that the Articles of Amendment to the Articles of Incorporation of Serenecare, Inc., were adopted on December 17, 2018 to increase the amount of authorized shares. The name and street address of the corporation’s registered agent is LDM Business Services, Inc, 10306 Regency Parkway Drive, Omaha, NE 68114. The full text of such Articles of Amendment to the Articles of Incorporation is on file with the Secretary of State.

First publication June 14, 2019, final June 28, 2019 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION of a Limited Liability Company Notice is hereby given the registration with the Nebraska Secretary of state’s office of JLC Construction, LLC under the laws of the State of Nebraska as follows: The name of the company is JLC Construction, LLC. Registered agent and office of JLC Construction, LLC at 2020 Oak Street, Omaha, NE 68108. Initial members: Juan Luis Aguilar Ceballos. 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 May 2019 for the perpetual duration and is managed by its members.

First publication June 14, 2019, final June 28, 2019

Midlands Business Journal • JUNE 21, 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 DISSOLUTION NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that A Latere Academy LLC, a Nebraska limited liability company, filed its Statement of Dissolution with the Nebraska Secretary of State on May 22, 2019, and the company is in the process of voluntary dissolution. The terms and conditions of such dissolution are, in general, that all debts and obligations of the company are to be fully paid and satisfied or adequate provision is to be made therefore, and that the balance of any remaining assets are to be distributed to its Members. Ellen Miller will wind up and liquidate the company’s business and affairs. If you have a claim against A Latere Academy LLC, please provide the following information with respect to your claim: (1) your name or the name of your entity; (2) the nature of your claim; (3) the amount of your claim; and (4) the date your claim arose. All claims shall be mailed to 2517 N 56th Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68104. A claim against against A Latere Academy LLC is barred unless an action to enforce the claim is commenced within five (5) years after the publication date of the third required notice.

First publication June 21, 2019, final July 5, 2019 DVORAK LAW GROUP LLC 9500 West Dodge Road, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF SITE DEVELOPMENT LEASE SIX OZ FUND, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that Site Development Lease Six OZ Fund, LLC (the “Company”) has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The Designated Office Address of the Company is 10340 North 84th Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68122. The Registered Agent of the Company is Zach Wiegert, 10340 North 84th Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68122.

First publication June 21, 2019, final July 5, 2019 ABRAHAMS KASLOW & CASSMAN LLP, Attorneys 8712 West Dodge Road, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION Thrive Partners, 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 18615 Edna Street, Omaha, NE 68136. The name and street and mailing address of the initial registered agent of the company for service of process are R. Craig Fry, Abrahams Kaslow & Cassman LLP, 8712 West Dodge Road, Suite 300, Omaha, Nebraska 68114.

First publication June 21, 2019, final July 5, 2019 THOMAS C. LAURITSEN, Attorney ANDERSEN, LAURITSEN & BROWER 1005 South 107th Avenue, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF FILING OF CERTIFICATE OF ORGANIZATION OF RANDAZZO EXECUTIVE RECRUITING, LLC A Limited Liability Company NOTICE IS I HEREBY GIVEN that Randazzo Executive Recruiting, LLC, a Limited Liability Company, has filed a Certificate of Organization under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The address of its registered office is 2524 S. 166th Street, Omaha, NE 68130. The general nature ofthe business is to engage in and to 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 Nebraska.

The company commenced business on June 7, 2019,and its duration shall be perpetual. The affairs of the corporation are to be conducted by its members.

Member: Jason Randazzo First publication June 21, 2019, final July 5, 2019 BENJAMIN J. PICK, Attorney PANSING HOGAN ERNST & BACHMAN LLP 10250 Regency Circle, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114-3728 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF SMART TITLE, LLC Notice is hereby given of the organization of Smart Title, LLC. 1. The name of the limited liability company is Smart Title, LLC. 2. The street and mailing address of the initial designated office is 17725 Welch Plaza, Suite D-1, Omaha, Nebraska, and the name and street address of the initial agent for service of process is Tiffany E. Thompson, 4611 South 96th Street, Suite 250, Omaha, Nebraska 68135.

First publication June 21, 2019, final July 5, 2019 DAMILOLA J. OLUYOLE, Attorney YOLE LAW P.C., L.L.O. 10730 Pacific Street, Suite 247 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF SOKPOH LAW GROUP, LLC Notice is hereby given that Sokpoh Law Group, LLC has been organized as a limited liability company under Nebraska laws, with its designated office at 10730 Pacific Street, Suite 247, Omaha, NE 68114. It is organized to transact any lawful business for which a Limited Liability Company may be organized under Nebraska laws and its duration is perpetual commencing from April 30th, 2019. Its affairs are to be conducted by the manager Karine Sokpoh. Its registered agent is Karine Sokpoh and her office is located at 10730 Pacific Street, Suite 247, Omaha, NE 68114. First publication June 21, 2019, final July 5, 2019 First publication June 21, 2019, final July 5, 2019

NOTICE OF INCORPORATION OF 20 TWENTY VIDEO, INC. Notice is hereby given that a corporation has been formed under the laws of the State of Nebraska, and that the name of the corporation is 20 TWENTY VIDEO, INC. The corporation is authorized to issue 10,000 shares of common stock. The name and street address of the corporation’s initial registered agent is USCA (United States Corporation Agents), INC., 1603 Farnam Street, Omaha, NE 68102, and its incorporator is Bryan Smith, 2906 Mason Street, Omaha, NE 68105.

Bryan Smith, Incorporator First publication June 7, 2019, final June 21, 2019 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF Papa Rico’s, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that on May 24, 2019, Papa Rico’s, LLC was organized as a limited liability company under the Nebraska Uniform Limited Liability Company Act, with a designated office at 7804 South 71st Street, LaVista, NE 68128. The Company’s initial agent for service of process is Donna M. Garcia, whose address is 7804 South 71st Street, LaVista, NE 68128.

First publication June 7, 2019, final June 21, 2019 BRANDON K. DICKERSON, Attorney LIKES MEYERSON HATCH LLC 444 Regency Parkway Drive, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF MITCH KAVANAGH LLC Notice is hereby given that Mitch Kavanagh 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 5745 N. 79th Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68134, and the Company’s initial agent for service of process at such address is Mitch Kavanagh.

First publication June 7, 2019, final June 21, 2019 HUSCH BLACKWELL LLP, Attorneys 13330 California Street, Suite 200 Omaha, Nebraska 68154 NOTICE OF INCORPORATION OF WILLIAMS AND FENSKE, INC. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that WILLIAMS AND FENSKE, INC. has been incorporated as a corporation under the laws of the State of Nebraska (the “Company”). The Company has designated its registered agent as Zach Williams, with registered office at 1706 North 203rd Street, Elkhorn, Nebraska 68022. The Company was organized and commenced perpetual existence on May 30, 2019.

First publication June 7, 2019, final June 21, 2019 LEGACY DESIGN STRATEGIES 9859 South 168th Avenue Omaha, NE 68136 Notice of Organization Platinum Interiors & Design Notice is hereby given that Platinum Interiors & Design, 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 John Diamantis, and with its initial designated office at 8213 N 127th Avenue, Omaha, NE 68142.

First publication June 7, 2019, final June 21, 2019 MATTHEW T. PAYNE, Attorney PANSING HOGAN ERNST & BACHMAN LLP 10250 Regency Circle, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114-3728 NOTICE OF ARTICLES OF AMENDMENT TO ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION OF TONEY’S ENTERPRISES, INC. Notice is hereby given of Articles of Amendment to the Articles of Incorporation of Toney’s Enterprises, Inc. as follows: Article I of the Articles of Incorporation of the Corporation is hereby amended so that, as amended, said Article shall provide that the name of the Corporation shall be J3 Roofing and Contracting, Inc. The Articles of Amendment to Articles of Incorporation were filed with the Secretary of State of Nebraska on May 30, 2019. In all other respects, the Articles of Incorporation remain unchanged.

First publication June 7, 2019, final June 21, 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: JOSHUA CASE, 2501 Poppleton Ave Apt 3, Omaha NE 68105, you are hereby notified that on February 18, 2019, Credit Acceptance Corp. filed a suit against you in the Douglas County Court at docket CI19-3961, the object in prayer of which was to secure a judgment against you in the amount of $8,818.36, 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 29th day of July, 2019, the Petition against you will be considered as true and judgment will be entered against you accordingly.

First publication June 7, 2019, final June 28, 2019 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION Notice is hereby given that Global Claims, LLC, a Nebraska Limited Liability Company, has been organized under the laws of the state of Nebraska, with its initial designated office at 19258 Spencer Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68022. The initial agent for service of process is Kyle Maring, 19258 Spencer Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68022.

First publication June 14, 2019, final June 28, 2019

17

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 THORNTON PROPERTY GROUP, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that Thornton Property Group, LLC has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The designated office of the limited liability company is 2285 South 67th Street #250, Omaha, Nebraska 68106. The registered agent and office of the limited liability company is Todd Swirczek, 2285 South 67th Street #250, Omaha, Nebraska 68106. The limited liability company commenced business on June 17, 2019.

First publication June 21, 2019, final July 5, 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 3842, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that 3842, LLC has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The designated office of the limited liability company is 12256 County Road 40, Bennington, Nebraska 68007. 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 June 12, 2019.

First publication June 21, 2019, final July 5, 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 CARRIE STROVERS LAW, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that Carrie Strovers Law, LLC has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska to conduct the practice of law. The designated office of the limited liability company is 2381 South 87th Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68124. 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 June 13, 2019.

First publication June 21, 2019, final July 5, 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 HILAREBA, LLC The name of the Company is Hilareba, LLC. The Designated Office of the Company is: 6610 Davenport Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68132. 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 June 17, 2019.

First publication June 21, 2019, final July 5, 2019 WAYNE S. RASMUSSEN, Attorney SMITH SLUSKY POHREN & ROGERS LLP 8712 West Dodge Road, Suite 400 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF ENGELKEMIER FARMS, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that on June 13, 2019, Engelkemier Farms, LLC was organized as a limited liability company under the Nebraska Uniform Limited Liability Company Act, with a designated office at 8712 West Dodge Road, Suite 400, Omaha, Nebraska 68114 The Company’s initial agent for service of process is Wayne S. Rasmussen, 8712 West Dodge Rd., Suite 400, Omaha, Nebraska 68114.

First publication June 21, 2019, final July 5, 2019

MICHAEL D. McCLELLAN, Attorney MCCLELLAN LAW OFFICE, LLC 12020 Shamrock Plaza, #333 Omaha, Nebraska 68154 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION of Community Homes Investment, LLC a Nebraska Limited Liability Company.

Notice is hereby given that Community Homes Investment, LLC, Nebraska Limited Liability Company, has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska, with its initial designated office at 3735 North 39th Street, Omaha, NE 68111, and its registered agent is Michael D. McClellan with a registered office at 12020 Shamrock Plaza, Suite 333, Omaha, NE 68154. The general nature of its business is to engage in and to 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 company was organized and commenced on May 17, 2019.

First publication June 21, 2019, final July 5, 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 A&K GOLDMAN PROPERTIES, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that A&K Goldman Properties, LLC has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The designated office of the limited liability company is 2316 North 177th Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68116. 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 June 13, 2019.

First publication June 21, 2019, final July 5, 2019

18

• JUNE 21, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal

LEGAL NOTICES GROSS & WELCH, P.C., L.L.O., Attorneys 2120 South 72 Street, Suite 1500 Omaha, Nebraska 68124 NOTICE OF ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION OF NATURE HILLS NURSERY, INC. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that Nature Hills Nursery, Inc., a Nebraska corporation, was organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska on May 23, 2019. Its designated office is located at 2336 South 156th Circle, Omaha, Nebraska 68152. Its initial registered agent for service of process is CorporAgent, Inc. with an address at 2120 South 72nd Street, Suite 1500, Omaha, Nebraska 68124.

Ronald L. Eggers, Organizer First publication June 14, 2019, final June 28, 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 WG FULL SERVICE SALON SUITES, LLC The name of the Company is WG Full Service Salon Suites, LLC. The Designated Office of the Company is: 4605 North 172nd Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68116. The Registered Agent and Office of the Company is: Eric Renner, 4605 North 172nd Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68116. This limited liability company commenced business on June 5, 2019.

First publication June 14, 2019, final June 28, 2019 NOTICE OF INCORPORATION OF EPPLEY PROFESSIONAL FIREFIGHTERS LOCAL 4573, A NEBRASKA NONPROFIT CORPORATION NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the undersigned have formed a corporation under the Nebraska Nonprofit Corporation Act. The name of the corporation is EPPLEY PROFESSIONAL FIREFIGHTERS LOCAL 4573, A NEBRASKA NONPROFIT CORPORATION, with a registered office at 5111 Boeing Ct., Omaha, Nebraska 68110, and the registered agent is NICHOLAS HOWE. The general nature of the business is a public benefit corporation and shall have for its additional purpose providing for managing any benevolent, charitable, civic, educational, fraternal, athletic, patriotic, social and labor organization or society, as well as the making of donations to the public welfare or for charitable or educational purposes, and to perform services of every kind and nature whatsoever, which are not inconsistent with law. The corporation commenced May 3, 2019, and shall have perpetual existence. The corporation will have members.

ANTHONY L. GROSS, Incorporator CATHERINE L. WHITE, Incorporator 3018 South 87th Street, Omaha, NE 68124 First publication June 14, 2019, final June 28, 2019 DVORAK LAW GROUP LLC 9500 West Dodge Road, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF DISSOLUTION NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that GCP II East Park, LLC, a Nebraska limited liability company, filed its Statement of Dissolution with the Nebraska Secretary of State on May 17, 2019, and the company is in the process of voluntary dissolution. The terms and conditions of such dissolution are, in general, that all debts and obligations of the company are to be fully paid and satisfied or adequate provision is to be made therefore, and that the balance of any remaining assets are to be distributed to its Members. Zach Wiegert will wind up and liquidate the company’s business and affairs. If you have a claim against the company, please provide the following information with respect to your claim: 1) your name or the name of your entity; 2) the nature of your claim; 3) the amount of your claim; and 4) the date your claim arose. All claims shall be mailed to GCP II East Park, LLC, 10340 North 84th Street, Omaha, NE 68122. A claim against the company is barred unless an action to enforce the claim is commenced within five (5) years after the publication date of the third required notice.

First publication June 14, 2019, final June 28, 2019 GNUSE & GREEN LAW OFFICES, P.C., Attorneys 11311 Chicago Circle Omaha, Nebraska 68154 NOTICE OF INCORPORATION OF PHAM TRAN, INC. Registered Office: 11311 Chicago Circle, Omaha, Nebraska, 68154 The Corporation shall engage in any lawful business for which a corporation may be formed under the Nebraska Model Business Corporation Act. Authorized capital stock is $10,000 to be fully paid and non-assessable on issue. Perpetual existence commenced June 5, 2019, when articles were filed with the Secretary of State. Affairs are to be conducted by the Board of Directors and Officers authorized by the Bylaws and the Board.

Rodney G. Gnuse, Incorporator First publication June 14, 2019, final June 28, 2019 GROSS & WELCH, P.C., L.L.O., Attorneys 2120 South 72 Street, Suite 1500 Omaha, Nebraska 68124 NOTICE OF ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION OF K9 CUISINE, INC. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that K9 Cuisine, Inc., a Nebraska corporation, was organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska on May 23, 2019. Its designated office is located at 2336 South 156th Circle, Omaha, Nebraska 68152. Its initial registered agent for service of process is CorporAgent, Inc. with an address at 2120 South 72nd Street, Suite 1500, Omaha, Nebraska 68124.

Ronald L. Eggers, Organizer First publication June 14, 2019, final June 28, 2019

NOTICE OF INCORPORATION OF BIDMYBEATS.COM, INC. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that BIDMYBEATS.COM, INC., is incorporated under the laws of the State of Nebraska, with a registered office at 17273 Adams Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68135. The registered agent is ADRIAN A. THOMPSON. The general nature of the business is to operate a general e-commerce business, to own, operate and perform services of every kind and nature whatsoever, which are not inconsistent with law, which are necessary, suitable, proper, convenient or expedient to the operation of a general e-commerce business. The authorized capital stock is $10,000.00, consisting of 10,000 shares of stock having a par value of $1.00 each, which stock shall be paid for wholly or partly by cash, by labor, by personal property and by real property. The corporation became a corporate body on March 1, 2019, and shall have perpetual existence. The affairs of the corporation are to be conducted by a Board of Directors, the number of directors to be provided in the By-Laws, and the officers shall be a President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer, and such other officers as shall be designated in the By-Laws.

ANTHONY L. GROSS, Incorporator CATHERINE L. WHITE, Incorporator 3018 South 87th Street, Omaha, NE 68124 First publication June 14, 2019, final June 28, 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 605 GROUP LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that 605 Group LLC has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The designated office of the limited liability company is 605 North 65th Avenue, Omaha, Nebraska 68132. 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 June 6, 2019.

First publication June 14, 2019, final June 28, 2019 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF 4310 N. 24TH STREET, L.L.C. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that 4310 N. 24TH STREET, L.L.C., is organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska, with a designated and regis¬tered office at 2821 Caldwell Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68131. The affairs of the company are to be conducted by the manager and registered officer, JUSTIN MOORE. The Limited Liability Company is organized to transact any and all business, and perform services of every kind and nature whatsoever, which are not inconsistent with law. The Limited Liability Company commenced on April 27, 2019, and shall have perpetual existence.

