Midlands Business Journal May 17, 2019 Vol. 45 No. 20 issue

The Lincoln

MAY 2019

BUSINESS Vol. 22 No. 5 $2.00

Journal

Reaanddit Reap!

Nebraska Home Sales debuts commercial division, ork office set for expansion in ag.

Page 2

Fourstarzz Media expands globally while helping brands, ad agencies with in uencer marketing.

Page 3

Code Beer Co. grows along with Telegraph District.

Page 7

Lincoln Business Journal — inside MAY 17, 2019

THE BUSINESS NEWSPAPER OF GREATER OMAHA, LINCOLN AND COUNCIL BLUFFS

THIS WEEK 'S ISSUE:

$2.00

VOL. 45 NO. 20

Cobalt Credit Union enhances services with Universal Video Banking tech

by Richard D. Brown

First Watch expanding its metro footprint, seeing success in fresh menu.

– Page 2

40 er d Un 40 Morehead growing Collaborative Planning Group on her own terms.

– Page 3

lly ca n Lo row G

Locally produced goods more a part of Omaha’s cultural fiber.

– Page 27

Cobalt Credit Union, which reached its milestone of $1 billion in assets almost a year ago, has spent about $13.7 million in the past two years on technology that its leadership believes will make the 72-year-old institution with more than 110,000 members an even more competitive player in its 15-county Nebraska and Iowa service area.

Veteran President and CEO Gail DeBoer said while the pace of changes that have been announced over the past few years have come seemingly fast, the end result remains offering the best services to members and with more choices in the delivery medium.

“Our investment in technology has put us ahead of the game in so many ways,” she said. “We have the infrastructure now to grow in what we offer to our members located worldwide.”

Cobalt — then SAC Federal Credit Union — was chartered in November 1946 by 12 individuals who chose Andrews Field in Maryland as its first location. In August Continued on page 9.

President and CEO Gail DeBoer … Investing in technology to meet changing needs of members.

(Photo by MBJ / Becky McCarville)

G4S Omaha benefits from opportunities in cross-selling within multiple divisions

by Michelle Leach

Efforts spearheaded by new Regional CEO, Americas, John Kenning, to approach the market as a streamlined “One G4S” have resulted in, partly, a 600% boost in cross-selling, spanning multiple revenue streams, for the company boasting technology, systems integration, security personnel and consulting divisions.

“It’s been a six-year journey,” said Dan Grafton, vice president of operations for G4S Secure Integration. “When John first came in, the vision was established and refined.

And now, over the last two or three years, there has been a tremendous collaboration to bring those solutions together.”

Grafton’s stateside systems inteContinued on page 9.

Executive Director Philip Kolbo … Nonprofit finds unexpected niche as performance venue, practice space.

From former carwash to hardware store: OutrSpaces gives performers a platform

by Savannah Behrends

From left, Vice President Operations Dan Grafton and General Manager Scott Rhoads … Security personnel, technology, consulting business grows by strategically bringing divisions together under one umbrella for clients.

Frustrated by the lack of affordable rental spaces for performers to practice, three friends banned together in early 2017 to create the nonprofit OutrSpaces to fill that gap.

Started in a 80-year-old refurbished carwash on 24th and Howard streets in Omaha, co-founders Philip Kolbo, Grace Manley and Hannah

Mayer quickly discovered another community need: performing space.

“We thought that a year down the line we would add a venue option, but that was never going to be our bread and butter,” said Kolbo, executive director. “But … we had a lot of marginalized communities saying that they didn’t have a place that would let them do Continued on page 29.

2

• MAY 17, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal

First Watch expanding its metro footprint, seeing success in fresh menu

by Becky McCarville

Since Cutchall Management opened its flagship First Watch restaurant at 1222 S. 71st St. in Aksarben in January 2014, the breakfast, brunch and lunch destination has grown to include four more metro locations — southwest Omaha, northwest Omaha, Bellevue and Papillion.

First Watch The Daytime Cafe Phone: Center: 402-330-3444; Maple: 402-965-3444; Aksarben: 402-932-5691; Papillion: 402-932-3441; Bellevue: 402991-3448 Address: Center: 2855 S. 168th St., Omaha 68130; Maple: 3605 N. 147th St., Ste. 108, Omaha 68116; Aksarben: 1222 S. 71st St., Ste. B, Omaha 68106; Papillion: 304 Olson Drive, Ste. 117, Papillion 68046; Bellevue: 2015 Pratt Ave., Bellevue 68123 Services: Breakfast, brunch and lunch Founded: Aksarben location opened January 2014 Employees: Between 20 to 30 employees per store between servers, hosts, bussers and cooks.

One-year goal: Open one or two more locations.

Industry outlook: Breakfast/lunch food trends focus on fresh, healthy options and liquor programs.

Website: www.firstwatch.com

The opportunity for Cutchall Management to purchase Omaha’s The Egg & I locations on April 1, 2017, was a “no brainer,” said Managing Partner Dan Kavan.

First Watch’s corporate office also bought out the The Egg & I franchise nationally, making it an easy transition to convert Omaha’s The Egg & I restaurants to First Watch.

Managing Partner Dan Kavan at the Center location … Serving classic dishes along with healthy items to keep up with culinary trends.

The restaurants operated as The Egg & Aksarben opened, the restaurant rolled out a I while undergoing renovation after closing liquor program to cater to more people. time in the early afternoons, allowing only “You look at the other large players in the five days of downtime before reopening as nation [like] Snooze — that’s what they have,” First Watch. After the transition to First Watch, he said. “So we started with that and now it’s “sales doubled instantly” at the four locations. rolling out corporate-wide — all the corporate “Aksarben has always had nice, steady stores now too. We started it and kind of tested growth,” he said. “These other stores — they it for them basically.” all trended between 90 to 110% up in sales Cutchall Management recognized a need over Egg & I. After the first of the year — and wanted to ensure that everyone who walks they’ve all rolled over now — we’re still into the restaurant is taken care of, he said. seeing 20 to 25% sales gains, which is unheard In late May, all five of Omaha’s First Watch of basically for this type of market.” restaurants will have a newer alcohol program About six months after First Watch at that includes kombucha, a hard cider and some

The Midlands Business Journal's

Business Minute Name: Nicholas Bermel.

Age: 38.

Title: President/owner.

Employment: Royalty Roofing & Renovations.

Associations: BBB, Greater Omaha Chamber, Glenw o o d C h a m b e r, Omaha Business Breakfast Club, River City Regents, Viro Men’s Association.

Hometown: South Sioux City, Nebraska.

Bermel How I got into the business: Worked while in high school and fell in love with the trade.

Accomplishments: 2018 BBB Integrity Award Winner, Readers’ Choice Best of Big O Winner, Shingle Master Installer for CertainTeed. Owens Corning Preferred Partner, LP Diamond Kote Siding Preferred Installer.

First Job: Hy-Vee — frozen foods department.

Biggest career break: Deciding to go into business for myself. While it was a break, it was easily the most challenging and most rewarding.

Nicholas Bermel, president and owner, Royalty Roofing & Renovations

Toughest part of the job: Managing the seasons we have, and appropriately putting people in a position to be successful.

The best advice I have received: Build relationships that last. Take advice from others and learn from every opportunity. We can predict our success based on the decisions we make each day.

About My Family: We have four kids: Audric, 13, Alaryc, 12, Skye, 8, Warric, 6. My wife Niki runs a successful studio salon called RoyalTeez and has been in business for 15 years. We have been married for 13 years and we enjoy fishing, all things sports, the beach and travel.

Something I’d like to accomplish: Leave a lasting impact on every opportunity we come across. Set a standard in the industry that revolves around the character of God. Book I finished reading recently: “Outliers: The Story of Success” by Malcom Gladwell.

Something about me not everyone knows: I look forward to the day I can move to the coast and help clean the ocean. I am

a hopeless romantic who loves living life to the fullest.

Mentor whose helped me most in my career: Brad Burkland. He has been selfless and understanding in guiding us toward our desired success. He keeps us motivated and structured while offering insight and wisdom from years of being a business owner.

Outside interests: Kids activities, fishing, ocean adventures with my family, basketball, and we are a huge Husker fans.

Pet peeves: People not realizing their potential.

Favorite vacation spot: All places with white sand, clear blue ocean water and year-round sun. We loved Maui. The water was beautiful, the weather was amazing and the reef has amazing sea life.

Favorite movie: “The Choice,” “Couples Retreat,” “Lone Survivor” — comedy, hopeless romantics and real-life documentaries.

Favorite charity or cause: Church, Open Door Mission, Lydia House, all places that give back to those in need.

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

new drinks that use the restaurant’s popular fresh juices.

“We juice daily; we have our Kale Tonic and Morning Meditation,” he said. “We’re taking some of that fresh juice that we’re juicing, maybe minus-ing out something — Morning Meditation gets beet juice on top so we’re not adding the beet juice but we’re adding tequila or vodka to it.”

Aksarben is the busiest of the locations, catering to a younger crowd because it’s a college area. It’s also the No. 1 business hub, hosting regular business meetings, and has won the Best of B2B Business Breakfast four years in a row, he said.

The restaurant has also become a popular after-work/morning hangout for night shift nurses, Kavan said, noting that his wife is a registered nurse.

Bellevue is the largest size of the five restaurants because it features a large bar rail and party room that can hold 30 to 40 people.

The Papillion store has a party room that can hold 24 to 30 people, and Aksarben has a party room for up to 45 people.

Party rooms are available during the week — the restaurants’ busiest days are Saturdays and Sundays.

“Bellevue and Papillion are still taking a little bit to go,” Kavan said, noting that the recent floods have counterintuitively boosted business. “I love Bellevue and Papillion community-wise because they’re so about taking care of their own. We did Cook’s Day Off in Bellevue — gave a percentage of our sales back to flood victims. We’ve tried to do what we can.”

Kavan expects sales to improve in Bellevue and Papillion and sees growth opportunity in Papillion as more houses are built.

The restaurant group is looking to add two more locations in the metro. But finding the Continued on page 10.

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

ADVERTISING ADVERTISING CONSULTANT, Catie Kirby ADVERTISING CONSULTANT, Julie Whitehead OFFICE OFFICE ASSISTANT, Rosemary Gregurich BOOKKEEPING/LEGAL NOTICES, Beth Grube

(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 • MAY 17, 2019 •

3

Morehead growing Collaborative Planning Group on her own terms 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

Many of Eryka Morehead’s most profound life lessons came a very early age. She learned the value of hard work on her parents’ Christmas tree farm in Bennington. She learned perspective when the family home burned down and every material thing she had went up in smoke.

“So, 13 years old, lost everything I owned in this world four days before Christmas and I was the oldest of four,” she said. “Thank goodness no one was hurt. Everyone got out. I think that in and of itself gives you a little different perspective on life. There’s a lot of growth that happens through that.”

Then, following graduation from University of Nebraska at Omaha in 2004, she eventually landed with Farm Bureau Insurance where she specialized in assisting farmers and ranchers with their coverage. That gig taught her the difficulty of having it all — her travel schedule was tough on her growing family — and that her future lie elsewhere.

“I started trying to figure out what I wanted to do and I realized the only way I was truly going to be able to try to find that work-life balance that most females struggle with was going to be by having my own firm,” she said.

“That would put me in the best position to try to help keep both my personal and professional

priorities in check. Which is hard when you’re a very driven individual but you still feel this tug towards wanting to be a mom and be there for all of those things.”

Armed with that self-knowledge, Morehead founded her company, Collaborative Planning Group, three years ago and has never looked back. The company provides clients with products and services to mitigate risk and pairs that with investment advice.

“I’m still trying to come up with a name for what it is I do,” she said.

“It feels like mediation, but it’s not really mediation. Sometimes I’ll use the word facilitation; facilitating conversations, trying to help each party understand perspective.

“If we can get everyone to the table, we can bring everyone’s knowledge base up to the same place. What is the balance sheet, what are the taxes, what are the laws, what are we actually dealing with, what are some of the limitations to what the plan should even be? Then it’s about understanding everyone’s perspective: What do you think it should be and why? What would you like us to look at and why?”

Since 2016, she’s tripled employees and has her eye on a second office. While declining to say exactly where it would locate, she noted it will be in a state west of Nebraska and likely open this year.

Morehead said specializing in family-owned businesses — many of them ag-related and having resided within families for multiple generations — some of the most common issues she helps clients work through are emotional. She said time and experience

President & CEO Eryka Morehead … As founder of the firm, identifying areas of growth for the business advisory organization. have provided her tools to navigate even these their opinions. choppy waters.

“That’s really the goal with the families “It’s fascinating; in most instances there is that we work with or the couples that we work a common ground that can be reached where with or the business owners that we work with everyone feels really good about [solutions],” — getting everybody to understand what the she said. “Often times a lot of the complications outside limitations are that we can’t control. or drama or roadblocks are purely because That, and tackling some of the emotions or the parties at the table did not have access to all the feelings or the preferences and where those same information when coming in to formulate come from.”

Proud Sponsors of the 2018 40 Under 40:

4

• MAY 17, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal

Education & Career Development A section prepared by the staff of the Midlands Business Journal

May 17, 2019

Educational programs emphasize soft skills, align with industry needs

by Michelle Leach

Educational institutions and employers alike are looking to make the grade in not only students’ and associates’ technical prowess, but also getting in touch with “soft skills” in a competitive business environment.

“One trend we’re seeing are efforts to meet the need for skilled workers in the areas of technology and trades,” said EducationQuest Foundation Omaha Office Director of College Planning Joan Jurek. “More high schools are implementing career programs, and more colleges are developing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) programs. We’re also seeing more colleges offer students the opportunity to

take college courses while in high school.

This allows students to get a head start on college credit and become better prepared for college coursework.”

Jurek indicated these programs are helping to address the biggest issues they see facing colleges and universities: “ … the rising cost of higher education, reduced amounts of state funding, and an increased demand for skilled workers — especially in areas of technology and trades.”

EducationQuest Foundation is promoting college-prep programs for middle and high school students; the importance of and how to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) (including

Joan Jurek, Omaha office director of college planning at EducationQuest Foundation. outreach via technology in areas of the state then match those to the program offerings at that don’t have access to their offices); and Creighton,” Murray said. “The professional early college-saving via the Nebraska Educa- development programs can include individtional Savings Trust (NEST) (in partnership ual courses, badges, credentials or academic with the State Treasurer’s Office and First certificates in areas such as business anaNational Bank). lytics, agile software development, project Provost Dr. Thomas Murray said Creigh- management, finance and health care MBA, ton University is constantly looking at cur- to name a few. riculum to keep up with job-skill demands “We not only make sure these learners — for graduate and certificate programs as have the hard skills, we emphasize the soft well as undergraduate skills of writing, efstudents. fective listening, and “One example is communication.”

Creighton’s new fiHancock and nance and technoloDana Director Hugh gy major or FinTech, Hermanek said their which gives students weekly or bi-weeknot only the textbook ly lunch and learn knowledge, but the events, which include technical know-how an open mic forum as well,” he said. “Just to share highlights having the relevant of recent continuing Hermanek Shackelford finance ‘textbook education with others, knowledge’ is not enough to be competitive provides an opportunity to “develop speaking in the workforce.” and moderator soft skills, which we believe Creighton’s Center for Professional and are other important factors for career develCorporate Excellence, he said, offers courses opment.” for enrollment in the next month or so, inThe firm encourages professional growth cluding “Navigating the Multigenerational by supporting their involvement, he said, on Workplace” and “New Professionals Lead- community and nonprofit board positions, as ership Workshop.” well as its mentoring program.

“We track the high demand jobs and skill “In the spring of each year, CPAs typicalsets that employers are looking to hire and ly are rolling off busy season and looking at Continued on page 6. retain talent within their organizations and

Education & Career Development •

Midlands Business Journal • MAY 17, 2019 •

5

6

• MAY 17, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal

• Education & Career Development

Personalized online learning programs help students achieve professional goals

by Gabby Christensen

Dr. Mark White, director of instructional technology at College of Saint Mary.

Local colleges and universities say personalization of online learning programs is making it easier to better serve a variety of students and lifestyles.

Dr. Mark White, director of instructional technology at College of Saint Mary, said online education continues to flourish in today’s marketplace as universities expand online offerings at the undergraduate and even more so at the graduate level.

“In spite of enrollment declines in higher education over the past five years, online education enrollment has been steadily increasing,” White said. “At the Murdock same time, perceptions of online learning quality and value are high with the vast majority of students agreeing that the quality of online is equal or better than a similar on-campus option. Online students are very diverse, however data suggests the majority of them are looking at employment as their primary goal of taking an online program.”

Technology in online delivery systems has continued to improve.

“New technologies in artificial intelligence now enable more personalization in student learning for students at CSM,” White said.

Additionally, he said the arrival of video to online courses has transformed the idea that online courses are simply submissions of text-based answers in the form of papers or discussions.

“Such personalization provides more individual attention, leading to quicker understanding and better retention of the content,” White said.

Rebecca Murdock, dean of the College of Business at Bellevue University, said

one of the most powerful trends in online learning is to create programs that have a focus and a framework built in.

“Not only do students know exactly what will be happening throughout the entire duration of their program, they can actually see the finish line, which helps them stay focused and engaged,” Murdock said. “Bellevue University’s new Doctorate of Business Administration program is a good example of this. The program is 100% online and is structured so students know what they’ll be focusing on throughout the three-year program.”

Murdock said the Bellevue University Butler DBA program allows students to personalize their program by selecting an applied doctoral project on a complex, multi-dimensional topic that is unique to their interests, and which they may already be facing inside their organization.

“Online learning programs like our DBA degree allow students, even at the doctoral level, to balance their studies with busy professional and personal schedules,” Murdock said. “Because students are able to personalize their program by choosing an applied doctoral project that they’re passionate about, they can achieve outcomes outside of academia.”

Andrea Butler, associate vice president for academic affairs-online operations at Doane University, said Doane has experimented with five trending innovative strategies to support and personalize online learning, including incorporating microlearning into some online programs, implementing adaptive learning, exploring artificial intelligence and learner assistance, adding gamification and game-based learning to online courses and, finally, exploring Continued on next page.

Educational programs emphasize soft skills Continued from page 4. the many learning offerings available during the summer and fall months,” Hermanek said. “Our firm allows professional staff to outline their learning schedule for the year, which includes 40 to 60 hours of continuing education.”

Once a plan is established, he said staff meet with managers for input on the options that are best for increased knowledge or skills relevant to their career paths.

“When staff is allowed to craft their learning objectives and select content they want to participate in, then employee engagement is high,” Hermanek said.

“Learning that feels required can often have minimal impact after the training.”

Alvine Engineering has always made professional development a priority, according to Corporate Services Manager Todd M. Shackelford.

“We strongly feel that investing in our employees is an investment in the company,” he said. “This includes sending employees to industry training and events, as well as formal schooling opportunities. Our process

has evolved over time to remain current with how instruction has changed and allow for traditional methods as well as remote and on-demand engagements.”

Alvine’s tuition reimbursement offering has largely followed the same principles put forth years ago; Shackelford said it’s customized to each employee’s set of circumstances and goals — to expand one’s skill sets and efficiency by investing in themselves.

“The program has always been well received, but participation may not be as high as one would think as continuing education is a commitment and is often difficult to fit it into today’s busy lifestyle,” he said. “This is a good reason to align on the end goal and expectations of each situation to create a smooth execution of the process.”

The firm has benefited as staff transition to new areas of responsibility based on the education of training they received.

“This has created a long-term return on investment for the company with lower employee turnover and increased employee satisfaction,” Shackelford said.

Education & Career Development •

Midlands Business Journal • MAY 17, 2019 •

7

Filling demand for specialized roles requires investment in time, partnerships

Tammy Green, director of workforce and IT innovation-career skills at Metropolitan Community College.

(Story at right)

Online learning Continued from preceding page. augmented, virtual and mixed-reality using graphics, overlays and images that appear in 3D to help learners better connect to content.

“Our learners are benefiting from a data-rich online environment,” Butler said.

“We are creating courses and programs with adaptive pathways and relevant content helping learners go at their own pace, with engaging curriculum with the

support and attention that learners need to succeed.”

Butler said a learning environment that is adaptive, dynamic and supportive of a learner makes a better learning experience.

“Time is a precious commodity, and learners do not want to have to do busy work,” Butler said. “Rather, they want to focus on their mastery of a topic and appreciate the ability to move more quickly through topics or material in which they might have familiarity or quickly learn.”

by Jasmine Heimgartner nesses at the table and be an influencer Low unemployment rates benefit the for training and curriculum development. community and its citizens, but it also They operate as the subject matter expert.” makes it harder for businesses to fill With increasing needs not being met, much-needed roles. When it comes to find- companies have begun to look both outing skilled or specialized tradesmen, the ward and inward to develop innovative crunch is often felt even harder. solutions to fulfill the need. That “The biggest factor is that often requires acknowledging the baby boomers are retiring that the upfront investment will and we aren’t creating enough be worth it down the road, espereplacements, especially in cially when creating an internal skilled trades such as electritraining program. cians, linemen and those types “It requires a commitment, of jobs,” said Beth Townsend, which comes in the form of director, Iowa Workforce Debringing people on or taking velopment. “At some point in existing employees and putthe past 20 years, everyone ting them through a program was pushed toward a four-year where they are not technically college. Now we are seeing the Townsend productive that day,” said Brad consequences of that.”

Robeson, president, Behlen TechThe fast pace of technology growth, nology & Manufacturing. “When trying often a career focus for younger people to achieve a stronger bench of people that entering the workforce, and what is being can ultimately be productive, you have to taught has contributed to the shortage of commit the time. It is all about training skilled workers. and development, which can be a hurdle.”

“Another issue is the skills gap, which Establishing a certified welding trainer is the difference between skills that em- has allowed Behlen to address another ployers want or need and skills their work- element of creating the next generation of force offer,” said Tammy Green, director skilled workers. of Workforce and IT Innovation-Career “We will often take high school kids Skills, Metropolitan Community College. with no experience or just metal shop “There is a mismatch between skills be- experience and run them through our ing taught and the labor pressure in the own in-house training,” Robeson said. market. Metropolitan Community College “In Columbus, we sponsored their entire Continued on next page. has worked to change that by having busi-

8

• MAY 17, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal

• Education & Career Development

College students in the Midlands seek curriculum that’s practical, flexible

by Dwain Hebda

Today’s college campuses are more diverse than ever in terms of the student body, and this diversity has prompted colleges and universities to adapt to students’ changing tastes and demands.

“We continue to see growth in new students from local and regional markets,” said Omar Correa, associate vice chancellor of enrollment management at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. “The average age of our undergraduate student body remains consistent, although we have seen an increase in students age 21 and over. We serve many adult students who are pursuing a degree to improve on their skills, become more sought-after in the job market and ultimately, open themselves up for new career opportunities.

“Our students come to UNO in search of additional skills to secure a brighter future through career and family fulfillment.

UNO’s faculty and staff have a goal to assist every student that comes through our doors, work with them to create a plan to be successful and see this path all the way

through graduation and beyond.”

“All of our programs remain in high The most conspicuous way colleges demand for meeting the workforce needs and universities achieve this customized of Nebraska, in both urban and rural seteducational experience is through online tings,” said Philip Covington, assistant distance learning, which is seen as a viable vice chancellor for student success at the option by a growing number of students University of Nebraska Medical Center. every year.

“We will launch a new program “We recognize that many of in genetic counseling in fall our students have other outside 2019 in response to workforce interests and commitments, such needs in Nebraska. Additionally, as work and family,” Correa the upcoming program in occusaid. “Online and distance edupational therapy has generated cation offerings provide a way many inquiries from interested for students to enhance their edindividuals.” ucation, expand the opportunity Covington said the univerto take classes that otherwise sity’s recruitment policies also they would not explore and still are critical to ensuring the state’s meet the daily demands of famiworkforce needs are met.

Kohler ly and work. This is an area that “UNMC has placed signifwill continue to grow and help icant emphasis on recruiting students in their path to success.” students from rural areas to meet the needs Another way colleges are adjusting to of all Nebraska communities,” he said. satisfy student demands is to constantly “Our Rural Health Opportunities Program evaluate degree options and subject mat- provides students with pathways from ter to help ensure students are marketable UNK and the state colleges to UNMC in following graduation. the areas of pharmacy, nursing, medical lab science, physical therapy, physician assistant studies, dentistry, dental hygiene,

radiography and medicine.”

Community colleges also have kept pace with their larger counterparts, thanks to degree programs that are both highly marketable and easy to obtain.

“We are seeing more interest in shortterm programs in the advanced manufacturing area,” said Don Kohler, vice president of marketing and public relations for Iowa Western Community College. “Since 2015, we have added over a dozen new certificate, diploma and degree programs in this area. We have also expanded to offer specific programs in the evening, including welding and HVAC.” Kohler said an unrelenting focus on practical skills, obtained within a reasonable amount of time, gives community college a competitive advantage.

“In specific fields, students may not need a two-year or four-year degree,” he said. “There are many fields that are focused on finding employees with specific credentials that can often be completed in one year of less. IWCCollege has quickly responded to the industry requests to create these opportunities for our students.”

Filling specialized roles requires investment Continued from preceding page. metal shop, which often is a program that lacks funding. When you walk into it, it is like walking into a Behlen shop. We have received some candidates directly from there.”

Relying on partners within the community is another way that businesses can find and or help develop the right people for the job. Community colleges and trade schools often have programs to assist students with identifying their skill sets and career placement programs, as well as community-focused programs that work to close the skills gap.

Considering other hiring options also can be beneficial.

“A business might want to rethink the traditional approach and adopt more of an earn and learn approach,” Green said.

“This approach develops a pipeline for individuals to take positions while they are still in training. An example of this is with business partners like Valmont Industries, where students have the opportunity to start employment as a welder while they are going through classes. Rather than waiting for students to complete their

education and employing at the end of the program, Valmont starts to employ and engage with individuals early on in their educational journey.”

The ongoing skills gap is also being addressed at a broader level. In Iowa, the Future Ready Iowa initiative was passed last year. As part of the extensive initiative, funding is slated to be used for scholarships to assist individuals studying for high-demand jobs as part of the Iowa Employer Innovation Fund.

“It is an opportunity for employers to engage with nonprofits or community groups to address barriers with people in their local area that goes beyond tuition and fees,” Townsend said. “It helps support adult workers and makes it easier for them to get training by providing funds to address barriers like transportation or day care. It is unique because of the collaboration across the board and a willingness for businesses to engage and give up their time and resources to create this pipeline. A business alone can’t solve this problem. If you aren’t working together, then you won’t have as much impact.”

