Midlands Business Journal • MAY 15, 2020 •
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Education & Career Development A section prepared by the staff of the Midlands Business Journal
May 15, 2020
Learning opportunities and career development are critical for local ecosystem by Gabby Christensen
Local organizations say education and career development is an ongoing process. Julie Sigmon, director of Omaha STEM Ecosystem, said the most significant trend in the industry right now is that business and education are collaborating to ensure Omaha remains a vibrant community of innovation. “At the fundamental core, STEM is exploration and critical thinking for solving solutions,” Sigmon said. “Today, every company is saying they need this in their Jurek workforce.” Sigmon said educators have been working hard to create authentic learning experiences by encouraging students to be more thoughtful and work toward solutions. “It’s important to make sure younger students are [receiving] project based learning,” she said. “For older students, we really want to ensure their experiences are connected to local businesses through offering them internship opportunities.” Economic stability depends on students learning 21st century skills that will help them succeed once they enter the workforce. “Eductors, students and industries are working in sync to make this happen,” she said. “This is an ongoing journey in which people must be active and engaged.” Over the past few years, Joan Jurek, director of college planning for EducationQuest’s Omaha office, said there’s been an increased emphasis on career exploration. “By determining interests and strengths by the end of eighth grade, students can pursue high school coursework that will further hone their career aspirations,” she said. “This, in turn, will prepare them to choose postsecondary education options that best fit their desired field of study. EducationQuest supports early career and college planning by providing programs, services and publications at no cost for students in all Nebraska middle and high schools.” Jurek said Nebraska has several occupations considered “high wage, high demand and high skill,” or H3, and businesses are looking for employees to fill them. Currently, these include trades such as carpenter, electrician and plumber as well as professional positions like registered nurse, schoolteacher and software developer. Itzel Lopez, vice president of operations and corporate communications at AIM Institute, said AIM has recently transitioned all
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upcoming IT Leadership Academies, Youth in Tech programs and Code School classes to online platforms. Regarding new opportunities for professional development, Lopez said AIM launched Callers2Coders, which places call center team
Lopez Henricks members into a multi-staged tech training pathway that transforms them into IT professionals. “This breakthrough program empowers employers to cultivate their IT workforce from within and it has also moved to online training,” she said. Growing and strengthening the workforce in Omaha ensures a stronger future for the community as a whole. “At AIM, we want to help create a thriving community where everyone can pursue a rewarding tech career,” she said. As technology advances, Susan Henricks, president and CEO at ICAN, said webinars, Zoom sessions and other types of virtual learning are gaining user adaptability and are quite effective. “We at ICAN have always focused on the experiential learning types of experiences until now, as we look to bolster and pivot,” she said. “We will never stop creating and conducting our long standing, highly valuable in-person experiential leadership development programs, but we are looking forward to augmenting these programs with various forms of virtual learning, when the need fits.” Henricks said organizations, now more than ever, want a combination of in-person and virtual leadership development offerings. ICAN partners with organizations to customize and craft programs to run internally, tailored to meet their organizational leadership needs. “We are currently exploring how we can further customize these offerings with the option to present these programs as a hybrid, or even supplement the in-person experiential learning with virtual touch points to meet both individual and organizational needs and preferences as workplaces look to the future,” she said. “Organizations should seek opportunities to develop their leaders around skills that will support and serve them in uncertain times.”
Julie Sigmon, director of Omaha STEM Ecosystem, at the Daugherty Education Center at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium.
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Education & Career Development — inside MAY 15, 2020
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VOL. 46 NO. 20
PowerTech expands generator-based business into residential sector
THIS WEEK 'S ISSUE:
by Richard D. Brown
Juno spreads wings with global network of artists, new approach to greeting cards. – Page 2
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Jamie Blanchard Schneider maximizes social media marketing for nonprofit. – Page 3
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Midlands organizations work tirelessly to evolve with new services, revenue streams. – Page 4
When longtime friends Cody Forristal and Josh Kallsen purchased Council Bluffs-based PowerTech four years ago, it had eight employees. The commercial and industrial service provider is expanding to a workforce of 90 with the decision to enter the residential electrical services business. For Carson, Iowa natives Forristal and Kallsen, fast growth was inevitable when they bought PowerTech, then a 15-year-old firm located in Omaha. They moved it to four buildings on a 3.75-acre site at 2614 Railroad Hwy. Offices on both floors of a 7,000-square-foot former public school building represent a land acquisition and remodeling project of more than $1.3 million, but CEO Forristal said the extra space for management-level employees was crucial. “We’re moving from a subcontractor to a self-performance-based model,” he said. “We’ve added six technicians to the single person we had four years ago.” In the past four years the cusContinued on page 7.
From left, CEO Cody Forristal, Project Manager Joe Nowak and President Josh Kallsen … Amid hiring growth, firm expands services to residential clients. (Photo by MBJ / Becky McCarville)
Mode Shift Omaha driving change for housing zoning, sidewalk accessibility by Becky McCarville
As people are spending more time outdoors during a time of social distancing in an effort to flatten the coronavirus curve, the state of Omaha’s sidewalks and connected bikeways could become a growing call to action among the city’s residents. Wider sidewalks would not only help with physical distancing, but also provide greater accessibility
to people who use wheelchairs, allowing enough room to safely turn and to pass each other. Five feet is the minimum width for two people using wheelchairs to pass each other on a sidewalk. “I don’t know what we’re going to look like on the other side,” said Kevin Flatowicz-Farmer, chair of Mode Shift Omaha. “I know that there could very well Continued on page 10.
Julie Kalkowski, executive director of Financial Hope Collaborative, at the Highlander Accelerator building at 30th Street and Bedford Avenue.
Reopening with abundance of caution: industries seeking a better ‘normal’ by Michelle Leach
Discussing transportation issues for individuals with disabilities at February’s coffee chat … Spotlighting the city’s transportation accessibility, connectivity and safety for action-driven solutions. (Photo courtesy of Mode Shift Omaha)
Editor’s note: This article is part of a series sharing firsthand experiences from local organizations on how their respective industries are adapting to COVID-19. Hope and hesitation collide, as some states balance escalating COVID-19 cases with business re-openings. “Hope” is in the name of Julie Kalkowski’s organization; the Financial Hope Collabo-
rative at Creighton University offers year-long coaching and curriculum through the Financial Success Program for low- to moderate-income (LMI) families in the metro. “From a health-wise perspective, LMI have been hit the hardest; they’re deemed essential workers, and they don’t have the luxury of working from home as an hourly wage worker,” said Kalkowski, executive Continued on page 10.