JUSTIN MOORE, Organizational Member 2821 Caldwell Street, Omaha, NE 68131 First publication June 14, 2019, final June 28, 2019 NOTICE OF INCORPORATION OF ANTHONY EVANS CLINICAL, INC. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that ANTHONY EVANS CLINICAL, INC., is incorporated under the laws of the State of Nebraska, with a registered office at 15468 Harney Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68154. The registered agent is ANTHONY W. EVANS. The general nature of the business is to operate a general clinical specialist business, to own, operate and perform services of every kind and nature whatsoever, which are not inconsistent with law, which are necessary, suitable, proper, convenient or expedient to the operation of a general clinical specialist business. The authorized capital stock is $10,000.00, consisting of 10,000 shares of stock having a par value of $1.00 each, which stock shall be paid for wholly or partly by cash, by labor, by personal property and by real property. The corporation became a corporate body on April 29, 2019, and shall have perpetual existence. The affairs of the corporation are to be conducted by a Board of Directors, the number of directors to be provided in the By-Laws, and the officers shall be a President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer, and such other officers as shall be designated in the By-Laws.

ANTHONY L. GROSS, Incorporator CATHERINE L. WHITE, Incorporator 3018 South 87th Street, Omaha, NE 68124 First publication June 14, 2019, final June 28, 2019 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF ETC CONSTRUCTION SERVICES, L.L.C. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that ETC CONSTRUCTION SERVICES, L.L.C., is organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska, with a designated and regis¬tered office at 3454 South 82nd Street, #3, Omaha, Nebraska 68124. The affairs of the company are to be conducted by the manager and registered officer, ELIJAH T. CHILDERS. The Limited Liability Company is organized to transact any and all business, and perform services of every kind and nature whatsoever, which are not inconsistent with law. The Limited Liability Company commenced on April 30, 2019, and shall have perpetual existence.

ELIJAH T. CHILDERS, Organizational Member 3454 South 82nd Street, #3, Omaha, NE 68124 First publication June 14, 2019, final June 28, 2019 SMITH SLUSKY POHREN & ROGERS LLP 8712 West Dodge Road, Suite 400 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF R & C WEISS, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that on May 8, 2019, R & C WEISS, LLC was organized as a limited liability company under the Nebraska Uniform Limited Liability Company Act, with a designated office at 14121 Jaynes Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68164 The Company’s initial agent for service of process is Christine Weiss, 14121 Jaynes Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68164.

First publication June 14, 2019, final June 28, 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: KALVIN J PAGE, 8920 Read St, Omaha NE 68122, you are hereby notified that on March 25, 2019, SHELTER MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY filed a suit against you in the Douglas County Court at docket CI19-6690, the object in prayer of which was to secure a judgment against you in the amount of $29,860.61, 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 5th day of August, 2019, the Petition against you will be considered as true and judgment will be entered against you accordingly.

First publication June 14, 2019, final July 5, 2019 ERICKSON l SEDERSTROM, P.C., Attorneys 10330 Regency Parkway Drive, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF INCORPORATION Corporate Name: KWDDSSDC, 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: 1,000 Incorporator: Karry Whitten, 1111 N. 102nd Ct., Suite 214, Omaha, NE 68114 First publication June 14, 2019, final June 28, 2019 BARBARA MEDBERY-PRCHAL, P.C., L.L.O., Attorney 10305 Joseph Circle La Vista, Nebraska 68128 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF MALOLEY MARKETING AND CONSULTING, 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 Maloley Marketing and Consulting, 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 1004 S. 211st Street, Elkhorn, NE 68118.

Ann Maloley, Member First publication June 14, 2019, final June 28, 2019 AMANDA M. FORKER, Attorney PANSING HOGAN ERNST & BACHMAN LLP 10250 Regency Circle, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114-3728 NOTICE OFAMENDMENT OF CERTIFICATE OF ORGANIZATION OF 5505 SEMINARY RD 919N, LLC Notice is hereby given of an Amendment to the Certificate of Organization of 5505 Seminary RD 919N, LLC under the laws of the State of Nebraska as follows: Section First of the Certificate of Organization of the Company is hereby amended so that, as amended, said Article shall provide that the name of the Company shall be 6152 Military Ave, LLC. The Amended Certificate of Organization was filed with the Secretary of State of Nebraska on June 17, 2019. In all other respects, the Certificate of Organization remain unchanged.

First publication June 21, 2019, final July 5, 2019 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION Luna Insurance Services Notice is hereby given that Luna Insurance 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 Michael Luna, and with its initial designated office at 810 Janesview Street, #18, Papillion, NE 68046.

First publication June 21, 2019, final July 5, 2019 ERICKSON l SEDERSTROM, P.C., Attorneys 10330 Regency Parkway Drive, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF FOLEYSHALD ENGINEERING, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that FoleyShald Engineering, LLC, a Nebraska limited liability company (the “Company”), has been duly organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska, with its designated office located at 8790 F Street, Suite 108, Omaha, Nebraska 68127 and 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 June 21, 2019, final July 5, 2019 AMANDA M. BARRON, Attorney P.O. Box 597 Fremont, Nebraska 68026 LEGAL NOTICE TO THE DEFENDANT(s), DEWAYNE A WEAVER You are hereby notified that Credit Bureau Services, Inc., a corporation, filed its complaint in the County Court of DOUGLAS County, Nebraska on 03/13/2019 on Case Number CI19-6464, the object and prayer of which is to recover the sum of $150.00, plus interest, attorney fees and court costs.

You are required to answer the complaint of the Plaintiff on or before 08/05/2019 or the allegations in said complaint will be taken as true and judgment entered accordingly.

CREDIT BUREAU SERVICES, INC., A CORPORATION First publication June 21, 2019, final July 5, 2019

Midlands Business Journal • JUNE 21, 2019 • LEGAL NOTICES NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF ONE RED SOCK LLC Notice is hereby given that One Red Sock LLC has been organized as a limited liability company under Nebraska laws. The sole member and registered agent is Mary Shugrue with designated address at 1320 S. 55th St. Omaha, NE 68106. The company commenced business on June 4, 2019.

First publication June 21, 2019, final July 5, 2019

NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF OFF BALANCE LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that OFF BALANCE; LLC (the “Company”) has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska.

The Designated Office Address of the Company is 9819 S. 168th Ave., Suite 6A, Omaha, Nebraska 68136. The Registered Agent of the Co., OFF BALANCE 9819 S. 168th Ave., Suite 6A, Omaha, Nebraska 68136.

First publication June 21, 2019, final July 5, 2019

BENJAMIN J. PICK, Attorney PANSING HOGAN ERNST & BACHMAN LLP 10250 Regency Circle, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114-3728 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF UNITED TITLE AND ESCROW SERVICES, LLC Notice is hereby given of the organization of United Title and Escrow Services, LLC. 1. The name of the limited liability company is United Title and Escrow Services, LLC. 2. The street and mailing address of the initial designated office is 10250 Regency Circle, Suite 300, Omaha, Nebraska 68114, and the name and street address of the initial agent for service of process is 10250 Regency Circle, Suite 300, Omaha, Nebraska 68114.

First publication June 21, 2019, final July 5, 2019

KOLEY JESSEN P.C., L.L.O., Attorneys 1125 South 103rd Street, Suite 800, One Pacific Place Omaha, Nebraska 68124-1079 APPLICATION FOR REGISTRATION OF TRADE NAME Trade Name to be registered is: Richie's Bar Name of Applicant: SRB Inc. Address: 5619 South 208th Street Omaha NE 68022 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: Upon filing General nature of business: Bar MATTHEW J. SPEIKER, Counsel Signature of Applicant or Legal Representative June 21, 2019

ALLAN M. ZIEBARTH, Attorney 1702 South 10th Street, Suite 2 Omaha, Nebraska 68108 APPLICATION FOR REGISTRATION OF TRADE NAME Trade Name to be registered is: MAID MEN Name of Applicant: NUKLEER ENTERPRISE, INC. Address: 1702 S. 10 ST, SUITE 2 OMAHA NE 68108 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: 09/15/2004 General nature of business: RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL CLEANING ALAN ZIEBARTH Signature of Applicant or Legal Representative June 21, 2019

APPLICATION FOR REGISTRATION OF TRADE NAME Trade Name to be registered is: Purposeful Profit Pro Name of Applicant: Purposeful Priorities LLC Address: 2715 N 189th St, Elkhorn NE 68022 Applicant is a Limited Liability Company If other than an Individual, state under whose laws entity was formed: Nebraska Date of first use of name in Nebraska: 5/1/2019 General nature of business: Bookkeeping, Business Advisor/Coach RACHELLE SWANSON Signature of Applicant or Legal Representative June 21, 2019

APPLICATION FOR REGISTRATION OF TRADE NAME Trade Name to be registered is: Liberty Packaging Name of Applicant: Omaha Box Company Address: 5600 North Highway 169, Minneapolis, MN 55428 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: New General nature of business: Corrugated container manufacturer RONDA BAYER Signature of Applicant or Legal Representative June 21, 2019

19

U.S. auto industry faces 30% drop by 2022, analyst predicts

by Breana Noble

The U.S. auto industry is heading toward a nearly 30% decrease in sales by 2022, a Bank of America Merrill Lynch analyst predicts.

Softening vehicle sales since 2016 will continue as cyclical demand softens. And that will challenge automakers as they balance their core market of traditional vehicle sales with investments into the industry’s autonomous, connected and electric future, said John Murphy, a eConomy senior auto analyst.

“The industry is going through this process of what it is, what it should do and how it should operate, and what its current business strategy should be, and it’s a challenge,” Murphy said this week, citing his company’s annual “Car Wars” outlook. “You have to get your core business in great shape and that much better off than it has in the past so you can intake that success and fund the uncertain future.”

Despite pressures of lower volume down to approximately 14 million vehicles sold in 2022, Murphy predicted, automakers must resist temptations to lower prices as they had during the economic downturn in 2007, 2008 and 2009.

Keeping vehicles at profitable margins will help investments in new technology — or else risk putting automakers behind their competitors that now include Silicon Valley tech companies with millions in their coffers.

Automakers are facing headwinds related to a trade war with China and threats of further tariffs up to 25% that could be implemented in November. The Chinese market also is facing oversaturation with predictions of a 7.5% decrease in sales this year after it began to shrink at the end of 2018.

New-vehicle introductions for now will lower the age of showroom offerings and drive market share, Murphy said, which will drive profits and stock prices.

There are 62 new-product launches expected on average over the next four years versus a typical 40, which is driving down showroom ages of vehicles to around 2 ½ years.

Leading the way are Honda Motor Co. Ltd. and Korean automakers “You’ll have a lot of good, fresh product that should help support demand,” Murphy said.

Ford Motor Co. also is well-positioned with recent launches of the Ranger, Escape and Explorer, and the F-150 and Bronco still to come, Murphy said.

“They have really a massive, full schedule of very, very

profitable vehicles,” he said. “Depending on how Ford manages its product and pricing, it could potentially be a $2 billion-plus profit stream. So Ford is really hitting stride with the right products at the right time.”

Although Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV was an early leader in embracing trucks and crossovers, its replacement rate is below average and so is General Motors Co.’s. GM, however, has announced new crossovers in recent years and most recently its new pickups “If you fast-forward to two or four years out, GM’s product cadence will pick back up,” Murphy said. “This is really a matter of timing for GM, so don’t think there is any sort of significant or scary shift that GM might bring. There’s a lot of big, positive things coming for them launching.”

But with so many new launches, the industry could be at risk of overcrowding. Crossovers and trucks account for 70% of new introductions. Crossover nameplates alone are expected to grow to 149 by the 2023 model year, 25% more than trucks or cars.

“When you think of the profitability of crossovers, the market could quickly fade and erode to where passenger car profits have been more recently,” Murphy said. “There’s a real significant risk of overcrowding in the market. They’ve been very supportive of profitability for the industry. The industry really needs to be ready to recognize it’s going to be a tough time in the future.”

Although automakers need to ready themselves for electric and self-driving cars, Murphy predicts payoff is distant.

He estimates electric-vehicle penetration only will be at 5% by 2025 and 15% by 2030. Additionally, to compete with traditional vehicles, autonomous transportation has to be able to operate at a cost of less than $1 per mile.

“I think over time, if you look at some of the work GM and Ford are doing at Cruise and Argo AI, they are very close,” he said. “That opens a lot of markets for them potentially if they can get this technology working.”

The good news following declining sales through 2022 is the industry is expected to have a strong recovery, Murphy added.

“This is not definite damnation structure for the auto industry,” he said. “This is OK, we’re going to go through a trough and a relatively normal recovery thereafter. It’s not something we are seeing as a shrug or a shift in the industry. “ © 2019 The Detroit News Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Got noxious weeds? In Seattle metro, there’s an app for that

by Paige Cornwell

The small, white flower clusters can reach up to 10 feet and, to the unaware landscaper, would look pretty in a garden. Its leaves are bright green and the root looks like a carrot or parsnip. But the plant is also an invader that can wreak havoc if it’s not contained.

The clusters are poison hemlock, a noxious weed that, as its name suggests, is toxic to people and animals. It’s one of dozens of harmful plants on teCHnology King County’s list of noxious weeds — nonnative plants that often grow rapidly and can hurt the ecosystem by overwhelming native plants — that officials want to control, often using field reports from the public.

A new mobile app called King County Connect, which launched recently, aims to make the process easier for residents who want to report noxious weeds to specialists.

The app allows users to take a photograph of the plant, submit the photo with an automatic date and location and receive status updates to find out what county employees did in response to the tip.

Users can match their photo using a photo library of common noxious weeds and include the GPS coordinates of the plant. It’s a far cry from the previous system, when residents had to call or submit a written report, often with descriptions like “on the side of the road,” or “in the park” said Sasha Shaw of King County’s Noxious Weed Control Program. At a news conference Tuesday at Marymoor Park, Shaw and other county specialists demonstrated how to use the app using noxious weeds sitting on a table.

“In the past, someone called, said ‘there’s a plant,

it’s green, it has flowers,’ ” said Shaw, who is an expert in noxious weeds. “This app will help find them more successfully.”

The location will be automatically uploaded to the noxious weed program’s map, allowing the specialists to identify large spreads of weeds and areas where they might be particularly harmful, such as near a school or park. They’ll prioritize toxic weeds like poison hemlock or tansy ragwort, a plant best known for poisoning horses, for removal.

The app originated at a hack-a-thon last year among King County IT employees and representatives from Microsoft and Slalom, a Seattle consulting company. Noting that the county’s noxious-weed website was heavily visited, the employees wanted to create a better tool for users, said Gretchen Peri, of Slalom.

Many cities have smartphone apps for residents — Seattle has the “Find It, Fix It” app to report issues like abandoned cars or graffiti. But the noxious-weed app is unique in letting users connect with experts directly, Peri added.

King County Executive Dow Constantine called the app a way for residents to be armed and ready as “soldiers in the battle against noxious weeds.” Over the two-decades-long battle, county officials have detected nearly 18,000 infestations of about 50 species that cover a total of 1,460 acres.

About half have been eradicated, but seed reproduction makes clearing and eradication difficult. The poison hemlock plant, for example, produces up to 40,000 seeds.

“Weeds have their ways of getting around,” Shaw said. ©2019 The Seattle Times Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

20

• JUNE 21, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal

So far, real estate dominates a tax break meant for businesses

by Sophie Quinton

Members of Congress who pushed for the “opportunity zone” provision in the 2017 federal tax law said it would help businesses and entrepreneurs in low-income communities. The tax break rewards investors for spending capital gains on tRends businesses or real estate in more than 8,000 economically distressed neighborhoods selected by governors.

The incentive “will unlock new private investment for communities where millions of Americans face the crisis of closing business, lack of access to capital and declining entrepreneurship,” said a bipartisan congressional group — Sens.

Tim Scott, a South Carolina Republican, and Cory Booker, a New Jersey Democrat, and Reps. Pat Tiberi, an Ohio Republican, and Ron Kind, a Wisconsin Democrat — in announcing the idea.

But almost two years after the tax break became law, and almost two months after the Trump administration clarified how

private equity firms, venture capitalists and other investors can qualify for the tax break, only a handful of people have started funds that focus on operating businesses. Many are still trying to figure out how to satisfy both the IRS and investors eager for high returns.

Meanwhile, real estate-focused funds have already raised billions. And real estate companies are cashing in. For example, Kushner Companies, the family business of President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, has been buying up property in the zones, according to the Associated Press.

Confusing U.S. Treasury Department rules held business-focused funds back, said John Lettieri, president and CEO of the Economic Innovation Group, a public policy group in Washington, D.C., that lobbied for opportunity zones. Now that the agency has issued more guidance, Lettieri said, “opportunity funds that are geared toward investing in local businesses are going to proliferate.”

But the tax break has always been easier to apply to real estate. “The truth is, it’s a tax break that’s place-based,” said Napoleon

Wallace, a former deputy secretary of the North Carolina Department of Commerce and a founding partner of Opportunity North Carolina, a group that helps expedite deals in the state.

An Uneasy Alignment The opportunity zone tax break is several incentives in one. Investors defer paying income taxes on capital gains that they invest in special funds that, in turn, invest in real estate or businesses in the zones.

After five years, investors get a tax break on those gains. After seven years, the tax break increases. And most importantly, after 10 years, they can pocket any money they earn from their zone investment tax-free.

Brian Phillips is an entrepreneur who is confident he can find promising tech startups that are already in a zone or willing to move to one. But last year, when Phillips was considering creating an opportunity zone fund focused on businesses, he was “kind of the only one.”

Investors had to wait until the April release of Treasury guidelines to learn how

dustries and some regions to success, while failure to invest in manufacturing has disadvantaged communities in Michigan, as well as across the entire heartland.”

Peters has not yet introduced legislation to create a National Institute of Manufacturing but is drafting it with input from manufacturers and academics around Michigan and the country and seeking bipartisan co-sponsors.

“For two decades, we’ve been inventing here, manufacturing over there. So we are creating knowledge but not wealth in terms of creating jobs or national security,” said Sridhar Kota, the University of Michigan engineering professor who organized the conference.

“So we are really subsidizing research and development for other countries, because we don’t have a national strategy or plan or what to do with that our good ideas.”