Midlands Business Journal • MAY 17, 2019 •

9

G4S Omaha benefits from opportunities in cross-selling within multiple divisions Continued from page 1. gration business is based out of 1299 Landmark St. (near 13th and Farnam streets).

“We’ve probably got 65 people in the home office here,” he said. “I’m very specific about what we’re targeting in the Omaha metro; most of it is around electrical engi-

G4S Phone: 402-233-7700 (headquarters); 402926-3700 (11414 West Center Road) Address: 1299 Landmark St., Suite 1300, Omaha 68102 (headquarters); 11414 West Center Road, Suite 100, Omaha 68144 (security and safety officers) Services: U.S. divisions include AMAG Technology (software and technology, Secure Integration (systems integration), Secure Solutions (security officers) and Risk Consulting; approaching market as OneG4S — offering integrated security as a clients’ trusted adviser.

Employees: 47,000-plus (US); 540,000plus (globally) Website: www.g4s.com

neering. We’re synced in with UNL, UNO and Kiewit.”

As one of the arms of a British multinational security services company with more than 540,000 associates worldwide (47,000plus stateside), Grafton said G4S presents a great opportunity for talent “to see the world,” and to transfer the Midwest’s great work ethic across various coasts and regional teams “where we have a lack of talent,” he noted, “and those people are always well-received.”

Reportedly, G4S has more than 85 offices in the U.S. and operates in 90-plus countries.

“Our office provides a combination of services, between the unarmed and armed security officers,” said Scott Rhoads, general manager of G4S Security Solutions. “And we do work with Dan’s team on the remote monitoring and assessments.”

The office off 114th Street and West Center Road supports around 650 personnel, with Rhoads noting that a big chunk of its business is local — in and around the metro.

“But we go as far west as Scottsbluff, North Platte and Kearney,” he said. “We work with a variety of customers — government, health care and company headquarters — and it’s a wide range of businesses.”

Some officers may, for instance, have extensive military or police experience (G4S generally employs a number of veterans).

“We’ve created over 400 jobs in the last six years in and around the Omaha metro,” Rhoads said.

He referred to recruiting boots on the ground, day in and day out, as well as its collaboration with universities, and military and veteran organizations.

“Being able to work with the different divisions over the past four to six years has really allowed us to separate ourselves from the competition,” Rhoads said.

According to G4S information, in all, its stateside divisions include Secure Solutions (security officers), Secure Integration (systems integration), as well as AMAG Technology (software and technology) and Risk Consulting.

A nod to its revenue-boosting pivot, the company describes its “OneG4S” as: “Even if the client’s entry point is one division, we can act as an extension of another, and bring those solutions together to offer a holistic

or customized solution based on the client needs.”

“Health care and data centers are really starting to grow — we’re seeing it in the Omaha area,” Rhoads said.

“I agree in terms of opportunities in Omaha, we’ve got a slew of data centers,” Grafton said. “And we’ve got demand from the hospital market.”

Grafton, too, referred to its G4S as having an increasingly competitive edge.

“We’ve seen a lot of mergers over the past several years between services integration and technology companies, and we’re much further ahead and better integrated,” he said.

“We did it organically, without acquisitions and trying to merge all of these organizations together.”

Six years ago, the Midlands Business Journal reported G4S Technology North America was poised to grow in key geographic markets: the Pacific Northwest, South and New York City.

Grafton in late April referenced growth in revenue and hires in Midtown Manhattan, the Port of Seattle in Washington State, and throughout the Southeast (replicating offices in markets such as Atlanta, Georgia; Memphis, Tennessee; and Boca Raton, Florida).

Closer to “home,” Rhoads said G4S

supports holiday and year-round causes such as Toys for Tots and Habitat for Humanity.

“Our recruiter is really good about getting out and building relationships, and she brings us a number of different volunteer opportunities,” he said.

Grafton referred to its “charitable contributions committee,” which has supported the likes of the Salvation Army flood relief drive (Rhoads also noted a few of its officers were personally impacted by flooding in Fremont).

Grafton also referred to support of military causes, such as Disabled American Veterans (DAV).

Cobalt Credit Union enhances services with Universal Video Banking tech Continued from page 1. by both storefront locations such as at 31st Street 2018, the name was updated to Cobalt to give and Ames Avenue and services offered in a the organization a more expansive image and Walmart about two miles west on Ames.

For example, earlier this year Cobalt rolled modern identity.

DeBoer, who has headed Cobalt for 12 years, out a financial education partnership with Sacred said Cobalt’s administration budgets for a 5% Heart School, located at 2205 Binney St. DeBoer annual growth in membership, although numbers said the arrangement is essentially the opening of a Cobalt branch within the school that is from the past several years have been at 7%. staffed by the school’s A public recognielementary students as tion survey 18 months Cobalt Credit Union tellers, with the help of ago found 58% of those Phone: 402-292-8000 Cobalt’s professional questioned still believed Address: 7148 Towne Center Parkway, staffers. membership in the in- Papillion 68046 “We have finanstitution was limited Services: full range of personal and busicial education partnerto those with military ness banking services ships with a number affiliation.

Founded: 1946 of schools, and it’s a Cobalt’s technolo- Employees: 270 win-win on so many gy investment, which One-year goal: Add second Lincoln levels,” DeBoer said. includes a nine-member location and continue numerous technolo“We’ve seen what an group of IT specialists gy-related initiatives. impact these programs — half of whom have Industry outlook: Credit unions are growcan have not on just garnered employee-of- ing membership numbers by expanding showing kids how to the-month laurels — services and promoting their nonprofit, save, but also why to comes at a time when member-ownership structure. save and giving them the 270-employee firm Website: www.cobaltcu.com exposure to future cais geographically exreers.” panding its service area with branch locations.

DeBoer, who has an undergraduate degree in Last year, Cobalt moved into the Lincoln market with a location in the Walmart at 2500 accounting from University of Nebraska at Omaha as well as an MBA from Bellevue University, Jamie Lane.

“We have quite a few active members in said she’s hoping financial literacy instruction and simulations can help upcoming generations Lincoln,” DeBoer said.

This fall, ground will be broken on a second better make financial decisions with a better Lincoln location — a stand-alone branch near understanding of products and closer scrutiny 84th and Adams streets. DeBoer and Commu- of the pitches of predatory lenders.

With its hefty technology investment, Cobalt nity Enhancement/PR Director Joyce Wells said additional locations in and near the capital city — which has a mobile banking app coming that will enable forms such as mortgage applications are likely.

In July, the first Dodge County branch is to be completed electronically — has already scheduled to open in an end-bay at the Shoppes done a soft roll-out of Universal Video Banking. of Fremont. The latest in drive-up technology Members are able to speak with a live video banker stationed at Cobalt’s headquarters facewill be offered.

In the past two years, six contiguous Iowa to-face digitally for a myriad of transactions, counties have been added via the merger with a ranging from questions on opening accounts, how to transfer money, applying for loans, Denison credit union.

Much of the growth outside the Omaha area among others. was enabled by Cobalt’s switch from a federal to an Iowa state charter.

DeBoer, a 2019 inductee into the Greater Omaha Chamber’s Business Hall of Fame who has been with Cobalt for 31 years, said the organization has in recent years moved into its new 95,000-square-foot headquarters building at 7148 Towne Center Parkway and continued to strengthen its presence in previously underserved areas of Omaha, including the older north and south sectors of the city.

Activities at relatively new locations at 36th and Q streets and 24th and L streets have been especially gratifying, she said, as well as projects in north Omaha neighborhoods that are fueled

DeBoer said Cobalt’s strong military roots via the Air Force and its opening four years ago of its third branch at Offutt in the Base Exchange demonstrate the strong military affiliations of several thousand members, which include those actively serving, retired military and civilians throughout the nation and abroad.

For example, she cited Assistant Universal Video Banking Manager Emma Evans and her colleagues as being important ambassadors for Cobalt customers such as one who, while in Peru in South America, sought an increase in his credit limit to purchase collectable art work.

DeBoer said video banking goes through the same Integrated Teller Machines (ITMs) room in Papillion as that which is used for services performed for drive-up customers.

A customer can hold up a driver’s license or another identification card, which can then be uploaded to facilitate and securely complete a transaction.

“It’s one of the coolest technologies we have, and it can be done from one’s smartphone,” she said.

Within the past six months, Cobalt has debuted other technologies including ITMs at all drive ups, the ability to take a picture of a check and deposit it, and other applications of remote data capture.

Cobalt’s website has also been significantly enhanced.

“Our goal this year is to fully utilize the technology we’ve purchased,” DeBoer said.

Employees are important to the Cobalt growth story, DeBoer said. About 70 new positions have been created since 2012. Finance Specialist Terri LaFond is the most veteran employee at 37 years. Member allegiance and identification to employees is strong, and any transfer of a branch manager to a new location can generate a significant number of customers that will travel to the manager’s new location.

In 2016, SAC Foundation, a 501c(3) charitable organization, was formed to partner with Cobalt’s communities on a wide range of civic betterment projects.

10

• MAY 17, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal

What investors should do when stocks swing wide

by Brian O’Connell

Navigating the stock market is difficult enough when the sailing is relatively calm, like this year when the market is again flashing green and flirting with record highs.

When market waters grow turbulent, that’s the real test for stock investors trying to steer an investment portfolio into a profitable port of call.

InvestIng That task proved difficult in 2018, the worst-performing year for the U.S. stock market since the financial crisis a decade ago. Consider these bearish Wall Street facts from 2018: -The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 5.6 percent.

-The Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index declined 6.2 percent.

-The Nasdaq Composite slid nearly 4 percent.

The biggest scare, however, came in December 2018, when the stock market suffered a scary freefall not seen since the Great Depression. The S&P 500 plunged 9.2 percent in last year’s final month, its worst-performing December since 1931. At its low on Christmas Eve, the broad market gauge closed down 19.8 percent from its Sept.

20, 2018, all-time closing high of 2930.75 — narrowly avoiding a bear market, or drop of 20 percent or more.

A sharp spike in volatility was a particularly ominous market trend and cause of rising investor fear at the end of last year.

Stocks moved up or down more than 1 percent in nine trading sessions during the last month of 2018, compared to eight times total in all of 2017.

Fortunately, the U.S. stock market has stabilized early in 2019. The S&P 500 has rebounded 15 percent and is within 1.5 percent of a new record high. The Dow isn’t far behind, gaining more than 13 percent.

Dealing with stock market volatility The wild price swings in the past six months offer Main Street investors a good lesson on market volatility, a condition where the financial markets move up and down, often at an alarming rate.

To gauge volatility, Wall Street-watchers use a financial barometer that measures stock market swings known as the VIX. The CBOE Volatility Index, or VIX, which was created by the Chicago Board Options Exchange, is a benchmark number that reflects the market’s expectations for stock price volatility over the next 30 days. Basically, the VIX is the market’s way of measuring volatility, risk and investor sentiment (a big reason why the VIX is nicknamed the “Fear Index” of “fear gauge.”) The higher the VIX number, the more volatile the stock market.

In early April 2019, the VIX was trading below 13, its lowest level since mid-March.

Compare that to the VIX in late December 2018, when it jumped to 36, and it’s apparent that stock prices have stabilized, investor fear has subsided and the threat of violent market volatility has abated – for now. The VIX topped 80 during the 2008 Financial Crisis.

Still, last year’s sharp sell-off is a reminder of how market sentiment can quickly turn pessimistic.

Is now a good time to buy stocks?

Ask a stock market expert and chances are you’ll get a more favorable outlook on stock prices than you would have at the beginning of 2019. Many of the worries and potential risks that spooked investors and

sparked selling late last year on Wall Street have subsided.

“Yes, it’s still a good time to invest in U.S. stocks,” says Edgar Radjabli, managing partner of Apis Capital Management, an asset management firm specializing in volatility trading. “The economy is still strong, some of the fear of interest rates hikes being too much, too soon, has dissipated as the Federal Reserve has curbed its interest rate-hike outlook. Meanwhile, trade wars and tariffs have not seemed to make a significant impact on U.S. stocks, and the general stock market trend is an upward one.”

Others agree with that upbeat forecast, adding that as long as you have a solid long-term investment plan in place, buying stocks is usually a good idea as long as the investment meets your unique needs.

“Right now, some experts are calling for an imminent recession, but all indicators show that the economy is very healthy and is, in fact, growing at a favorable rate,” says Kyle Kroeger, a former investment banker and stock market blogger at MillionaireMob. com.

In general, investors should not strive to be market-timers, anyway, says Kroeger.

“Investors need to stick with the facts and stay continually invested in the stock market, particularly U.S.-based stocks,” he advises.

Gauging the ‘Trump Factor’ Economic policies coming from the White House are no doubt having an impact on the stock market right now, but investors shouldn’t place too much weight on what Team Trump is doing, money managers say.

“President Trump and his economic policies have certainly impacted the stock market both negatively and positively,” says Radjabli. “In the short term, his pro-business, less-regulation and less-tax approach boosted the market in 2017. However, the concern about tariffs and international trade dominated market sentiment in 2018 and did lead to significant volatility.”

Yet, the main reason the market was volatile in 2018 was because of concerns about rising interest rates, which was not related to Trump, Radjabli says. “In the long run, it’s unlikely that Trump will have a significant impact on the U.S. market,” he notes.

Investors should plow ahead, and live with the inevitable “good and bad” political outcomes that erupt in Washington, D.C., as politics is a fact of life on Wall Street, market pros say.

“Political policies always can and will affect the domestic and international stock market, both positively and negatively,” says Daniel Milan, managing partner of Cornerstone Financial Services. “The policies around tax cuts and deregulation have, and will continue to have, a positive impact on our domestic stock market, as there will be continued (spending on capital expenditures), stock buybacks and dividend raises.”

On the other side of the equation, trade wars or even the fear of them, can and have had a negative impact on domestic stocks, especially multinational companies, says Milan.

“Additionally, it has created negative headwinds on international stocks in both

Europe and some emerging markets, like China, and has contributed to the appearance of a global growth economic slowdown, which can put downward pressure on international equities,” Milan notes.

Still, optimism that trade talks between the U.S. and China will end with a deal the market will like has provided an added boost to stock prices so far in 2019.

What to do if the market heads south again If your portfolio takes a temporary pounding from volatile markets sometime in 2019, don’t panic. Instead, stay focused on your long-term investment strategy.

“Even if you lose real money, even three percent of your portfolio, you’re still better off holding on to your portfolio holdings,” says Radjabli. “It’s virtually impossible for market professionals, let alone individual investors, to predict the top of the market before a recession or market downturn.”

At Apis Capital, Radjabli uses machine learning to provide useful market insight to help determine whether future volatility expectations are rising or falling. The average investors doesn’t have those tools, but that’s okay, he says.

“Although we have been successful in anticipating large volatility moves like August 24, 2015, and February 5th, 2018, in each of those cases an investor would have been effectively fine holding through those until the market recovered,” Radjabli notes.

“That’s because there was very little systemic and fundamental reasons for those falls.”

Rather than focus on how big their paper losses are in a market downturn, investors Continued on next page.

First Watch expanding its metro footprint, seeing success in fresh menu Continued from page 2. right location is challenging because people don’t like to travel outside of their hubs, he said. A couple Lincoln locations are also a future possibility.

First Watch keeps up on food trends with menu items like Avocado Toast, Million Dollar Bacon, the Pesto Chicken Quinoa Bowl that was added before quinoa was popular, and fresh juices.

“They are constantly staying fresh and new when it comes to the menu. They have the classics but then there is also the cutting edge,” he said.

Shane Schaibly, VP of culinary strategy/ corporate chef for First Watch Restaurants, “… travels around and sees what’s going on and always has his finger on it.”

The company puts a lot of effort into training with a motto of “you first,” a company culture that applies to its staff and to customers, he said, adding that putting customers first is one more way to draw people in during the week.

“It’s whatever we can do to take care of them,” he said.

An app makes it convenient for customers to view ingredient lists, especially if they have food allergies, or to get on the wait list, which they can do from home.

“Our Kale Tonic is our No. 1 juice right now,” he said. “The most popular dish — there’s so many great choices. Our avocado toast is a super popular one — it’s fresh, it’s trendy, but becoming more of a staple dish most places. Our lemon pesto is pretty popular too because it’s a healthier dish, but it has so much flavor to it, so many different textures.

From there, depending on the healthy or unhealthy avenue, our lemon ricotta pancakes

Gustavo Brito serves the BLT Benedict, Avocado Toast and Lemon Ricotta Pancake. are super popular. comes through, especially on special days like “My personal favorite is our Chickichan- Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.” ga. It’s an open-ended reverse burrito. It has Cutchall Management owns Omaha’s eggs, chorizo, sausage, green chilis, Vera Cruz Jams restaurants — one in the Old Market, one sauce and fresh pico that we make every day, in the Midtown area and its most recent now and sour cream on top.” open on the main floor of the former Upstream Mother’s Day is the busiest day of the year Brewery space near 171st street and West Cenand is all about preparation. ter Road. Cutchall also owns the two Paradise “We’re always about fresh ingredients Bakeries in Omaha and five other Paradise so we start staffing up [a few months prior] Bakeries in Dallas and Utah. Oklahoma Joe’s because you’ve got to have your people opened in Aksarben Village about six months trained up and ready to go,” he said. “It’s so ago. It owns Kith & Kin, Omaha’s Domino’s important to take care of every person that Pizza restaurants, among others.

Midlands Business Journal • MAY 17, 2019 •

11

Federal student loan interest rates about to get first cut in 3 years

by Susan Tompor

High school grads on their way to college — as well as returning college students — just got a bit of a financial gift.

Interest rates on new federal student loans made on or after FInancIal July 1 will be lower than they are now. It’s the first rate cut in three years.

Rates will decrease by 0.516 percentage points for new federal student loans made on or after July 1 through June 30, 2020.

The new fixed interest rates will be SUPER CROSSWORD

4.529 percent on the Federal Stafford loan for undergraduate students.

The rate is 6.079 percent for the Federal Stafford loan for graduate students and 7.079 percent for the Federal Grad PLUS and Federal Parent PLUS loans.

It’s not a huge savings but it’s real money.

The lower rates would drive the monthly loan payments down by about 2.4 percent, assuming a 10-year repayment term, according to Mark Kantrowitz, publisher and vice president of research

for Savingforcollege.com.

“For most borrowers,” he said, “that yields a decrease of just a few dollars a month.”

“The typical borrower will save $2 to $3 a month or about $300 in total, assuming a 10-year repayment plan,” Kantrowitz said.

The new rates do not apply to existing loans. The new rates do not apply to private student loans; the interest rates on private student loans typically change monthly, even for fixed interest rates, Kantrowitz said.

Kantrowitz noted that the interest rates on federal education loans are fixed, which means they remain the same over the life of the loan.

Each year’s new federal students loans have a new interest rate, which is based on the high yield of the last 10-year Treasury Note auction in May. Over time, of course, students can save a good deal of money with lower rates. The average savings on federal student loans taken out during the 2019-20 academic year will range from $199 for undergraduates to $805 for graduate students taking out PLUS loans, according to Credible.com.

The $199 estimate is based on loans taken out in 2019-20, based on average annual borrowing of $6,570 for undergraduate students. The estimated $805 in savings for graduate students is based on average annual borrowing of $24,810.

To save more money, of course, students need to continue to watch how much money

they’re borrowing.

Kantrowitz offers these tips: -Remember, every dollar you borrow will cost about $2 by the time you repay the debt, given the typical mix of repayment plans and capitalization of interest that accrues during the in-school period.

-“Every dollar you save is a dollar less you’ll have to borrow,” he said. He noted that the new rate is 4.529 percent — so it should remind families about the benefits of putting money in college-related, tax-advantaged 529 savings plans.

-Some private student loans will reduce the interest rate on your private student loans if you agree to make interest-only or fixed payments, say $25 a month, during the in-school and grace periods.

-Paying on federal and private student loans while in college can reduce the interest that is capitalized. But, there’s a trade-off between paying the interest during the in-school period and borrowing less in subsequent years. Would you be able to save more to take on less debt next year in school?

-You can save money on both federal and private student loans by agreeing to repay your student loans by auto-debit, where the monthly payment is automatically transferred from your bank account to the lender. Most lenders will reduce your interest rate by 0.25 percent or 0.50 percent. ©2019 Detroit Free Press Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

What investors should do when stocks swing wide

Answers on page 12.

Continued from preceding page. should pay careful attention to real indicators of a recession and market trends.

“If and when a bear market starts to materialize, it will become very obvious in terms of poor economic data, as well as consistent and continuous downward trends in the market,” Radjabli says. “That’s when an investor can benefit from going to cash, going to defensive stocks or protecting their positions.”

“Until then, if they are selling every time the market drops 3 percent, they are likely to keep selling at small dips and miss out on the larger upward trend,” he adds.

Sectors that look promising in 2019 The stock market is driven by many factors, and depending on how the underlying economy is doing, some investment sectors are more promising than others at any given time.

That goes double when an investor is trying to avoid market volatility. In periods when market swings are dramatic and fear is on the rise, low-volatility investments can be found in historically low-volatility sectors.

“Industries that are typically less volatile are consumer staples,” says Marcus Crawshaw, a financial advisor at William Allan, LLC, referring to companies that sell toilet tissue, toothpaste, turkey and other daily staples. “People need these products to live their lives, insulating them, to some degree, from huge market swings.”

If the volatility is a result of real economic issues, consumer staple companies’ earnings will likely hold up better than other sectors of the market. “In addition, as many investors chased high-flying tech stocks for the past five years, these boring consumer

staples have been depressed and may get a boost from more investors seeking returns in a calmer environment,” Crawshaw states.

When you start looking at consumer staples, focus on stocks and funds that include food, beverages, tobacco and household items, Kroeger advises.

“These are the staple products of our homes and daily needs,” he says. “No matter the economic condition, people will continue to buy these products. In addition, fast food and medical products will be recession-proof industries going forward.”

Kroeger also likes medical technology companies right now. “Companies that operate in this sector that have near breakthrough technology and outstanding track records of operational performance have a high likelihood to weather any recessionary or volatile environment,” he says.

The bottom line on dealing with market volatility If there’s a single unifying theme that stock market experts tout when facing volatile markets, it’s don’t panic.

“Investors need to be able to put up with some volatility,” says Lyn Alden, founder of Lyn Alden Investment Strategy. “Stocks (deliver) better returns than bonds over long periods of time.”

The majority of investors shouldn’t worry too much about what happens quarter-by-quarter, Alden adds.

“Instead, the real concern is how to avoid large crashes or permanent destruction of capital that takes many years to recover from,” she says. ©2019 Bankrate.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

12

• MAY 17, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal

Co-working spaces: Not just for start-up bros anymore

by Roger Vincent

Co-working is often more pleasant these days than putting in eight hours at a traditional office.

If you’d prefer a workspace that looks like a chic hotel lobby with waiters at your service, that can be arranged.

Workplace Want to be around other women in a cabana on an outdoor terrace? There’s a place in West Hollywood for you.

Is your goal to hang with other creative types? There are co-working clubs that want you as a member.

But while the offices strive to be oases of fellowship, the co-working business is more like a free-for-all.

Co-working offices emerged a decade ago as offbeat, bare-boned affairs that served startups and the self-employed of the emerging gig economy. But now their appeal has broadened even to mainstream companies looking for the flexibility to ramp up or wind down operations as quickly as situations demand. Other big tenants just want to avoid the hassle of setting up and maintaining their own offices.

And as co-working has evolved and its appeal has proved more than a fad, a rush of start-ups has joined the competition, including one from the real estate services industry, which has long had a near monopoly on leasing office space.

The new players are driven both by opportunity and competition: specifically, the ravenous reach of WeWork, the co-working pioneer that has spent freely to lock up market share and shows no signs of slowing.

WeWork has been willing to absorb massive

Ramina Lilia, left, of Los Angeles, and Jess Hooper, center, of LA work at the newly opened Wing. The Wing is a new co-working office set up specifically to support women.

(Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times/TNS) losses as the company follows the internet model Uber will ever make a profit, so do they for of getting big before getting profitable — best WeWork. The company has ridden the coattails epitomized by ride-hailing giant Uber, which of the country’s long economic expansion, and raised $8.1 billion in its initial public offering it could be vulnerable in a downturn. recently even though its total operating losses But its competitors can’t assume that the exceeded $10 billion over the last three years. market will inevitably humble WeWork — as The two companies share a common lead Amazon has demonstrated by rising from cash investor — Japan’s SoftBank Vision Fund, itself burner to cash cow. pumped up by Saudi Arabia’s huge sovereign “You can say, ‘Give me turnkey space,’ and wealth fund. they can do it very quickly, and that is changing And while questions swirl about whether the nature of the office market,” said analyst Steven Kurtz, of accounting firm BDO, who has tracked the growth of co-working.

Juggling the demands of running your own shop

by Liz Reyer

Q: About a year ago, I started working as a consultant after a layoff. To my surprise, I like it. However, I feel like I have two full-time jobs: finding the work and doing the work. Is this normal? How do I balance it?

-Andy, 44, strategic planner A: This is the life of Workplace a consultant.

There is a lot to balance when you are running your own business, even a small solo consultancy.

A successful approach builds in flexibility and acknowledges the ups and downs inherent in your workflow.

For most people in your situation, the “doing the work” part is most engaging. It is, after all, the part that involves the key value and skill you bring to the market. The temptation may be in focusing on this to the exclusion of the other aspects of managing a business.

While you want to meet your customers’ needs, be sure you are not overdoing it. If you have a tendency toward perfectionism, you may find that it becomes a procrastination technique.

Also be careful to resist scope creep, where you add work that isn’t built into your agreement. This isn’t sustainable.

You can mitigate these tendencies by talking through client needs so that you have a understanding of their expectations. This also will help build return business.

The second key area, as you mentioned, is finding work. Think in terms of multichannel development. Network at professional events, with past colleagues, and through developing a reputation for expertise through speaking and writing.

Recognize that this needs to be ongoing. So, even if you are really busy with project work, you need to keep making time for it.

As a result, some times may be uncomfortably busy. It goes with the territory. This pattern can be managed if you let yourself catch your breath a little during slower times rather than stressing over it.

There’s a third area that can eat up a lot of time and energy. That is the administrative aspect of having a business.