Peters said the United States has a critical need for a greater focus on manufacturing, workforce development and research and development as countries such as China, India and South Korea have already implemented national manufacturing plans, including several projects competing directly with the U.S. auto industry.

“To keep up with an increasingly competitive global marketplace, this broad and dynamic industry needs a comprehensive national strategy, backed by strong policy

guidelines and sustained federal investments to take advantage of emerging opportunities and retain our position as the world’s leader in manufacturing,” Peters said.

Under Peters’ vision, the institute would bring together under one roof the “patchwork” of58 federal programs focused on manufacturing across 11 executive branch agencies, according a tally by the Government Accountability Office.

“For far too long, Congress has been taken a very piecemeal approach to manufacturing. Federal programs that support manufacturing are scattered across different agencies and are siloed from one another,” said Peters, who serves on the Senate Commerce committee.

That means the programs don’t always work in concert.

“In some cases, there are layers and layers of bureaucracy that prevent a good idea from ever seeing the light of day,” Peters said.

“We cannot let bureaucracy and disjointed programs stifle innovation. We can’t allow government to impede advances in manufacturing. It’s simply not acceptable and right.”

Uniting the programs under one umbrella will boost coordination, reduce overlapping efforts, improve efficiency and strengthen the government’s ability to respond to evolving national needs, Peters said.

Similar to the NIH, which established incentives to combat the diseases such as cancer and HIV/AIDS, the National Institute of Manufacturing would have directorates focused on technology development, industrial commons, education and workforce, and small and medium manufacturers.

Peters envisions the director of the institute serving as a kind of manufacturing “czar” — or chief manufacturing officer — charged with establishing and executing a national manufacturing policy and serving as the public “face” of the effort.

“This will give our nation’s manufacturing programs a higher profile, which will hopefully drive Congress to provide steady investments to these programs,” he said. © 2019 The Detroit News Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Senator calls for national institute of manufacturing

by Melissa Nann Burke

Michigan Sen. Gary Peters is calling for the creation of a new federal agency modeled after the National Institutes of Health to serve as a hub for federal manufacturing programs and to boost manufacturing to a national priority.

Peters, a Democrat running for reelection to a second term, manufaCtuRing says the decline in U.S. manufacturing in recent decades is due in part to policy decisions driven by Washington, and he aims to change that.

Peters noted that as recently as 1980, five of the top 10 metropolitan areas with the highest average earnings were in Michigan including Flint, Detroit and Saginaw, according to the book “Jump-Starting America,” by Jonathan Gruber and Simon Johnson.

No Michigan communities made the list as of 2016.

“In recent years since our country’s economic policies have shifted that other industries like technology and health care, and as a result of this shift communities like Flint and Detroit have seen their economic opportunity decline, while regions like Silicon Valley and Boston have prospered,” Peters said in a speech recently at an advanced manufacturing summit in Washington.

“Policy choices help propel some in-

businesses would qualify as being in a zone for tax purposes. The guidelines said businesses need to perform at least half their services in a zone, pay half their wages in the zone, or generate half their income from a mix of property and management functions in a zone.

Yet despite the new clarity, investing in businesses remains more complicated than investing in real estate.

Buildings, by definition, stay put. And while 10 years is a long time to own a building, a property that’s delivering good returns after five years likely will still be a good investment in 10, said Michael Kressig, an opportunity zones expert and partner at Novogradac, an accounting and consulting firm.

Businesses, on the other hand, can change a lot in 10 years. They might fail, get acquired, go public, move or radically change their business model. “It is contrary to your normal kind of private equity, or venture capital, investment-hold periods to think about holding something for 10 years,” Kressig said.

There’s not much fund managers can do to control the business cycle, and it’s difficult to delay business decisions — such as whether to relocate — until the 10-year mark.

Many fund managers have “sort of landed on the understanding that this is a best-efforts proposition,” Kressig said, “and so I can’t — and I’m not going to — promise an investor that they’re going to get 100% of these tax benefits.”

Investors could still make money if a growing company leaves a zone, said Chris Schultz, CEO of LaunchPad, a chain of coworking spaces that also makes venture investments. “If a company is moving out of a zone, presumably it’s because something very good is happening,” he said. LaunchPad is setting up a $20 million opportunity zone fund focused on startups in mid-sized cities.

Business-focused funds also may face more technical difficulties than real estate funds do. For instance, while a real estate fund can be set up to focus on a single project, Phillips’ fund has to spread investments over several companies to soften the blow to investors in case any of the companies fails.

“The real estate (opportunity) fund is not that much different from what these real estate companies have been doing for a long, long time,” said Phillips, now managing partner of an opportunity fund called the Pearl Fund L.P. For him, however, setting up a fund was uncharted territory.

Phillips worked with Kressig and a lawyer to come up with a workable structure.

“It’s challenging, but I tell everyone to please note, it is doable,” he said. He hopes this year to raise $25 million and spend it on up to 25 early-stage companies either in or willing to relocate to zones within a three-hour drive of New York City. Once the money is spent, he’ll raise another fund.

Making it Work Venture capitalists and public equity firms still have a good pitch for investors. Phillips is looking for startups growing so fast they could increase his original investment 10 times over, or more.

“The relative tax benefits are actually Continued on next page.

Midlands Business Journal • JUNE 21, 2019 •

21

California cities lead the U.S. in inflation. Housing costs are a big reason why

by Andrew Khouri

Nationally, consumer prices are barely moving, with inflation clocking in at just 1.8% for May. But if you live in a major urban area of California, you’ve noticed a much bigger hit.

Among the chief eConomy culprits? Housing costs.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported recently that a handful of California metropolitan areas saw the greatest jump in the consumer price index in May. San Diego County saw the largest increase, with inflation rising 3.8% from a year earlier. That was followed by Los Angeles and Orange counties, where consumer prices rose 3.1%.

In the Inland Empire counties of Riverside and San Bernardino, the inflation index climbed 2.9%. The San Francisco Bay Area, where the latest data is from April, saw inflation jump 4%.

To some extent, the latest reports drive home the state’s housing affordability crisis.

“Housing has a huge weight in the

index,” said Lynn Reaser, chief economist of the Fermanian Business and Economic Institute at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego. “The problem is we are not building houses rapidly enough to accommodate the increase in demand.”

That demand is coming from a growing economy. And Pepperdine University professor Dave Smith said the fact California cities dominate the national inflation measure is a reflection that “economic activity is robust in these given areas and it’s putting upward pressure on prices.”

Mandated minimum-wage increases and a tight labor market are forcing employers to pay higher wages too, and they’re passing at least some of that along to consumers, said Christopher Thornberg, founding partner of Beacon Economics.

Data from May aren’t yet available, but in April average hourly earnings in Los Angeles and Orange counties rose 7% from a year earlier, to $31.60. In the Inland Empire, which has seen a boom in logistics and warehouse employment, wages rose 6.2%. In San Diego County, wages were

Real estate dominates a tax break meant for businesses Continued from preceding page. better for investing in operating businesses, particularly those with heavy capital assets,” said Jonathan Tower, managing partner at Arctaris, an impact investment fund manager based in Boston.

Tower is planning to raise over $500 million for an opportunity zone fund and spend it on up to 25 primarily industrial and manufacturing companies, including some that he’ll shepherd through mergers and acquisitions with other companies.

Finding good deals in distressed communities will be a challenge for real estate and business investors alike. But Schultz and Phillips are confident they’ll strike enough deals to spend their initial funds.

Arctaris is particularly well-positioned, as the firm has been investing in low-income areas for a decade.

Arctaris’ approach is somewhat unique, however. “Traditional private equity is not used to selecting companies based on their place,” Tower said, “and they probably don’t have as good deal-sourcing relationships in those areas.”

The Arctaris opportunity zone fund also includes a $15 million guarantee — from the national Kresge Foundation, which focuses on cities — that will help protect investors if the fund loses money.

Funds focused on small businesses un-

Ex-offenders in Minnesota Continued from page 13. his-hometown Northwestern University was withdrawn as a result.

“I don’t feel badly for myself,” said McDonald, also a local high school basketball coach. “I like to help people here restart their lives.”

McDonald said most of his job placements for 180 Degrees go to temp-labor outfits that pay to $10 to $12 an hour. ©2019 Star Tribune (Minneapolis) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

likely to grow rapidly may need a guarantee, or some other risk-reduction mechanism, to attract investors.

The Community Reinvestment Fund, USA, a Minneapolis-based nonprofit that issues loans to entrepreneurs underserved by traditional banks, is considering creating an opportunity fund that will invest in businesses such as small food and beverage manufacturers and expanding child care centers, said Keith Rachey, senior vice president of development and community advancement for the fund. Rachey is hoping to raise between $50 million and $100 million that would be spent on up to 100 businesses nationwide.

“We’re heavy into the feasibility piece of this right now,” he said. Part of the challenge is finding business owners who are willing to relinquish full ownership.

“Can we find enough small businesses in these areas that would be willing to give up a portion of their equity, for a period of time?”

It may be possible for business owners to buy back the company once the opportunity investment period ends, he said. He’s also wondering if his fund will need to be bolstered with a guarantee.

Phillips, of the Pearl Fund, said that he believes opportunity zone investment will occur in waves. “The first wave is all the things you’ve seen with real estate investing, because it’s easy,” he said. But once the best property deals have been secured, such investments will slow, and business investments will accelerate, he said.

Eventually, he said, business and real estate investors will work together to secure office, warehouse or manufacturing space for growing companies.

Lettieri said that the real estate and business sides are working together already.

“Every commercial real estate investor wants a tenant.” ©2019 Stateline.org Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

essentially flat, but economists said that may be a statistical anomaly.

Other consumer prices rose as well. In Los Angeles and Orange counties, energy costs, largely reflecting gasoline, jumped 5.9% in May. Household furnishings and operations, including landscape services and furniture, rose 5.7%. Food prices rose 2.9%.

The pace of rent growth has accelerated from last year in Los Angeles and Orange counties, rising 5.4% in May, Bureau of Labor Statistics data show. That mirrors other data from Zillow that indicate the median rent price in both counties has started increasing again after declining slightly at the end of 2018.

Overall inflation in Los Angeles and Orange counties has moderated since last year, when the annual average was 3.8%, Bureau of Labor Statistics data show.

Wage increases will help people afford higher prices, but they’re unlikely to fundamentally change the situation of many Californians living on the edge.

“Tenants are caught in an economic vise that is squeezing them more and more,” said Larry Gross, executive director of the Coalition for Economic Survival.

Across California, more than 1.7 million households spent more than half their income on rent and utilities in 2017, according to the latest data from Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing

Studies. And recently, officials reported the number of people without a home in L.A. County jumped 12% over the last year.

Cities have recently announced a variety of actions that they say will help make housing more affordable.

Recently, several Los Angeles City Council members proposed a tax on property owners who keep units vacant. And the Inglewood City Council approved a rent-control measure that would cap annual increases at 5% for many properties.

State legislators have also taken steps, but a number of high-profile bills died this year or were significantly neutered.

Among the bills that failed was Senate Bill 50, which would have allowed at least four units on parcels in most single-family neighborhoods across the state. A rent-cap measure is still in play in the Legislature, but has been watered down.

Increases in the consumer price index can have wider consequences for renters in rent-controlled buildings because cities peg allowable increases to the inflation measure. Starting July 1, landlords of rent-controlled buildings in Los Angeles will be able to increase rents by 4%, the first time the allowable increase has topped 3% since 2009. ©2019 Los Angeles Times Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

What to do when your co-workers want to make things too complicated

by Liz Reyer

Q: I work with some people who always seem to be trying to make things more complicated than they need to be. They suggest adding forms for people to fill out to do just about anything, and the documentation needs seem to outweigh the WoRkplaCe actual work. Before it gets out of hand, how can I help rein this in? I’m not the manager so don’t have authority to just stop it.

-Nitin, 36, research analyst A: Consider the business need and potential underlying source of this as you plan your approach.

First, has your boss asked them to manage the business more closely and this is the approach they are trying?

If so, it will be counterproductive to challenge the goal. However, if you have more creative ways to accomplish the goal, say, using technology, this could help improve the proposed process.

Also, often when people set up a form, they over-engineer it. They may need just a few pieces of information, which would be easy to complete and would seem reasonable to the average user. But then they fall prey to the “good to know” syndrome, asking for a more burdensome level of information just in case it will be needed.

You could be the voice of reason, keeping the actual content of the information gathering tightly focused.

If your boss isn’t behind it, that’s another matter. Some people just really like control and these activities may be an expression of that. Similarly, if your organization is going through a lot of change, this may be

unsettling them, driving a desire for an extra level of structure.

In this case, on a case-by-case basis you could raise the reasonable question of “what’s the goal of this?” Discussing how it will be used and how it will add value can shine a light on unneeded forms, documentation, or processes.

I am also curious if your view that there’s an issue is widespread, or if it’s just your reaction. If other co-workers or teams that you work with find value in your colleagues’ efforts, it’s fine for you to disagree, but you should also accept that your opinion isn’t the only one that matters.

Another option would be to take a step back, enlisting colleagues and boss alike, to raise the topic of best practices in organizing and documenting your team’s work. In proposing this, you could honor your co-workers intentions and efforts, while also bringing visibility to ways that it could be improved.

This may all fall on deaf ears. In that case, what will you do? Is this a minor annoyance or do you believe that it really poses some type of risk to your organization?

Consider whether you are in the right role in your organization. It sounds like you are taking a more strategic view; take a look at whether some of the decisions you are interested in being involved with could become part of your formal responsibilities.

There may come a point where you need to decide if you can live with it or not. Be sure that you don’t draw a line in the sand that you don’t want to follow through on. ©2019 Star Tribune (Minneapolis) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

22

• JUNE 21, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal

Encounter Telehealth aims for rapid growth to meet demand for mental health services Continued from page 1. a social conscience,” Amis said. “We’re not going to be a hockey stick software company with 75% profit margins, but we are trending in the right direction and providing a high-quality service that is so needed.”

Encounter Telehealth Phone: 844-485-3041 Address: 900 S. 74th Plaza, Suite 403, Omaha 68114 Services: mental health practice that provides behavioral telehealth services and psychiatric medication management for long-term care communities/ skilled nursing facilities and corrections companies Founded: in 2012 Employees: seven full-time employees and 10 independent contractor providers One-year goal: Double the number of patients and providers.

Industry outlook: The U.S. has only half of the providers needed for mental health care and just 20% in Nebraska’s rural communities.

Website: www.encounter.health

Encounter Telehealth provides behavioral health care via a secure video conferencing platform, contracting almost exclusively with skilled nursing facilities. The company enlists a network of behavioral health care specialists from all over the country, most of whom are board certified psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners who can prescribe controlled substances, she said.

“We’re dealing with medical professionals that have to be licensed and credentialed — it’s a complex business,” she said.

“And then on the patient side … these are pretty complicated cases so we’re working with people with dementia and Alzheimer’s, people with severe mental illness, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression. They’re in a nursing home for a reason — multiple chronic conditions which means complicated medications.”

Before acquiring Encounter Telehealth, Amis founded Statim in 2012, a telehealth company that worked primarily with critical access hospitals and rural communities in Nebraska to provide in-home patient monitoring of vital signs. Along the way, she realized that since it wasn’t covered by insurance, people couldn’t always afford to pay out of pocket and small hospitals couldn’t afford the non-reimbursed expense.

“In the process of doing that I became acutely aware of all the other health care crises that were occurring in those communities and one in particular is mental health care,” she said. “It really is a national crisis. We have less than half the providers that we need; in Nebraska and our rural communities we have less than 20% of the providers.”

Behavioral telehealth not only addresses the shortage of mental health providers but can also help mitigate some of the budget issues facing nursing facilities that operate on a slim margin. For example, Amis said it can cost roughly $1,000 to transport one patient for one doctor’s appointment.

In addition, the patient’s routine and familiar surroundings are disrupted, a concern

particularly for dementia patients.

Both physical and mental health care are critical components of total patient care.

Although not always a state requirement, Encounter Telehealth’s providers collaborate with the facility’s medical director, local general practitioners and the nursing staff on total patient care. The staff also assists in patient appointments by providing the patient’s vitals, reviewing all prescribed medications and discussing notable circumstances that may have transpired in the patient’s life since the last visit, she said.

As part of medication reconciliation, the provider looks at all of the medications prescribed to make sure that they work together, reducing or eliminating medications whenever possible.

In a recent analysis of its roughly 40 partner facilities in Iowa, the number of antipsychotic medications prescribed dropped from 18.8% in 2015 (national average was around 18.2%) to 12.1% in

2018 (national average of 14.5%), after partnering with Encounter Telehealth.

Medicare and Medicaid have also worked to curb the off-label practice, which chemically subdues a patient who may not need antipsychotic medication and can even cause death, penalizing facilities that are over a certain percentage and rewarding those that are under.

Encounter Telehealth currently has seven full-time employees and 10 providers who are independent contractors. It’s looking to double the number of both in the next year.

When Encounter Telehealth brings in a provider, often they are not licensed in the state where services are needed.

The company then works with that state to get the provider licensed and credentialed, a process that can take six months.

The telehealth aspect makes billing and credentialing more complex, which led Amis to bring those components in house.

“Because of the complexity of what

we’re doing on both sides, the real challenge is finding that balance between a provider who is ready to see patients and patients who … we’ve identified who are ready to be seen,” she said.

In Nebraska, there aren’t enough nurse practitioners who are psychiatric certified, she said, so the psych nurse practitioners are located in Texas, Maryland, Tennessee, Illinois, South Carolina and Maine.

Ultimately, the company will have an exit, whether through an acquisition by a larger health care organization or a rollup into a private equity group.

Encounter Telehealth has recently expanded its niche to include Nebraska-based Western Alternative Corrections, Inc., a company that provides re-entry services for federal inmates.

Amis is also looking into the possibility of working with the Department of Defense and the military, adding talk therapy and other types of specialties like wound care or dermatology, complementing its existing platform and services.

Businesses use architectural features to tie into overall corporate brand

by Gabby Christensen

A corporate brand, which ultimately represents and promotes a business and its culture, can be presented in a number of ways — even through architectural elements, professionals say.

Abby Scott, architectural studio leader at HDR, said a building floor plan, space considerations, finishes, color, lighting, texture, sound and even smell are opportunities to communicate not only a company’s product but its values, culture, history and point of view.

“The role of architecture and design play a huge role in communicating a story without saying a word,” she said. “Our work with Oriental Trading Co. on the renovation of their headquarters was an opportunity to create a fresh viewpoint for an existing brand, guided by a clear set of operational goals and the OTC brand promise, ‘Make life more fun.’”

Through a process of visual problem-solving, storytelling and nonverbal communication, Scott said designers are choreographers of space with the knowledge and skill to control how the experience will unfold.

“To tell a story, design takes several elements into account, complete with creating emotion through the use of color, texture and sound, allowing for pause and reflection in controlling views and movement by constraining visuals and showcasing ideas and creativity by aligning spaces to expose guests to behind-the-scenes views and experiences,” she said.

Jeffrey Dolezal, principal at TACK Architects, said the current economic age is producing increased competition for employee talent, engagement and retention.

“The direct result of this competition has been the development of corporate brand and culture,” he said.

“Ultimately, both brand and culture find themselves integrated within the realm of experiential space and workplace design, which is where architects are most excited. As part of our process, we take inspiration from all sorts of areas, whether it’s a client’s logo, their space program,

what they do, or the building they are moving into or renovating. We try to look for seamless ways to integrate a company’s brand within the overall spatial design, thus creating a holistic experience.”

Recently, Dolezal said TACK Archi-

Scott Dolezal tects has worked with Thrasher, ES&S, Access Bank and OBI Creative to help enhance their brand through architecture and design.

Geoff DeOld, partner at DeOld Andersen Architecture, said designers can

express their client’s brand by intelligently focusing on how the brand is informed by the client’s values, and translating both into an architecture.

“For example, if a company values openness and transparency in their business and how their employees engage one another, the design of their workplace might utilize a lot of glass or views through the workplace, such that the architecture is a literal representation of the brand and values,” he said. “Or, for Sandler Training, we made what they do the centerpiece of their new office building, locating their training room at the center of the building with the greatest ceiling heights, while the rest of the functions in the building wrapped around this room. It’s important to link a client’s corporate brand to how their space functions because their brand really reflects who they are, and the workplace can support and enhance how they do their work, while communicating to their clients or visitors what they’re about.”

Midlands Business Journal • JUNE 21, 2019 •

TRANSPORTATION, DISTRIBUTION & WAREHOUSING

23

PRINTING &GRAPHICS

A section prepared by the staff of the Midlands Business Journal

Topics may include:

A section prepared by the staff of the Midlands Business Journal

Transportation, Distribution & Warehousing Overview • Trucking industry outlook Air travel overview • Transportation planning, traffic engineering Roadway design services • Warehouse/industrial space • Logistics services providers Eco-friendly transportation options • New technology

Overview • Sign design update • Creative ways to promote your business “Cross-media” services • Web design

Issue Date: June 28 • Ad Deadline: June 20

Issue Date: June 28 • Ad Deadline: June 20

Work-Related Injuries

Accounting Profession

A section prepared by the staff of the Midlands Business Journal

Topics may include:

Topics may include:

A section prepared by the staff of the Midlands Business Journal

Topics may include:

Work-Related Injuries overview • Workers’ compensation Physical therapy/rehab services • Implementing effective policies Workplace ergonomics • Investing in training/safety programs

Accounting profession overview • Education • Hiring/career outlook • Growing niches Consulting and advisory services on the increase • Technology in accounting How accountants partner with entrepreneurs • Tax planning update/trends International opportunities • Identity theft • Payroll services

Issue Date: July 5 • Ad Deadline: June 27

Issue Date: July 5 • Ad Deadline: June 27

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 - Catie@mbj.com

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• JUNE 21, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal

UPCOMING

SECTIONS

IN THE MIDLANDS BUSINESS JOURNAL

JUNE 28

TRANSPORTATION, DISTRIBUTION & WAREHOUSING

PRINTING & GRAPHICS JULY 5

ACCOUNTING PROFESSION

WORK RELATED INJURIES

REGIONAL LANDSCAPES

Briefs…

Major League Baseball, Minor League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association announced a joint $50,000 donation to Team Rubicon to support Winter Storm Ulmer disaster relief efforts following devastating flooding this spring in Nebraska and Iowa. Team Rubicon launched two operations to provide flood response and recovery support to Nebraska communities located in Sarpy, Cass, Colfax and Platte Counties. Working in conjunction with state and local authorities, Team Rubicon volunteers are providing damage assessments, flood home muck-outs, debris removal, and spontaneous volunteer management to affected communities.

Google reported that 6,200 businesses, publishers, and nonprofits in Nebraska used Google search and advertising tools to connect with the people and communities they serve — generating $4,530,000,000 in economic activity. By using Google products businesses can increase their online presence and were able to grow, bringing more money and jobs into the local economy. A recent national study by Deloitte found that over 80% of small businesses surveyed are not fully using online digital tools. To support more small businesses, Google launched its Grow with Google initiative to help create economic opportunity for Americans.

TEAM Software has acquired Lighthouse, a mobile workforce management platform for service contractors with field-based teams. The capabilities Lighthouse adds to TEAM’s existing financial, operations and workforce management solutions include guard touring; task and issue management; enhanced mobile audits; and continuous, real-time location tracking to view, manage and automate operations in the field.

First Nebraska Bank has elected Chris Ott to serve on the board. In his new role, Ott will supervise and collaborate with the managers at numerous First Nebraska Bank locations. Ott has been with the bank since 2008 and offices at the Valley, Nebraska branch.

Eric L. Keen was inducted into the University of Iowa Distinguished Engineering Alumni Academy. Keen leads HDR, an Omaha-based firm with more than 200 worldwide locations that specialize in engineering, architecture, environmental and construction services. Keen became CEO in 2017 after previously serving as president and chief operating officer and engineering company president. A civil engineer by training, he has spent his 36-year career helping to develop and deliver notable transportation infrastructure projects. Keen is on Nebraska Medicine’s board of directors; the Greater Omaha Chamber’s board of directors; Bellevue University’s board of directors; the Scott Scholars Advisory Council; and the STRATCOM Consultation Committee.

Health care notes…

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.

Carol and Rick Russell received the annual Lifesaver Award. Carol Russell worked as a medical technologist in the University of Nebraska Medical Center lab of Rashid Al-Rashid, M.D., the first pediatric hematologist/oncologist in Nebraska. She was one of the founding members of Nebraskans for Research, a grassroots support group, which was formed when UNMC’s fetal and stem cell research programs were under attack by research opponents. Rick Russell

has served on numerous boards including the UNMC Board of Counselors, the Peter Kiewit Foundation, the Metropolitan Omaha Builders Association, Children’s Hospital & Medical Center, the Omaha branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, and the Alliance for Business Ethics.

Dr. Matthew Davis, D.C. of Omaha, has become a 100 Year Lifestyle Licensed Affiliate. Based on the bestselling book “The 100 Year Lifestyle” by Dr. Eric Plasker, D.C, Davis makes available free educational information through newsletters, spinal screenings, lunch and learns, and lectures.

Education notes…

Metropolitan Community College’s Pass to Class, in partnership with Metro transit, has surpassed 1.5 million bus rides. The milestone comes at a time when the college is extending the program to students in ESL noncredit classes. Pass to Class encourages ridership by offering a free bus pass for travel to and from college locations or for other education-related purposes. The Pass to Class program has reduced an estimated 3,330 tons of carbon dioxide in the Omaha area, compared to single person car commutes. Bus passes are valid for a quarter before having to be renewed again.

The passes can be picked up at any MCC Student Services location at any time during the quarter.

A grant from The Big Garden has allowed CRCC to install edible gardens at both CRCC locations. The Big Garden - Farm to School is a national program that has three components: CRCC garden installation, garden education, and local foods procurement. It will be installing edible gardens at each CRCC center and brining their educators into the classroom to share gardening, cooking, nutrition and preserving skills each week. During the growing season, food produced in the garden is used for snacks and distributed to families for use at home. The program connects participants with their local food system as CRCC children enjoy local food, meet local farmers, and even visit farms in the area.

Activities of Nonprofits...

Representative Don Bacon co-introduced The Foster Youth Mentoring Act into legislation to authorize funding to support mentoring programs that critically support young people in the foster care system. According to Nebraska’s Department of Health and Human Services, more than 5,000 youth in Nebraska were placed in care in 2018. The bill would address the need for greater support of mentoring programs that serve youth in foster care. Foster youth face challenges as they navigate growing up often without the support of consistent caring adults.

The bill would fill that gap to provide foster youth with the social capital, resources and support they need to develop positive relationships and connections.

The YMCA of Greater Omaha brought in more than $750,000 in donations during its annual Strong Communities Campaign. The Legacy Award was given to Steve Konnath.

Konnath has been involved with the YMCA of Greater Omaha for more than two decades, with volunteer stints on the board for both the Downtown YMCA and the Southwest YMCA. Volunteer of the Year was awarded to Mike Wallner.

During the operational transition between The Center and the YMCA Healthy Living Center in Council Bluffs, he acted as interim CEO and executive director. Campaigner of the Year was Continued on next page.

Midlands Business Journal • JUNE 21, 2019 •

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REGIONAL LANDSCAPES Continued from preceding page. awarded to Tammy Reuss. Reuss has worked at the Sarpy Community YMCA since 2016.

The Nonprofit Association of the Midlands teamed up with Best Care EAP to provide its members a cost-effective option for an Employee Assistance Program. Best Care EAP has designed a comprehensive service package specifically designed for NAM Member organizations — regardless of their size or location.

Services will include confidential counseling, well-being/leadership training opportunities and educational materials. Contracting will start July 1, but members are encouraged to contact NAM or Best Care EAP to start the registration process. Organization participation will help drive volume-based pricing, making the EAP more affordable to all members.

Arts and Events…

Gordmans will host upcoming job fairs at its Omaha-area distribution centers. Gordmans expects to hire 100 full-time distribution center employees in 2019. Job seekers will be eligible to earn a $500 hiring incentive. Interested candidates are encouraged to apply online and then visit one of the following job fairs, taking place from June 25-27 from noon to 5:30 p.m. at 9202 F Street or 8701 South 126th Street.

Metropolitan Community College will host a lecture with Nicole Tamayo on June 26 from 12:30 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. at the Fort Omaha Campus, “Two-Spirit People: Historic and Contemporary Native America.” Tamayo, director of Soaring Over Meth & Suicide, Nebraska Urban Indian Coalition, will discuss Native American Two-Spirit people, individuals who occupied a district, alternative gender status in most tribes.

Metropolitan Community College will be hosting a screening of “The Most Dangerous Year” and discussion on June 26 from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Elkhorn Valley Campus.

The film explores the year 2016, when waves of “bathroom bills” began sweeping the nation and the Human Rights Campaign published a report identifying 2016 as the most dangerous year for transgender Americans. After the film, a discussion will be led by Joan Watke Stacy, PC, LLO, attorney at law, Sena, Polk & Stacy, LLP and Andrew Sagartz, JD, MCC Business Law/Paralegal instructor.

Research shows that women thrive on female connection and desire to seek new friendships, but this process comes with challenges and leaves many feeling isolated. To help women overcome these challenges, Deborah A. Olson published “The Healing Power of Girlfriends: How to Create Your Best Life Through Female Connection.” Olson will share how she came to write her book and will share the story of her close friendship with Julie Jablonski Green. She will be presenting on June 26 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Anthony’s Restaurant. In attendance will be Green’s family. Tickets are online. A portion of book proceeds will go to the Julia Jablonski Green Memorial Scholarship.

Terence “Bud” Crawford and his team will host Ready to Rumble, a local celebrity fight night to benefit his B&B Sports Academy in north Omaha. This 2nd Annual event will take place June 27 at Creighton’s D.J. Sokol Arena. The lineup includes four matchups: Metro Magazine CEO/Publisher Andee Hoig vs. KFAB’s Meghan Bird; KMTV’s Jake Wasikowski vs. Pat Safford of Pat & JT; former Husker Aaron Davis vs. CEO of Abide Josh Dotzler; and Creighton Men’s Soccer Coach Johnny Torres vs. Creighton Women’s

Basketball Coach Jim Flanery. Celebrity judges include former NFL quarterback Sage Rosenfels, KAT 103.7’s Gina Melton, B&B Sports Academy Executive Director and 1620 the Zone radio host Damon Benning, and KETV Sports Director Andy Kendeigh.

Laudato Si’, Pope Francis’s encyclical on ecology is the topic of a lecture at Skutt Catholic High School from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on June 27. The evening is free and open to the public.

Keynote speakers include the Most Rev. Robert

W. McElroy, Bishop of San Diego, and Megan Goodwin, associate director of Government Relations at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The event will be moderated by Martha Shulski, Ph.D., director of the Nebraska State Climate Office and associate professor at the School of Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Well Mama is hosting a Kiddos Yoga Party with Wellesley on June 28 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

The night will begin with pizza and something to

drink. Then kids will be divided up into two age groups to take a yoga class with a certified children’s yoga instructor, Wellesley Lauren Michael (former Miss Nebraska). Meanwhile the other group will do a little make & take craft. After that, WellMama will show an age appropriate movie on the projector screen with popcorn. Childcare for babies & toddlers who aren’t old enough to participate in the yoga class will be available. The cost is $40 for one kid, $20 for all other siblings.

Registration is online.

the Expanding Talent Pools, in partnership with the Lincoln Partnership for Economic Development, focusing on Hiring People with Disabilities. The workshop, from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. at the Greater Omaha Chamber, will discuss workforce resources for hiring talent with disabilities, disability etiquette, worksite accommodations and resources. Registration is available online.

The American Marketing Association — Omaha Chapter is featuring stop-motion photography using a smartphone at its June program. Andrea Trew, brand designer of Trew Creative, will provide the necessary tools and recommend apps to create simple stop-motions right from your phone. The workshop will take place at SilverStone Group from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and registration is available online.

Thursday, June 27 The National Safety Council Nebraska will be discussing Building a Culture of Safety Accountability at its June Safe at Work Breakfast Series. Tom Esch will be talking about how to engage workers to speak up when they see others doing something that is dangerous. Esch works with health care companies, counties, cities, construction companies, business analysts, attorneys, executives, owners, managers and nonprofits to grow interpersonal

awareness and foster effective communication.

Registration is available online.

Friday, June 28 The Nebraska Statewide Disability Leadership Training Seminar Series will take place at the Northeast Community College Lifelong Learning Center in Norfolk, Nebraska. The two-day training seminar is aimed at persons with disabilities, family members, concerned citizens and professionals who are interested in promoting the best outcomes for individuals with disabilities and their families in Nebraska.

There is no cost for the training and there is travel and related expenses support for individuals with disabilities and family members.

Registration is online.

Wednesday, July 31 Steve Bogue, a local labor attorney at McGrath North, will headline the Human Resource Association of the Midlands’ July Government Affairs session where he will discuss employment law compliance issues.

The session will focus on the top regulatory and compliance issues that employers must keep in mind to decrease potential liability for their organization. The July Government Affairs Session will be held from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. at Security National Bank, 1120 South 101st Street, Omaha. Registration is open online until July 28.

MEETINGS AND SEMINARS Monday, June 24 The Nebraska Society of Certified Public Accountants will host an all-day workshop on “Advanced Audits of 401(k) Plans: Best Practices and Current Developments” at Quarry Oaks Golf Course in Ashland. Discussion will include compliance issues with eligibility; best practices; planning mergers & acquisitions; and common mistakes when performing audit procedures. The discussion will be lead by Michael Morgan, Surgent, and is worth eight hours of CPE credits. Lunch is provided and the cost is $265 for society members and $315 for nonmembers.

Tuesday, June 25 The Nebraska Society of Certified Public Accountants will host an all-day workshop on “Revenue Recognition, Leases, and Financial Instruments: The FASB’s ‘Big Three’ New Standards” at the Quarry Oaks Golf Course in Ashland. The discussion, lead by Michael Morgan, Surgent, will highlight how to apply the FASB’s new revenue recognition standard found in ASC Topic 606, new lease accounting guidance and more. This course is worth eight hours of CPE credit and the cost is $265 for society members and $315 for nonmembers.

Wednesday, June 26 The Greater Omaha Chamber is hosting the fifth and final installment of its Introducing

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• JUNE 21, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal

Human Resource

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

June 21, 2019

Resources evolve for talent development professionals amid employment challenges

by Michelle Leach

From talent shortages to an unprecedented number of generations working together, managing the “human resource” has arguably never been more critical to organization-wide success.

“HR and talent development professionals play the vital role of ‘connector’ within their companies,” said Melanie Krings, director of the Executive MBA program at University of Nebraska at Omaha’s College of Business Administration.

“They connect individuals to positions that will allow both the individual and the company to thrive. They connect individuals with gaps in their skillsets to professional development programs, degree programs, and/or new positions within the company that allow them to close those gaps and

develop new competencies. They connect individual aspirations to the company’s strategic objectives.”

HR professionals prepare individuals to step into positions at all levels, Krings said.

Revela Group Facilitator Michelle Hill referred to multi-faceted roles, with some following a compliance path; others a talent and development path.

“A few follow both,” she said. “HR professionals have a responsibility to help companies manage risk as well as grow and support organizational culture. When HR professionals are working to manage risk, they can use the rules or the labor laws as hammers to enforce the way things should be done.”

This creates, Hill said, resentment for

Michelle Hill, facilitator, Revela Group. both HR professionals and employees. value wellness.