Unless you are an expert in many things, it’s a good idea to outsource. For example, consider having an accountant to help with taxes and other financial matters. It lowers risk and helps you manage your time.

Self-care is key. Find ways to separate yourself from work sometimes. Maybe you will prefer a co-working space to be out of the house and near other professionals. If not, be able at least to close your door and turn off your phone.

You will undoubtedly put in evening and weekend work. It’s OK, as long as you give yourself freedom to enjoy an occasional Tuesday off.

Don’t neglect family and friends. Remember that you are not just a businessperson and entrepreneur, you are a complete human. You need to nourish body, mind and spirit.

Keep taking stock as time goes on, noticing what is working best and building on that, and trying new things to find the best possible balance. ©2019 Star Tribune (Minneapolis) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

WeWork, which started out nine years ago in New York with six floors in a SoHo building, now has more than 400,000 members paying for access to 45 million square feet worldwide.

That’s more space than exists in all of downtown Los Angeles.

Locally, the company has gobbled up about half of the 4.5 million square feet now devoted to co-working, said Peter Belisle, Southwest director of real estate brokerage JLL. In addition to the three floors it occupies in the Pacific Design Center’s Red Building, an expensive trophy property in West Hollywood, WeWork recently leased an additional 45,000 square feet in the center’s Green Building.

It’s packed with recording rooms, photo studios, makeup rooms, casting rooms and other facilities for the entertainment industry. Members include Brian Grazer and Ron Howard of Imagine Impact, filmmaker Kevin Smith and actors Anna Faris and Topher Grace.

Meanwhile, rivals are offering their own unique versions of co-working space, which Belisle predicted would double in Los Angeles over the next three to five years.

One of the most high-profile new entries is the Wing, a New York-based company founded by two female entrepreneurs that opened a branch last month in West Hollywood. It’s taken a niche approach by tailoring its offices and services to women’s needs and preferences.

The scale of the furnishings at the Santa Monica Boulevard outlet is smaller. The thermostat is kept at 72 degrees, rather than the chillier temperatures men seem to like. The attention to detail even extends to the upholstery, with chairs covered in soft fabrics that don’t cling to dresses.

“All of these tiny considerations are made with working women in mind,” spokeswoman Zara Rahim said.

And larger considerations, such as providContinued on next page.

SUPER CROSSWORD PUZZLE ANSWERS

Puzzle on page 11.

Midlands Business Journal • MAY 17, 2019 •

13

What Dietz & Watson is trying to do with its ‘jawn’ tote bags and ‘body by bacon’ swimsuits

by Ellie Silverman

Britni Stowell lifted the folded white shirt and read the text on the front to her friend: “Classy in the streets.”

Then she turned it around to see the back. “But a freak with the meats,” she said. trends The two 27-year-old students laughed.

“I don’t think my mom would approve of me wearing it,” said her friend, Kelly Baxter.

“I don’t know if my grandmother would know what it means,” Stowell responded.

The two were drawn into the Dietz & Watson “Delishop,” a 3,000-square-foot pop-up at Fifth and South Streets in Philadelphia on Wednesday by the gear they saw in the windows. Once inside, they saw the “body by bacon” one-piece bathing suit, a “jawn” tote bag, an “I (heart) wieners” T-shirt, and a “little ham” onesie. One small section features cotton shirts, fanny packs, boxers, and baseball caps, all with the saying “Dietz Nuts.”

This pop-up is part of the company’s bid to attract younger consumers and stand out in a crowded marketplace. Arby’s released a $25 subscription box in January that gives customers one package a month for six months full of branded merchandise. Chobani rolled out a children’s clothing line in March to promote its Greek yogurt kids’ snacks. And Auntie Anne’s website promotes its “pretzel swag,” with pretzel-themed leggings, tote bags, sweatshirts, and T-shirts, with all proceeds going to Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation.

“Fashion and food is always a good mix,” said Nioka Wyatt, a fashion merchandising and management assistant professor at Thomas Jefferson University.

“It makes people smile — at least for me it does. Given the hustle and bustle in the world that we live in, to add a smile on customers’ faces makes a big difference.”

Executives have seen how the business has changed. Two decades ago, Dietz’s most popular items were sliced deli items.

Now, protein snacks are surging, including such items as organic beef jerky, meat and cheese snack packs, and Dietz Nuts, which debuted during the Super Bowl in February.

Lauren Eni also isn’t sure her grandmother, Ruth “Momma” Dietz Eni, would understand all the jokes at the family company’s pop-up store.

Momma Dietz did know about “Dietz Nuts,” though, and all the success her Philadelphia-based company saw after its risky Super Bowl commercial full of references to “nuts,” inspired by the meme “Deez Nuts.”

Stowell said she thought of the commercial when she saw the Dietz & Watson sign by the entrance.

The Dietz family celebrated Momma Dietz’s 94th birthday a couple weeks before she died in February, and she told Lauren Eni that “we have to do something different,” Eni said. “And in my head I’m thinking, ‘Well, OK.’ ” Eni, who is vice president of brand strategy, had been working on this concept for months. The store is full of meat innuendos on apparel, Philadelphia-themed products such as a “Gritty” sriracha ai-

oli and a “wooder” water bottle, and, of course, deli meats, snacks, and other food items.

The items are also for sale online.

Prices range from around $10 for a bacon bottle opener, hoagie keychain, tote bag, and boxers to $30 to $40 for hot dog leggings and shirts. Most shirts are about $20.

“She was very progressive,” Eni said of her grandmother. “She was always, I think, willing to try something new and fun and was very into getting the next generation to enjoy our products.”

The core customer is usually a middle-aged couple with at least two kids. This store is designed as a photo opportunity,

encouraging visitors to take pictures in the chair covered in upholstery with a hot dog design, a mini booth with a light-up Dietz & Watson sign, mannequins posed to be grilling hot dogs, and a section to play “meat & cheesy” cornhole.

“People are doing whatever they can to break out of the clutter,” said Barbara Kahn, a marketing professor at the Wharton School. To compete with Amazon, Walmart, Costco, or other big-name retailers, “you’ve got to create some emotional connection and recognition for that brand name.”

If pop-up visitors don’t buy anything, Kahn said, it can still be an entertaining

experience and leave people with good feelings about the brand. Even if someone just takes a picture of the store or buys a funny shirt and sends it to a friend, it helps the company.

Dietz & Watson is celebrating its 80th birthday, so the company set up this shop relatively close to its original store, at Second and Vine Streets. Eni hopes this pop-up introduces the younger generation to the brand. So far, the company has seen a roughly equal split in sales between the accessories and apparel and the food.

Eni said she views the Dietz & Watson brand as fun and wants customers to Continued on page 22.

Co-working spaces: Not just for start-up bros anymore Continued from preceding page. ing child care for women juggling parenting with business or school, aren’t forgotten.

That formula has proved a success, with the company opening seven offices nationwide since it got its start three years ago in New York’s Flatiron district.

The Wing also offers “support circle” meetings to talk about parenting issues, mental health, physical illness and recovery from addiction, as well as other programs.

It’s just one of the latest crop of co-working companies offering events, meetings, lectures and other get-togethers known as “programming” as key selling points as they look to differentiate themselves from one another — and from conventional office landlords focused on keeping the lights on and the lobby clean and secure.

WeWork may have set the pattern by hosting happy hour parties and TED Talks, and it’s continuing to innovate. At its Playa Vista location this summer, WeWork tenants will get the chance to pitch their business ideas to investors — “Shark Tank” style.

Even private clubs that primarily offer posh spots to do business deals, hang out and entertain clients are getting further into the business. Soho House in West Hollywood is planning a SoHo Works offshoot offering 24hour co-working offices.

And h Club, a members-only club for Hollywood creative types, recently opened in the former Redbury hotel at Hollywood and Vine.

Among the attractions are “bespoke bedrooms,” screening rooms, a tea room — and h Space: “designated co-working space designed for productivity.”

“This is about a fundamental shift in how real estate will serve businesses,” Belisle said.

The level of tenant pampering being instigated by co-working providers has caught the attention of landlords, who are upping their game to attract tenants, said real estate executive Martin Caverly of Los Angeles landlord and developer Lowe.

Building owners may do something as simple as turning unused lobby space into a coffee bar, or partner with support-service firms such as Convene that provide co-working space while also offering hospitality services to the entire building.

At the Wells Fargo Center in downtown Los Angeles, Convene sends up breakfast every morning for about 200 workers at the headquarters of the financial firm Oaktree Capital Management. Catering is just one of the New York company’s services.

In its own space at the office complex, Convene built plush meeting rooms and din-

ing spaces that building tenants can rent on an as-needed basis for events they can’t host in their own digs.

Convene also offers co-working space meant to appeal to individual contractors, but most of it is designed to serve midsize companies in need of temporary quarters in downtown L.A. that reflect their corporate self-image.

“We’re the business class of co-working,” said Ryan Simonetti, chief executive of Convene, which sometimes shares revenue with its landlord partners.

The emergence of co-working space as a popular office category poses some financial risks for landlords, according to analysts at Green Street Advisors.

By packing people in more densely than conventional offices, co-working is expected to reduce overall office demand in the country as much as 3 percent by 2030, in an industry accustomed to growth, a recent report by Green Street said.

Co-working operators may also snag tenants that would otherwise sign directly with a landlord.

Landlords, who like to lock in tenants for a decade or more, will feel pressure to offer more short-term leases to compete with the easy in-and-out options offered by co-working operators.

“Office landlords will be increasingly forced to react” to competition from co-working companies, Green Street said, by launching their own flexible office offerings, financially partnering with co-working operators or outright competing for tenants.

Tishman Speyer, one of the world’s largest office landlords, is doing just that.

The New York company announced last week that it has opened co-working offices at a building it owns in Beverly Hills and is expanding the concept, called Studio, at other properties in major U.S. markets as well as Europe and South America.

The company said it was moved to open more co-working offices after all 35,000 square feet in its first Studio in Rockefeller Center in New York were leased within five months in what Studio’s managing director Thais Galli called an “immediate and overwhelming success.”

Real estate brokerages, which profit from arranging leases for co-working businesses and their landlords, are also looking to get involved by joining their landlord clients in the flexible office field.

Los Angeles-base CBRE, the world’s largest brokerage, recently launched a co-working subsidiary called Hana that will open its first California branch later this year at the Park

Place office complex in Irvine, in partnership with the property’s owners.

Hana will provide some traditional co-working space along with private, customized office suites pitched toward rapidly growing companies that may have offices elsewhere in the complex and need extra space. Hana will also offer meeting rooms and catering to other tenants or visitors.

Park Place will have only the second Hana in the country, but CBRE plans to roll the concept out in other major markets overseas and in the U.S., Hana Chief Executive Andrew Kupiec said.

“Wherever an NFL city might be,” he said.

“That’s where both owners and Hana see the biggest opportunities.”

Co-working companies make money on the difference between what they pay landlords for the large chunks of space they need — typically on leases of 10 years or longer — and what they are able to recoup by charging a premium for deluxe space or filling multiple tenants into close quarters.

Either way, the trend has caught on because tenants love the flexibility of renting space typically on a monthly, weekly or even daily basis.

But although that business model has proved successful amid a favorable office market that has been on the upswing since 2013 as businesses staff up, it has not been tested in a downturn.

No downturn is on the immediate horizon, but a sharp pullback could sting WeWork and other co-working providers and their landlords if rents were to drop and tenants — with no long-term leases to tie them down — decamped for cheaper space.

Bankers nervous about just such a scenario scuttled a deal between WeWork and the owners of a London office building because the co-working giant wanted to lease all eight floors, Bloomberg reported.

When the economy tightens, “not all of these guys are going to survive,” Caverly said.

For now, though, WeWork is continuing its expansion, though it recently has created a parent company called the We Co. as it diversifies into other businesses such as community-oriented apartment living.

Kurtz, of BDO, says that as he sees it, co-working has successfully disrupted the office market and is not going away.

“The modern co-working companies,” he said, “are addressing the pain points of traditional office leasing and changing the way people are leasing space.” ©2019 Los Angeles Times Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

14

• MAY 17, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal

The danger of dabbling in protectionism A man who worked in a boxer’s corner in a 1962 match against Cassius Clay, as he still was known, explained why the referee stopped the fight in the fourth round: “Things just went sour gradually all at once.” It can be like that when government dabbles in protecEORGE tionism.

U.S. industrial capacity has ILL never been larger — it is 66 percent above what it was when NAFTA took effect in 1994, and 15 percent above what it was when China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001 — and real U.S. manufacturing is almost back to where it was in 2007, the year the recession began. Manufacturers’ output is 11 percent above what it was in 2001 and 45 percent above 1994.

(These statistics are from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, via George Mason University’s Donald Boudreaux, curator of the Cafe Hayek blog.) U.S. exports are 85 percent higher than in 2001 and 200 percent higher than in 1994, and about 800 percent higher than in 1975, the last year of a U.S. trade surplus. The net inflation-adjusted worth of U.S. nonfinancial corporations is 62 percent more than in 2001 and 200 percent higher than in 1975, before globalization accelerated. During 44 consecutive years of annual trade deficits, the U.S. economy has created a net 70 million new jobs, non-farm employment is 87 percent higher than in 1975, and the unemployment rate (3.6 percent) is the lowest in 50 years. opInIon So, from what exactly does the nation need protection?

One particularly strange answer might come by May 18. On Feb. 17, a 90-day clock started ticking when President Trump received a report from his underlings at the Commerce Department, answering his question about whether imports of automobiles and auto parts threaten “national security.” The report’s answer has not been made public, but the question is so facially preposterous that it would only have been asked by someone seeking a “yes” answer. Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), chairman of the Finance Committee and a member of the tiny (and for that reason especially admirable) Republican wing of the Republican Party, has said he has doubts that the Commerce Department study was done “in a very professional and intellectually honest — well, I shouldn’t say intellectually honest — way.”

The president, who can continue to study the report — you know how studious he is — until next Saturday, has threatened 25 percent tariffs on cars and parts. A report from the Trade Partnership, a free-trade advocacy group, estimates that tariffs would increase jobs in the U.S. vehicle and parts sectors by 92,000 — but that for each of those jobs, three jobs would be lost elsewhere in the economy. And about $6,400 would be added to the price of an inexpensive ($30,000) car.

Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) has a piquant idea: Require the Defense Department, not Commerce, to determine what imports threaten national security. But just try prying this power away from Commerce, which under a protectionist administration thrives as a favor factory for crony capitalists.

Until noon on Jan. 20, 2017, when they underwent conviction transplants, most Republicans were rhetorically and even theoretically opposed to protectionism, which is government telling Americans what they can purchase, in what quantities and at what prices. Most Democrats have no principled objection to protectionism, which accords with their basic agenda of bossy government allocating wealth and opportunity. The Democrats’ presidential candidates, however, are uncharacteristically reticent when the subject is protectionism. This is because the Center of the Universe, a.k.a. Iowa, exports one-third of its agricultural products. The United States, which in 2012 sent $30 billion in agricultural products to China, last year (according to the Financial Times’ Demetri Sevastopulo and James Politi) sent only $13 billion worth, largely

G W

‘Unguided missile’: How Trump’s latest China tariffs hit consumers and businesses

by Tom Benning

Consumers and businesses in Texas and beyond are poised to feel the pinch of President Donald Trump’s latest trade escalation with China, thanks to increased prices on thousands of goods ranging from auto parts to ball caps to Christmas decorations.

That pocketbook pain would come after Trump on May 10 at 12:01 a.m. Eastern fulfilled his economy threat to raise tariffs to 25 percent from 10 percent on $200 billion of Chinese imports to the U.S. The president took the drastic action after he said China reneged on key parts of a trade deal that appeared close to completion just a week ago. Trade talks are slated to continue between the world’s two largest economies, because of China’s retaliatory tariffs. But a spokesman for the American Farm Bureau says: “You can’t campaign to get rid of tariffs [in Iowa], and then go to Michigan, where they expect [tariffs] to bring back manufacturing.”

Protectionists, who are comfortable with cognitive dissonance, say their policy is necessary because economic conditions would be even better with more protection.

And they say protection is harmless because existing protectionist measures have not prevented conditions from being optimal. They should heed the Warren Spahn Warning implicit in this story: In 1951, the Boston Braves’ Spahn, who would become baseball’s winningest left-handed pitcher, stood on the mound 60 feet, 6 inches from a New York Giants rookie who was 0-for-12 in his young career. Willie Mays crushed a Spahn pitch for his first hit and home run. After the game Spahn said, “For the first 60 feet that was a helluva pitch.”

The Washington Post

meaning there’s still a chance the tariff ante is short-lived.

But if the increased levies take hold, buyer beware on upcoming shopping trips.

“The ‘25’ really is the point where you have to look at your product and say, ‘Can we even sell this anymore?’ ” said Drew Bowers, spokesman for Fort Worth, Texas-based Samsill, which makes goods like padfolios and binders.

“At some point … the consumer is just going to say, ‘No.’ ” Trump often describes his tariffs as costs carried by China or other countries tussling with the U.S. on trade.

But that’s not true.

Just ask Samsill. Or Igloo, the iconic cooler manufacturer. Or Feizy Rugs, a Dallas-based importer. Or Flying Circle Bags, based in Boerne, Texas, known for its backpacks. Or myriad other companies who require imports hit by Trump’s duties.

Tariffs are taxes borne by U.S. businesses, which are then forced to choose between absorbing that hit, tackling the costly task of reworking supply lines or passing on the burden to customers.

Though Trump has sought to shield consumers from the brunt of his global trade war — which has dinged many manufacturers, while also causing farmers harm via retaliatory tariffs — economic studies and government data show that many wallets are already lighter.

Americans took on $69 billion in added costs because of the tariffs Trump imposed last year, according to a recent study by four experts, including the World Bank’s top economist.

An increase to a 25 percent tariff on such a wide swath of Chinese goods would intensify the impact, particularly in trade-heavy states, and Trump has threatened to go even further by expanding tariffs to the $325 billion in Chinese imports that aren’t currently covered by levies.

Continued on next page.

Midlands Business Journal • MAY 17, 2019 •

15

Battles erupt over warehouse jobs as the Legislature moves to curb subsidies

by Margot Roosevelt

Hundreds of residents packed a church hall in San Bernardino a few weeks ago to hear community leaders rail against a huge new logistics center planned for the town’s airport. economy The $200-million air cargo facility, the size of 11 football fields, could eventually generate some 3,800 jobs, garnering $6.5 million a year in revenue for the publicly owned airport on the site of the long-shuttered Norton Air Force base.

But what kind of jobs, residents wanted to know: Lowpaid part-time jobs with no benefits? Jobs likely to be replaced by robots?

What about the pollution from 1,568 diesel-fueled truck trips a day and 26 daily cargo plane flights, which would blanket low-income neighborhoods already choked with toxic fumes?

And, by the way, why won’t officials reveal the name of the employer, rumored to be Amazon.com?

A spectacular boom in warehouses and distribution

‘Unguided missile’: How Trump’s latest China tariffs hit consumers and businesses Continued from preceding page.

That kind of jolt could produce serious ripple effects, grabbing the attention of everyone from retail giants like Walmart to mom-and-pop operations like the Luggage Shop of Lubbock, Texas.

“I don’t know how to prepare for this,” said Tiffany Williams, owner of the luggage store, where sales already slowed enough in the wake of just the 10 percent tariffs imposed in September that she wasn’t able to hire an extra worker over the holidays as she normally does.

Trump’s latest trade escalation, which is expected to draw retaliation from China, befits a president who describes himself as a “tariff man.”

The president has put duties on washing machines and solar panels from all over the world. He’s done the same with steel and aluminum imports, even from key trading partners like Canada and Mexico. And he’s slapped tariffs on about $250 billion in goods imported from China.

Trump says the import levies are a critical tool to bring trading partners to the negotiating table and, eventually, secure deals that benefit American businesses and workers. He’s been further emboldened by the fact that the U.S. economy has charged ahead amid his aggressive use of tariffs.

“Tariffs will make our Country MUCH STRONGER, not weaker,” Trump wrote in a Tweet.

“Tariffs will bring in FAR MORE wealth to our Country than even a phenomenal deal of the traditional kind.

Also, much easier & quicker to do,” he wrote in another social media missive.

“We have lost 500 Billion Dollars a year, for many years, on Crazy Trade with China. NO MORE!” he wrote in still another, inaccurately describing the effects of the U.S.’s trade deficit with China.

Trump isn’t alone in these feelings, either.

The steel industry, especially in key Midwestern states, has earned the most attention for how it’s benefited from the president’s metal tariffs. But some businesses in Texas have also urged Trump to hold the line in his trade battles, particularly with China.

Klaus Bollmann is CEO of Georgetown, Texas-based Ringdale, which makes LED light fixtures.

He told the office of the U.S. Trade Representative that he would welcome a 400 percent — or even a 1,000 percent — tariff on all light products brought to the U.S. from China, explaining that “for the last 10 years, China has hurt our industry and our company severely.”

Even some business owners wary of Trump’s tariffs agree the president is on to something.

Take Pam Schenk, who owns Aunt Pam’s Closet, a quilt shop in Henrietta, Texas. She has no doubt that a 25 percent tariff on the imported Chinese fabric she sells will have an impact on her bottom line, though she’s survived unscathed the duties at the 10 percent level.

But she also collects old sewing notions, and that assortment of buttons and other accessories makes plain that “tons of things that were once made in the United States are no longer made here.” So if Trump’s tariffs help domestic manufacturers, then maybe it’s worth it, she said.

“You’ve got to hope that in the long run it’s going to be a good thing for our country,” Schenk said.

Indeed, few experts dispute the need to challenge China over unfair trading practices. But the question is in what manner and at what cost? Even as the worst doomand-gloom predictions over Trump’s tariffs so far haven’t materialized, many experts insist the risks are all too real.

“There are a lot of threats out there to the Texas and American economy,” said Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican who likened the tariffs employed by Trump to an “unguided missile.” “Trade wars would be on that list.”

While Cornyn and other GOPers in Congress have done little legislatively to rein in Trump on trade, they’ve urged their fellow Republican to cut a deal with China and other trading partners.

Lone Star State lawmakers in both parties tend to agree on that point, given Texas’ reliance on trade. Texas companies already paid $1.1 billion in added tariffs due to the trade war just through last October, per one study, while the state’s farmers have been hammered by retaliatory duties.

Trump’s latest move could prove to be a tipping point, as many Texas businesses have warned that a 25 percent levy on the $200 billion in Chinese goods could be cataclysmic.

Igloo, headquartered in Katy, Texas, said a tariff at that level would cost it $4 million a year. Feizy Rugs in Dallas said that kind of levy would be “devastating,” causing sales to disappear. Flying Circle Bags in Boerne said “we will have no choice but to immediately reduce staffing and attempt to raise prices.”

At Fort Worth-based Samsill — the maker of padfolios and other office products — Bowers said the company decided to absorb the cost of the 10 percent duty imposed in September on the items it imports from China. The choice hurt, but the hope was that the tariffs would eventually go away, he said.

With the tariff rate increasing instead, it’s now unclear how the math will work out.

“Every manufacturer is waiting for the other guy to raise prices before they do,” Bowers said. “Because raising the price could be catastrophic.”

What is undeniable is that consumers often pay the bill for tariffs.

Washing machines offer the most obvious example.

The president in January 2018 OKed levies on imports of that laundry equipment from across the globe. Consumer prices for the machines spiked almost immediately after years of declines, according to the U.S. Labor Department.

Americans are left paying an extra $1.5 billion a year — about $90 more per appliance — due to Trump’s levy, per research by the University of Chicago and the Federal Reserve Board.

Average shoppers may or may not pick up on that kind of increase, whether it’s washing machines or other consumer goods. But the data is clear: prices have started to creep up on bicycles, pet supplies, sewing goods and other products already hit by the 10 percent tariff on Chinese imports.

As for the new 25 percent levies? The Trade Partnership, which is working to fight the tariffs, estimates that Trump’s escalation would cost the average U.S. family of four $767 a year.

At the Luggage Shop of Lubbock, Williams already noticed customers balking at the $400 bag that had to be marked up to $440 due to a 10 percent tariff. She worries what it will mean for business if that same bag now costs $500 due to the new 25 percent level.

“We, as a store, don’t really have an option of eating the price,” she said. “I guess we just have to figure out where else we can cut costs.” ©2019 The Dallas Morning News Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

centers moving in over the past decade helped lift the vast Inland Empire region out of the Great Recession, bringing an estimated 84,000 jobs, nearly a quarter of the region’s added employment. Amazon built 14 giant fulfillment centers in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, becoming the area’s largest employer.

But massive industrial investments, while creating the nation’s largest logistics cluster, have come at a price.

Cities often grant tens of millions of dollars in tax breaks, choice locations and other incentives to major retailers without iron-clad contracts to guarantee jobs or benefits.

Physicians label warehouse areas “diesel death zones” for the elevated cancer and asthma risks from truck and rail traffic funneling in goods from the giant ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

“Local governments compete to bring in logistics centers,” said Assemblyman Jose Medina, D-Riverside, who claims companies like Amazon benefit from the bidding wars. “The promised number of jobs often doesn’t materialize. And many of the jobs are temporary or seasonal.

They come with poor benefits, and are at risk of becoming automated.”

A Medina-authored bill that passed the Assembly this month and is pending before the Senate would break through the secrecy that routinely cloaks economic development agreements. Under the measure, when warehouses are granted subsidies of $100,000 or more, local government agencies would be required to publicly reveal the number, wages and kinds of jobs promised — whether full-time, part-time or temporary — along with plans for automation, all information that companies now see as proprietary.

The legislation, AB 485, would mandate annual public hearings and reports on the incentive deals, projected tax revenue and progress in meeting job commitments. Local governments would have to publicize measures to claw back money from businesses if goals are not met.

Last year, a similar bill sped through both houses of the Legislature with little opposition. But Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed the measure, saying it went “too far by adding reporting rules that will be overly burdensome to a single industry.”

The pushback against what critics like to call corporate welfare may gain momentum from last year’s uproar over the nationwide competition for Amazon’s second headquarters and the secrecy imposed by the e-commerce giant on negotiations with hundreds of cities. The debate culminated this February when Amazon pulled out of a deal to locate 25,000 headquarters jobs in New York after legislators and community groups objected to a $3-billion government subsidy package.

But to many in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, warehouse jobs are critical to a region where 45 percent of the adult population has no more than a high school degree.