“When HR professionals create a pres“Employers are adding fitness facilities ence of support and influence, people are or memberships thereto, offering workmore likely to engage with them when they place yoga, offering smoking cessation and need help and clarification,” weight loss programs or support, she said. “This creates a more and bringing in healthy food,” he supportive culture, while still said. “Wellness programs tend to abiding by the rules and laws.” set the employer apart.”

Vandenack Weaver EmDunning also noted how, ployment Attorney Matthew as #metoo has heightened G. Dunning and Founding and awareness to workplace sexual Managing Member Mary E. harassment and assault, and Vandenack identified key HR/ whistleblower and retaliation employment law issues, starting issues, employers must have with the difficult task of dewell-written policies that prosigning workplace and benefits vide avenues for complaints to policies to motivate employees be made by employees, and to be Dunning from different generations. investigated — including “Who Benefit plans historically rewarded should conduct the investigation?” “Can tenure, Vandenack said, which remains the investigation be accomplished internalimportant, but achieving that with differ- ly, or is an external investigator needed?” ent generations requires creative benefit “Regardless, it should be clear that an plan design, as millennials generally seek investigation is being conducted, and that flexibility and remote work. Dunning the complaining employee and witnesses also referred to student loan assistance, will not be subject to retaliation,” he said. generous maternity/paternity leave, and “We have seen employers immediately Continued on page 29. bonus plans with immediate benefits. All

Human Resource Management •

Midlands Business Journal • JUNE 21, 2019 •

Employee engagement methods can strengthen team

by Gabby Christensen

Experts across the board agree that keeping employees productive and happy starts with utilizing strong employee engagement strategies.

Drew Blossom, managing partner of both the Omaha and Lincoln KPMG office locations, said fostering an inclusive environment that encourages and values everyone’s contributions is key.

“There’s a significant amount of research that shows diversity drives innovation because different backBlossom grounds and experiences surface new ideas,” Blossom said.

He said facilitating a continuous learning environment in which people have access to the right training, learning and development opportunities so that they can grow and achieve their full potential is another important factor.

“Create a work environment that fosters innovation, in which people feel comfortable challenging the status quo and finding new and better ways of doing things,” Blossom said.

Additionally, he said flexible work arrangements can be very effective options for some employees.

“Also, keep the lines of communication open by sharing important information as

Owner Doug Pedersen at HR Systems. needed and make sure there are channels annual surveys or annual performance available for people to provide feedback reviews aren’t enough anymore. and ask questions about the things that “Situations and employees constantly matter most to them,” Blossom said. change and evolve, and organizations Dan Harris, lead researcher at Quantum need to keep pace with those realities,” Workplace, said adopting continuous strat- Harris said. egies, like continuous listening, continuous He said supervisors should also always conversations, frequent one-on-ones and treat employees as valued team members. weekly check-ins tap into the idea that “Nothing is more disengaging than

27

being treated like an expendable cog in the machine, or that you have simple motivations and need to be babysat,” Harris said. “Packing on superficial perks like casual Fridays and quarterly pizza parties is insulting when employees’ most basic needs aren’t being met, like not being paid well or working in uncomfortable or unsafe environments. Likewise, trust that employees will get their work done without micromanaging them, and don’t overload them with an excessive number of rules and responsibilities.”

Laurie Pieper, human resources director at Greater O m a h a C h a m b e r, said it is becoming more evident that the level of employee Pieper engagement is closely tied to the effectiveness of the manager.

“While company-wide policies and practices, like flexible work schedules, and casual dress are important to most workers, what seems to matter for employees is the work environment, opportunities for meaningful work and ongoing dialogue created by managers,” Pieper said.

Additionally, she said utilizing tools to measure engagement, such as Gallup’s Q12 Employee Engagement Survey, can provide great insight into the state of the team and provide a foundation upon which to build an engagement strategy.

Pieper said managers should be held Continued on page 29.

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• JUNE 21, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal • Human Resource Management

Social media policies provide protection but require delicacy

by Jasmine Heimgartner

Whether simply liking a friend’s post or establishing a business as one that is fluid with the times, the many realms of social media can be beneficial. For small businesses and human resource departments, establishing a policy can harness the power of social media while communicating the importance of using it appropriately.

“Since social media has become an important part of people’s lives and a marketing tool for businesses, it is crucial for any business to have a social media policy so employers can clearly outline the acceptable use of social media at work,” said Andie Gordman, senior consultant-HR Consulting, SilverStone Group. “Social media has become an important recruiting tool and an excellent way to showcase an organization’s culture.”

Along with its numerous benefits, social media has created an immeasurable flow of information that can have negative consequences. What was once “watercooler” talk among a few co-workers has the potential to reach countless people, includ-

ing customers and competitors. This can create a delicate balance between company expectations and employee rights.

“In general, private employers are able to dictate what is expected of employees outside and inside, but there are limits that come from different types of laws,” said Kelli Lieurance, partner, Baird Holm, LLP. “The National Labor Relations Act has a provision, section 7, that says every nonsupervisory employee, including nonunion, has the right to discuss the Gordman terms and conditions of employment with one another for mutual aid and protection. Now, the venue for that has gone from a couple people maybe complaining about raises or bad bosses to people going to social media for those discussions. If something starts to affect the work environment, like co-workers get

upset or customers don’t want to go to your business because of an ill-advised post, as long as it is not protected under the law, employers can take some action.”

As the law ebbs and flows with the times — sometimes making it easier to dictate rules and other years are more extreme — and technology continues to change, determining the best kind of policy may feel a bit daunting. The way a business approaches creating and communicating the policy often determines Lieurance its effectiveness.

“The most import issues for any business to consider when establishing a social media policy are how will you allow associates to use social media at work, do you want to encourage associates to talk about the organization on social media and what confidential or client information do you need to protect?” Gordman said.

“Businesses need to pay special attention to ensure that client information is not used without permission. In addition, there may be associates who would prefer not to be featured on social media. It is important to fully educate associates on the organization’s policy and even explain why the

policies exist. If associates understand the consequences of the misuse of social media, they are more likely to comply with the guidelines.”

A social media policy is especially vital in the health care industry in which even a positive post could be violating HIPAA laws.

“It could be something simple like someone posting on the Facebook page of a health institution recommending a doctor and the hospital responds ‘thanks, you are a great patient.’ That is a violation because it is acknowledging a person as a patient,” Lieurance said. “That is where policies are very important. Even liking something or a health worker from a small town venting about a patient who could be recognized could put them in violation.”

As people have become more accustomed to the nuances of social media, which is often fraught with negativity, the combination of commonsense and a little legal help can make a big difference.

“First and foremost, businesses need a policy to have a framework to work with,” Lieurance said. “It is important to seek counsel because of the nuance of labor laws to ensure it is not over-reaching. Once in place, it comes down to educating employees. It’s a little easier now that social media is so pervasive. People realize that others will post a lot of things, but many people don’t put as much weight on it.”

Future decisions on minimum wages, medical marijuana loom in statehouse

by Dwain Hebda

The Nebraska Unicameral session was quiet on subjects of HR policy, leaving battles over medical marijuana, personal leave and wages for future legislatures. But, say experts, those battles are surely coming.

“The most significant bill offered was LB311, which would provide a family with a new child up to 12 weeks of paid leave while those dealing with a serious medical issue or caring for a sick or elderly family member could take up to six weeks,” said Patrick Barrett, partner with Fraser Stryker. “The bill proposed that paid leave would be funded like unemBarrett ployment insurance and those taking leave would make claims to pay up to 66% of the state’s average wage of $567 per week.

“The bill did not pass but it is likely that the sponsor will try again. This proposed legislation is consistent with proposed state legislation and laws throughout the country, which seek to make family and medical leave paid either by the employer or through the state unemployment fund.”

Barrett noted other proposals sought to expand employees’ right to be free from retaliation.

“LB217 would prohibit retaliation against employees for communicating about comparative compensation,” he said.

“LB361 would prohibit retaliation under

the Nebraska Wage Payment and Collection Act and the Wage and Hour Act.” Medical marijuana continues to be a hot topic, despite not resulting in any new laws.

“Advocates for medical marijuana were hoping to move forward with a ballot initiative for the 2020 election, so it is possible we could have an answer on medical marijuana at that time,” said John C. Dunn, attorney with Koley Jessen. “With respect to medical marijuana, there is an extremely strong trend towards legalization.

“There are currently 33 states that have legalized medDunn ical marijuana and over 50% of those laws have been passed since the start of 2013. The extent to which medical marijuana laws affect employers varies significantly from state to state, so it is very difficult to gauge what impact legalization would have on Nebraska employers.”

Dunn said despite many publications predicting overtime to be a hot button HR topic, debate on the issue has been relatively muted at the state level.

“Nebraska has not made any substantial changes with respect to overtime,” he said. “The rules governing overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act have been the subject of a number of attempted regulatoContinued on next page.

Human Resource Management •

Midlands Business Journal • JUNE 21, 2019 •

29

Employee engagement

Resources evolve for talent development professionals amid employment challenges

Continued from page 27. accountable for the engagement of their teams.

“Frequent, shorter check-ins are critical in maintaining strong communication between employees and employers,” she said. “Weekly five-minute huddles between managers and their teams where progress on work projects, and barriers to success are discussed, can replace the need for the dreaded annual or semi-annual performance review.”

Doug Pedersen, owner of HR Systems, said the culture of the company is extremely significant.

“Knowing the values and having all employees understand that everyone is important is key,” he said. “Ask employees for input, use it as you can and show appreciation.”

Pedersen said respect in the workplace is another significant factor.

“Make sure they know they aren’t just doing a job, but they are part of the family,” he said.

According to Pedersen, supervisors should always listen, learn, help and lead their employees.

“Recognize that there are different levels of employees,” Pedersen said.

“Some need direct help while others just need support. Allow them to develop their skills.”

Pedersen said employers should talk with employees and ask about their lives.

“Managers that care will have better performing employees,” Pedersen said.

“Employees need to come to work not because they have to but because they want to.”

Continued from page 26. terminate when even a question of discrimination has been raised; doing that paints the employer into a corner, and limits their options.”

Dunning said employers are informing and training employees involved in the investigation process as to what retaliation is and how to avoid/prevent the same.

“What ‘he said’ and what ‘she said’ does really matter,” Dunning said.

Vandenack also noted the firm still gets a lot of calls about the Affordable Care Act, as employers are left without clear guidance on what is required amid prior and current administrations’ dramatically different approaches — as well as the need for assistance in finding options and building them sensibly into affordable benefit plans.

The CBA Executive Education program has responded to organizational needs with new non-credit professional development programs that generally run three to six days, and require only one day

Future decisions Continued from preceding page. ry changes. This has kept many employers on their toes, but as of right now, the most substantial regulatory changes that have been proposed have either been blocked by court rulings or stalled within the Department of Labor.”

Kelli Lieurance, partner with Baird Holm LLP said one of Washington’s proposals in this area would affect minimum wage and that Nebraska has generally moved in step with the feds.

“The Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division’s proposed rules raise the salary level from $455 per week, or $23,660 annually, to $679 per week, or $35,308 annually,” she said. “The proposed rules also make changes to the highly compensated employee salary level, increasing the annual salary from $100,000 to $147,414.”

Pay equity also continues to be a discussion, Lieurance said, specifically given the reinstatement of the EEO-1’s summary pay data requirement and the continued focus by various federal agencies on compensation issues.

“The U.S. Supreme Court is also slated to decide whether Title VII of the Civil Rights Act protects individuals from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity and transgender status,” she said. “Regardless of how the Supreme Court rules, many Nebraska employees are already protected under relevant local laws, which protect sexual orientation and gender identity.”

out of the office per week to accommodate busy schedules, according to Krings. Using feedback from manager and talent development professionals, programs cover a range of soft and hard skills, from leadership and communication to data analytics and digital marketing.

“We’re focusing on skillsets that professionals will need to understand at a higher level as their companies position themselves for the future,” she said.

Revela Group developed the HR Think Tank program for developing HR professionals who aspire to take on more responsibility, whether they manage a team or not.

“They want to create and support a culture that gets results but invites engagement,” Hill said. “HR professionals who want to improve their presence and influence, not just ‘fix’ everyone else.”

Hill said the topics reflected in the HR Think Tank schedule, from addressing conflict in a healthy way to time management, were modeled after the ingredients

that contributed to the success of their client teams.

Vandenack Weaver assists businesses with the design of predictable custom pricing packages for human resource and benefits issues, as Vandenack noted proactive employers are less likely to have an expensive claim; however, employers avoid calling lawyers on “little issues” if they’re worried about a big bill for a quick call.

“We want to be available to HR personnel so they feel comfortable calling about the ‘little issues’ and have an affordable resource that helps them avoid the big issues,” Dunning said.

They developed a list of typical employer needs, providing the foundation to effectively handle these issues, and packages are designed based on the expected volume of work for an employer in the HR and benefits area. Expected services are converted into a monthly, quarterly or annual fee that is certain for the client — avoiding widely-swinging legal bills.

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• JUNE 21, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal

Renard

Farmen

Keiter

Webb

Ameritas selects Renard, Farmen, Keiter, Webb, DeLaCastro for officer positions

Larry Keiter was elected second vice presiAmeritas has named five to new officer dent of talent development in human resources. positions.

Scott Renard was elected vice president His previous position was director of talent deof actuarial for retirement plans. His previous velopment. Keiter received a bachelor’s degree in business administration with an position was second vice president emphasis in finance from the Uniof actuarial. Renard received a B.S. versity of Nebraska at Kearney and degree in actuarial science from the an M.B.A. in strategic management University of Nebraska-Lincoln. from Regis University in Denver, He has professional designations of Colorado. He has the professional FSA (Fellow, Society of Actuaries) designations of Gallup certified and MAAA (Member, American strengths coach, a Bates execuAcademy of Actuaries). tive presence (ExPI) certification, Scott Farmen was elected vice ACTP certified executive coach president of compliance. His preand is certified in the Korn Ferry’s vious position was second vice 360 assessment and assessment of president – corporate compliance.

DeLaCastro leadership potential.

Farmen received a bachelor’s deJohn Webb was elected second vice presgree in English and psychology from Nebraska Wesleyan University and a juris doctorate from ident of compliance in retirement plans. His the University of Nebraska College of Law. previous position was director of compliance.

He has the professional designations of CLU Webb received a B.A. in music and a B.S. in (Chartered Life Underwriter), ChFC (Char- business administration from Berea College, tered Financial Consultant), CAMS (Certified Berea, Kentucky, and an M.B.A. from Montreat Anti-Money Laundering Specialist), among College, Montreat, North Carolina. He has the American Retirement Association professional other designations. designations of QPA (Qualified Pension Administrator), TGPC (Tax and Governmental Plan Consultant) among others. Webb serves as president of the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries (ASPPA) Benefits Council (ABC) of Greater Cincinnati.

Jon DeLaCastro was elected second vice president of information security. He recently joined Ameritas after a career with CVS Health in Colorado where he led security and merger and acquisition activities. Prior to CVS, he served as chief information officer and chief security officer for several organizations. DeLDahlberg Lapinski Frankel Zacharia adds Dahlberg, aCastro attended the University of Nebraska at Omaha. He is a member of LOMA and Lapinski as associates at firm FS-ISAC (Financial Services – Information Frankel Zacharia has hired Monty Dahlberg Sharing and Analysis Center) and holds multiand Will Lapinski as firm associates. ple certifications from Cisco, Avaya, Microsoft Dahlberg joined the firm in April 2019 as and SANS, among others. an IT analyst. He is also on the projects team and assists on Tier 2 for the managed service provider team. He has more than 10 years of experience working in a variety of technical support roles, including working as a support technician while completing his Bachelor of Science in Computer and Network Security and a minor in Systems Administration from Dakota State University.

Lapinski interned for the firm beginning in January 2019. In April 2019, he accepted a permanent position as a Level 1 Technician. He For your convenience assists the technology services department on the managed service provider team. Lapinski you can now update graduated from College of DuPage where he your records by simply received his associates of applied science in emailing any new info to computer and internetworking technologies. He subscriptions@mbj.com or additionally holds a CompTIAA+ and Security + certificates, as well as Cisco and CCENT. He navigating directly to our is working currently to complete both Microsoft website and filling out 365 Fundamentals and CompTIA Network + an update form. certificates.

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Midlands Business Journal • JUNE 21, 2019 •

Davis

Klym

Barton

Watson

Makovicka Physical Therapy promotes four to leadership roles Makovicka Physical Therapy has promoted Jordan Davis PT, DPT, to director at the West Omaha/Elkhorn clinic, Jessica Klym to director of the Bellevue clinic, Lisa Barton to chief financial officer and Lauren Watson to director of project management.

Davis has been with the company since 2009 when the first clinic opened.

She has worked at many of the Makovicka Physical Therapy clinics as new locations have opened. Davis graduated with her Doctorate of Physical Therapy degree from the University of Nebraska Medical Center in 2014. She is a member of both the American Physical Therapy Association and the Nebraska Physical Therapy Association. In addition, she is Level 1 certified in dry needling, and trained in blood flow restriction therapy.

Klym has been with Makovicka Physical Therapy since 2017 upon graduation with her Doctorate of Physical Therapy from UNMC. She attended Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Missouri where she received her bachelor’s degree. She is a member of both the American Physical Therapy Association and the Nebraska Physical Therapy Association.

Barton has been with the company for six years, providing leadership and financial acumen. This promotion will allow her to use her skills, and leadership ability in the oversight of all budgets, and growth in clinic operations.

Watson began working at the company in September 2015 and has served as clinic director of the Aksarben clinic since it opened in November 2015.

She will help the company continue to expand at its current pace while maintaining the Makovicka PT culture, quality of care, and customer service and its referral sources.

BerganKDV names Mlenek to CFO

Briar Capital Management, LLC, a multi-strategy investment firm based in New York, announced that Kelli Deere has joined the firm as director of asset management.