“We need these logistics jobs for marginally educated workers,” said John Husing, chief economist for the Inland Empire Economic Partnership, an industry-affiliated group. “What’s the alternative? A minimum wage job at a retail store?”

Critics’ contention that many of the jobs are benefit-free temporary positions filled through staffing agencies is “nonsense,” Husing said. “Amazon has created 20,000 new jobs, and those are full-time.” The median local wage for wholesale trade workers with just a high school degree and little training — a category that includes logistics workers — is $15.12 an hour, with half earning less and half earning more, he added.

Husing sees the Medina bill, which is backed by the California Labor Federation, as “an attempt by a liberal Democrat to stop or slow down the projects.” The Chamber of Commerce calls the bill “extremely onerous,” adding that “public disclosure of this sensitive information would put businesses which choose to operate in California at a competitive disadvantage.”

Medina’s proposal is limited to transparency measures.

A more radical bill, authored by Sen. Stephen Glazer, D-Orinda, is expected to reach the Senate floor this week.

SB 531 would outright prohibit any new agreements that Continued on page 22.

16

• MAY 17, 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.

NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION NUTRA NETWORK Notice is hereby given that Nutra Network, 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 Brent Christensen, and with its initial designated office at 8408 S 64th Street, Omaha, NE 68157.

First publication May 3, 2019, final May 17, 2019 DONALD HOSFORD, Attorney 1910 South 72nd Street, Suite 207 Omaha, Nebraska 68124-1734 LEGAL NOTICE In the County Court of Douglas County, Nebraska. PR19-524 Estate of VICTOR A. HANSEN, Deceased Notice is hereby given that on April 16th, 2019, in the County Court of Douglas County, Nebraska, the Registrar issued a written statement of Informal Probate of the Will of said Decedent; and that Curtis Dale Hansen, whose address is 11727 S. 109th St, Papillion, Nebraska 68046, was informally appointed by the Registrar as Personal Representative of the Estate.

Creditors of this estate must file their claims with this Court, located at Courtroom No. 30, Third Floor, Probate Division, Douglas County Hall of Justice, 17th & Farnam Streets, Omaha, NE 68183, on or before July 10, 2019 or be forever barred.

KELLY J. GOLDEN Clerk of the County Court First publication May 10, 2019, final May 24, 2019 DEAN F. SUING, Attorney GOVIER, KATSKEE, SUING & MAXELL, PC, LLO 10404 Essex Court, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 LEGAL NOTICE In the County Court of Douglas County, Nebraska. PR19-568 Estate of Sally T. Theiler, Deceased Notice is hereby given that on May 1st, 2019, in the County Court of Douglas County, Nebraska, the Registrar issued a written statement of Informal Probate of the Will of said Decedent and that Frank Theiler Jr. a/k/a Frank Theiler, 7767 Eaglewood Lane, Arlington, NE 68002 was informally appointed by the Registrar as Personal Representative of the Estate.

Creditors of this estate must file their claims with this Court, located at Courtroom No. 30, Third Floor, Probate Division, Douglas County Hall of Justice, 17th & Farnam Streets, Omaha, NE 68183, on or before July 10, 2019 or be forever barred.

CARROL L. MILLS Registrar First publication May 10, 2019, final May 24, 2019 KOLEY JESSEN P.C., L.L.O., Attorneys 1125 South 103rd Street, Suite 800, One Pacific Place Omaha, Nebraska 68124-1079 NOTICE OF AMENDED AND RESTATED CERTIFICATE OF ORGANIZATION OF DAGSON CONSULTING, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Certificate of Organization of Dagson Consulting, LLC has been amended and restated. The designated office of the limited liability company is 12020 Shamrock Plaza, Suite 200, Omaha, Nebraska 68154. 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 Amended and Restated Certificate of Organization was filed with the Nebraska Secretary of State on April 23, 2019.

First publication May 3, 2019, final May 17, 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 USG CONSTRUCTION LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that USG Construction LLC has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The designated office of the limited liability company is 13340 California Street, Suite 100, Omaha, Nebraska 68154. The registered agent and office of the limited liability company is Thomas Joseph Twit, 13340 California Street, Suite 100, Omaha, Nebraska 68154. The limited liability company commenced business on April 23, 2019.

First publication May 3, 2019, final May 17, 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: DEXTER LEVERING, 2708 Iowa St, Omaha NE 68112, 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 CI19-6932, the object in prayer of which was to secure a judgment against you in the amount of $8,897.60, 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 17th day of June, 2019, the Petition against you will be considered as true and judgment will be entered against you accordingly.

First publication April 26, 2019, final May 17, 2019 ERICKSON l SEDERSTROM, P.C., Attorneys 10330 Regency Parkway Drive, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF MIRANDEX, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that Mirandex, LLC, a Nebraska limited liability company (the “Company”), has been duly organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska, designating its registered agent as Erickson | Sederstrom, P.C., a limited liability organization with its registered office at 10330 Regency Parkway Drive, Omaha, Nebraska 68114.

The Company was organized for the purpose of engaging in the transaction of any lawful business and the performance of any lawful activities that a limited liability company may engage in under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The Company shall have perpetual existence unless dissolved in accordance with its Certificate of Organization, its Operating Agreement or the Limited Liability Company Act. Unless otherwise provided in the Company’s Operating Agreement, the affairs of the Company are to be managed by its (members) (managing member).

First publication May 3, 2019, final May 17, 2019 JESSICA E. THOMAS, Attorney PANSING HOGAN ERNST & BACHMAN LLP 10250 Regency Circle, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114-3728 NOTICE OF DISSOLUTION OF ROYCE STERLING FALCON RIDGE, LLC ROYCE STERLING FALCON RIDGE, LLC, a Nebraska limited liability company (the "Company"), filed its STATEMENT OF DISSOLUTION with the Nebraska Secretary of State on April 25, 2019.

Persons with claims against the Company must present such claim to: Royce Sterling Falcon Ridge, LLC c/o Lawrence R. James, II, 12910 Pierce Street, Suite 110, Omaha, Nebraska 68144. Claims against the Company must include the following information: (i) claimant's name, address and telephone number during business hours; (ii) any facts which may support the claim; and (iii) any amounts allegedly owed by the Company under the claim. Claims not including this information will not be reviewed. Any claims against this Company will be barred unless a proceeding to enforce such claims is commenced within five (5) years after the date of this publication.

First publication May 3, 2019, final May 17, 2019 JESSICA E. THOMAS, Attorney PANSING HOGAN ERNST & BACHMAN LLP 10250 Regency Circle, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114-3728 NOTICE OF DISSOLUTION OF ROYCE STERLING STONE CREEK, LLC ROYCE STERLING STONE CREEK, LLC, a Nebraska limited liability company (the "Company"), filed its STATEMENT OF DISSOLUTION with the Nebraska Secretary of State on April 25, 2019. Persons with claims against the Company must present such claim to: Royce Sterling Stone Creek, LLC c/o Lawrence R. James, II, 12910 Pierce Street, Suite 110, Omaha, Nebraska 68144. Claims against the Company must include the following information: (i) claimant's name, address and telephone number during business hours; (ii) any facts which may support the claim; and (iii) any amounts allegedly owed by the Company under the claim. Claims not including this information will not be reviewed. Any claims against this Company will be barred unless a proceeding to enforce such claims is commenced within five (5) years after the date of this publication.

First publication May 3, 2019, final May 17, 2019 GNUSE & GREEN LAW OFFICES, P.C., Attorneys 11311 Chicago Circle Omaha, Nebraska 68154 NOTICE OF INCORPORATION OF SALWEEN THAI RESTAURANT III, INC. Registered Office: 10505 Mary Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68122 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 April 25, 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.

Thomas C. Green, II, Incorporator First publication May 3, 2019, final May 17, 2019 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF TOUR GOLF LEAGUE NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that Tour Golf League has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The designated office of the limited liability company is 16472 Yates St, Omaha, Nebraska 68116.

The registered agent is Dennis Einspahr and his office is at 16472 Yates St, Omaha, Nebraska 68116. The limited liability company commenced business in March of 2019.

First publication May 3, 2019, final May 17, 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 RJS INSURANCE, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that RJS Insurance, LLC has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The designated office of the limited liability company is 19920 Marcy Street, Elkhorn, Nebraska 68022. The registered agent and office of the limited liability company is Koley Jessen P.C., L.L.O., 1125 S 103rd Street, Suite 800, Omaha, Nebraska 68124. The limited liability company commenced business on April 11, 2019.

First publication May 3, 2019, final May 17, 2019 KOLEY JESSEN P.C., L.L.O., Attorneys 1125 South 103rd Street, Suite 800, One Pacific Place Omaha, Nebraska 68124-1079 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF RUCK SURFACES, LLC The name of the Company is Ruck Surfaces, LLC. The Designated Office of the Company is: 2445 Deer Park Boulevard, Omaha, Nebraska 68105. The Registered Agent and Office of the Company is: Koley Jessen P.C., L.L.O., 1125 South 103rd Street, Suite 800, Omaha, Nebraska 68124.

This limited liability company commenced business on August 29, 2019.

First publication May 3, 2019, final May 17, 2019 ADAMS & SULLIVAN, P.C., Attorneys 1246 Golden Gate Drive, Suite 1 Papillion, Nebraska 68046-2843 NOTICE OF INCORPORATION GUINAN MORTGAGE, INC. Notice is hereby given that Guinan Mortgage, Inc. has been incorporated under the laws of the State of Nebraska on April 10, 2019 when Articles were filed with the Secretary of State. The corporation is authorized to issue 10,000 shares.

Patrick J. Sullivan, Incorporator, 1246 Golden Gate Drive, Suite 1, Papillion, NE 68046 Registered Office: 1246 Golden Gate Drive, Suite 1, Papillion, NE 68046-2843 Registered Agent: Adams & Sullivan, P.C., L.L.O. First publication May 17, 2019, final June 7, 2019 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF OMAVERM, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that OMAVERM, LLC (the “Company”) has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska.

The Designated Office Address of the Company is 1336 N 131st Circle, Omaha, Nebraska 68154. The Registered Agent of the Company is Michael P. Noonan, 1336 N 131st Circle, Omaha, Nebraska 68154 First publication May 3, 2019, final May 17, 2019 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF AM Aviation, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that AM Aviation, LLC (the “Company”) has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska.

The Designated Office Address of the Company is 13520 Giles RDt, Omaha, Nebraska 68138. The Registered Agent of the Company is Aaron Stanger., 13520 Giles RD, Omaha, Nebraska 68138.

First publication May 3, 2019, final May 17, 2019 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION Notice is hereby given that Hop Group, LLC (the "Company") has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The designated office of the Company is 5009 N. 138th St. Omaha, NE 68164. The registered agent of the Company is Emily Hopkins, 5009 N. 138th St. Omaha, NE 68164.

The general nature of the business will be to engage in the transaction of any or all lawful business, for which a limited liability company may be organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The LLC was filed with the State of Nebraska on April 17, 2019.

First publication May 3, 2019, final May 17, 2019 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF BCD HOMES, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that BCD Homes, LLC (the “Company”) has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The Designated Office Address and Registered Agent Address of the Company is 5094 S 175th Circle, Omaha, Nebraska 68135. The Registered Agent of the Company is David Yee. General nature of the business is to transact any and all lawful business for which limited liability companies are allowed by statute. The Company was organized in March 2019 for perpetual duration and is managed by its members.

First publication May 3, 2019, final May 17, 2019 KATHRYN J. DERR, Attorney BERKSHIRE & BURMEISTER 1301 South 75th Street, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68124 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF JLB RESALE ENTERPRISES, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that JLB RESALE ENTERPRISES, LLC has been organized as a limited liability company under the Nebraska Uniform Limited Liability Company Act. The address of the initial designated office of the company is 2229 Madison Street, Bellevue, Nebraska 68005. The registered office of the Company is 1301 S 75th St. Ste. 100, Omaha, Nebraska 68124, and the agent at such office is Kathryn J. Derr. The general nature of the business to be transacted by the company is any lawful business which may be carried on by a limited liability company organized under the Nebraska Uniform Limited Liability Company Act. The company commenced operations on April 23, 2019, and shall have a perpetual duration.

First publication May 3, 2019, final May 17, 2019

Midlands Business Journal • MAY 17, 2019 • LEGAL NOTICES KOLEY JESSEN P.C., L.L.O., Attorneys 1125 South 103rd Street, Suite 800, One Pacific Place Omaha, Nebraska 68124-1079 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF QUENCH IV SPA, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that Quench IV Spa, LLC has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The limited liability company shall provide medical services. The designated office of the limited liability company is 12310 K Plaza, Suite 105, Omaha, Nebraska 68137. 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 April 22, 2019.

First publication May 3, 2019, final May 17, 2019 DVORAK LAW GROUP LLC 9500 West Dodge Road, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF BURIED ALIVE PARANORMAL PRODUCTIONS, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that Buried Alive Paranormal Productions, LLC (the “Company”) has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The Designated Office Address of the Company 14506 Franklin St., Omaha, Nebraska 68154. The Registered Agent of the Company is DDLG Business Services, Inc., 9500 West Dodge Road, Suite 100, Omaha, Nebraska 68114.

First publication May 3, 2019, final May 17, 2019 DVORAK LAW GROUP LLC 9500 West Dodge Road, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF THE STEPHENSON BUILDING, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that The Stephenson Building, LLC (the “Company”) has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska.

The Designated Office Address of the Company 14506 Franklin St., Omaha, Nebraska 68154. The Registered Agent of the Company is DDLG Business Services, Inc., 9500 West Dodge Road, Suite 100, Omaha, Nebraska 68114.

First publication May 3, 2019, final May 17, 2019 DVORAK LAW GROUP LLC 9500 West Dodge Road, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF BALSAM TRAIL BUCKS, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that Balsam Trail Bucks, LLC (the “Company”) has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska.

The Designated Office Address of the Company 741 N. 161st Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68118. The Registered Agent of the Company is DDLG Business Services, Inc., 9500 West Dodge Road, Suite 100, Omaha, Nebraska 68114.

First publication May 3, 2019, final May 17, 2019 DVORAK LAW GROUP LLC 9500 West Dodge Road, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF KUZECO, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that Kuzeco, LLC (the “Company”) has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The Designated Office Address of the Company 2357 S. 183rd Circle, Omaha, Nebraska 68130. The Registered Agent of the Company is DDLG Business Services, Inc., 9500 West Dodge Road, Suite 100, Omaha, Nebraska 68114.

First publication May 3, 2019, final May 17, 2019 DVORAK LAW GROUP LLC 9500 West Dodge Road, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF OMAHA YARDS, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that Omaha Yards, LLC (the “Company”) has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska.

The Designated Office Address of the Company is 9636 Boyd Circle, Omaha, Nebraska 68134. The Registered Agent of the Company is Michael Aschenbrener, 9636 Boyd Circle, Omaha, Nebraska 68134.

First publication May 3, 2019, final May 17, 2019 DVORAK LAW GROUP LLC 9500 West Dodge Road, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF CWG HQ, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that CWG HQ, 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 May 3, 2019, final May 17, 2019 DVORAK LAW GROUP LLC 9500 West Dodge Road, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF GCP II HQ, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that GCP II HQ, 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 May 3, 2019, final May 17, 2019

KARINE E. SOKPOH, Attorney SOKPOH LAW GROUP 10730 Pacific Street, Suite 247 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF NOUVELLE BEAUTEE, LLC Notice is hereby given that Nouvelle Beautee, LLC has been organized as a limited liability company under Nebraska laws, with its designated office at 11218 Grande Avenue, Omaha, NE 68164. 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 March 25th, 2019. Its affairs are to be conducted by the manager Fidele Mienso. Its registered agent is Fidele Mienso and her office is located at 11218 Grande Avenue, Omaha, NE 68164.

First publication May 3, 2019, final May 17, 2019 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION of a Limited Liability Company Notice is hereby given the registration with the Nebraska Secretary of state’s office of F&A Construction, LLC under the laws of the State of Nebraska as follows: The name of the company is F&A Construction, LLC. Registered agent and office of F&A Construction, LLC at 6002 S 37th Street, Omaha, NE 68107. Initial members: Fernando Flores Jimenez.

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 May 10, 2019, final May 24, 2019

DEAN F. SUING, Attorney GOVIER, KATSKEE, SUING & MAXELL, PC, LLO 10404 Essex Court, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF INTENT TO DISSOLVE ABSOLUTE GUTTERS, INC. Pursuant to the Nebraska Business Corporation Act, the undersigned corporation hereby publishes notice of its voluntary dissolution. The stockholder adopted a resolution to dissolve on March 1, 2019. The resolution received the unanimous vote of stockholder in attendance at said meeting. Michael Humphrey, 5517 N. 149th Street, Omaha, NE 68116, President of the corporation, is the person who is to manage the affairs during the dissolution of the corporation. The plan of dissolution will be to pay creditors of the corporation and then distribute the remaining assets of the corporation to the shareholder in accordance with the stock ownership in the corporation.

Absolute Gutters, Inc. By: Michael Humphrey, President First publication May 3, 2019, final May 17, 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 BRAD RAMP MUSIC, LLC A Limited Liability Company NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that BRAD RAMP MUSIC, LLC, a Limited Liability Company, has filed a Certificate of Organizatrotr under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The address of its registered office is 8904 N. l56th Avenue, Bennington, NE 68007. The general nature of the business is principally to provide musical entertainment and 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 April 22,2019, and its duration shall be perpetual. The affairs of the corporation are to be conducted by its members.

Member: Brad Ramp First publication May 3, 2019, final May 17, 2019 ERICKSON l SEDERSTROM, P.C., Attorneys 10330 Regency Parkway Drive, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF Omaha Integrative Medicine, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that Omaha Integrative Medicine, LLC, a Nebraska professional limited liability company (the “Company”), has been duly organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska, designating its registered agent as Erickson | Sederstrom, P.C. with its registered office at 10330 Regency Parkway Drive, Omaha, NE 68114.

The Company was organized for the purpose of engaging in the transaction of any lawful business and the performance of any lawful activities that a limited liability company may engage in under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The Company shall have perpetual existence unless dissolved in accordance with its Certificate of Organization, its Operating Agreement or the Limited Liability Company Act. Unless otherwise provided in the Company’s Operating Agreement, the affairs of the Company are to be managed by its (members) (managing member).

First publication May 10, 2019, final May 24, 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 KCH1, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that KCH1, LLC has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The designated office of the limited liability company is 12015 Jefferson Plaza, Omaha, Nebraska 68137. 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 May 1, 2019.

First publication May 10, 2019, final May 24, 2019

17

NOTICE OF ORGANIZTION Notice is hereby given that ALZOLU Properties LLC, has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska on 03/04/2019 with its initial designated agent and office: Edward Hunt, 10320 N 190th Ave, Bennington, NE 68007. The general nature of the business is Property Management. The business shall be Member-Managed.

First publication May 10, 2019, final May 24, 2019 ROBERT J. LIKES, Attorney LIKES MEYERSON HATCH LLC 444 Regency Parkway Drive, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 LEGAL NOTICE In the County Court of Douglas County, Nebraska. PR19-454 Estate of Christa M. Tracy, Deceased Notice is hereby given that on April 4, 2019, in the County Court of Douglas County, Nebraska, Kathryn J. Tracy, 1154 South 95th Street, Omaha, NE 68124, was informally appointed by the Registrar as Personal Representative of the Estate.

Creditors of this estate must file their claims with this Court, located at Courtroom No. 30, Third Floor, Probate Division, Douglas County Hall of Justice, 17th & Farnam Streets, Omaha, NE 68183, on or before June 3, 2019 or be forever barred.

CARROL L. MILLS Registrar First publication May 3, 2019, final May 17, 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 PACIFIC SOCIAL, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that Pacific Social, LLC has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The designated office of the limited liability company is 900 South 74th Plaza, Suite 303, Omaha, Nebraska 68114. The registered agent and office of the limited liability company is Koley Jessen P.C., L.L.O., 1125 South 103rd Street, Suite 800, Omaha, Nebraska 68124. The limited liability company commenced business on May 3, 2019.

First publication May 10, 2019, final May 24, 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 PQOF I, LLC The name of the Company is PQOF I, LLC. The Designated Office of the Company is: 1127 Park Avenue, Omaha, Nebraska 68105. The Registered Agent and Office of the Company is: Koley Jessen P.C., L.L.O., 1125 South 103rd Street, Suite 800, Omaha, Nebraska 68124. This limited liability company commenced business on May 1 2019.

First publication May 10, 2019, final May 24, 2019 WHITMORE LAW OFFICE LLC 7602 Pacific Street, Suite 200 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION Notice is hereby given that Midwest Premier Academy, L.L.C. (the “Company”) has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska.

The designated office of the Company is 18626 Holmes Circle, Omaha, Nebraska 68135. The registered agent of the Company is David Hawkins, 18626 Holmes Circle, Omaha, Nebraska 68135. The Company was formed on May 6, 2019.

First publication May 10, 2019, final May 24, 2019 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION Notice is hereby given that BA-EV, LLC (the “Company”) has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The address of the Company’s designated office is 1910 S. 44 ST, STE 100, Omaha, NE 68105, and the name of the registered agent at such address is Eric Vana.

The general nature of the business is any legal and lawful activity allowed pursuant to the Nebraska Limited Liability Company Act and the laws of the State of Nebraska and elsewhere. The Company commenced business on 4/22/2019 and shall have perpetual existence. The affairs of the Company are to be managed by its members. Eric Vana, Member First publication May 3, 2019, final May 17, 2019 GOVIER, KATSKEE, SUING & MAXELL, PC, LLO 10404 Essex Court, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF DR. EMILY, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the undersigned has formed a limited liability company under the Nebraska Limited Liability Company Act, as follows: The name of the company is Dr. Emily, LLC. The address of the designated office is 4611 S. 96th Street, Omaha, Nebraska, 68127 and the initial registered agent is Emily R. Campbell, PsyD, 17110 I Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68135. The company is organized to engage in and do any lawful act concerning any and all lawful business, other than banking and insurance, for which a limited liability company may be organized under the laws of Nebraska. The limited liability company commenced existence on the filing and recording of its Certificate of Organization with the Secretary of State on April 29, 2019, and shall have a perpetual period of duration from the date the Certificate of Organization was filed with the Secretary of State. Management of the Company shall be vested in an initial board of one manager who shall serve until successors are appointed or elected.

Emily R. Campbell, PsyD, Registered Agent First publication May 10, 2019, final May 24, 2019

18

• MAY 17, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal

LEGAL NOTICES DVORAK LAW GROUP LLC 9500 West Dodge Road, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF SITE DEVELOPMENT LEASE SIX, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that Site Development Lease Six, 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 May 10, 2019, final May 24, 2019 HALEY REAL ESTATE GROUP, LLC 10703 J Street, Suite 101 Omaha, NE 68127 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION FOR POINTE 4, 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 10, 2019, final May 24, 2019 MATTHEW T. PAYNE, Attorney PANSING HOGAN ERNST & BACHMAN LLP 10250 Regency Circle, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114-3728 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF WYSEDOM, LLC Notice is hereby given of the organization of Wysedom, LLC 1. The name of the limited liability company is Wysedom, LLC 2. The street and mailing address of the initial designated office is 21740 Hascall Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68022, and the name and street address of the initial agent for service of process is Matthew T. Payne, 10250 Regency Circle, Suite 300, Omaha, Nebraska 68114.

First publication May 17, 2019, final May 31, 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 BRENTWOOD SQUARE PLAZA, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that Brentwood Square Plaza, LLC has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The designated office of the limited liability company is 1505 North 203rd Street, Elkhorn, Nebraska 68022. The registered agent and office of the limited liability company is Frank R. Krejci, 1505 North 203rd Street, Elkhorn, Nebraska 68022. The limited liability company commenced business on May 1, 2019.

First publication May 10, 2019, final May 24, 2019 DANIEL J. WATERS, Attorney LAMSON, DUGAN and MURRAY, LLP 10306 Regency Parkway Drive Omaha, Nebraska 68114-3743 NOTICE OF THE ORGANIZATION OF FATBIRD PROPERTIES, LLC Notice is hereby given of the formation of a limited liability company under the laws of the State of Nebraska, and that the name of the limited liability company is Fatbird Properties, LLC. The name and address of the registered agent and office is LDM Business Services, Inc, 10306 Regency Parkway Drive, Omaha, Nebraska 68114. The general nature of the business to be transacted is all lawful business. The company commenced existence on April 19, 2019 and shall have perpetual duration. The affairs of the company shall be conducted by the Members, as prescribed by the Operating Agreement.

LDM Business Services, Inc., Organizer First publication May 17, 2019, final May 31, 2019 JOHN Q. BACHMAN, Attorney PANSING HOGAN ERNST & BACHMAN LLP 10250 Regency Circle, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114-3728 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF JBA LLC Notice is hereby given of the organization of JBA LLC. 1. The name of the limited liability company is JBA LLC. 2. The street and mailing address of the initial designated office is 10855 West Dodge Road, Suite 270, Omaha, Nebraska 68154, and the name and street address of the initial agent for service of process is John Q. Bachman, 10250 Regency Circle, Suite 300, Omaha, Nebraska 68114.

First publication May 17, 2019, final May 31, 2019 GNUSE & GREEN LAW OFFICES, P.C., Attorneys 11311 Chicago Circle Omaha, Nebraska 68154 N O T I C E O F A M E N D M E N T T O T H E A RT I C L E S O F INCORPORATION OF JARDEE MECHANICAL, INC. Notice is hereby given that pursuant to the applicable provisions of the Nebraska Model Business Corporation Act, the Articles of Incorporation of Jardee Mechanical, Inc. (the “Corporation”), have been amended in the following respects: Article I of the Articles of Incorporation of the Corporation is hereby amended so that, as amended, said Article shall provide as follows: The name of the corporation shall be MLJ Now, Inc. The Articles of Amendment were filed with the Secretary of State of Nebraska on May 7, 2019. In all other respects, the Articles of Incorporation remain unchanged.

First publication May 17, 2019, final May 31, 2019

NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION of a Limited Liability Company Notice is hereby given the registration with the Nebraska Secretary of state’s office of Expert Construction, LLC under the laws of the State of Nebraska as follows: The name of the company is Expert Construction, LLC. Registered agent and office of Expert Construction, LLC at 4251 J Street, Omaha, NE 68107. Initial members: Floridalma J Herrera & Rafael Andrade Vargas. General nature of the business is the general construction and to transact any and all lawful business for which limited liability companies are allowed by statute. The LLC was organized on May 2019 for the perpetual duration and is managed by its members.

First publication May 17, 2019, final May 31, 2019 NOTICE OF INCORPORATION OF ALLISON THE RED HEADED STYLIST, INC. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that ALLISON THE RED HEADED STYLIST, INC., is incorporated under the laws of the State of Nebraska, with a registered office at 812 North 88th Avenue, Omaha, Nebraska 68114. The registered agent is ALLISON OETTER. The general nature of the business is to operate a general hair styling 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 hair styling 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 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 May 17, 2019, final May 31, 2019 NOTICE OF INCORPORATION OF PAUL JOHNSON ELECTRIC, INC. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that PAUL JOHNSON ELECTRIC, INC., is incorporated under the laws of the State of Nebraska, with a registered office at 2349 South 34th Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68105. The registered agent is PAUL J. JOHNSON. The general nature of the business is to operate a general electrician 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 electrician 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 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 May 17, 2019, final May 31, 2019 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF ROCKBRICK CHIMNEYS LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that Rockbrick Chimneys LLC (the “Company”) has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska.

The Designated Office Address of the Company is 14010 Camden Ave, Omaha, Nebraska 68164. The Registered Agent of the Company is Breyton T. Pool, 14010 Camden Ave, Omaha, Nebraska 68164. The limited liability company commenced business on April 29th, 2019 First publication May 10, 2019, final May 24, 2019 ALLAN M. ZIEBARTH, Attorney 1702 South 10 Street, Suite 2 Omaha, Nebraska 68108 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF THE ORIGINAL GARAGE, LLC Designated Office: 1702 S. 10 St., Suite 2, Omaha, NE 68108 Initial Agent/Address For Service: Allan M. Ziebarth/1702 S. 10 St., Suite 2, Omaha, NE 68108 First publication May 17, 2019, final May 31, 2019 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION of a Limited Liability Company Notice is hereby given the registration with the Nebraska Secretary of state’s office of Vecom, LLC under the laws of the State of Nebraska as follows: The name of the company is Vecom, LLC. Registered agent and office of Christian Vargas at 6133 S 191st Street, Omaha, NE 68135. Initial members: Christian Vargas. General nature of the business is to transact any and all lawful business for which limited liability companies are allowed by statute. The LLC was organized on April 2019 for the perpetual duration and is managed by its members.

First publication May 3, 2019, final May 17, 2019 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION of a Limited Liability Company Notice is hereby given the registration with the Nebraska Secretary of state’s office of Mora Drywall, LLC under the laws of the State of Nebraska as follows: The name of the company is Mora Drywall, LLC. Registered agent and office of Oscar Javier Calderon Mora at 3033 California Street, Omaha, NE 68131. Initial members: Oscar Javier Calderon Mora. General nature of the business is the general construction and to transact any and all lawful business for which limited liability companies are allowed by statute. The LLC was organized on April 2019 for the perpetual duration and is managed by its members.

First publication May 3, 2019, final May 17, 2019

AMANDA M. BARRON, Attorney P.O. Box 597 Fremont, Nebraska 68026 LEGAL NOTICE TO THE DEFENDANT(s), TYRON T TURNER You are hereby notified that Credit Bureau Services, Inc., a corporation, filed its complaint in the County Court of DOUGLAS County, Nebraska on 01/11/2019 on Case Number CI19-1272, the object and prayer of which is to recover the sum of $2,673.00, plus interest, attorney fees and court costs. You are required to answer the complaint of the Plaintiff on or before 07/01/2019 or the allegations in said complaint will be taken as true and judgment entered accordingly.

CREDIT BUREAU SERVICES, INC., A CORPORATION First publication May 17, 2019, final May 31, 2019 AMANDA M. BARRON, Attorney P.O. Box 597 Fremont, Nebraska 68026 LEGAL NOTICE TO THE DEFENDANT(s), CODEY D SKILES You are hereby notified that Credit Bureau Services, Inc., a corporation, filed its complaint in the County Court of DOUGLAS County, Nebraska on 02/06/2019 on Case Number CI19-4484, the object and prayer of which is to recover the sum of $1684.10, plus interest, attorney fees and court costs. You are required to answer the complaint of the Plaintiff on or before 07/01/2019 or the allegations in said complaint will be taken as true and judgment entered accordingly.

CREDIT BUREAU SERVICES, INC., A CORPORATION First publication May 17, 2019, final May 31, 2019 RUSSELL J. KREIKEMEIER, Attorney KREIKEMEIER LAW OFFICES 126 East Grove Street West Point, Nebraska 68788 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION Notice is hereby given of the company of JZM PROPERTIES, LLC, with its registered office address at 126 East Grove, West Point, Nebraska 68788 and its principal office location being 11427 Spaulding Street, Omaha, Nebraska, 68164. The purpose or purposes for which this company is formed is to own, manage, lease, and deal with real property in this State or any other and to conduct all related activities thereto. The Company will conduct any other matter(s) including the transaction of all or any lawful business and will engage in any commercial venture permitted by the Nebraska Limited Liability Company Act, as amended, and all other applicable Nebraska law. The initial capital of the Company has been contributed and evidence of membership in the Company will be issued by the Management Board.

The Company commenced doing business on April 29, 2019, and shall have perpetual existence. The affairs of the Company shall be conducted by a Management Board and such other Officers and Managers as may be provided for in the Operating Agreement of the Company.

DATED the 29th day of April, 2019.

Russell J. Kreikemeier First publication May 17, 2019, final May 31, 2019 DVORAK LAW GROUP LLC 9500 West Dodge Road, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF CARNAHAN PEDIATRIC THERAPY, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that Carnahan Pediatric Therapy, LLC (the “Company”) has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska to provide occupational, physical, and speech therapy services and to engage in any and all other lawful business for which a limited liability company may be organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The Designated Office Address of the Company is 15541 Hamilton Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68154. The Registered Agent of the Company is Daniel R. Carnahan, 15541 Hamilton Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68154.

First publication May 17, 2019, final May 31, 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: JORGE ZEPEDA-CAMPOS, 1522 1/2 B Street, Omaha NE 68108, you are hereby notified that on March 26, 2019, AMERICAN FAMILY MUTUAL INS. Co., S.I. filed a suit against you in the Douglas County Court at docket CI19-6846, the object in prayer of which was to secure a judgment against you in the amount of $10,520.64, 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 24th day of June, 2019, the Petition against you will be considered as true and judgment will be entered against you accordingly.

First publication May 3, 2019, final May 24, 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: CRYSTAL L. JURA, 2547 Y Street, Omaha NE 68107, you are hereby notified that on February 18, 2019, Credit Acceptance Corporation filed a suit against you in the Douglas County Court at docket CI19-3962, the object in prayer of which was to secure a judgment against you in the amount of $8,468.71, 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 24th day of June, 2019, the Petition against you will be considered as true and judgment will be entered against you accordingly.

First publication May 3, 2019, final May 24, 2019

Midlands Business Journal • MAY 17, 2019 • LEGAL NOTICES C R O K E R , H U C K , K A S H E R , D e W I T T, A N D E R S O N & GONDERINGER, L.L.C. 2120 South 72nd Street, Suite 1200 Omaha, Nebraska 68124 NOTICE OF INCORPORATION OF MAINKO CAPITAL, INC. Mainko Capital, Inc. has been incorporated under the Nebraska Model Business Corporation Act. The Articles of Incorporation were filed on April 22, 2019. The street address of the corporation's registered office is 4700 South 222nd Street, Elkhorn, Nebraska 68022, and the name of the initial registered agent at that office is Daniel Koch. The corporation is authorized to issue 10,000 shares of common stock.

Daniel Koch, Incorporator, 4700 South 222nd Street, Elkhorn, NE 68022 First publication May 3, 2019, final May 17, 2019 ABRAHAMS KASLOW & CASSMAN LLP, Attorneys 8712 West Dodge Road, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION TBD Distributors, 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 Andrew P. Deaver and 8712 West Dodge Road, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114.

First publication May 3, 2019, final May 17, 2019 BRANDON K. DICKERSON, Attorney LIKES MEYERSON HATCH LLC 444 Regency Parkway Drive, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 N O T I C E O F O R G A N I Z AT I O N O F I N C R E D I M A S T E R ENTERPRISES LLC Notice is hereby given that IncrediMaster Enterprises 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 3617 South 91st Street, Omaha NE 68124, and the Company’s initial agent for service of process at such address is Megan Harris.

First publication May 10, 2019, final May 24, 2019 MATTHEW T. PAYNE, Attorney PANSING HOGAN ERNST & BACHMAN LLP 10250 Regency Circle, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114-3728 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF DEANNA LARSON MD, LLC Notice is hereby given of the organization of Deanna Larson MD, LLC 1. The name of the limited liability company is Deanna Larson MD, LLC 2. The street and mailing address of the initial designated office is 2212 S 64th Plz, Apt 432, Omaha, Nebraska 68106, and the name and street address of the initial agent for service of process is Deanna Larson, M.D., 2212 S 64th Plz, Apt 432, Omaha, Nebraska 68106. First publication May 3, 2019, final May 17, 2019 First publication May 3, 2019, final May 17, 2019 RUSSELL J. KREIKEMEIER, Attorney KREIKEMEIER LAW OFFICES 126 East Grove Street West Point, Nebraska 68788 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION Notice is hereby given of the Company formation and organization of MELIA-TUHY, LLC, with its registered office address at 126 East Grove, West Point, Nebraska 68788 and its principal office location being 15818 North 4th Street, Bennington, Nebraska, 68007. The purpose or purposes for which this Company is formed is to own, manage, lease, and deal with real property whether in this State or any other and to conduct all related activities thereto. The Company will conduct any other matter(s) including the transaction of all or any lawful business or engagement in any commercial venture permitted by the Nebraska Limited Liability Company Act, as amended, and all other applicable law. The initial capital of the Company has been contributed and evidence of membership in the Company will be issued by the Management Board. The Company commenced doing business on June 28, 2018, and shall have perpetual existence. The affairs of the Company shall be conducted by a Management Board and such other Officers and Managers as may be provided for in the Operating Agreement of the Company.

First publication May 3, 2019, final May 17, 2019 GROSS & WELCH, P.C., L.L.O., Attorneys 2120 South 72 Street, Suite 1500 Omaha, Nebraska 68124 NOTICE OF ARTICLES OF AMENDMENT OF K9 CUISINE HOLDINGS, INC. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that Nature Hills Nursery, Inc., a Nebraska Corporation, has filed Articles of Amendment to Articles of Incorporation changing the name of the corporation to K9 Cuisine Holdings, Inc. on April 10, 2019. Its designated office remains 707 South 152nd Circle, Omaha, Nebraska 68154. Its registered agent for service of process is Jeffrey Dinslage, with an address at 707 South 152nd Circle, Omaha, Nebraska 68154.

Ronald L. Eggers, Organizer, 1500 Omaha Tower, 2120 South 72nd Street, Omaha, NE 68124 First publication May 10, 2019, final May 24, 2019

NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION of a Limited Liability Company Notice is hereby given the registration with the Nebraska Secretary of state’s office of Escoperez Construction, LLC under the laws of the State of Nebraska as follows: The name of the company is Escoperez Construction, LLC. Registered agent and office of Escoperez Construction, LLC at 2802 S 50th Street, Omaha, NE 68106. Initial members: Juan Escobar Perez.

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 May 17, 2019, final May 31, 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: SAMANTHA L. ORBAN, 5914 Fay Blvd Omaha NE 68117, you are hereby notified that on March 26, 2019, Credit Acceptance Corporation filed a suit against you in the Douglas County Court at docket CI19-6807, the object in prayer of which was to secure a judgment against you in the amount of $10,099.20, 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 8th day of July, 2019, the Petition against you will be considered as true and judgment will be entered against you accordingly.

First publication May 17, 2019, final June 7, 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: BELINDA J. CALLOWAY, 3131 Lafayette Avenue, Omaha NE 68131, you are hereby notified that on February 18, 2019, Credit Acceptance Corporation filed a suit against you in the Douglas County Court at docket CI19-3960, the object in prayer of which was to secure a judgment against you in the amount of $5,866.54, 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 8th day of July, 2019, the Petition against you will be considered as true and judgment will be entered against you accordingly.

First publication May 17, 2019, final June 7, 2019 NOTICE ORGANIZATION OF SENSEOLOGY USA, LLC Notice is hereby given that that a Nebraska limited liability company has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska as follows: 1. The name of the limited liability company is Senseology USA, LLC (the “Company”).

2. The street and mailing address of the initial designated office of the Company is 4747 Pioneers Blvd, Suite 10J, Lincoln, Nebraska 68506.

3. The street and mailing address of the Company’s registered office in Nebraska is 4611 South 96th Street, Suite 234, Omaha, Nebraska 68127, and the name of the Company’s registered agent is David D. Begley.

4. The company was organized and commenced on May 3, 2019, and its duration is perpetual.

Senseology USA, LLC David D. Begley (Bar #16795) Elder Law and Estate Planning of Nebraska, David D. Begley, P.C., L.L.O., 4611 South 96th Street, Suite 234, Omaha, Nebraska First publication May 17, 2019, final May 31, 2019 DONALD HOSFORD, Attorney 1910 South 72nd Street, Suite 207 Omaha, Nebraska 68124-1734 LEGAL NOTICE In the County Court of Douglas County, Nebraska. PR19-524 Estate of VICTOR A. HANSEN, Deceased Notice is hereby given that on May 9th, 2019, in the County Court of Douglas County, Nebraska, the Registrar issued a written statement of Informal Probate of the Will of said Decedent and that Curtis Dale Hansen, whose address is 11727 S. 109th St, Papillion, Nebraska 68046, was informally appointed by the Registrar as Personal Representative of the Estate.

Creditors of this estate must file their claims with this Court, located at Courtroom No. 30, Third Floor, Probate Division, Douglas County Hall of Justice, 17th & Farnam Streets, Omaha, NE 68183, on or before July 17, 2019 or be forever barred.

KELLY J. GOLDEN Clerk of the County Clerk First publication May 17, 2019, final May 31, 2019 NOTICE OF PUBLICATION TO: KAMI YALE You are hereby notified that on 12/10/18, the Plaintiff Credit Management Services, Inc., filed a Complaint in the COUNTY Court of DOUGLAS County, Nebraska, against you shown as Case Number CI18 25732. The object and prayer of which is a judgment in the amount of 315.34, 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 06/30/19 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 May 17, 2019, final May 31, 2019

19

BARBARA MEDBERY-PRCHAL, P.C., L.L.O., Attorney 10305 Joseph Circle La Vista, Nebraska 68128 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF ANTHONY TAMAYO REAL ESTATE, LLC Notice is hereby given that a professional limited liability company has been formed under the laws of the State of Nebraska, and that the name of the company is ANTHONY TAMAYO REAL ESTATE, LLC. The company is organized to render real estate sales services. 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 4620 N. 175th Street, Omaha, NE 68116.

Anthony Tamayo, Member First publication May 3, 2019, final May 17, 2019 NOTICE PARTIAL TERMINATION OF NOTICE OF COMMENCEMENT Notice is hereby given that a Partial Termination of Notice of Commencement was recorded with the Douglas County Register of Deeds on May 6, 2019, as Instrument No. 2019029867 terminating the Notice of Commencement recorded with the Douglas County Register of Deeds on June 7, 2018 as Instrument No. 2018043660 against the real property legally described as follows: Real Estate: Lot Two (2), Wycliffe Replat 5, an addition to the City of Omaha, in Douglas County, Nebraska.

The Partial Termination of Notice of Commencement was filed by the contracting owner, Lifegate Church, a Nebraska non-profit corporation also known as Lifegate Church, a Nebraska corporation, formerly known as Trinity Church Interdenominational and formerly known as Word of Life of Omaha, Inc, whose address is 15555 West Dodge Road, Omaha, NE 68154.

The contracting owner is the fee simple owner of the above-described property. The Partial Notice of Commencement is terminated as of June 10, 2019.

All lien claims for which a notice of lien is not recorded by the termination date may be defeated by a transfer of the real estate.

First publication May 10, 2019, final May 24, 2019 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION of a Limited Liability Company Notice is hereby given the registration with the Nebraska Secretary of state’s office of Hills of Glory, LLC under the laws of the State of Nebraska as follows: The name of the company is Hills of Glory, LLC. Registered agent and office of Nazaret Llanas Pereyra at 5312 S 86th Ct. Apt. 10, Omaha, NE 68127. Initial members: Nazaret Llanas Pereyra and Caila Damaris Llanas. 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 December 2018 for the perpetual duration and is managed by its members.

First publication May 10, 2019, final May 24, 2019 WHITMORE LAW OFFICE LLC 7602 Pacific Street, Suite 200 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION Notice is hereby given that Kari McElderry, L.L.C. (the “Company”) has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The designated office of the Company is 1868 N. 150th Court, Omaha, Nebraska 68154. The registered agent of the Company is Kari McElderry, 1868 N. 150th Court, Omaha, Nebraska 68154. The Company was formed on April 24, 2019.

First publication May 3, 2019, final May 17, 2019 KOLEY JESSEN P.C., L.L.O., Attorneys 1125 South 103rd Street, Suite 800, One Pacific Place Omaha, Nebraska 68124-1079 NOTICE OF AMENDMENT TO THE CERTIFICATE OF ORGANIZATION OF PACIFIC SOCIAL, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Certificate of Organization of Pacific Social, LLC has been amended to change the name of the entity to: Social 192 LLC. The Amendment was filed with the Nebraska Secretary of State on May 9, 2019.

First publication May 17, 2019, final May 31, 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 TEN-SQUARE, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that Ten-Square, LLC has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The designated office of the limited liability company is 503 South 36th Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68105. The registered agent and office of the limited liability company is Koley Jessen P.C., L.L.O., 1125 S 103rd Street, Suite 800, Omaha, Nebraska 68124. The limited liability company commenced business on May 13, 2019.

First publication May 17, 2019, final May 31, 2019 DENNIS P. LEE, Attorney LEE LAW OFFICE 2433 South 130th Circle, Suite 300 P.O. Box 45947 Omaha, Nebraska 68145 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION Name: Sage’s Spins and Productions, LLC Date of Organization: May 10, 2019 State of Organization: Nebraska Registered Agent: Austin P.W. Sage Registered Office: 4215 N. 66th Street, Omaha, NE 68104 Duration: Perpetual Capital Contribution: $5,000.00 First publication May 17, 2019, final May 31, 2019

20

• MAY 17, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal

LEGAL NOTICES DVORAK LAW GROUP LLC 9500 West Dodge Road, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF AMENDMENT NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Certificate of Organization of Radix Group, LLC has been amended to change the name of the limited liability company to Haavn Group, LLC. First publication May 17, 2019, final May 31, 2019 DVORAK LAW GROUP LLC 9500 West Dodge Road, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF GCP II AURORA, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that GCP II Aurora, 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 May 17, 2019, final May 31, 2019 WHITMORE LAW OFFICE LLC 7602 Pacific Street, Suite 200 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION Notice is hereby given that Gretna Greens, L.L.C. (the “Company”) has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The designated office of the Company is 3363 S. 220th Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68022.

The registered agent of the Company is Thomas E. Whitmore, 7602 Pacific Street, Ste. 200, Omaha, Nebraska 68114. The Company was formed on May 13, 2019.

First publication May 17, 2019, final May 31, 2019

BREASCH FINANCE & TAX CONSULTING INC. 4879 S 132nd Avenue Omaha, NE 68137 CERTIFICATE OF ORGANIZATION OF BERNIES ORIGINAL PIZZA LLC A NEBRASKA LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY 1. The name of the limited liability company is BERNIES ORIGINAL PIZZA LLC 2. The period of duration for BERNIES ORIGINAL PIZZA LLC is perpetual.

3. BERNIES ORIGINAL PIZZA LLC is organized for the purpose of conducting any and all business as permitted by the Nebraska Uniform Limited Liability Company Act. 4. The address of the initial designated office for BERNIES ORIGINAL PIZZA LLC in Nebraska is 13522 Cottner Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68137.

5. The name and address of the registered agent for BERNIES ORIGINAL PIZZA LLC in Nebraska is Eugene Branch, 13522 Cottner Street, Omaha NE 68137.

6. Additional provisions, not inconsistent with the law, for the regulation of the internal affairs of the limited liability company shall be provided for in the Operating Agreement.

7. Eugene Branch, organizer(s) of BERNIES ORIGINAL PIZZA LLC has signed the Foregoing Certificate of Organization effective this 25th day of April, 2019.

First publication May 17, 2019, final May 31, 2019 BENJAMIN J. PICK, Attorney PANSING HOGAN ERNST & BACHMAN LLP 10250 Regency Circle, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114-3728 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF WFV, LLC Notice is hereby given of the organization of WFV, LLC. 1. The name of the limited liability company is WFV, 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 May 17, 2019, final May 31, 2019

PHILLIP A. BELIN, Attorney BELIN LAW FIRM, P.C., L.L.O. 12341 Westover Road Omaha, Nebraska 68154 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION Notice is hereby given that KINNAN PSYCHIATRIC CONSULTING, LLC has been organized as a limited liability company under the Nebraska Limited Liability Company Act. The address of the registered office of the company is 101 Enterprise Drive, Gretna, NE 68028. The agent at such office is Shannon Kinnan. The general nature of the business to be transacted by the company is any lawful business which may be carried on by limited liability companies organized under the Nebraska Limited Liability Company Act. The Company commenced on March 11, 2019, and shall have perpetual duration. The affairs of the company are to be conducted by its members.

First publication May 17, 2019, final May 31, 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 ROBIDOUX PASS HOLDINGS, LLC The name of the Company is Robidoux Pass Holdings, LLC. The Designated Office of the Company is: 1125 South 103rd Street, Suite 800, Omaha, Nebraska 68124. The Registered Agent and Office of the Company is: Koley Jessen P.C., L.L.O., 1125 South 103rd Street, Suite 800, Omaha, Nebraska 68124. This limited liability company commenced business on May 3, 2019.

First publication May 17, 2019, final May 31, 2019

PHILLIP A. BELIN, Attorney BELIN LAW FIRM, P.C., L.L.O. 12341 Westover Road Omaha, Nebraska 68154 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION Notice is hereby given that FLATWATER INSURANCE CO., LLC has been organized as a limited liability company under the Nebraska Limited Liability Company Act. The address of the registered office of the company is 10410 South 144th Street, Suite 2A, Omaha, NE 68138. The agent at such office is Brandon Kinnan. The general nature of the business to be transacted by the company is any lawful business which may be carried on by limited liability companies organized under the Nebraska Limited Liability Company Act. The Company commenced on April 30, 2019, and shall have perpetual duration. The affairs of the company are to be conducted by its members.

First publication May 17, 2019, final May 31, 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: JAMES A MINOR, 2420 Camden Ave, Omaha NE 68111, 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 CI19-194, the object in prayer of which was to secure a judgment against you in the amount of $6,692.15, 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 8th day of July, 2019, the Petition against you will be considered as true and judgment will be entered against you accordingly.

First publication May 17, 2019, final June 7, 2019

BREASCH FINANCE & TAX CONSULTING INC. 4879 S 132nd Avenue Omaha, NE 68137 CERTIFICATE OF ORGANIZATION OF MONSTER INK LLC A NEBRASKA LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY 1. The name of the limited liability company is MONSTERS INK LLC 2. The period of duration for MONSTERS INK LLC is perpetual.

3. MONSTERS INK LLC is organized for the purpose of conducting any and all business as permitted by the Nebraska Uniform Limited Liability Company Act. 4. The address of the initial designated office for MONSTERS INK LLC in Nebraska is 3020 N 102nd Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68134.

5. The name and address of the registered agent for MONSTERS INK LLC in Nebraska is Taylor Heller, 3020 N 102nd Street, Omaha NE 68134.

6. Additional provisions, not inconsistent with the law, for the regulation of the internal affairs of the limited liability company shall be provided for in the Operating Agreement.

7. Taylor Heller, organizer(s) of MONSTERS INK LLC has signed the Foregoing Certificate of Organization effective this 24th day of April, 2019.

First publication May 17, 2019, final May 31, 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: CHRISTIANA CREIGHTON, 8730 Hamilton Street, Omaha NE 68114, you are hereby notified that on February 4, 2019, THE HERTZ CORPORATION filed a suit against you in the Douglas County Court at docket CI19-2835, the object in prayer of which was to secure a judgment against you in the amount of $5,063.54, 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 8th day of July, 2019, the Petition against you will be considered as true and judgment will be entered against you accordingly.

First publication May 17, 2019, final June 7, 2019

NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION Notice is hereby given that Idea Quest LLC has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska on May 10, 2019 with its designated agent and office: Mary C. Schrader, 3380 S. 127th Street, Omaha, NE 68144. It is organized to transact any lawful business for which a Limited Liability Company may be organized under Nebraska laws. Business shall be Member-Managed.

First publication May 17, 2019, final May 31, 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 STANDING BEAR PROPERTIES, LLC The name of the Company is Standing Bear Properties, LLC. The Designated Office of the Company is: 13504 Cuming Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68154. The Registered Agent and Office of the Company is: Koley Jessen P.C., L.L.O., 1125 South 103rd Street, Suite 800, Omaha, Nebraska 68124. This limited liability company commenced business on April 30, 2019.