She will be based in Omaha.

Deere brings more than 16 years of property management experience and will be responsible Deere for day-to-day direct oversight of Briar’s Midwest portfolio of properties, which includes several thousand units. Prior to joining Briar, she was director of residential property management at Cushman & Wakefield/The Lund Company. At Lund, Deere oversaw all physical, operational, and financial aspects of the company’s third-party multi-family property management portfolio consisting of approximately 10,000 apartment units. In addition, she played an integral role in the due diligence process of newly acquired properties.

BerganKDV has selected Rob Mlenek to serve as chief financial officer. He began his duties on June 13 and is located at the firm’s Bloomington, Minnesota office.

As CFO, Mlenek operates in four capacities: steward to protect and preserve the assets of the firm; operator to balance capabilities, talent, costs and service Mlenek levels to fulfill the finance organization responsibilities; strategist to provide leadership with respect to aligning financial and business strategies of the firm; and catalyst to stimulate behaviors across the firm to achieve strategic and financial objectives.

Mlenek is active with the Institute of Management Accountants and is a Certified Management Accountant. He received his bachelor’s degree in accounting from St. Cloud State University and his MBA from St. Thomas University.

Tigerpaw Software names Jackson new sales director

Tigerpaw Software has named Ben Jackson its new director of sales.

Jackson started his first company at the age of 22 and grew it rapidly through five acquisitions and multiple locations in the San Francisco area. He has held executive roles at several other companies, with experience in hospitaliJackson ty, finance and SaaS. Jackson was an integral part of LinkedIn’s sales operations in Omaha, leading teams in operations, customer service and sales through LinkedIn’s rapid-growth phases post-IPO through their acquisition by Microsoft. Notably, he led the top performing office in North America in 2015.

Briar Capital Management, LLC. selects Deere for director post

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• JUNE 21, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal

The Lincoln

JUNE 2019

BUSINESS Vol. 22 No. 6 $2.00

Journal

Buy/Sell Your Home .......... Pages 4-5 Building an Insurance Benefits Package ............... Pages 8-9 Technology ......Pages 12-13 Drone Amplified receives national grant to develop intelligent drone-based aerial ignition.

Page 2

Speece Lewis Engineers plays vital role in rebuilding flood-damaged, aging infrastructure.

Page 3

Valentino’s establishes catering presence in Omaha; expands concessions, targets Iowa.

Page 7

2

• JUNE 2019 • The Lincoln Business Journal

Drone Amplified receives national grant to develop intelligent drone-based aerial ignition

by Gabby Christensen

First initiated as a research project in a University of Nebraska-Lincoln lab nearly five years ago, IGNIS by Drone Amplified has since gained international attention and more recently was awarded a National Science Foundation Small Business Innovation Research grant for $224,999, in which the Nebraska Department of Economic Development has matched so that the company can conduct research and

Drone Amplified Phone: 531-333-2828 Founded: 2016 Service: fire ignition management technology with drones Employees: 4 Goal: to have system available in every part of the world to ultimately lessen wildfire destruction Website: https://droneamplified.com

development work on enabling intelligent drone-based aerial ignition for prescribed fires and backburns for wildfires.

Co-owner/CEO Carrick Detweiler said the motivation behind the fire ignition management technology was fueled by recent wildfires that blazed throughout the country leaving behind extensive damage, even causing deaths.

“As it turns out, one of the best ways to fight fire is with fire,” Detweiler said.

“However, prescribed fires and backburns on wildfires are extremely dangerous and difficult to do. There was a demand to get people away from the fire and that’s what we wanted our technology to be able to do.”

Detweiler, who also serves as a faculty member at UNL in the computer science and engineering department, said he conducted a number of trial systems and demonstrations, ultimately realizing that there was great potential for this product.

Thus, Drone Amplified was founded in 2016 to further develop and commercialize the system.

The core elements addressed with IG-

Buy/Sell Your Home ................

Pages 4-5 Building an Insurance Benefits Package ............

Pages 8-9 Technology .....

Pages 12-13

From left, co-founders Carrick Detweiler and Sebastian Elbaum… Utilizing drones to fight fire with literal fire.

NIS are safety, accessibility/availability team also worked closely with their biggest potential client, the U.S. Department of and cost.

“By using our smaller system, we’re the Interior (DOI), to ensure that requirenot only increasing safety and availability ments and needs were met throughout the but we’re also offering our technology at a approval process.

Last summer, the U.S. DOI ran tests significantly lower cost compared to helicopters that are often used costing nearly of the IGNIS system during the Klondike wildfires in southern Oregon, in which $10,000 a day,” he said.

From the beginning, Detweiler said the Detweiler said the system received a great

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reaction from firefighters and aviation managers.

“This tool opened new possibilities,” Detweiler said. “They were able to do all operations at night, which doubled the amount of time that they could work on the fire.”

Earlier this year, the U.S. DOI placed IGNIS on its list of Top Made in America innovations — a move that he said he’s excited about.

While regulatory processes have been lengthy, Detweiler said support has been overwhelming.

“Everyone wants this system to succeed,” he said. “The excitement is tangible in the fire community.”

Detweiler said the business is growing slowly, yet steadily, mostly due to the fact that the industry is highly regulated and actions take more time.

Despite this obstacle, he said the technology is being used in Australia and Canada already.

“We have a lot of developments and related products in the pipeline,” Detweiler said. “Our ultimate goal is to have our system available when and wherever it’s needed throughout the world.”

According to Detweiler, there’s nothing more satisfying than knowing the system is helping to keep people out of harm’s way.

“It’s a great feeling to have the ability to be able to provide new tools and capabilities to address a huge problem,” he said.

“The firefighting community has used the same tools and technology for years, but there’s so much potential for systems like our’s to transform the way they operate by allowing them to more quickly contain larger fires at lower cost and lower risk.

It’s a very exciting field to be in.”

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The Lincoln Business Journal • JUNE 2019 •

3

Speece Lewis Engineers plays vital role in rebuilding flood-damaged, aging infrastructure

by Michelle Leach light on its work with the new North 10th Speece Lewis Engineers’ consistent, Street bridge over Salt Creek in Lincoln. The diligent approach to operations, from se- city described the project as a “structurally, lecting and furnishing its space to selecting functionally and hydraulically sufficient talent, has allowed for the 45-year-old firm crossing,” designed to “improve the mobility to remain profitable, retain professionals and, of the traveling public, and connect local accordingly, contain costs in good times and communities.” bad. The present workload, while good, is Deficiencies in the former bridge strucdriven at least in part by the bad: historically ture were also noted by the city in a public extreme weather. information open house announcement from “I think you find about every consulting August 2014; however, the then-existing firm in Nebraska has bridge was “safe to been involved in as- Speece Lewis Engineers drive upon.” sisting their clients or Phone: 402-483-5466 According to the department of trans- Address: 906 S. 26th St., Lincoln 68510 American Society portation with expe- Year founded: 1974 of Civil Engineers, diting plans to get Founders: Bill Speece and Larry Lewis almost 15% of the things rebuilt,” said Services: surveying, bridge design, state’s 15,330 bridges President Tim Farmer. transportation, hydraulics are “structurally defiN o t i n g a n a g Employees: 26 full-time (plus three cient.” economy, the head interns) “It highlights the of the firm based out Website: speecelewis.com need for continued inof 906 S. 26th St. in vestment in infrastrucLincoln said a damaged road or bridge that ture,” Farmer said, noting the subject comes is required to get from “Point A” to “Point up every month or so from both sides of the B” has far-reaching deleterious effects for the aisle. “But until something bad happens, we region (think: ubiquitous “farm-to-market” have unfortunate events like the flood here routes). in our state, then people are forced to invest “In vague terms, we’re actively working in the infrastructure.” on emergency repair in a half-dozen counties The firm’s investments include the purand at least six bridges at this time, with the chase of its building near the Lincoln Chilcaveat of ‘more to come,’” Farmer said. “We dren’s Zoo. Formerly, the business founded have to prioritize the ‘need them now’-type by engineers Bill Speece and Larry Lewis projects, and the ‘it could wait’ [projects].” leased a building at 3534 S. 48th St. A firm with bridge design, transportation, “We did a total gut and remodel to make surveying, hydraulic and field services (such it as efficient as possible,” Farmer said, when as material sampling and testing), Speece asked about how the firm’s headquarters of Lewis Engineers leadership also put a spot- nine years has evolved in the more recent

President Tim Farmer … Investment in technology, headquarters represents built-in efficiencies amid continued shortage of tradespeople, keen workload. past. “There was no need for an update. As unemployment,” Farmer said. “It’s hard to far as layout, we went with a more open plan find and keep good people.” than we’ve ever had … for collaboration.”

The firm also has three interns lined up A hallmark of the firm is its consistent for the summer. “headcount.”

“In Lincoln, as far as keeping young en“Part of our philosophy over the years is gineers, the development that has happened that we never laid anybody off, like during in town has helped to attract the young peothe downturn,” he said. “We’re sticking with ple,” he said. “Our issues are in the technical you, and you stick with us.” trade — the surveyors and the draftsmen.

In all, Speece Lewis employs 26 full- Everybody goes and gets the four-year degree time people. now. There is not as much emphasis on the “It’s the blessing and the curse of 2% Continued on page 6.

4

• JUNE 2019 • The Lincoln Business Journal

Buy/Sell Your Home

A section prepared by the staff of the Lincoln Business Journal

Lincoln home market continues to be seller’s market

by Gabby Christensen

Buying or selling a home is a big move that requires patience and understanding of the current market, real estate professionals say.

Kent Obrist, associate broker at Wood Bros Realty, said on a national scale, the real estate markets continue to be seller markets as homes are selling quite well with short marketing times in most regions of the country.

“Home prices have been on the rise for the past three years accordingly,” Obrist said.

“However, National Association of Realtors does anticipate a slow down in the increase of prices in the near future. This may be because price increases will be causing an affordability issue for many buyers.”

Obrist said the industry is also seeing

Obrist Barker a shortage of inventory on a national level.

“Demand for home purchases are outpacing supply,” Obrist said. “As the competition increases among buyers, we often see buyers

offering higher than list price to secure their purchase.”

Obrist said the local Lincoln market is following the national trends.

“This is great for sellers but not so much for buyers who often find themselves making several offers Jacquot on different homes until they are successful,” Obrist said. “Recent drops in the mortgage interest rates will fuel this demand.”

For sellers, Obrist said he cautions them

June 2019 to not price their home too high.

He said buyers should be flexible with their terms and prepare a letter and family photo ahead of time so the seller feels a personal connection.

Lea Barker, managing broker at Lincoln First Realty, said if a property is known to be “hot,” sometimes the seller will establish a specific date and time to look at all offers so they can choose the best one.

“Escalation clauses may be used in multiple offers, which states how much a buyer is willing to pay over the other buyer,” Barker said. “It's not uncommon to see houses remain on the market for back up offers until the inspection period is over.”

She said the Lincoln market is still very strong but down slightly from last year.

“As the summer heats up, this compeContinued on page 6.

Buy/Sell Your Home •

The Lincoln Business Journal • JUNE 2019 •

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6

• JUNE 2019 • The Lincoln Business Journal

Controlling energy usage doesn’t have to mean investing in new equipment quite yet

by Jasmine Heimgartner

Technology provides businesses many ways to enhance operations. When it comes to equipment, efficiently using energy not only affects the bottom line but also minimizes a businesses footprint when it comes to the environment.

Manufacturers are continually updating equipment to provide the latest and greatest in efficiency, as well as how they are powered.

Instead of electrical energy, options include geothermal, which uses groundwater as a source of heating and cooling, or solar. Newer equipment often has built in monitors that allows for programming zones to maximize use while minimizing energy consumption.

As great as new technology is, fitting it into the budget isn’t always an option.

Luckily, there are other ways businesses can make a change.

“If you don’t want that cost of new equipment, then lighting controls are the best manner of reducing energy,” said Cody Hermsmeyer, electrical engineering designer, Geary Engineering. “Motion sensing switches and LED lights are easy to put in, and the price of those have come down considerably.

Changing light fixtures themselves from fluorescent to incandescent is a really good option for energy conservation. You can also reduce usage by taking advantage of natural daylight harvesting it. If you have ample light coming in an exterior window, you can dim the lights in that area and save energy.”

Beyond lighting, incorporating a programable thermostat can reduce energy used if a space is unoccupied. Additionally, power management systems are available that can put control of an entire building and its power usage into the palm of the hand.

“A power management system can be a relatively simple system that monitors and reports the energy usage, or it can be complex system that is incorporated into a building management system to monitor, control and limit energy usage,” said Tony Dupsky, PE, architectural engineer, ETI. “There are monitoring systems that can be easily added to existing systems and be setup to communicate with smart devices or send notifications about energy usage. The complex systems will need to be incorporated into the programming of the building management system. These systems are capable of demand limiting, stagger starting equipment, automatic setbacks, etc.”

Since there are so many options, it’s often Every business is different, which means every business needs to consider their opera- hard to know where to start.

“You have to be in contact with the owner tions when deciding to make a change. and ask what is the most important “A small office building might for them regarding energy savwant something simple, as it can be ings, as well as what is the most easily controlled by the occupants, realistic and what is the easiest for where a large office building would the building owner to manage,” want a building management sysHermsmeyer said. “If they don’t tem because of the variables and want a complex control system, we complex systems,” Dupsky said. can keep it simple with a lighting “The type of business impacts the system. In the end, you want them choices, a restaurant for instance to be happy with equipment that is uses a lot energy, however, the not too hard to control so they don’t energy is required for cooking have to have a manufacturer’s rep processes, and a warehouse might Dupsky come out every time — someuse little energy because they only have to maintain minimum temperature and thing they can manage in house and will be happy with.” lighting levels.”

Diligence, research important factors for developing business plan for startups

by Lee Nelson

Crafting a business plan for a startup takes the help from multiple resources.

“Start your business plan by identifying your strengths and weaknesses,” said Austin Zimmerman, team accountant at SP Group, PC. “Then, think about how you can develop a team around you to address those weaknesses. In all likelihood, your core competencies don’t include many of the behind the scenes tasks integral to runBors ning a business, such as bookkeeping, payroll, and tax planning.”

If you can craft a business plan that will allow you to spend your time doing what you do best, then you can focus on finding the right team that will allow you to address your financial and record-keeping needs, he said.

The Lincoln community is filled with a multitude of small business owners who can be used as a resource for potential startups, Zimmerman said.

“Sitting down with your CPA before you start or buy a business can save you a lot of time and money in the long run, and set you on the right path towards executing your plan for success,” he said.

Steve Bors, director at the Entrepreneur-

Speece Lewis Engineers plays vital role Continued from page 3. technical and trade, in my opinion.”

Speece Lewis’s internship program has proven to be successful in exposing young engineers to what the team does and how they work.

“Seven of our last eight engineer hires have come directly from the intern [program],” he said.

The secret to such retention boils down, at least in part, to what Farmer refers to as an extensive interview process.

“When we hire, we get the background of each individual to make sure it’s going to be a fit,” he said. “Since we’re a smaller company, we ask employees to be flexible.”

He indicated the ability to juggle multiple diverse responsibilities is important.

“With the university, you’ve got a lot of kids from out-state (not Lincoln or not from Omaha), and they might have had that farm

Developing a strategy of gradual changes makes it easier to work toward the bigger, more expensive upgrades.

“I would recommend evaluating the current energy usage, and starting with control changes such as programmable thermostats and occupancy sensors,” Dupsky said. “In addition to the control changes, I would recommend some training for the occupants on how to be more energy efficient, as the occupants drive the energy usage. The next steps would be to upgrade the equipment and building envelope by providing LED lighting, energy efficient HVAC, and improved wall and windows construction to reduce heat loss and gains. The last step would be to install a renewable energy source, such as photovoltaic panels, to offset the energy usage.”

experience in their background,” he said.

“That helps with the technical, and they have a certain work ethic.”

When paired with its investments in technology — represented by the likes of its Bentley Systems software — robust talent presents a powerful combination to the market.

“We’ve always invested in that technology,” he said of software to render accurate and complete surface models for construction projects. “The evolution of that is making sure what we do is a lot more transferable to a contractor, so they can readily use their ‘smart’ equipment.”

He said contractors’ GPS-enabled equipment allows for machine control — sets of plans are not required.

“Every time they release new software it becomes more powerful,” Farmer said.

“There’s always a learning curve.”

ship Center at Southeast Community College, said the biggest obstacle faced by many people starting a business is the recognition that they need to produce a plan.

“Many owners want to dive in, get a

Amen Johnson website set up and open shop,” he said. “They don’t want to take the time to draft a plan in advance.”

There are many programs in the area that can assist owners in drafting a business plan, and most of these programs can provide the owner with a business plan outline, information sources to complete sections of the plan and tips on how to complete the financial projections, he said.

“We are happy to give owners guidance, but we won’t write the plan for them. We feel it’s important for the owner to write the plan,” he said.

Besides the Entrepreneurship Center and its Focus Suites, help can be gained by visit-

ing the Community Development Resources, SCORE and the Rural Enterprise Assistance Project, Bors said.

Vicky Amen, attorney at Amen Business Law, said ownership and exit disputes can be avoided or minimized with good planning from the beginning.

“Nobody thinks ownership issues will happen to them until it happens,” she said.

“Inadvertent intellectual property infringement happens when a business owner begins using a trade name or trademark without knowing that it is the same or confusingly similar to the trademark or trade name of another business.”

She said before starting any business, you should define the product or service the business will offer, know your competition, identify the intended customer and then get feedback to learn if the proposed product or service is something that the targeted customer thinks will solve the problem better than any other option.

You also need to imagine what your business checkbook will look like, Amen said.

Blake Johnson, attorney at Bruning Law Group, said market research is critical to an effective business plan.

“The startup’s owner will need to identify who the competitors are, the characteristics of the customer base, and where the opportunity is to enter the market,” he said. “Quality market research is essential to demonstrating Continued on next page.

Lincoln home market continues to be seller’s market Continued from page 4. tition will slow down as demand drops and supply increases,” Barker said. “This is actually a good thing as that helps level the playing field a little bit.”

She said buyers need to be able to make quick decisions.

On the other hand, Barker said sellers need to ensure the home is clean, in good condition and priced correctly.

“Just because someone is willing to pay over asking price in a multiple offer situation, doesn't mean they will look at it if it is overpriced to start with,” she said.

Noelle Jacquot, senior manager of mortgage sales at First National Bank in Lincoln, said Lincoln has been in somewhat of an inventory shortage when it comes to certain price ranges of homes.

“When the market is this competitive, it is imperative that buyers are patient,” Jacquot said. “It is not unusual to be in a situation

where there are several offers on the same home you are trying to buy.”

She said buyers should understand that the Realtor’s commission is almost always paid by the seller so it’s wise to enlist a Realtor.

“Also, before you ask an agent to show you properties, you should most certainly obtain a pre-qualification or pre-approval for a mortgage,” Jacquot said. “Not only will it show sellers that you are a qualified buyer, it will help you to know what your true price range should be.”

Additionally, as a seller, she said the Realtor is just as important.

“When the market is active, a lot of people want to save their money by selling their home by themselves,” Jacquot said.

“However, there are a lot of things that can happen during a transaction that can end up costing even more money that can be avoided by having the guidance of an agent.”

The Lincoln Business Journal • JUNE 2019 •

7

Valentino’s establishes catering presence in Omaha; expands concessions, targets Iowa Omaha,” he said. “We have a full kitchen with

by Michelle Leach A Grandaddy of Lincoln-grown food staff in Omaha and are really starting to take concepts, Valentino’s, is in various stages of on some more events.”

Around this time last year, Omaha efforts expanding its full-service concessions, catering and franchising opportunities and options were officially underway.

“Many know us from going to Lincoln locally, in Omaha and in Iowa respectively, or other venues,” he said. “We also see a lot according to Anthony Messineo.

“We took on all the food and beverage of restaurants that are trying to jump into that concessions at Haymarket Park,” said Mess- catering business.”

Messineo emphasized, that just like its ineo, vice president of operations. “We’ve always done concessions, pizza by the slice, concessions, it’s certainly not their first rodeo.

“We started [Premier Catering] as a sepand at Memorial [Stadium] we do more than arate company, with pizza — burgers and the actual naming of brats — but this is our Valentino’s the brand and taking first go-around with Phone: 402-434-9350 that management team getting complete food Address: 2601 S. 70th St., Lincoln 68506 outside of Valentino’s, and beverage conces- (corporate office) Founder: 1957 by Val and Zena Weiler in the late 1990s,” sions.” he said. “We always T h e r e g i o n - Services: range of food concepts featurdid a lot of non-Val’s al restaurant chain ing signature pizza and pasta, including food for caterers and founded by Val and buffets, Express units, To Go units; caterevents, and a lot of Zena Weiler at 35th ing and concessions people thought, ‘How and Holdrege streets Employees: 700-plus (between Lincoln can you do tenderloin and headquartered at and Omaha, full- and part-time) and chicken if your 2601 S. 70th St. in Website: valentinos.com Val’s?’”

Lincoln, has worked The Governor’s Ball attended by 3,000 the Haymarket since “day one,” selling pizza by the slice, Messineo said in late April. people served as impetus to roll out a separate Home to the Lincoln Saltdogs and Nebraska company, due to the “fantastic comments” Cornhuskers, the ballpark reportedly got its associated with catering the event.

“We’ve invested with the brand for the start in 2001.

“Part of that was having a good relation- last 20 years in Lincoln, and we’ve been doing ship with their ownership and management events up in Omaha,” he said. “We made the team,” Messineo said. “Going out to bid for decision to have a kitchen there with staff to all the food and beverage concessions was handle those events.”

Valentino’s is also partnering with an something we wanted to do for several years.

We put our best foot forward and were award- Omaha-based creative firm to launch an Iowa ed the contract last December. Now it’s in full franchising push this year.

“We’ve had franchise locations in the swing with baseball and softball concessions.

We feel like with our years of expertise with past in Iowa,” Messineo said. “We’re looking at some of those college towns; we’ve been concessions, we’re prepared for this.”

A striking feature of its relationship with in Ames and were successful at the time, and the venue can be traced back to 20 years ago, then the local [franchisees] retired and sold the building.” when concessions discussions surfaced.

He also referenced Iowa City, Des Moines “It’s the same people in the room from 20 years ago,” Messineo said. “We still have the and central Iowa — areas with requests for Valentino’s to enter the market. same management team.”

“People know our name from our being in Valentino’s is known as the “official pizza Nebraska and from traveling,” he said. “We of the Huskers.”

“Our best marketing and branding is being feel there is a need there.”

A need, too, in expanding its franchise associated with the athletic department and carry-out and delivery units of approximately university,” he said.

Valentino’s is represented at stadiums by 1,200 to 1,400 square feet, with a focus on the Premier Concessions, while Premier Catering pizza, pasta and salads that have made a name handles a number of events. The “Premier” for the chain for 60-plus years.

“We see the trends toward carry-out, esbrand underneath Valentino’s umbrella is also pecially delivery, and we’ve got our express amidst notable expansions.

“We have expanded Premier Catering in lunches in there, and our delivery business continues to grow, we’ve got a great fleet of delivery drivers,” Messineo said. “You hear about a lot of national and local concepts Continued from preceding page. adding delivery to their arsenal. And we’ve the business will be profitable.” been delivering for over 20 years.”

Another critical component to an efBetween Lincoln and Omaha, Messineo fective business plan is providing express referenced more than 700 full- and part-time justifications for the company’s financial pro- employees. jections. A startup’s owner should be aware “Our larger buffet units may have over 25, that investors and lenders will require these 30, 40 employees, and our smaller carry-out, justifications and make financial projections with management, may have 10 to 15 employthat are realistic, not excessively optimistic, ees,” he said. he said.

Generally, Messineo characterizes fran“It is important to keep in mind the chising as a good opportunity with a “wellaudience for the business plan. A business known, Midwest brand,” those who embrace plan can be designed for internal use in the idea of being an independently-owned creating and operating the company, or for franchise and entrepreneur. an external audience such as investors and “This person isn’t afraid to get in the kitchlenders,” he said. en and be a restauranteur,” he said.

Research important factors

From left, Vice President Michael Messineo, President Tony Messineo, Vice President Anthony Messineo and Executive Vice President Mike Alesio … Signature pizza, pasta brand focuses on full-service food and beverage concessions, catering, out-of-state franchising, and carry-out and delivery.

8

• JUNE 2019 • The Lincoln Business Journal

Building an Insurance Benefits Package A section prepared by the staff of the Lincoln Business Journal

June 2019

Experts say voluntary benefits are being utilized now more than ever before

by Gabby Christensen

As health care costs continue to rise and high-deductible health care plans continue to grow in popularity, professionals say they are seeing more companies offer voluntary benefits in addition to their traditional portfolio.

Todd Katz, executive vice president of group benefits at MetLife, said these voluntary benefits help bridge the gaps not covered by traditional health insurance while also aiding both employees and employers from a cost-management perspective.

“These benefits can range from accident insurance, critical illness and hospital indemnity plans, and are offered to employees at a low cost through their employers,” Katz said.

He said most people don’t innately understand what these benefits cover, compared to dental and vision benefits which are easier to understand. However, these less understood benefits provide critical protection in the event something unexpected happens.

“And, what many don’t realize is that they pay a lump-sum directly to the employee to cover out of pocket costs,” Katz said. “This means that they can use the money however they see fit, whether it’s to cover household bills, medical insurance

deductibles or other expenses that medical insurance doesn’t cover.”

In addition, he said many employers are also offering auto and home insurance and legal benefits.

Additionally, Michael Nelson, executive vice president of sales and account management at Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Nebraska, said he has seen a new and growing use of specialty drugs that is driving an increase in pharmacy costs.

“Physicians are integrating care, inKatz cluding behavioral health and social services into their practices,” Nelson said. “Employees, especially millennials, are seeking greater and expanded access to providers, which is changing response and wait times. And of course, more use of technology, including virtual care and telemedicine.”

He said employers should pay particular attention to aligning employee cost sharing levels to industry benchmarks to help them attract and retain valuable employees.

According to Nelson, it is wise for

employers to construct coverage elements that incentivize and promote employee, spouse and dependent adoption of use of centers of excellence for appropriate conditions, site-of-service utilization, value-based care provider adoption where reimbursements are tied to cost and quality rather than for volume of services rendered, alternate network adoption that delivers the same or better quality at lower cost due to heightened care coordination, elimination of redundant Reisenwitz services and deeper discounts for exclusive membership, as well as cost transparency and consumer engagement tools and applications to help members take more control over their health care journey.

Eric Reisenwitz, senior vice president/ chief operating officer for the Group Protection business at Lincoln Financial Group, said there’s an increasing need for financial education and preparation among employed Americans.

“Without the right financial protections in place, an accident or illness can

derail retirement savings, disrupt someone’s ability to provide for their family or drive them into debt,” Reisenwitz said. “Insurance coverages offered at the workplace, such as disability, accident or critical illness insurance, can help provide people with peace of mind when it comes to unforeseen health issues or accidents.”

Reisenwitz said voluntary benefits are almost becoming a necessity for financial security.

“With the national unemployment rate at less than 4%, offering a comprehensive benefits plan is more important than ever, as employers are trying to attract and retain employees — more than three in four employees view benefits as an important factor when considering a job offer,” Reisenwitz said.

He said it’s key to work with a provider who can help employees understand the value of the benefits and help them make informed decisions.

“Many small business owners face competition from larger businesses with more financial and HR resources,” Reisenwitz said. “Fortunately, there are cost-effective options in the marketplace that can help small business owners attract employees and boost retention and satisfaction.”

LBJ REPRINT ALERT Editor’s note: It has come to our attention that some out-of-state firms are being overly-aggressive in trying to sell reprints of stories published in the Lincoln Business Journal. These companies are not affiliated with LBJ. To order a reprint of a story in the Lincoln Business Journal, you may contact our office at 434-7752.

Building an Insurance Benefits Package •

Companies still challenged to create cost-effective health benefit plans

by Dwain Hebda

It’s been nearly 10 years since passage of the Affordable Care Act and many companies are still wrestling with providing cost-effective health benefits for their employees.

Local benefits professionals say companies have had to employ a measure of creativity to create such offerings without breaking the bank.

“Employee benefits are an increasingly important piece of each employee’s total compensation package,” said Bridgette Ebben, senior account executive with Principal Financial Group and president-elect of the Lincoln chapter of Nebraska Association of Health Underwriters. “There are many different ways that employers can mitigate costs while still providing a well-rounded benefits package to employees.”

Ebben added that some of these strategies include offering more than one health plan option, thereby enabling employers to offer the choice between a high deductible health plan (HDHP) and a traditional health plan, which can be offered at different costs to the employee. Another option is to offer employee-funded voluntary products to increase choices of benefit options to employees that they may not qualify for in the individual market.

“Many health and ancillary benefit plans also offer no-cost services that come with the group plan,” she said. “For example, EAP services, will preparation, travel assistance, identity theft protection, dental/vision discount plans, etc. Make sure as the employer you know what value adds your plans offer so that you educate your employees.”

Robert Bettenhausen, founder of Bettenhausen Insurance Services, said level funded plans are also growing in popularity, especially among smaller firms.

“In addition to traditional Affordable Care Act plans, small employers — that is, less than 50 employees — now have the opportunity to participate in level funded arrangements,” he said. “These alternative funding options may provide significant premium savings. However, these plans typically require medical underwriting, which may or may not be to the employer’s advantage.”

Bettenhausen said given the inextricable link between claims and benefits costs, many companies are taking steps to help improve the wellness of employees.

“Better employee health habits tend to have a positive effect on health claims,” he said. “In addition to traditional wellness programs, some smaller employers encourage better employee health habits via free education tools and resources such as fitness trackers, which are often available through their health insurance carrier.”

Kayla Northup, senior group account manager with Compensation Programs, Inc., said insurance carriers have begun to introduce products that have made it easier for small to medium sized companies.

“In my market, we really focus on small groups for the most part so that’s where my perspective is,” she said. “Insurance carriers have certainly gotten more flexible because they are offering choice for the smaller companies. They’re making it an available option where previously you had to have a larger company to be able to offer more

choice in benefits.

“Also, they are trying to get creative in the types of plans they offer where there are multiple network options with different price points. That’s another choice that’s available.

Another thing is, they are giving certain benefits like having a maximum of three office visit copays in a policy year. After that, you go towards deductible co-insurance.”

Many carriers are also introducing technology that makes benefits management less work-intensive, she said.

“I would say while insurance is a slow-moving beast, it is increasingly moving towards an all-electronic open enrollment,” she said. “A lot of companies are already there and even those that aren’t are moving towards that. It takes a lot of the pressure off HR and it gives employees more information in a way that’s a little bit easier to understand. It’s just, I think, a really superior way to do it.”

The Lincoln Business Journal • JUNE 2019 •

MOVING FORWARD! UPCOMING SECTIONS IN THE LBJ July

Corporate Security

Small Business Architecture

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 visit us at www.mbj.com for more info.

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10

• JUNE 2019 • The Lincoln Business Journal

REGIONAL LANDSCAPES

Briefs…

Denny Van Horn was installed as president of the Home Builders Association of Lincoln. The 2019 Home Builders Association of Lincoln board of directors is as follows: Executive committee: Herb Reese, president elect; Matt Kinning, 1st vice president; Perry Haralson, 2nd vice president; Lori Wellman, secretary; Bob Bryant, treasurer; Bo Jones, immediate past president; Michaela Harrison, executive vice president. Board of Directors: Mark Aksamit, Taylor Ashburn, Bryce Bornemeier, Kelly Krueger, Hayley Lane, Pam Magner, Jerry Maher, Tyler Reynolds, Lance Roach, Matt Ruhlman, Marlene Stroup, Sam Swartz.

Remodelers Council Chairman: Shawn Stranathan. Young Building Professionals Council President: Kelli Fleek.

Cordell & Cordell, a domestic litigation firm representing men in family law cases, is opening its first office in Lincoln.

Cordell & Cordell has more than 200 attorneys working in more than 100 offices across the United States and the United Kingdom. The new Lincoln office (233 S. 13th St., Suite 1100) will broaden the opportunities for divorcing dads to gain information and counsel. This is the firm’s second office in Nebraska with another location in Omaha. The office will be staffed

by Megan E. McDowell.

The State Chamber’s Leadership Nebraska graduated 29 individuals. The Leadership Nebraska Class XI members are: Anna Brewer, Carley Bruning, Matthew Burke, Linette Gralheer Butler, Angela Davidson, Elizabeth Everett, Mike Feeken, Sarah Focke, Peggy Hain, Erika Hamilton, Anne Hindery, John Hoggatt, Sara Howard, Darin Karstetter, Shawn Kaskie, Noah Knisely, Steve Konnath, Joseph Lang, Marjorie Maas, Carsten Mlady, James Mowitz, Sandra Reding, Tyler Rigby, Ryan Sevcik, Leslie Shaver, Angela Simdorn, Michael Venem, Nicole West, and Laurie Zagurski.

Nebraska Homes Sales is celebrating its 15th anniversary. NHS started in 2004 as a full-service real estate company that offered flexible commission plans to lower the cost of real estate transactions for buyers and sellers. The business was sold on July 1, 2015 to Steve and Deb Arens, and Brent and Heidi Robinson. Co-founder Rich Rodenburg continued as an owner.

A new full A-share ownership opportunity convinced veteran Realtor, Kim Soucie, to join the ownership team. NHS also created commercial and ag land divisions, headed

by Steve Arens. In addition, the company offers a new infill development in south Lincoln.

Mesner Development Co., GenPro Energy Solutions, and Sol Systems launched N-Solar, a new collaborative initiative that aims to assist Nebraska public power entities in their efforts to integrate more solar energy throughout the state. The iN-Solar Initiative will offer a complete package of expert development services and a secure, competitive source of financing for municipal utilities, electric cooperative, and public power districts throughout Nebraska that seek to add solar power to their energy mix.

Cornhusker Bank welcomed three new members to its board of directors: Heather Crockett, Douglas S. Dittman, and David Shiffermiller. Crockett comes

with 25 years at Cherry Hill Companies, which includes the Legacy Retirement Communities, currently serving as its chief financial officer. Dittman is a farmer, dairyman, and owner of a creamery and the Hub Cafe. Shiffermiller serves Cornhusker Bank as executive vice president/lending and has been with the bank over a decade, leading the lending department.

GenR8 Marketing introduced its podcast, Marketing Evolved, at the beginning of February 2019. Jason Petersen, Holly Petersen, and Deidre Stevens cover all things marketing in the bi-weekly podcast and share stories that speak to small and medium-size businesses, spanning multiple industries. The podcast team also answers listener questions and will invite guests to the show, when it makes sense for their listeners.

Prosper Lincoln presented Barnes & Noble at Southpointe with the Prosper Lincoln Step Up award. Barnes & Noble selected Read Aloud Lincoln, a program inspired

by Prosper Lincoln, to receive all donations to their annual Holiday Book Drive in November and December of 2018. All 2,200 books donated by Barnes & Noble’s customers are distributed to preschool children all across Lincoln by Mary Reiman and Nancy Larimer, co-directors of Read Aloud Lincoln.