First publication May 3, 2019, final May 17, 2019

ABRAHAMS KASLOW & CASSMAN LLP, Attorneys 8712 West Dodge Road, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 APPLICATION FOR REGISTRATION OF TRADE NAME Trade Name to be registered is: GMP PROFESSIONALS Name of Applicant: EXIGENT RESOLUTIONS, INC. Address: 5062 S. 108TH ST., #210 OMAHA NE 68137 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: 05/02/2019 General nature of business: PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND TECHNICAL STAFFING FOR THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY CHRISTOPHER O. ESTWICK Signature of Applicant or Legal Representative May 17, 2019 ABRAHAMS KASLOW & CASSMAN LLP, Attorneys 8712 West Dodge Road, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 APPLICATION FOR REGISTRATION OF TRADE NAME Trade Name to be registered is: GMP PROS Name of Applicant: EXIGENT RESOLUTIONS, INC. Address: 5062 S. 108TH ST., #210 OMAHA NE 68137 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: 05/02/2019 General nature of business: PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND TECHNICAL STAFFING FOR THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY CHRISTOPHER O. ESTWICK Signature of Applicant or Legal Representative May 17, 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: Social Name of Applicant: Pacific Social, LLC Address: 900 S. 74th Plaza, Suite 303, Omaha, NE 68114 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: upon filing General nature of business: bar JEFFERY R. SCHAFFART Signature of Applicant or Legal Representative May 17, 2019 KELLOGG & PALZER, P.C. 10828 Old Mill Road, Suite 6 Omaha, Nebraska 68154-2647 APPLICATION FOR REGISTRATION OF TRADE NAME Trade Name to be registered is: C.A.R.S. CONSULTING Name of Applicant: Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Specialists, LLC Address: 8115 Grand Ave Omaha NE 68134 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: 3/1/2019 General nature of business: Collision Analysis and Reconstruction TIMOTHY J. TAYLOR Signature of Applicant or Legal Representative May 17, 2019 DVORAK LAW GROUP LLC 9500 West Dodge Road, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF AMENDMENT OF GCP II HQ, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Certificate of Organization of GCP II HQ, LLC, a Nebraska limited liability company, has been amended to change the name of the company to GCP II CWG HQ, LLC. The Amended Certificate of Organization was filed with the Nebraska Secretary of State on May 9, 2019.

First publication May 17, 2019, final June 7, 2019 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION of Heiden Custom Homes, Ultd., LLC. Notice of Organization is hereby given that Heiden Custom Homes Ultd., LLC has been organized in accordance with the laws of the State of Nebraska, commencing 4/10/19. The designated office address is 6411 S 157th St, Omaha, NE 68135 and the assigned officer is Leigh Heiden.

First publication May 17, 2019, final May 31, 2019 JESSICA E. THOMAS, Attorney PANSING HOGAN ERNST & BACHMAN LLP 10250 Regency Circle, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114-3728 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF THE COLINA, LLC Notice is hereby given of the organization of THE COLINA, LLC. 1. The name of the limited liability company is THE COLINA, LLC. 2. The street and mailing address of the initial designated office is 8204 North 28th Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68112, and the name and street address of the initial agent for service of process is Jessica E. Thomas, 10250 Regency Circle, Suite 300, Omaha, Nebraska 68114.

First publication May 17, 2019, final May 31, 2019

Midlands Business Journal • MAY 17, 2019 •

Why some Mac software will soon be outdated

by Steve Alexander

Q: My four-year-old MacBook Pro is warning me that eight of my programs “will not work with future versions of MacOS and need to be updated to improve compatibility.” Some of these programs are well-known software, s u c h a s “ M i c r o s o f t technology Office Utilities” and “Amazon Music.” I use the Mojave 10.14.4 operating system. What should I do?

-David de Felice, Madison, Wis. A: The warning is misleading. You don’t need to “improve compatibility” for those eight programs, because they work perfectly well with your present operating system. But you will need to upgrade to newer versions of the programs in order to use them on Apple’s next Mac operating system, due out later this year.

The new Mac operating system doesn’t yet have an official name, and is known only as “macOS 10.15.” While Apple hasn’t specified when it will be released, experts believe it will be announced this summer and available to consumers in the fall (for more about likely operating system features, see tinyurl.com/y4c3gddc).

Why do you need to upgrade the pro-

grams that generate the warning? Because they are all 32-bit software, which is now old technology. They process 32 bits of data at once, which limits both their speed and the amount of computer memory they can use (about 4 gigabytes.)

Apple has said the new Mac operating system will be able to use only newer, 64bit programs that run faster and can use about 30 times as much memory.

Upgrading to 64-bit versions of your eight programs should be relatively easy, because software makers have known for some time that this change was coming. For instance, you can already find 64-bit Mac versions of Microsoft Office 2019 ($150, see tinyurl.

c o m / y a a m ff v k ) a n d A m a z o n M u s i c (free, see tinyurl.com/nuchkbp).

Q: Do all four of the “duplicate photo finder” programs you recommended (see tinyurl.com/y4lt5xz4) let you preview different versions of the same photo before some are deleted? Do these programs also delete photo duplicates from a cloud storage account?

-Kathy Magrew, Maple Grove, Minn.

A: Three of the programs allow you to view duplicate photos before anything is deleted. They are Easy Duplicate Finder (tinyurl.com/y9qldqcs); Duplicate Photo Finder (tinyurl.com/ybh6tq77); and Duplicate Cleaner (tinyurl.com/mfl56n3).

Whether the photo deletions are carried

by Dee Depass

over to a cloud account depends on which provider you use. For example, if you automatically back up your photos to the cloud, photo deletions will be copied to a Microsoft OneDrive account but not to an IDrive account.

Q: I have a 13-year-old Dell Dimension 5100 that I’d like to upgrade to Windows 10. I previously upgraded it from Windows XP to Windows 7.

-Tom Olson, Golden Valley, Minn.

A: Dell publishes a list of its PCs that have been tested for Windows 10 compatibility (see tinyurl.com/yxmksafz).

No Dell Dimension models appear in that list, so it’s unlikely that your PC can run Windows 10. ©2019 Star Tribune (Minneapolis) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Chances are you’ve purchased counterfeit goods, says Better Business Bureau

by Maria Halkias

Counterfeit goods are increasing as the internet makes mass distribution of goods easier with much of it happening through Facebook ads, Amazon third-party sellers and on eBay, according to a new report.

Amazon has acconsumers knowledged it’s an issue and said in February that it’s working on it. Amazon said it caught 3

billion suspicious listings last year before the counterfeit merchandise appeared on its website.

North Texas is a hotbed of the activity and why it participated in the investigation and research, said Phylissia Clark, vice president at the Dallas BBB. The BBB office routinely receives complaints from consumers who received inferior goods, she said.

The Dallas Better Business Bureau was

Worker shortages hurting manufacturing growth, profits, Minnesota survey says Minnesota factory officials — especially those in rural areas — say severe worker shortages are increasingly impeding their growth and profits.

Nearly 50% of factory managers surveyed in March by Enterprise Minnesota said their inability to Workplace find qualified workers had hurt growth. That’s up 14 percentage points from 2017, according to the survey results released recently.

In a sign of more trouble, 76% of manufacturing executives in rural parts of the state said “the worker shortage made things more difficult.” Factory heads in western Minnesota reported greater pessimism about the worker dilemma and economy than in other parts of the state, the report said.

Enterprise Minnesota CEO Bob Kill noted that manufacturing executives generally acknowledged feeling economic uncertainty but said that most felt confident about their firm’s future. Still, “the biggest factor casting a shadow on that enthusiasm is the ongoing worker shortage which has no end in sight,” Kill said.

He added that the producers that were most likely to succeed “will be the ones that have leveraged the appropriate combination of automation, productivity strategies, effective leadership, team development and strategic planning.”

Kill said most of the companies surveyed were small to medium-sized manufacturers with customers in the United States, followed by Canada and Mexico.

While many companies didn’t do large amounts of business with China, the recent trade wars and skyrocketing tariffs escalating between the United States and China are believed to have been a factor in the less optimistic outlook for the 2019 economy.

The survey found sharp reductions in

21

the number of companies expecting an “economic expansion” and sharp increases in the number of firms expecting a flat economy or a recession.

Kill noted that rising trade tariffs were a concern some executives mentioned during several focus groups conducted in March, before the trade war between the U.S. and China escalated. However, at the time the topic wasn’t front and center for most of the 500 producers surveyed.

“You can’t escape the trade tariffs. The impact is indirect in some cases,” Kill said.

“You will see there is a little bit of drop off in the economic (outlook for 2019).

I think that has some relationship to the trade tariffs.”

The results of the overall survey generally mimic recent findings reported by national, regional and statewide economic groups.

Two weeks ago, the state reported that fourth quarter job vacancies increased 20% to 137,000 open positions at the end of 2018, which translates to 4.9 openings for every 100 jobs, said Steve Grove, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED). Manufacturers had an 8% job vacancy rate.

The results of the annual Enterprise Minnesota study will be shared in a series of regional meetings across the state, the first of which was recently.

Manufacturing managers told the group their companies are trying to boost productivity to counteract the shortage by investing in more automated equipment and by improving factory processes.

“Of concern, however, is little investment by companies to provide leadership training for employees. Yet notably, respondents said that maximizing productivity is second only to finding new customers as an important driver of future growth,” the report said.

Grove also noted that companies, with help from the state, need to invest in training and lower employment barriers.

More than 80% of surveyed companies with annual revenue of more than $5 million reported problems stemming from severe labor woes. Separately, many said they are concerned about the growing cost of providing health care for workers, an issue that has consistently risen for the last 11 years of Enterprise Minnesota’s survey.

The statewide survey was conducted in March via phone surveys with 500 manufacturing executives by the pollster group Meeting Street Research.

Separately, findings were also compiled via interviews that took place with the help of 13 separate focus groups led by Enterprise Minnesota.

The annual project was partly funded

by Bremmer Bank, Granite Equity Partners, Gray Plant Mooty, King Solutions and DEED. The findings generally agree with local and national findings recently reported by the state of Minnesota, Creighton University and the Institute for Supply Management.

Creighton’s manufacturing employment index for the nine-state mid-America region dropped to a “tepid” 51.1 in April from March’s “solid” 56.6, said Ernie Goss, director of Creighton’s Economics Forecasting Group.

“The regional economy continues to expand at a positive pace,” Goss said.

“However, as in recent months, finding and hiring qualified workers remained the chief threat to manufacturing economy for the region. … Of surveyed factory managers, approximately 44.7% identified labor ©2019 Star Tribune (Minneapolis) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

one of five BBB offices that joined to work on the report. The study was written by Steve Baker, international BBB investigator and former Midwest regional director for the Federal Trade Commission.

U.S. Customs agents seized $1.2 billion in counterfeit shipments in 2017. Shipping and smuggling efforts vary widely, “creating major headaches for customers officials,” the report said.

The biggest categories hit by counterfeits are electronics, shoes, fragrances, clothes and jewelry, but all major brands of merchandise are at risk, and much of it comes from China and Hong Kong, the report said.

People in their 20s and 30s are most at risk and are more likely to be women (53 percent), the report said. The average loss is $350.

The General Accounting Office last year disclosed it has purchased goods on a variety of sites and 20 of the 47 products were counterfeit and included six of nine Yeti travel mugs were counterfeit, all 13 Urban Decay cosmetics were counterfeit and one in 10 phone chargers were fake. All those goods were shipped from U.S. addresses.

The report called “Fakes are not Fashionable” found that one in four Americans have purchased counterfeit goods and called it an epidemic.

-89% come in small packages -16% of goods posed potential health and safety risks.

Most of those are risks from cosmetics and contact lenses, but some aren’t so obvious.

Richardson-based Fossil has warned consumers about the risks of counterfeit watch bands direct contact with skin. Fossil’s are made of stainless steel. The company has seen counterfeits with unsafe levels of cadmium and lead. ©2019 The Dallas Morning News Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Advertise in MBJ! See our upcoming sections on page 23

22

• MAY 17, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal

Battles erupt over warehouse jobs as the Legislature moves to curb subsidies Continued from page 15. give online retailers a share of the sales tax California cities collect on goods the retailers sell and ship to customers across the state.

A twist in California tax law allows cities to return to corporations part of their sales tax payments, based on operations they have in those cities. That creates an incentive for retailers to assign sales to cities where warehouses are based, rather than where their products eventually wind up. According to a study commissioned by the California League of Cities, which supports the Glazer bill, these tax breaks amount to over $1 billion a year — money that would otherwise go into public coffers.

“State and local governments are scrambling to fund public safety, roads, affordable housing and tackling the homeless crisis,” Glazer said. “The gains from these agreements are doubtful.”

However, Inland Empire officials argue that it’s only fair that the tax-sharing pacts encourage companies to allocate their sales tax payments to warehouse locations, since those communities bear higher infrastructure costs to support the logistics industry and they suffer more from the pollution generated by trucks and trains.

Ontario, with more than 40 warehouses and distribution centers, has 10 tax revenue-sharing deals listed on its website.

“We need these tools to compete with other states and regions,” said John Andrews, the city’s economic development director.

He cited a pact that granted QVC, the home-shopping giant, more than half of the sales tax it would generate from moving its $130-million Western distribution center to Ontario in 2015. Was the deal too generous? “QVC was also looking at locations in Arizona and Nevada,” Andrews said.

At the San Bernardino gathering, leaders of community, labor and environmental organizations did not advocate scrapping the airport development altogether. But new logistics facilities, they argued, should come with “community benefits agreements” guaranteeing well-paid, stable jobs and measures limiting air pollution, including air filters and soundproofing for schools and residences.

Unions want the new employer, whoever it may be, to allow them to organize workers. “The logistics industry has depressed wages and created a highly contingent and transitional workforce,” said Randy Korgan, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 1932, which seeks to expand its representation of warehouse workers.

Last October, Amazon, which has fought attempts to unionize its workforce, set its starting wage at $15 an hour, but many warehouses and distribution centers pay less. According to a widely used standard created by MIT to measure local living costs and wages, an Inland Empire family with one working adult and a child would need a full-time job paying $26.94 an hour to make ends meet.

A February report by the Washington,

Lauren Eni, 4th generation of the family and the VP of Brand Strategy, at Dietz & Watson pop up store at fifth and south streets in Philadelphia. (Story below)

What Dietz & Watson is trying to do Continued from page 13. see it that way, too. People grill with hot dogs and create memories around food.

Customers are already giving Dietz & Watson feedback, including a desire for more Philadelphia-specific gear.

Eni declined to share information about the private company’s sales, but said Dietz & Watson has more than 1,500 employees.

Even though Stowell and Baxter, both graduate students at the Drexel University

College of Medicine, walked out of the store empty-handed, they seemed to enjoy the humor.

“If I had more money, I would totally buy some of this,” Stowell said.

“I need to have an income again,” Baxter said, “and then I can buy funny, witty … T-shirts.” ©2019 Philly.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

D.C.-based Brookings Institution concluded: “Among large regions, the Inland Empire consistently ranks nearly last on measures of prosperity and economic inclusion,” noting the area’s below-average earnings in logistics as well as healthcare, hospitality and retail.

“Our region has been inundated by warehouses,” said Tom Dolan, executive director of the Inland Congregations United for Change, a coalition of 60 religious groups. “Because of the Inland Empire’s poverty and history of political corruption, all of the developments have been done with little to no community engagement.”

Although negotiations to build the airport cargo center began two years ago, and an environmental impact review was approved by the airport commission last October, community groups first learned about the development through a local news story in February.

Approvals for the project to be built by Texas-based Hillwood Enterprises for an unnamed tenant “had been passed before anyone knew anything about it,” Dolan said. “Everything was secret.”

Michael Burrows, executive director of Inland Valley Development Agency and the San Bernardino International Airport, disputed the secrecy charge. The environmental impact statement was advertised in a local newspaper, although no one showed up to ask questions at a public hearing, he said. The commission approved the ground lease agreement at a public meeting in December.

The air cargo facility does not involve public subsidies, according to Burrows, and the Federal Aviation Administration requires the land to be leased at fair market value. Regional air quality authorities are requiring diesel trucks serving the facility to be no older than 2010 models, which have cleaner engines than earlier models.

As for the identity of the tenant, Hillwood, which has built and leased 23 warehouses in San Bernardino since 2002, is negotiating with several possible occupants.

“I hear people say it is Amazon,” Burrows said, noting that the e-commerce giant, which has been expanding its air freight operations, already has three fulfillment centers in the city. “But we don’t have a signed agreement with an end user yet.”

Could a community benefits agreement be attached to the lease? Burrows said he doesn’t know if the airport authority, which is controlled by the county and nearby cities, has the power to require one.

Several community benefit agreement models were touted in a UCLA study last

year. One was a 2001 pact between Staples Center and 30 Los Angeles community groups requiring “living wage” jobs, affordable housing, a public plaza — and annual compliance reports.

As an example of what not to do, the study cited Ontario’s “astounding” QVC deal, negotiated “quietly with limited public outreach.” In exchange for 41 years of tax rebates, a city report estimated the company would create 522 full-time and 400 to 500 part-time jobs.

According to a Bloomberg Tax investigation into California tax breaks for online retailers, Ontario projects the city could earn a net $82 million a year from QVC sales taxes, after diverting $112 million a year back to the company and $10.25 million a year to a Long Beach lawyer who brokered the deal.

The actual contract signed between QVC and Ontario did not specify any job numbers. According to Sheheryar Kaoosji, co-executive director of the Ontario-based nonprofit Warehouse Worker Resource Center, counts of employee cars during repeated visits to QVC’s parking lot reveal that no more than 500 jobs have been created.

“This ‘low road’ approach to economic development contributes to the city’s high level of poverty, keeps the city’s tax base low, and fails to capitalize on civic engagement to improve the quality of life for workers and residents,” the UCLA study asserted.

Andrews, the Ontario economic development director, said QVC is “ramping up jobs over time. They are on track to reach 800 in the next year.”

If the city had not negotiated the tax deal, “they weren’t going to come at all,” he added. “And we would not be sharing in the sales tax revenue they are generating.”

On the afternoon of the church hall meeting, Anthony Victoria, 27, a staffer with the Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice, a local nonprofit, knocked on doors in a neighborhood of low-slung bungalows with peeling paint and chain link-fenced yards, inviting residents to come learn about the airport project.

Few of them had heard of it.

“It’s alarming,” Victoria said. “There’s just a continuing thing of leaving out public participation.

“We’re not against development,” he added. “But we want smart development.” ©2019 Los Angeles Times Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Midlands Business Journal • MAY 17, 2019 •

23

Energy & Celebrate Construction Utilities A section prepared by the staff of the Midlands Business Journal

A section prepared by the staff of the Midlands Business Journal

Topics may include:

Topics may include:

Celebrate Construction Overview • Custom home trends • Careers/education Greater Omaha, Lincoln and Council Bluffs area projects • Tech advances Sustainable design features • Integrated project delivery methods Infrastructure and road projects • Retrofits/renovations

Energy & Utilities • CNG • Energy-efficient building design Renewable energy in Nebraska • Customer education/outreach efforts Technology trends • Lighting technologies/electrical innovations

Issue Date: May 24 • Ad Deadline: May 16

Issue Date: May 24 • Ad Deadline: May 16

Focus on Safety A section prepared by the staff of the Midlands Business Journal

Topics may include:

Safety overview • Workplace violence prevention Risk management/assessments in the workplace Workers’ compensation trends Building a safety-conscious culture Issue Date: May 31 • Ad Deadline: May 23

SARPY COUNTY

GROWTH REPORT A section prepared by the staff of the Midlands Business Journal

Topics may include the following: • Economic outlook • Sarpy thriving with major projects • Shopping in Sarpy • Technology in Sarpy • Commercial/Office/Industrial Real Estate • Banking & Financial Services • Residential real estate • Health care • Activities and tourism

Issue Date: May 31 • Ad Deadline: May 23

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

24

• MAY 17, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal

UPCOMING

SECTIONS

IN THE MIDLANDS BUSINESS JOURNAL

MAY 24

CELEBRATING CONSTRUCTION

ENERGY & UTILITIES MAY 31

SARPY COUNTY GROWTH REPORT

FOCUS ON SAFETY

To advertise your company’s products or services in one of our upcoming sections, contact one of our MBJ advertising representatives at (402) 330-1760 or at the email addresses below.

Julie Whitehead - Julie@mbj.com • Catie Kirby - ads@mbj.com Space and materials deadline is the Friday prior to the publication date.

You may email us your insertion orders directly, or fax them to us at (402) 758-9315. We will acknowledge receiving your instructions.

REGIONAL LANDSCAPES

Briefs…

West Corporation has elected James Tholen to become a member of the board of directors. Tholen has held diverse executive leadership positions with several public and private companies across a variety of technology industries. Most recently, Tholen served as vice president of integration at Cisco following his tenure as the chief financial officer at BroadSoft from 2007 through Cisco’s February 2018 acquisition of the company. Tholen currently serves as a director at Clarabridge, OPAQ Networks and Spectra Logic.

The “Double Down” theme for Sport Clips Haircuts National Huddle emphasizes the franchise’s strengthened commitment to operational excellence, growth and philanthropy. Omaha owers Dan and Angie Roberts were awarded the Team Leader of the Year award.

E&A has welcomed back Josh Rothanzl, PE, as a civil engineer. He graduated from the University of Nebraska at Omaha with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. He had previously worked for E&A from 2013 to 2015. He then gained experience with the City of Bellevue and MUD. Investors Realty, Inc. represented the seller of Williamsburg Apartments located at 3400 Serenity Circle in Lincoln, Nebraska.

The 11-building complex sold for $9,200,000.

John Heine, JD, CCIM, and R.J. Neary, CCIM, SIOR, CRE of Investors Realty, Inc. and Todd Watson, CPA, of Century Sales & Management, LLC represented the seller in the transaction. It also represented the seller of The Bennett Building located at 405 West Broadway, Council Bluffs, Iowa. Purchase price was $1,450,000. Heine and Ryan Zabrowski, CCIM, SIOR of Investors Realty, Inc. represented the seller in the transaction.

Ag Processing Inc. is aiding in the recovery efforts from the recent floods that have affected parts of Nebraska, Iowa, and Missouri.

The aid consists of a $100,000 contribution split equally among four charities and relief organizations assisting recovery efforts in the region: the American Red Cross of Nebraska and Southwest Iowa; the Salvation Army of Omaha, Nebraska; the United Way of the Midlands; and the Fremont Area United Way of Fremont, Nebraska.

Travel and Transport presented two employees with awards named for Travel and Transport founder Lawrence Youngman and the company’s long-serving President and CEO Mal Hansen. This year’s Youngman Award winner is Lisa Stasi, a senior talent acquisition specialist. The 2019 Hansen Award winner is Debbie Boyd, director of operations.

National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors — Omaha has inducted Joe Vlock, CLU, ChFC, CAP, of New York Life/Vlock Financial Group into the Hall of Fame. Vlock graduated from the University of Nebraska with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. He has been helping his clients in financial, business and estate planning since 1973 and became a NAIFA member in 1975.

He is an investment adviser representative with Eagle Strategies LLC, a Registered Investment Adviser, and a Registered Representative with NYLIFE Securities LLC. He was selected as “Agent of the Year” by NAIFA-Omaha in 2001 and served for several years on the NAIFA-Omaha board.

Metro unveiled MyRide OMA, a bus tracking website that provides bus arrival information and an upgraded trip planner. Metro

is testing website features and asking riders to provide feedback on their experience using it.

MyRide OMA accompanies a variety of other improvements for Metro this year, including new buses and paratransit vans, new bus shelters, onboard Wi-Fi, and ORBT, Omaha’s first rapid transit system.

Lutz Financial, an SEC Registered Investment Advisor and affiliate of Lutz, recently surpassed the $1 billion threshold for assets under management. Lutz Financial serves more than 500 clients by providing wealth management, financial planning, and business retirement plan solutions.

Access Systems announced that CRN, a brand of The Channel Company, has named Access Systems to its 2019 Tech Elite 250 list. This is the second year Access has been included in this list. This annual list honors a select group of North American IT solution providers that have earned the highest number of advanced technical certifications from leading technology suppliers, scaled to their company size. These companies have distinguished themselves with multiple, top-level IT certifications, specializations, and partner program designations from the industry’s most prestigious technology providers.

John Reed, senior vice president/managing director of NorthMarq’s Omaha regional office, arranged the $7.1 million refinance of Trenridge Apartments, a 126-unit multifamily property located at 6101 Vine Street in Lincoln, Nebraska. The transaction was structured with a 10-year, interest-only term followed by a 30-year amortization schedule. NorthMarq arranged financing for the borrower through its relationship with Fannie Mae. Ling Ling Sun, chief technology officer for NET, Nebraska’s PBS & NPR Stations, was recognized as a Technology Leadership Award winner by “Broadcasting & Cable” magazine for her work to understand the technological innovations that have changed how media is distributed and consumed. At NET, Sun has spearheaded work to improve signal reliability; implemented systems to ease content delivery across multiple platforms; deployed improved early-warning tornado systems; and is working on a new monitoring and control system that promises to break new ground. Her work has also impacted PBS. Sun chaired the PBS E-Tech Committee between 2013 and 2018.

Health care notes…

Methodist Fremont Health was recognized as an Abusive Head Trauma/Shaken Baby Prevention Education Champion. To become an AHT/SBS Prevention Hospital Champion, the hospital signs a pledge, creates or updates an AHT/SBS policy, provides yearly education to hospital personnel, educates parents with evidence-based AHT/SBS materials in accordance with Nebraska Revised Statute 71-2103, and incorporates The Crying Plan into post-discharge patient calls.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recognized the Omaha Healthy Kids Alliance with one of just three 2019 National Environmental Leadership Awards in Asthma Management. Each year during Asthma Awareness Month, EPA honors programs delivering excellent environmental asthma management as part of their comprehensive asthma care services to improve the lives of children and families with asthma. Asthma is a major public health issue, affecting nearly 23 million people, including six million children, Continued on next page.

Midlands Business Journal • MAY 17, 2019 •

25

REGIONAL LANDSCAPES Continued from preceding page. and disproportionally affecting low-income and minority communities.

Makovicka Physical Therapy partnered with Bike Masters Cycling to offer a concierge bike fit service. Bike Masters Cycling moved its shop in mid-April from 132nd & Fort streets to 210 Cumberland Drive in Elkhorn. Concierge bike fits will utilize 3D motion capture technology using the Specialized Retul system, which measures every degree of movement and millimeter of distance, providing the cyclist and fitter with the data to support the choices made during the fit. The added benefit of movement specialist Chris Derozier is that Derozier understands body mechanics from training and experience, and he has been an avid cyclist the majority of his life.

Education notes…

Metropolitan Community College Student Quick Pitch Contest winners were announced. Contestants had two minutes to present their entrepreneurial ideas in front of a panel of expert judges. Participants were judged on logic, presentation quality, product or service advantage, target market and credibility. Scholarships were awarded to the first, second and third place winners. College Division — First place: Franck Ketchouang, Coiffure Salon; Second place: Huda Ahmed, A Cuppa Splosh; Third place: Jessica Johnson: The Real Southern Experience. High School Division — First place: Ngun Lian, Omaha Northwest High School, Lian’s Asian Barbershop; Second place: Kiara Johnson, Omaha MEETINGS AND SEMINARS Tuesday, May 21 The Nebraska Society of Certified Public Accountants is hosting an all-day workshop on “Complications, Reviews, and Preparations: Engagement Performance and Annual Update” at Mahoney State Park in Ashland. This is worth eight hours of CPE Credits and will be lead by Jeff Lienman.

Lienman will focus on how to apply SSARS No. 21, clarification and recodification, changes to the issuance of SSARS Nos. 22, 23, and 24, among others. Parking and lunch are provided and the cost is $265 for society members and $315 for non-society members.

The Heartland Women’s Network is featuring speaker Teresa Houser, executive director of Magdalene Omaha, at it’s monthly meeting from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Houser, an Omaha native, has over 30 years of nonprofit experience and community service, including over 24 years of experience in addiction recovery programs and over 18 years of experience in working with survivors of prostitution and sex trafficking. In 2014, she founded the Friends of Tamar, an organization dedicated to supporting survivors of sexual violence in all its forms, including rape, domestic violence, and trafficking. It was from this work that efforts to establish Magdalene Omaha began.

The American Academy of Professional Coders, Omaha Metro Chapter is hosting its local chapter meeting at 4 p.m. at the CHI Service Center South Building. Speaker Linda Duckworth, CHC, CPC, will be discussing “Transitioning from Coder to Auditor and Beyond.” This talk will include how to prepare for career advancement, how to set yourself apart and what do hiring managers look for. Registration is available online.

Northwest High School, EZ Peel; Third place: Nia Brown, Omaha Northwest High School, Slay Nation.

The Nebraska Library Commission announced plans to expand personal finance e-book collections available through public libraries following receipt of a $20,000 grant from the FINRA Investor Education Foundation. The additional resources will help ensure that residents have the information they need when making critical money decisions as they repair, rebuild, and clean up following the March 2019 flooding.

Metropolitan Community College has announced the new Project Management Academy, a program that will offer a diverse curriculum of project management principles beginning this fall. Students will learn best practices through group exercises, case studies and real-world simulation to prepare them for the Project Management Institute PMP and CAPM exams, globally recognized industry certifications. Students in the academy can complete courses at their own pace, giving working professionals flexibility. Classes will be available day or evening at MCC’s Center for Advanced and Emerging Technology.

Classes will also be online. Upon completion, students will achieve the MCC Project Management Academy certificate.

Activities of nonprofits…

United Way Worldwide recognized two of its corporate partners — UPS and Wells Fargo — for their corporate social responsibility work. UPS received UWW’s new Gamechangers Award and Wells Fargo received its new Live United Award. Locally, UPS raised nearly $195,000 to support individuals in the Omaha-Council Bluffs metro area during its 2018 UWM workplace campaign.

During its local 2018 workplace campaign, Wells Fargo raised more than $190,000. The company also awarded UWM an $86,000 grant to support local healthy food and hunger relief programs, a $5,000 sponsorship of UWM’s Book Trust literacy initiative and a $15,000 match for the dollars UWM raises during the 2019 Omaha Gives! charitable fundraising challenge.

First National Bank awarded $553,000 in community development grants to 25 organizations across Nebraska and western Iowa.

Local grants include: Habitat for Humanity of Omaha; Project Houseworks; Holy Name Housing Corp.; Omaha Healthy Kids Alliance; Gesu Housing, Inc.; Midwest Housing Development Fund, Inc.; Seventy Five North Revitalization Corp.; Omaha Municipal Land Bank; Habitat for Humanity of Council Bluffs; NeighborWorks Lincoln; Fremont Area Habitat for Humanity; Catholic Charities of Omaha; Nebraska Enterprise Fund; Iowa Western Small Business Development Center; Grameen America; Nebraska Business Development Center; Rural Investment Corp.; and Midlands Latino Community Development Corp.

WellCare of Nebraska has donated $25,000 to United Way of the Midlands to support the victims of the record-breaking floods that hit the state in March 2019. This donation will provide flood victims access to shelter, crisis counseling, case management, cleanup and recovery, transitional housing, temporary rental assistance, food pantries and legal services in the areas of Nebraska with the highest flood impact, including Douglas, Dodge, Knox, Madison, Saline and Lancaster counties. The Community Connections Help Line, a toll-

free, nationwide line, is also available to both members and non-members who need help accessing resources and social services. For assistance, call 866-775-2192 Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. CDT. For inquiries about your insurance, call 855-599-3811 or visit www.wellcare.com/Nebraska.

Arts & Events…

The Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts will launch its new Sound Art + Experimental Music Program at the end of May. Embedded within Bemis Center’s international Residency Program, this new opportunity will offer a unique experience for artists working in sound, composition, voice and music of all genres. National and international artists participating will receive financial, technical and administrative support, along with facilities for rehearsing, recording and performing.

Raven Chacon will inaugurate Bemis Center’s Sound Art + Experimental Music Program this summer with a three-month residency May 22 through August 16. Based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Chacon is a composer, performer and installation artist from Fort Defiance, Navajo Nation.

Special Olympics Nebraska will host over 1,300 athletes, coaches and unified partners at the 2019 Summer Games, scheduled to take place May 22 through May 26 at various venues in Omaha. Opening ceremonies will be held at the DJ Sokol Arena on the Creighton University campus on May 23 at 7 p.m. The celebration begins with the Parade of Athletes along with the Omaha Police Department Bag Pipes and Drums. Performances will include two past contestants from America’s Got Talent, juggler Ivan Pecel and extreme jump ropers Chicago Boyz. The evening will end with a performance by Lemon Fresh Day. The public is invited to join the celebration, free of charge. Athletes will compete in track and field, roller-skating, aquatics, power lifting, volleyball and gymnastics.

The Midlands Community Foundation will host its 38th annual golf tournament at Platteview Golf Club on May 20, with a shotgun start at noon. Proceeds for the tournament will benefit the Papillion-LaVista Community Theatre, Monarch Band Boosters Association, Conestoga Elementary School and the Summer Reading Programs at libraries in

Sarpy County and Cass County. Sponsorship opportunities are available. The $135 participant registration fee includes golf, sack lunch, two chances to win a $250 Scheels gift card in a putting contest, two mulligans, two complimentary beverages, ice cream, and steak dinner.

On May 22, Amplify Arts is hosting a .35k Walk/Run/Roll for the Arts. The 2019 FUN(D) RUN is a celebration of Amplify Arts’ Artist Grants program, which awards $35,000 in grants to local artists each year, hence the .35k distance. Participants can decorate their own race bib, grab some refreshments, shop for vintage exercise gear from Roland and Fitz, and get warmed up with a guided stretch.

Once the race starts, participants will take three laps around the green space in our parking lot, being careful to avoid artist-designed obstacles. After the race, participants can celebrate with a selfie at the photobooth, make a donation, and savor a custom cocktail from Tiny House Bar. Baird Holm LLP and the Greater Omaha Chamber will host a luncheon for the winning companies of the Best Places to Work in Omaha at the CHI Health Center Omaha on May 23 from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The 2019 Best Places to Work in Omaha winners are: Companies with 25-200 employees — Object Partners, Vetter Health Services, Verdant, Flywheel and RTG Medical; Companies with over 200 employees — Buildertrend, Signature Performance, Thrasher, Inc., Olsson, Verizon Media; Sustained Excellence Awards — C&A Industries, Inc. and Prime Time Healthcare LLC. Dragons, unicorns and a rock creature will be unveiled at Omaha Children’s Museum on May 25 at the grand opening of Enchanted Kingdom. The exhibit will focus on building literacy skills and empathy in children through engaging characters and make believe play in a castle and a mini marketplace. Enchanted Kingdom, presented by Mutual of Omaha, will run through Sept. 1. Opening day festivities include a free fun run at 9 a.m. Pre-registration is encouraged, as each child receives a finisher’s medal. The museum conceptualized the entire exhibit, including the animatronic characters that will be in the exhibit and featured in a children’s book being published this summer.

26

• MAY 17, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal

Options abound for small business outings with a limited budget

by Gabby Christensen

When it comes to selecting an affordable option for a small business outing, local venues say there’s no need to worry, as Omaha offers quite a selection.

According to owner Matt Wyant, Flying Timber is an affordable, local option for small group outings.

“We feel a team that has fun together wants to stay together,” Wyant said. “Axe throwing is an activity that everyone can do.”

Wyant said employees often get burned out on the same repeat activities, making axe throwing something new and exciting.

He said that Flying Timber has a beer and cocktail selection at affordable prices and works with caterers who offer a quality product without breaking the bank.

“Since we have opened, we have hosted hundreds of company events that range from a small team all the way up to huge national companies where internal teams can be as many as 100 people,” Wyant said. “Most importantly, Flying Timber is a small business started in Omaha by people who have always lived in Omaha.

Because of this, we were able to build a facility that we knew would be best for Omaha.”

Robert Lee, sales/marketing director at Omaha Brewing Company, said

Wyant Lee an effective way to take advantage of group outings is to first determine what needs to be accomplished during the event.

“In our case, Omaha Brewing Com-

pany has the option to cater to just about anything and our tasting room manager can help a business through that process,” Lee said. “If you are taking the time out of your work week to take your staff somewhere, there's plenty of inexpensive advantages to OBC, including locally crafted beer at a low price, food trucks available on Friday and Saturdays and lots of space for meetings, presentations or just relaxing.”

He said Omaha Brewing Company works to accommodate the smallest or largest needs, including catering, live music, brewing with the production staff or even individual requests, such as team building activities catered to a specific business.

Genetically modified bacteria-killing viruses used on patient for first time

by Bradley J. Fikes

Genetically engineered phages — viruses that kill bacteria — have been used for the first time to treat a patient struggling with a dangerous, persistent superbug infection. health care The 15-year-old female patient had been infected with Mycobacterium abscessus, which is in the same genus as the bacterium that causes tuberculosis.

Researchers screened a database of more than 10,000 phages to find those

active against the bacterium. They engineered three phages to make them more lethal.

The patient improved after treatment with the phage “cocktail,” according to a study published Wednesday in Nature Medicine. It’s online at j.mp/gephages.

It is “plausible” that the modified phages were responsible, the study said.

But making a firm conclusion wasn’t possible, because only one patient was treated.

The treatment was modeled after the

Health care services expanding in southwest Iowa

by David Kubicek

New construction, new clinics, new surgical procedures and increasing enrollment in medical-related programs characterize the commitment to expand medical services in southwest Iowa.

The core and shell of Methodist Jennie Edmundson Hospital’s new three-story, over 60,000-square-foot medical building is expected to be completed by the end of this year, President and CEO Steve Baumert said.

On the first floor will be Methodist physician’s clinic and family practice or primary care.

“We’ll relocate seven physicians and have room to expand to 15, and we’ll have urgent care space to care for patients who don’t need to go to the emergency room,” Baumert said.

The second floor will be dedicated to women’s services.

Currently Methodist Women’s Hospital has two clinic days each week, which will expand when the new building opens.

“Over the past few years we’ve been positioning ourselves to be the eastern edge of Methodist women’s services,” Baumert said. “The Methodist Physicians Clinic large OB/GYN group at the Women’s Hospital campus location will soon have four female physicians located here.

By the time this building is finished, we’ll have six OB/GYN providers here.”

The third floor of the new facility is designed for expansion space.

The American College of Surgeons re-certified the hospital’s oncology program, which is the only one in southwest Iowa. Methodist Head and Neck Oncology services now has a clinic in Council Bluffs, and the hospital expanded its lung program

“We also work with groups to cater unlimited beer packages or a pre-purchase plan to buy beers ahead of time for ease of service,” Lee said.

Ashton Porter, manager at The Corky Canvas Omaha, said a great way to get more from a small budget is to trade services with other small businesses.

“It’s important to support small and local business and we truly love to work with those on the same level as us,” Porter said. “We offer a fun and inviting space that truly breaks away from normal activities. The Corky Canvas can help teams find more within themselves and each other, bonding over a brand-new experience. Whether it is a private event or a class, it will be something unforgettable.”

services, adding a developing lung mass clinic and a low dose CT screening for patients with a high risk for lung cancer.

In March, Methodist added robotic

Baumert Elliott surgery to its surgical suite.

Over the past year, CHI Health Mercy Hospital and its clinics have added two general surgeons, two obstetricians, and two pediatricians, according to Vice President of Medical Operations Christopher Elliott, M.D. The hospital has also purchased a da Vinci robot, which these physicians use to perform many different types of noninvasive surgery.

“Robotic-assisted surgery has proven to have the exciting effects of shorter hospital stays, quicker recovery getting back to normal life and decreasing the amount of postsurgical pain medications required,” Elliott said. “We have also added a Mako Robot that our orthopedist uses to perform total knee replacement surgery. This also has been a great success with quicker recovery times.”

Mercy has partnered with the new Charles E. Lakin YMCA and its physical therapy staff are seeing patients there, helping to train them in proper exercise techniques. The hospital also hosts diabe-

tes and healthy eating classes. Next month the hospital will open another large stateof-the-art facility in the Valley View area.

Iowa Western Community College offers several programs in the health and medical arena ranging from health and recreation to nursing to prehealth.

Enrollment in the programs is strong and steady, according to Matthew Mancuso, dean Mancuso of distance education, mathematics, and technology.

“Many of the programs, such as nursing and dental hygiene, run at capacity and have waiting lists,” he said.

Iowa Western partners with many high schools to provide all or part of the Advanced Nursing Certificate students in high school or at the college locations.

Iowa Western uses advisory boards to ensure that equipment and curriculum in its health programs are up to date with industry trends. Advisory board members include local doctors, nurses, dental hygienists, physical therapists, and hospital administrators.

“Examples of this could be the addition of lasers in the dental hygiene program,” Mancuso said. “We are always updating our curriculum, but there have been no recent major changes. Iowa Western is exploring the addition of programs and the times that we offer current programs. Some programs may have the opportunity to do a separate offering in the evening.”

phage therapy given to UC San Diego professor Tom Patterson, who recovered after nearly being killed by his antibiotic-resistant infection. He got his phages from AmpliPhi, a San Diego biotech developing phage therapy; the U.S. Navy; and Texas A&M University.

Robert T. Schooley, a physician at UCSD who treated Patterson, was a study co-author.

Experts not involved with the study said the results represent an advance in phage therapy. That’s because it was the first use of genetically engineered phages, and the first time phages were used against this kind of bacteria.

Moreover, there is some evidence to suggest the treatment was effective, said Christine Schneider, a virologist at Carroll University in Wisconsin.

“In this type of study it is never possible to completely get at causation vs. correlation,” Schneider said by email.

“As they state, however, the timing of the improvements did not correlate with changes in other treatments the patient was receiving and they do have some data that suggests the phages they added replicated in the patient.”

The study is “fantastic,” phage specialist Dr. Benjamin Chan of Yale University said by email.

“Well designed and nicely executed,”Chan said. “It certainly advances the field and contributes to a growing body of research suggesting that phage therapy could be applied in diverse infections.”

Derrick Fouts, a phage expert at the J. Craig Venter Institute in Rockville, Md., said finding the right combination of phages is tricky.

“One of the challenges that we face include being able to design phages that will work with any patient,” Fouts said by email. “This is because phages tend to be specific to one or a few strains of bacteria and people can be infected with different strains. So, a phage designed for bacteria in one person may not work in another.”

For engineered phages, another obstacle is getting the phages to “boot up,” that is, to replicate inside the bacteria and package their genome inside the newly produced phages.

“My team of researchers at JCVI in Continued on page 29.

Midlands Business Journal • MAY 17, 2019 •

A section prepared by the staff of the Midlands Business Journal

May 17, 2019

products to try.

“Five or six years ago, there was more salesmanship that needed to be done — pushing and selling,” Bartholomew said. “Now, if it’s totally off the wall, people think that’s so interesting. It’s about giving people information and then they enjoy it. Little by little, we’ve broken down these barriers.”

He indicated Omaha needs to “weed out” Triemert the good stuff; as a community, the space is moving forward, but not quite fast enough. As to Bartholomew-based businesses, he can’t share much right now but readers should look for more restaurants and concepts this summer.

Nick Bartholomew, owner, Over Easy, creator, Dandelion Pop-up.

Locally produced goods more a part of Omaha’s cultural fiber

by Michelle Leach featured in the Made in Omaha shop. Beed As local makers and producers buck the sees this platform for locally made goods “starving artist” stereotype, there are unprec- spurring additional locations in Omaha. edented opportunities for entrepreneurs and Likewise, this September’s celebration of consumers alike to buy goods and foods grown all creations and ventures local, HutchFEST, is and crafted down the street, rather than across leaning harder into local restaurants — think: the globe. crafted cocktails and beer, and fun “I’ve seen a lot more makers pancake and biscuits and gravy hop out of their corporate jobs and booths to tie to its brunch theme. do this full time,” said Brandon The visionary behind restauBeed, co-founder and creative rant concepts including Over Easy director with furniture and furnishand Dandelion Pop-Up, Nick Barings business, Hutch. “More people tholomew, also spoke to myriad are bringing [local] into their retail “micro-cultures” and niche farms concepts … and they’re able to fithat have popped up in the past nancially survive and really grow.” six years.

The above development “defi“You can buy radishes from nitely affects the way you curate,” Omaha Home for Boys … there Beed Beed said. is a bunch of new startup interest “Locally made furniture is developing; outside of the ‘usual suspects,’” he said, a there are not a lot of people creating locally reference to the nonprofit’s partnership with made sofas,” he said. “But we definitely lean the University of Nebraska on the New Amervery hard into the local accessories and smaller ican Urban Farm Program. “The spectrum is things. And we move that stuff much more getting wider, and there is money flowing into rapidly than the stuff that is more mass-pro- the space.” duced.”

Foods that were formerly “unapproachThe company is also working with local able,” such as graffiti eggplant or elk, are screen-printers on T-shirts and other products, now considered to be interesting and exciting

27

“‘Local’ has been a widely used word in ‘beer’ for over a decade,” said Brickway Brewery and Distillery’s President and Head Brewer/Distiller Zac Triemert. “What has really changed is the use of ‘local’ and ‘spirits.’

We’ve seen dramatic growth in our spirits side of the business in the last two years.”

Misconceptions linger, nonetheless; one, Triemert said, that the “farther away it Hughes comes from, the better it must be.’

“Two, the bigger the company it comes from, the better it must be,” he added. “I can dispel these easily using our Brickway Single Malt Continued on next page.

28

• MAY 17, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal • Locally Grown

Area business owners stress the importance of buying, selling local with the day-to-day running of the busiby Gabby Christensen Local business owners agree that advo- ness and relationships with employees, cating for locally grown and made products customers and our vendors. We believe it is more sustainable and gives a more healthy is extremely meaningful to them.

In fact, various Omaha business diversity to the local economy to support owners, including Joe Pittack and Jeanne other local businesses and local foods.”

Julie Wynn, owner of Lewis Art Ohira, co-owners of Ted & Wally’s, said Gallery, said supporting local they primarily source products business is one of their biggest and ingredients locally. priorities.

“We make our ice cream “We are a local small busifrom scratch using local cream, ness that sells pieces from local milk and eggs,” Pittack said. artists and woodworkers, which “Much of the fruit, vegetables, then supports and advances herbs and spices we use are their work, as well,” she said. locally grown. We use things “As a small business, we know like local honey, flour, maple how pivotal it is to buy and sell syrup, mint, butter, cheeses and local.” popcorn. We use locally made With the growth of online chocolates, syrups, caramel, tofKorth shopping, Wynn said the purfee, granola, pies, cakes, cookies chasing experience has become somewhat and other bakery items and candies.”

Pittack said they also use coffee beans depersonalized.

“I often hear people come to us and say from several local coffee roasters for cofthey didn’t like what they ordered online,” fee ice cream flavors.

“We really have made an effort over the Wynn said. “It’s extremely difficult for years to use local products and buy from consumers to visualize an item through a fellow small local businesses for most of photo. Because of this, we’ve created an approval policy that allows our customers our ingredients,” Pittack said.

Over the years as they made more fla- to take a piece and make sure it fits their vors from scratch and added more items to space and they love it before they buy it.”

After 48 years in business, she said the menu, Ohira said they sought out more she’s learned that supporting customers local products.

“A lot of it is the relationships,” Ohira even after a purchase is important.

“We are there for our clients before, said. “As small family-owned business owners, we really appreciate the care and during and after the transaction and that’s effort that goes into making our products another value that local and small busifrom scratch, being intimately involved nesses oftentimes offer to customers,”

Wynn said.

Abby Korth, owner at Zen Coffee Co., said she supports a variety of local businesses in her shop and through events.

“We serve Sweet Magnolia’s Bake Shop, Artemis Teas, Ted & Wallys, Holly’s Healthy Holes, as well as a variety of coffees that we created on our own,” Korth said. “We are a Green Certified business, which means that all products need to be ethically sourced, and it is something we take great care in providing to our custom-

ers. Our partners do a wonderful job sourcing themselves to help us reach this goal.”

Korth said locally grown or made products create important economic opportunities and help to reduce environmental impact.

“It also helps bring the community together and gives people the opportunity to make a difference,” Korth said. “They also find peace of mind knowing exactly where their products came from and how it was grown or made.”

Locally produced goods more a part of the cultural fiber Continued from preceding page.

Whisky as an example.”

In the past year, Triemert said, the whisky (they spell it the Scottish way), has won two international awards — standing up against some of the world’s best whiskies.

The small brewery and distillery, which is releasing its Aleius Cherry Limeade Hard Seltzer in a can later this month, supports other local businesses, too, purchasing as much locally produced raw materials and equipment as possible, and partnering with local charities and events with local retailers.

Artifact Founder Chris Hughes said the shop just had a warehouse sale that involved partnering with Coneflower Creamery and Hello Sugar, which provided ice cream and baked treats.

The business that started with bags is continually adding new product; for instance, Hughes referenced its floral printed bags for spring, totes made with a classic awning-stripe material, and

gift items from unique vendors (fountain pens and German utilitarian home products).

“Our love of Omaha has fostered the development of several new Omaha-specific products that will be available in the upcoming weeks,” he said.

The store is located at 27th and Leavenworth streets.

Chef Jeff Miller noted a number of fruits and vegetables grown on Arbor Day Farm are used in Lied Lodge and Conference Center’s menu.

“We currently use apple cider made on the farm in our oatmeal in the morning, as well as in some of our sauces on the buffets,” he said.

“Herbs, we try to grow a handful in our herb garden — such as mint, chives, parsley and a few others — as often as possible.”

Miller and Grounds and Orchard Manager Brad Kindler are creating a plan to highlight items such as hot peppers, to be incorporated in hot sauces at the Lodge and barbecue restaurant Porter’s.

Midlands Business Journal • MAY 17, 2019 •

29

Always ‘on’ environment calls for self-nurturing, broad-based approach to wellness

by Michelle Leach

To d a y ’s n o t i o n o f b e i n g “ w e l l ” accounts for the whole person and relies on approaches not limited to conventional medicine.

“Functional medicine is a complementary approach with the traditional Western approach to both wellness and disease,” said Gina M. Harper-Harrison, M.D., Alegent Health Women’s Healthcare. “We call it ‘upstream’ medicine.”

Instead of treating pain with medication or surgery, Harper-Harrison explained, what is the root cause of the pain in the first place?

“Inflammation from other sources, the gut or the brain, could be a factor,” she said. “For patients who are motivated to improve their own health with more than just medication, this is a very appealing avenue.”

Harper-Harrison said many people aren’t happy with traditional health care models (side effects, costs).

“Motivated patients really want to learn about the science behind wellness and get back to natural, spiritual and emotional realms for healing,” she said. “This often takes more time than what a conventional

15-minute office visit will allow.” technology, a challenge that demands Functional, integrative and naturopath- quality content. ic medicine providers, partly, look at whole “Let's face it, there is a lot of informasystems of care — coordinating health in tion out there about nutrition and exercise, different domains. and most people don't want “I see functional medicine another diet program,” he said. practitioners as a ‘new set of “Companies want something that eyes and ears’ to look at a health is fun and engaging that doesn't concern from a broader perspecput a drag on the business or the tive,” she said. employee.”

Five years ago, when Life Its GO! program includes Source Chiropractic contacted lunch talks that promote healthy businesses about working with living. Designed to accentuate their wellness teams, owner Dr. existing programs or establish Jason Wiese said only one-third new ones, GO! has introduced had active programs. Now, up the Get Healthy 30-Day ChalAquila to two-thirds are implementing lenge. Wiese explained: “A a wellness program or are receptive to problem in our society now is that great learning how to create one. nutrition is viewed as being on the new “One of the driving factors for this is diet fad — Paleo to Whole 30 to the the number of incentives that are offered Mediterranean to Keto, etc. Yes, there by insurance companies to drive down is some excellent information to obtain costs to the employee and the business by from some of these, but there is more offering lower premiums for participants,” to nutrition.” he said.

Diets aren’t designed, he said, to create Wiese also noted the shift to creating long-term, sustainable healthy lifestyles. a culture of health. Education is key to With the challenge, Wiese said people participation. Engagement can still be don’t follow a meal or exercise plan; they lacking even with the integration of more pick the food and exercise from a rec-

From carwash to hardware store: OutrSpaces gives performers a platform Continued from page 1. their thing.”

In the first month, the space held four events, a number that grew to 60 by the

OutrSpaces Phone: 308-224-4130 Address: 1258 S. 13th St., Omaha 68108 Services: Providing affordable space for performers to practice 24/7; providing a venue for marginalized groups to perform.

Founded: In 2017 by Philip Kolbo, Grace Manley and Hannah Mayer.

Employees: 1 full time, 300 volunteers Goals: To help redefine the value of artists in our community by paying artists no matter what and instituting a ticket price that names that value for attendees.

Industry outlook: Performing artists in Omaha often struggle to make a sustainable income due to unethical business practices and an unbalanced amount of imported art vs. exported art.

Website: outrspaces.org

end of the year and doubled in 2018.

“We call what we do ‘voiceless curating,’” Kolbo said. “We don’t have an agenda, rather artists come to us with what they want to put out and we give them the platform to do so.”

For example, a recent week included a sex education show and talk, a flute recital, a classical contemporary music concert and a hip hop show.

OutrSpaces pools its resources — bartenders, sound and lighting engineers, etc. — and backs the artist allowing them to focus on their work instead of logistics.

It also established a minimum payment of $50 as part of its mission to be ethical and sustainable.

Kolbo referenced pay-to-play venues and a lack of venue-performer contracts, which can lead to no payment for performers, as factors that decrease how communities

value artists.