Education notes…

Animal science is a profession and passion for Doug Smith, a Texan-turned-Nebraskan. The professor who has coached students in livestock evaluation, instructed hundreds of college freshmen and sophomores, and mentored young people into agricultural careers for the past eight years at the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture in Curtis was honored for those efforts. Smith was one of three senior faculty to receive the Holling Family Excellence in Teaching Award from the University of Nebraska’s Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

Beginning this fall, Doane University will offer a senior undergraduate program that allows eligible students to take two graduate-level courses at no additional cost.

DEGREE+ allows full-time undergraduate students in the College of Arts & Sciences to take one graduate-level business course during each of their final two semesters.

Because Doane has a fixed tuition rate for its students, the additional graduate business courses will be included in a student’s tuition their senior year, coming at no additional cost. This will save students roughly $3,000 in graduate business tuition. To be eligible students must have a 3.25 GPA or higher and be enrolled in at least 12 undergraduate credit hours.

Health care notes…

Banyan Medical Systems has deployed its AURA virtual care provider solution at Stormont Vail Health in Topeka, Kansas. This positions Stormont Vail as the first hospital in the state of Kansas to implement a virtual (teleprofessional) care provider solution to enhance patient care. The AURA virtual care provider solution by Banyan Medical Systems is a digitally-based and patient-centric platform, combining the teleprofessional staff with proprietary software, medical information, computers, TV monitors, cameras, microphones and management solutions. Ban-

yan’s solution provides hospital patients with more care resources, easier access to care providers and information, additional layers of safety, and enhances overall patient care.

Activities of nonprofits…

Capital Humane Society is hosting Tails ‘N Taps, a beer tour, on July 13 from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. Purchasing a “License to Taste” for $25 guarantees a free pint of beer from each participating brewery including White Elm Brewing Company, Zipline Brewing Company, and Backswing Brewing Company plus a Tails ‘N Taps pint glass to take home. Tickets for this event are limited to 250. Food will be available at each brewery from Big Luv’s BBQ, Gilded Swine, and Rutabagas Vegan Comfort Food. This is a human only event and attendees must be 21 years or older.

The second leg of Tour de Brew LNK 2019 will benefit CASA for Lancaster County. This charitable fundraiser is a bike ride featuring craft beer, community and prizes. Registration costs $5, which goes to the charity, and the ride will start at Moran’s Liquor Works and end up at The LOT, with a mid-point stop at Cycle Works. Participants can receive a raffle ticket at each stop to win prizes. There will be food trucks, craft beer, yard games and live music.

The ‘80s are back for the BIG SUMMER FUNDRAISER to benefit A Warmer Day on July 20 at FUNdamental Athletics Academy. General admission tickets ($25) include samplings of ‘80s themed cocktails, a cash bar, appetizers, and a live performance by ‘80s cover band, AM/FM. The new VIP Lounge Experience includes early entry, a hosted specialty drink bar, appetizers, dessert bar, seating and a view of the stage. Tickets are $40. Dress up as your favorite ‘80s movie character or musician for a chance to win $350 and bid on items at the silent auction. A Warmer Day is a volunteer Nebraska charity collecting and distributing winter coats and apparel to economically challenged families.

Arts & Events …

The Lincoln Marriott Cornhusker Hotel announced Wendy Jane Bantam as its fourth Artist in Residence. Bantam, a painter, was chosen among seven finalists for the 2019-2020 program. A teacher and lecturer on creative and critical thinking with training in performance art and the visual arts, she has held residencies in Turkey, Indonesia, and England, and across the United States. Bantam received her Master of Fine Art from the University of Nebraska. She will spend 30 hours per week in the on-site studio, creating pieces, hosting gallery nights and networking with guests.

By the end of the year, a legacy piece will be created and permanently displayed in the hotel.

The city of Lincoln is hosting Uncle Sam Jam for residents on July 3 at Oak Lake Park. Starting at 4 p.m. citizens are invited to come down and enjoy family-friendly activities like ladder toss, carnival games and volleyball. Food and refreshment vendors will be selling food and Soul Dawg will be providing music. The United States Flag will be lowered by VFW post 3606 at 8:30 p.m. and a Fireworks show, with a soundtrack, will start at 10 p.m. This event is free and open to the public.

The Lincoln Children’s Zoo is opening up after hours for adults over the age of 21 for Brew at the Zoo on July 13.

This year’s event features craft beers from Zipline Brewery, Empyrean Ales, Thunderhead Brewing, Lucky Bucket Brewing and more. Brats and burgers will also be available for purchase and Flannel Channel will be playing live. Tickets are $35 and available online.

Lincoln Electric Systems is hosting a Sustainable Living Festival on July 27 from 9 a.m. to noon at The Railyard. Guests can step inside LES’ new educational, interactive tiny house, get up close and personal with electric vehicles, design and build wind turbines, test ride electronic, pedal-assisted e-bikes, peek inside a honey bee hive, learn about composting and more.

This event is free and open to the public.

The Lincoln Wedding Show, July 28 from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Embassy Suites Hotel, is a one-stop-shop to find nearly everything a bride would need for their special day. From florists, photographers, and facility rentals and everything in between, this show is a must see for anyone planning a wedding. Advance registration is free.

MEETINGS AND SEMINARS Thursday, July 18 The Nebraska Women in Agriculture Conference is hosting “Good Farmer to Great Manager, Record Keeping Class” at the Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County. Keeping good records is less about using certain software and more about gathering and organizing information, according to Tina Barrett the executive director of Nebraska Farm Business Inc. and course instructor. Each class will run from 1p.m. until 5 p.m. the first day, and 8 a.m. until noon the second day. The course fee is $50 per participant; class size is limited to 25 people. Registration is online.

Friday, July 19 The Nebraska Pharmacists Association Annual Convention 2019 will take place at The Lincoln Marriott Cornhusker Hotel. CPE sessions include: Infectious Leadership; Emerging Trends: Top 10 New Drugs; Creating a Gender-Affirming Pharmacy; Pharmacy Law Review; Advancing Workforce Well-Being and Resilience to Build Long-Term Care; The Art of a Difficult Conversation; NonOpioid Treatment Options and Drug Diversion; Patient Safety; The Pharmacists Role in Transitions of Care; and Diabetes Management. The two-day event will also include keynote speakers and networking breaks. Registration is online.

Monday, July 29 Be There, the annual conference for TeamMates, running through July 31, will take place at the Embassy Suites in Lincoln. Over the past 28 years, TeamMates Mentoring has remained consistent in its core values through mentoring youth. With the progression of social media, exposure to violence, and the pressure to fit in, how do mentors help? We are simply willing to be there. Attendees will engage and learn how every community can build hopeful, more empowered youth for our future through mentoring. Registration is available online.

The Lincoln Business Journal • JUNE 2019 •

11

Architecture Topics may include:

• Architecture overview • Lincoln area projects • Landscape architecture • Building restoration/renovations • New technology • How to choose an architect

A section prepared by the staff of the Lincoln Business Journal Building restoration/renovations

• Issue Date: July • Ad Deadline: July 11

Topics may include: • Small business overview/major trends in Lincoln/statewide • Loans/funding • Writing successful business plan takes team effort • Role of local universities/colleges A section prepared by the staff of the Lincoln Business Journal

• Issue Date: July • Ad Deadline: July 11

Corporate Security Topics may include: Corporate Security overview • Cybersecurity threats • Mobile security Keeping workplaces safe • Choosing a fire/security system/services A section prepared by the staff of the Lincoln Business Journal • Issue Date: July • Ad Deadline: July 11 To advertise your company’s products or services in one of our upcoming sections, contact one of our LBJ advertising representatives at (402) 330-1760 or at the email address below.

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12

• JUNE 2019 • The Lincoln Business Journal

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

June 2019

Technology takes center stage in access to entrepreneurial support, affordable education

by Michelle Leach

Entrepreneurs are building companies around “problem-solving” technologies like blockchain, as tech is also playing a pivotal role in the build-up of Lincoln’s s t a r t u p c o m m u n i t y a n d N e b r a s k a ’s skilled workforce bridging the miles between institutions of higher learning and students.

“Technology is definitely enabling startup growth by removing barriers to entry, making it easier than ever to start something,” said Christina Oldfather, director of innovation and entrepreneurship with the Lincoln Partnership for Economic Development. “It is increasing the abil-

ity of entrepreneurs to scale their businesses faster than ever before. So, we see both technology companies and tech-enabled companies growing as a result.”

A lot of startups are leveraging, she said, new technolOldfather ogy tools to implement a “build-measure-learn loop,” using that speed to iterate faster.

“As far as new technology, we defi-

Fritz Niemiec nitely see startups taking new approaches to solving problems; for example, blockchain is being leveraged by new compa-

nies to solve problems around contracts, finance, and more in a new way.”

Oldfather also noted some solutions to connect entrepreneurial communities are being used to see if they can help support organizations improve outcomes.

“But we also find that non-tech solutions are equally effective — signs in coffee shops, grocery stores, and connectivity between people,” she said.

FUSE Coworking Community Manager Maddie Martin highlighted how the shared Haymarket space promotes the use of new or member technologies.

“FUSE is all about encouraging and Continued on next page.

Technology •

The Lincoln Business Journal • JUNE 2019 •

Technology takes center stage in access to entrepreneurial support Continued from preceding page. supporting our members’ endeavors; for example, one of our members designed and created FUSE's entire website, while another manages our entire technology system,” she said.

The community remains aware of members and the services they provide via the likes of its social media, website and newsletter.

“Business owners should take advantage of the technological ecosystem that Nebraska has to offer,” Martin said.

Digital education represents an exciting area, where University of Nebraska Interim President, Susan M. Fritz, Ph.D., said talented experts from across its four campuses are testing and implementing innovative approaches in teaching, collaborative learning, and access and affordability.

“NU’s Open Educational Resources initiative is just one example of strides being made to ensure an accessible, affordable, quality education,” she said, a reference to finding and developing “open academic resources” to replace traditional textbooks, and reduce the financial burden. “With higher education increasingly linked to individual and economic success, our commitment to these areas has never been stronger.”

Director Mary Niemiec described University of Nebraska (NU) Online as a university-wide partnership with a clear public service mission — providing access to affordable, quality education.

“NU campuses partner with each other to bring 135 programs to students who want or need to study at a distance,” she said. “NU partners with educational

institutions across Nebraska to prepare students for the future.”

Niemiec also acknowledged partnerships with business, industry, public and governmental entities throughout the state to meet workforce needs and strengthen the state’s economy.

“And NU partners with students to achieve academic and career success,” she said.

According to NU Online information, during the 2017 to 2018 academic year, a record 6,080 Nebraskans studied entirely at a distance, and 8,806 total students were enrolled entirely at a distance. At NU, 35,258 students (or 60% of the student body) took at least one online course during the academic year.

Students from 49 states and 100 countries also have access to 100 online courses via its University of Ne-

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braska High School. In collaboration with the University of Nebraska at Omaha, students have the opportunity to earn college credit (equal to their first year of college) for select UNHS courses.

Nationwide, 30% of higher education students take at least one online course in an academic year, according to Digital Learning Compass 2017 Digital Education Enrollment Report.

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• JUNE 2019 • The Lincoln Business Journal

To beat the first frost, Midwestern farmers switch to faster-growing seed

by Adam Belz

Tim Velde had about half his corn planted before the weather near Hanley Falls, Minn., went sour in May. Then he had to switch seed to make sure his corn beat the first frost in the fall.

“I had to get someAgiculture thing that matures a little earlier,” Velde said. “Mostly 100- to 102-day corn is what I usually go for, and I switched to 88- to 90-day seed.”

Farmers all over the Midwest had to make last-second decisions on what type of seed to plant thanks to the cool, wet spring and delayed planting. On roads and rails, seed has been on the move over the last few weeks to farms, elevators and cooperatives all over the country. In Ohio and Indiana, where vast swaths of the corn acreage are yet to be planted, the movement is still on.

“The whole state has been experiencing this, and really the whole Midwest,” said Brian Buck, a field agronomist for Pioneer Hi-Bred, whose territory covers much of southeast Minnesota. “A lot happens fast in a tough spring like this.”

Corn requires a certain number of warm days to reach maturity before the fall, and yields suffer if the plants don’t have enough time. But seed companies offer corn hybrids with varying maturity times to accommodate the different lengths of growing seasons.

“Farmers were switching what they call their full-season corn for earlier varieties that generally come from further north,” said Mac Ehrhardt, one of the owners of Albert Lea Seed, in Albert Lea, Minn., which deals mostly in organic and nonGMO but sells some conventional seed.

“The corn that was going to be planted in St. Cloud or Fargo, even, would have gone to Worthington.”

Seed companies are well equipped to move seed around, and there is generally not a penalty for farmers who want to switch seed.

“It just takes a lot of communication between the grower and the sales representative,” Buck said.

Buck said unused corn seed can be taken to a storage facility and planted next spring.

Soybean seed cannot be saved.

About a quarter of the fields near Brewster, Minn., had to be planted with earlier maturing seed to accommodate the late planting there, said Denny Weber, agronomy division manager for New Vision Co-Op. “Everybody had a few fields they had to switch,” Weber said.

Seed distributors handled most of the logistics, trucking 85-day corn down from farther north.

The typical 105-day corn used in southwest Minnesota is still mostly at the farms, Weber said.

Farmers were too busy trying to get their crops in the ground to hassle with returning the seed quickly, and it’s too late for that seed to be used elsewhere this growing season.

“We’re getting a lot of that seed back

now,” Weber said.

Weber said about 25% of the fields near Brewster were planted with earlier-maturing hybrids, 25% will be left unplanted because it’s just too late to plant corn, and the other half was planted with typical seed for that part of the Corn Belt.

Bayer, the German agriscience giant that acquired Monsanto, said in a statement that some farmers in the Midwest are planting soybeans instead of corn.

“In some cases, growers are choosing to switch crops entirely, for example, changing out corn seed for soybean seed,” the company said.

Soybeans can be planted later than corn and still reach maturity before the fall.

Velde said his local dealer, at Farmers Cooperative Elevator in Hanley Falls, got ahead of the situation when it became clear many farmers weren’t going to be able to get their original seed in the ground in time.

Velde just had to call him up, truck his big plastic tubs of seed back to the elevator and pick up new ones.

Just as with most aspects of farming, the decision of whether to plant earlier-maturing varieties of corn depends on multiple variables.

Farmers with their own drier can afford to stick with a later-maturing variety since they don’t have to pay the elevator to dry wet corn for them in the fall.

Farmers with their own livestock can do the same since they can feed wet corn to the animals.

But thanks to the scattered rain that hit Minnesota throughout the cool spring, cornfields across the state will not look uniform as the summer progresses.

“There’s going to be a lot of variation in corn this year,” said Buck, the Pioneer agronomist. “I’ve been in corn today that’s 14 inches tall and seen corn that’s two or three inches tall.” ©2019 Star Tribune (Minneapolis) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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The Lincoln Business Journal • JUNE 2019 •

ConnectingYoung Nebraskans Fund Advisory Committee selectsVeleba

The Connecting Young Nebraskans Fund Advisory Committee has selected Rhonda Veleba of Fairmont as its new executive coordinator.

Ve l e b a w i l l provide administrative and logistical support to the CYN Fund Advisory Committee as well as membership engagement; marketing Veleba management; and planning, programming and facilitating of the CYN Summit, a biennial gathering that attracts hundreds of young Nebraskans from across the state. Prior to accepting the executive coordinator position, Veleba was involved and engaged with the CYN network for three years. In 2016, she led the CYN Summit community host team in York. She has served on the CYN Fund Advisory Committee in a volunteer capacity since 2017.

Clayton Yuetter Institute names Beghin to Michael Yanney Chair

The Clayton Yeutter Institute of International Trade and Finance and Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln has named John Beghin the Michael Yanney Chair of International Trade and Finance.

T h e Ya n n e y Chair will reside in the Department of Beghin Agricultural Economics and serve as a core faculty member of the Yeutter Institute. Beghin is a professor of agricultural and resource economics at North Carolina State University. He previously served as director of the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute and Marlin Cole Professor of International Agricultural Economics at Iowa State University. His areas of interest include nontariff measures, trade and the environment, and global food security. He is a fellow of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, the main professional association of agricultural economists.

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University of Nebraska names Fritz interim president-elect

The University of Nebraska Board of Regents has named Susan M. Fritz, Ph.D., a 30-year veteran of NU who has served as executive vice president and provost since 2012, as interim president-elect. Fritz will become the first woman to lead the university since the system office was created 51 years ago.

Fritz, a Nebraska Fritz native, first-generation college student, three-time NU alum and faculty member with decades of progressive leadership experience, will assume the title of interim president on Aug. 15, following the departure of current President Hank Bounds. She will remain in the role until the board completes its national search for the next president and her successor is in place.

Nebraska Safety Council,WorkWell names Henning executive director

Nebraska Safety Council and WorkWell have named Lisa Henning as the new executive director.

Henning has almost 30 years of experience in corporate wellness and prevention, having led WorkWell for 22 years. She has received various awards for her work throughout the years, including the GovHenning ernor’s Excellence in Leadership Recognition by Governor Dave Heineman in 2012, Healthy Innovation Award Program Finalist by Center for Disease Control in 2011, and LiveHealthy Nebraska Star Award by Nebraska Sports Council in 2011. Henning succeeds Laurie Klosterboer who served 25 years in the executive director role and 40 years with the council.

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University of Nebraska names Blackman in leadership position

University of Nebraska has named Bret Blackman, a 20-year veteran of NU, as NU vice president for information technology systems and chief information officer.

Blackman, who currently serves as NU associate vice president for information technology and chief information officer at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, will assume Blackman his new role on July 1.

He will continue to hold the CIO title at UNO. Blackman brings two decades of leadership experience in IT, having begun at UNO, his alma mater, in 1999 as a technology coordinator.

As associate vice president, Blackman played a role in the reorganization of IT divisions at UNL, UNO, UNK and Central Administration to better serve the university’s IT needs and reduce operational costs.

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• JUNE 2019 • The Lincoln Business Journal