“We’re providing a safety net and now they can take that payment and use it as a negotiating point,” he said.

It also practices what Kolbo calls “radical hospitality.” When someone comes to an event at OutrSpaces, there’s a suggested donation price and an attendant asks how much the guest can give. This opens the conversation for those who might not be able to afford the ticket.

“Generally people pay the suggested donation, if not more,” he said. “But, now the person who comes and doesn’t pay still knows the value.”

In the past two years, the organization has paid more than 400 artists, some over $1,300.

In 2018, the organization moved to and refurbished an old hardware store on South 13th Street in the Little Italy/Little Bohemia neighborhood.

With obvious pros like better infrastructure and a larger performing space,

including ceilings high enough to build a viewing loft, the layout provided additional space for the organization’s other mission: affordable practice space.

Kolbo struggled to find a practice space after graduating from the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 2016.

“It’s easier for a visual artist to find space because no one is going to complain that you’re in there painting,” he said. “I can’t get next to other visual artists because I’m loud and they can’t concentrate.”

At the time he said most spaces were between $1,000 and $2,000 — OutrSpaces only charges a monthly fee of $100.

Kolbo describes OutrSpaces as the “24-hour Fitness” of music as members have unlimited access to the facility, which includes a kitchen, restrooms and plenty of working/meeting space. Private practice studios are reserved using an app.

“It expands the resources they have instantly,” he said.

ommended list. They also focus on two major health components: mindset and posture. After nutrition and exercise, Wiese said stress and sitting have the biggest effect on people’s health and lives — and represent the most frequently-requested topics to discuss, providing good insight into what organizations are faced with in society.

“We have a very sedentary lifestyle, sitting/standing in front of a computer screen,” he said. “Combine this with poor nutrition, and we have a recipe for increased degenerative/chronic illness and mental health problems.”

He noted instilling healthy actions and habits at work bleed into home life and drive cultural and societal change.

While Sandy Aquila described mindfulness as a “buzzword,” she’s been helping others find their “inner place of silence,” fostering connections and relationships in and out of the workplace, for three decades as a Licensed Massage Therapist and the owner/creative force behind the OM Center (Omaha Healing Arts Center).

“Simply put, nourishing our inner nature, our sense of self, is a central theme,” Aquila said. “Learning these techniques of meditations and contemplation help ground us in our busy life of technology and work, bringing more compassion and freedom into our lives.”

Just like diets may be packaged as the “it” fad, but at heart involve fundamentals like no highly-processed foods. Aquila said what is now called “mindfulness” is not new — it’s about getting back to one’s original roots, inner nature — less about one’s choice of alternative practice or products.

“It’s inner development, self-study and learning more about yourself and, ‘How do I tick? What makes me happy?’”

Aquila said.

That said, OM Center ’s offerings span acupuncture, meditation, yoga, Tai Chi, Ayurveda and Chinese medicine, and workshops, seminars, a holistic clinic, and performing arts events. Upcoming events include Dr. David Bole’s Tibetan Tranquility Meditation Class May 19 and Brian Assam’s yoga breathing practices and sound therapy to, partly, improve mental clarity and creativity May 31.

Genetically modified bacteria-killing viruses used on patient for first time Continued from page 26.

Rockville are working on new methods to overcome this boot-up obstacle for engineering of phages for the treatment of wound infections,” Fouts said.

Anyone getting phage therapy is likely to be very seriously ill. This patient’s condition was particularly precarious because a double-lung transplant had recently been performed to treat cystic fibrosis. In addition, the patient had diabetes, liver damage, and infection with Epstein-Barr virus.

As the infection progressed, the patient developed more skin lesions and the infection spread inside.

“Over 8 weeks, 20 additional skin nodules appeared on arms, legs, and buttocks, and the surgical wound showed areas of

breakdown,” the study said.

A team led by biologist Graham Hatfull of the University of Pittsburgh, and Dr. Helen Spencer at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, searched through the SEA-PHAGES database, compiled by students at the University of Pittsburgh.

They found three candidate phages in soil-dwelling mycobacteria that don’t infect people.

The phages infected Mycobacterium abscessus, but tended to live as permanent parasites.

Researchers took out a gene that allowed the phage to insert itself into the bacterial genome, said Dr. Schooley, the UCSD physician who treated Patterson.

That turned the parasite into a killer, Schooley said.

The phages were introduced into the patient’s abdomen and also given intravenously. Over a six-month period, the lesions gradually reduced, but didn’t disappear.

“It is plausible that phage resistance is associated with reduced virulence,” the study said.

Patterson said he’s still recovering, but “feeling great.”

“This new case is very exciting and gratifying,” Patterson said. “For me, all of the time and pain and suffering that I went through, is made worthwhile by the lives that are being saved by phage therapy.” ©2019 The San Diego Union-Tribune Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

30

• MAY 17, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal

Goosmann Law Firm in Omaha selects Madathil

Goosmann Law Firm has hired Attorney Angela Y. Madathil to the law firm at its Omaha location.

Madathil is a business attorney who helps companies by minimizing risk, resolving potential disputes, ensuring ownership of technology and assets while developing their business. She has over 10 years of experience Madathil practicing in business, real estate, compliance, M&A, employment law, and cyber compliance. She has drafted and negotiated over $30 million dollars in deals. Prior to joining Goosmann, Madathil spent five years serving as in-house counsel at a publicly traded company involved in ethanol manufacturing, commodity trading, and cattle feeding. Madathil received her Juris Doctor from Washburn University School of Law, her master’s in business administration from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, and her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and International Studies from the University of Kansas.

The Council of Independent Nebraska Colleges Foundation selects Haugaard

The Council of Independent Nebraska Colleges Foundation has appointed Treva Haugaard executive director.

Haugaard has over 15 years of management responsibility and demonstrated commitment and drive to create positive system change.

For the past seven years, Haugaard has served as executive Haugaard director for the Greater Omaha Attendance and Learning Services Center. Haugaard received a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a Master of Public Administration and Social Work from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

She is a graduate of the Nonprofit Executive Institute and the Omaha Community Foundation’s Nonprofit Capacity Building Program.

Haugaard replaces Dr. Dennis Joslin, who is retiring after serving as CINCF executive director since January 2018.

MBJ SUBSCRIBERS

Do you have an address/ contact change?

For your convenience you can now update your records by simply emailing any new info to subscriptions@mbj.com or navigating directly to our website and filling out an update form.

DeBoer

Schaffart

Metropolitan Utilities District promotes DeBoer, Schaffart

Metropolitan Utilities District’s promoted David DeBoer to senior vice-president, chief operations officer, and Joseph Schaffart to senior vice-president, chief financial officer.

DeBoer has 22 years of service with MUD and most recently served as vice president, marketing and rates. Prior to joining MUD, he was a project engineer for HDR Engineering and a senior design engineer for Omaha Public Power District. He received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and has Professional Engineer and Certified Energy Manager certifications. In addition, DeBoer was an instructor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha – Peter Kiewit Institute and is a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

Schaffart joined the District in 2013 and most recently served as vice president, accounting. Prior to joining MUD, he held leadership roles in several companies including vice-president and controller for First Data Resources, senior director of accounting for West Corp., and manager of cost accounting for Northern Natural Gas. He received bachelor and master’s degrees in business administration from UNO and holds CPA and CMA certifications. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Institute of Management Accountants, and the Great Plains Governmental Finance Officers Association.

Mutual of Omaha adds ElkinsRogers to leadership position

Mutual of Omaha has appointed Vanessa Elkins-Rogers to vice president of enterprise procurement and purchasing.

Elkins-Rogers provides strategic leadership and direction on the procurement of goods and services for the organization. She collaborates with business partners to ensure the company's Elkins-Rogers competitive position, profitability and compliance through continuous improvement and assessment of the procurement systems, processes and programs. Before joining Mutual of Omaha, Elkins-Rogers served as a procurement and purchasing consultant for ICONMA. Before that, she held leadership positions at Cox Communications, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Crawford and Company, and Johnson Controls. Elkins-Rogers received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Kennesaw State University.

Midlands Business Journal • MAY 17, 2019 •

SCORR Marketing names Boutin vice president, communications

Anderson

Cruise

KPMG promotes Anderson, Cruise, Booker to leadership positions

KPMG LLP, an audit, tax and advisory firm, has promoted David Anderson, Eric Cruise and Beth Booker.

Anderson, who was most recently an audit senior manager, was promoted to audit partner in the firm’s Omaha ofBooker fice. He specializes in SEC reporting and audit services for companies in the consumer products, industrial manufacturing, telecommunications and business services industries. Anderson, a CPA, has a bachelor’s degree from Saint Louis University.

Cruise, a tax senior manager, has been promoted to tax managing director in the firm’s Lincoln office. He has over 11 years of experience in tax planning and structuring for private and publicly held companies including assisting companies with federal,

SCORR Marketing has appointed Roger Boutin to vice president of communications.

Boutin will lead SCORR’s internal and external communications, content development, public and media relations, and M&A communications efforts to ensure the company’s health and life science clients Boutin successfully engage prospects, increase visibility, and distinguish themselves as thought leaders. As an executive strategist, Boutin will build client relationships while guiding brand and strategy development, enabling clients to capitalize on growth opportunities. Previously, Boutin was executive director of global marketing at PRA Health Sciences.

He has 14 years of experience in the clinical drug development space leading sales support, marketing, and public relations and communications, including transitions and integration, budget planning and execution, and two global rebrands. state & local, and international tax compliance.

Booker was promoted to director of advisory, IT audit and assurance in the Omaha office. She has more than eight years of experience assisting clients with IT risk and compliance assessments and consulting.

31

Green Plains Inc. promotes Simpkins, Neppl, Kolomaya

Green Plains Inc. Chief Development Officer Patrich Simpkins will take over as chief financial officer of Green Plains and Green Plains Partners LP. Current CFO John Neppl has been appointed executive vice president and chief financial officer of Bunge Limited. Paul Kolomaya has been promoted to chief accounting officer of Green Plains and Green Plains Partners LP. Simpkins has served as chief development officer since October 2014, previously serving as chief risk officer from October 2014 through August 2016 and as executive vice president of finance and treasurer from May 2012 to October 2014.

Prior to joining Green Plains, Simpkins held a number of senior management positions with SensorLogic, Inc., TXU Corporation, Duke Energy Corporation, and Louis Dreyfus Energy. He has a bachelor of business administration degree from the University of Kentucky.

Kolomaya, who was executive vice president — commodity finance, has been promoted to chief accounting officer of Green Plains and Green Plains Partners LP. Previously, Kolomaya had served as executive vice president — commodity finance since February 2012. Prior to joining Green Plains in August 2008 as vice president — commodity finance, Kolomaya was employed by Conagra Foods, Inc. and brings 22 years of commodity finance and accounting experience to the company. Kolomaya holds chartered accountant and certified public accountant certifications and has a bach-

Denker

Riecken

Oxbow Animal Health adds Denker, Riecken to team

Oxbow Animal Health has hired Beau Denker as director of food safety & quality and Niki Riecken as controller. Denker and Riecken have also joined Oxbow’s senior leadership team, which is responsible for defining Oxbow’s strategic planning and growth.

Denker comes to Oxbow from Clasen Quality Chocolate in Wisconsin, where he served as head of the food quality and safety team. His food ingredient career also includes positions with Conagra Foods and Cargill Corn Milling. He has degrees in chemistry and geography from Wayne State College in Nebraska.

Riecken has more than 25 years of accounting experience for manufacturing companies in the Omaha and Lincoln areas.

Prior to joining Oxbow, Riecken was assistant controller with Malnove Incorporated.

Riecken holds degrees in mathematics and business administration from the University of Nebraska at Kearney. elor of honors commerce degree from the University of Manitoba.

32

• MAY 17, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal

The Lincoln

MAY 2019

BUSINESS Vol. 22 No. 5 $2.00

Journal

Nebraska Home Sales debuts commercial division, York office; set for expansion in ag.

Page 2

Fourstarzz Media expands globally while helping brands, ad agencies with influencer marketing.

Page 3

Code Beer Co. grows along with Telegraph District.

Page 7

2

• MAY 2019 • The Lincoln Business Journal

Nebraska Home Sales debuts commercial division, York office; set for expansion in ag

by Michelle Leach

As Nebraska Home Sales approached its 15th year of operations, the Lincoln-based residential real estate firm seized opportunities in York and in commercial real estate in Omaha and Lincoln, and anticipates launching its ag land division this year.

“If you look at the number of commercial agents in any city and market, it’s about a tenth of the residential agents,

Nebraska Home Sales Phone: 402-489-9071 Address: 6201 S. 58th St., Suite B, Lincoln 68516 Services: comprehensive residential and commercial divisions Founded: 2004 Agents: 53 (nine are owners) Website: www.nebhomesales.com/

and ag is about a tenth of the commercial agents — there are just not as many agents that do that,” said Managing Broker and Partner Brent Robinson. “It’s more specialized.”

Founded in 2004, the full-service real estate company based at 6210 S. 58th St. in Lincoln was sold to Robinson and his wife, Heidi, as well as Steve and Deb Arens, in July 2015.

“My wife and I have always been interested in real estate,” Robinson said.

Furthermore, the Nebraska natives were ready to return to the state with their young children after stints with large organizations in major metros including San Francisco, California; Denver, Colorado; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

In a February announcement, Robinson noted the new owners “overhauled and updated all our systems to maximize flow through automation, and paperless transactions for agents who want to take advantage of the latest and greatest technologies and to improve their efficiency. This includes one of the highest real estate-rated websites in the country, which produces numerous daily leads to our agents.”

“Shortly after buying the company, I

Financial & Tax Planning ....

Pages 4-6 Industry and the Environment ....

Pages 8-9 Employment & Staffing ........

Pages 12-14

Managing Broker, Partner Brent Robinson … Real estate firm celebrates efficiency gains, agent ownership, diversification in 15th year. went to an annual conference and went the back-end to assure all the paperwork is to every buyer there to see what were the complete, and in the client’s best interest best systems,” Robinson recalled in April. from a legal and financial standpoint,” He indicated Nebraska Home Sales Robinson said.

Last year, the company also began to sought systems that would generate leads for agents — a capability the firm didn’t spread the word about its new commercial have before. Likewise, it formerly wasn’t division: NHS Commercial. According to NHS information, the division is headed a “paperless” organization.

“We still have a lot of clients who like by Arens, boasts an Omaha office (Aaron to do their transactions on paper, but we Fuller is the associate broker), and the have a lot of clients who don’t,” Robinson company also offers a 66-log development said. “We can adapt to clients, and no lon- in Hickman and a new infill development ger have to keep boxes and boxes of files. in South Lincoln.

Robinson said they are gearing up to We have everything saved and backed up roll out NHS Ag Division soon. on the cloud.”

“We believe these divisions diversify The likes of leads and transaction our business model and help fuel our conmanagement all “flow together,” he said.

“We’re able to check our agents’ paper- tinued growth in this and other markets,” work to see if they missed a signature or he said.

Longtime agents in York asked Nea document, and we have sales support on

Advertise in LBJ! Contact us to advertise in one of our special sections today!

Building an Insurance Benefits Package Topics may include the following:

Building an Insurance Benefits Package Overview • Health insurance Recruiting & retaining • Elective employee benefits • Employee wellness programs Issue Date: June • Ad Deadline: June 13

Buy/Sell Your Home Topics may include the following:

How to Buy/Sell Your Home overview • Home real estate market Technology • Mortgages/refinancing • Home improvement and remodeling Issue Date: June • Ad Deadline: June 13

BUSINESS Journal

The Lincoln Business Journal Established in 1996

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

ADVERTISING ADVERTISING CONSULTANT, Catie Kirby ADVERTISING CONSULTANT, Julie Whitehead OFFICE OFFICE ASSISTANT, Rosemary Gregurich BOOKKEEPING/LEGAL NOTICES, Beth Grube

A section prepared by the staff of the Lincoln Business Journal

A section prepared by the staff of the Lincoln Business Journal

The Lincoln

braska Home Sales leadership to open an office in their community.

“We opened the office about a year ago — spring of 2018 — and we’ve grown from the original two agents to six,” Robinson said. “It’s one of the top brokerages in York.”

Last year, NHS announced a full A-share ownership opportunity, a key differentiator in the industry, according to Robinson.

“We are an agent-owned and an agent-focused company,” he said. “We have multiple agents who own a portion of the company … they get to vote and participate, and that’s really rare. I can’t think of another company like that (other than really small, five-people brokerages).”

Robinson noted nine of its 53 agents across the three markets are owners.

A nod to this focus, Robinson said the managing brokers don’t do a lot of their own real estate transactions.

“Our focus is on the agents,” he said.

“We want to help people that help themselves and want to do more volume than they did the year before. We’ll help them find a builder and investor, and help them learn whatever they want to do. They’ll be more loyal to us, and we have established a company culture where some agents don’t want the help. They like being independent. We don’t micro-manage.”

And they generally encourage sellers to not “DIY” the process.

“Putting a house on Zillow with a price is easy,” he said. “But people don’t realize how much work there is to move past the offer. They don’t know how to read the contract and what steps are next.”

Robinson emphasized the liability one is exposed to if a legal binding contract isn’t handled properly.

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

Topics may include the following:

Tech trends 2019 overview • Latest on cyber-security • Technology law Doing more with data and artificial intelligence (AI) • Finding new tech talent

(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.

Issue Date: June • Ad Deadline: June 13

See page 11

Contact one of our ad representatives at (402) 330-1760 or email directly using the addresses below: Julie Whitehead - Julie@mbj.com • Catie Kirby - ads@mbj.com

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.

The Lincoln Business Journal • MAY 2019 •

Fourstarzz Media expands globally while helping brands, ad agencies with influencer marketing

by Gabby Christensen

Lincoln-based startup Fourstarzz Media, founded in 2016 by Daniel Troesch and Dennis Doerfl, has quickly grown to become a global company with networks across the world, while also gaining attention from various investors by offering a set of web-based influencer marketing tools enabling ad agencies, brands and other interested entities to master influencer marketing.

Doerfl said the company also offers managed campaign services, white-label influencer marketing services to ad agencies and influencer marketing consulting.

Fourstarzz Media Phone: 402-413-9073 Address: 151 N. 8th St., Suite 300, Lincoln 68501 Founded: 2016 Service: Lincoln-based business offering web-based influencer marketing tools for ad agencies, brands and others.

Employees: 8, plus extended team at Don’t Panic Labs Goal: Offer smart AI driven marketing tools.

Website: https://fourstarzz.com

“Similar to what Priceline’s Kayak very successfully did for the online travel industry by aggregating online travel agencies, we at Fourstarzz Media aggregate influencer marketplaces,” Doerfl said. “This aggregation approach sets us apart. With us, you have access to social media influencers across eight social platforms and multiple countries in North America, Europe and Asia.”

The co-founders, who are both Germany natives, named the company in honor of Germany winning the fourth World Cup, giving the players their fourth star on their uniforms.

Doerfl said the initial idea for the business was born while he and Troesch were working as executives at Groupon, helping its Europe expansion.

“We were lucky to learn digital marketing at the fastest growing online company in history,” he said. “This was a breeding ground for great new business ideas.”

Since its beginning, Doerfl said the business has expanded to eight employees with an extended team at Don’t Panic Labs for software development work.

The business serves both small and large brands and agencies.

Some of the better known clients are BMW, Philips, Groupon, Ameritas and The Arbor Day Foundation. Doerfl said the company also works with smaller local businesses, such as Sapahn.com in Lincoln.

Along with success comes some trials, and Doerfl said the company has been fortunate to overcome obstacles with help from others.

“Administrative tasks are needed, but often eat so much time that you would rather put into your product or customer relations,” he said. “Luckily, there are great service providers in the area that focus on the needs of startups like us.”

Over the course of the past few years, Doerfl said he’s really noticed the advertising world is changing.

“People pay for not being disturbed — consider the rise of Netflix,” he said. “We think that advertising is about people talking to people they trust.

That’s why we invest our efforts in word-of-mouth marketing at scale in the digital world.”

Planning ahead, Doerfl said he hopes to build a global company with smart AI driven marketing tools.

As for now and always, he said customer experience remains at the forefront.

“The most rewarding moments are when you make your customers happy,” Doerfl said. “We really strive to do just that. It’s great being able to see that everything you put in turns out to be of value to the people you serve.”

Co-founder and CEO Dennis Doerfl … Growing in influencer marketing niche.

3

4

• MAY 2019 • The Lincoln Business Journal

Financial & Tax Planning A section prepared by the staff of the Lincoln Business Journal

May 2019

No one size fits all in retirement planning, say experts

by Dwain Hebda

Local financial planning experts are warning investors against homogeneity and following the herd, even in bull markets.

“Every investor is different, and there is no foolproof formula for determining the appropriate asset allocation based on age, phase in life or anything else,” said Blake Anderson, vice president and principal with Pittenger & Anderson. “Creating a comprehensive financial plan is the best approach to help determine an individual’s risk tolerance, appropriate asset allocation and investment game plan.

“Trying to time the market is also very difficult and rarely ends with positive

results. Determining an asset almarket. location and sticking to it — with “Investors should also alnecessary adjustments over time ways be aware of the fine as life changes — is the best way print and pay attention to the to find investing success over the fees they are being charged,” long term.”

Anderson said. “It is important Despite the highly individuto know exactly what you are alized nature of investing, Anderinvesting in.” son said some fundamental rules Investors should also edapply more or less universally. ucate themselves on tax law “One rule of thumb individchanges, particularly if they uals should keep in mind is to own a business. A trained proFerguson build an emergency fund to cover fessional can be invaluable, said three to six months of expenses,” he said. Michael Johnson, founder and wealth man“Once this is built up, they can be strate- ager of Flagstone Financial Management. gic with the rest of their money, including “I see a general lack of tax awareness,” reducing debt or investing in the equity he said. “Business owners need to become

aware of the basics or higher of accounting or better yet, hire a team of professionals that are advisers and not simply service providers.

“I also see a lot of business owners that don’t understand retirement plan options.

This may be a simple IRA plan to get themselves and employees saving, or a 401(k) with profit sharing that allows everyone more opportunity to save and the employer to share profits. Cash balance plans are only appropriate in limited situations, but when they are appropriate, the benefits can be significant.”

Underpinning these more complex vehicles should be a sound grasp of Continued on page 6.

Financial & Tax Planning •

The Lincoln Business Journal • MAY 2019 •

5

6

• MAY 2019 • The Lincoln Business Journal

• Financial & Tax Planning

Federal student loan interest rates about to get first cut in 3 years

by Susan Tompor

High school grads on their way to college — as well as returning college students — just got a bit of a financial gift.

Interest rates on new federal student loans made on or after July 1 will be lower than they are now. It’s the first rate cut in three years.

Financial Rates will decrease by 0.516 percentage points for new federal student loans made on or after July 1 through June 30, 2020.

The new fixed interest rates will be 4.529 percent on the Federal Stafford loan for undergraduate students.

The rate is 6.079 percent for the Federal Stafford loan for graduate students and 7.079 percent for the Federal Grad PLUS and Federal Parent PLUS loans.

It’s not a huge savings but it’s real money.

The lower rates would drive the monthly loan payments down by about 2.4 percent, assuming a 10-year repayment term, according to Mark Kantrowitz, publisher

and vice president of research for Savingforcollege.com.

“For most borrowers,” he said, “that yields a decrease of just a few dollars a month.”

“The typical borrower will save $2 to $3 a month or about $300 in total, assuming a 10-year repayment plan,” Kantrowitz said.

The new rates do not apply to existing loans. The new rates do not apply to private student loans; the interest rates on private student loans typically change monthly, even for fixed interest rates, Kantrowitz said.

Kantrowitz noted that the interest rates on federal education loans are fixed, which means they remain the same over the life of the loan.

Each year’s new federal students loans have a new interest rate, which is based on the high yield of the last 10-year Treasury Note auction in May. Over time, of course, students can save a good deal of money with lower rates. The

average savings on federal student loans taken out during the 2019-20 academic year will range from $199 for undergraduates to $805 for graduate students taking out PLUS loans, according to Credible. com.

The $199 estimate is based on loans taken out in 2019-20, based on average annual borrowing of $6,570 for undergraduate students. The estimated $805 in savings for graduate students is based on average annual borrowing of $24,810.

To save more money, of course, students need to continue to watch how much money they’re borrowing.

Kantrowitz offers these tips: -Remember, every dollar you borrow will cost about $2 by the time you repay the debt, given the typical mix of repayment plans and capitalization of interest that accrues during the in-school period.

-“Every dollar you save is a dollar less you’ll have to borrow,” he said. He noted that the new rate is 4.529 percent — so it should remind families about the bene-

fits of putting money in college-related, tax-advantaged 529 savings plans.

-Some private student loans will reduce the interest rate on your private student loans if you agree to make interest-only or fixed payments, say $25 a month, during the in-school and grace periods.

-Paying on federal and private student loans while in college can reduce the interest that is capitalized. But, there’s a trade-off between paying the interest during the in-school period and borrowing less in subsequent years. Would you be able to save more to take on less debt next year in school?

-You can save money on both federal and private student loans by agreeing to repay your student loans by auto-debit, where the monthly payment is automatically transferred from your bank account to the lender. Most lenders will reduce your interest rate by 0.25 percent or 0.50 percent. ©2019 Detroit Free Press Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

No one size fits all in retirement planning Continued from page 4. saving and investing fundamentals, again, tailored to a person’s individual need, risk tolerance, age and a host of other variables.

“Money you need for sure within five years should be in safe investments,” Johnson said. “Online savings, CD specials and money markets are paying better interest than we have seen since 2008 so there are some good options out there for safe assets. People should always save regularly, and when others are getting nervous about markets after drops or volatility, try to save a little more. There are behavioral and obvious financial benefits to regular savings.”

One easy trap investors get into is chasing investment strategies they find online.

Becky Ferguson, vice president of Union Investment Management Group, said people get caught up with online advice rather than putting in the work and discipline to form a plan that’s best for them.

“Risk tolerance and asset allocation are too personal to give a blanket rule of thumb,” she said. “An old rule is that you subtract your age from 100 to determine your equity allocation percentage. However, a person who is 60 years old may be comfortable with well over 40% of their investable assets in equities. On the other hand, that person might be averse to any volatility in the equity markets at any level.

“Each person must be able to sleep at night. No rule of thumb can tell you what you should be comfortable with.”

The Lincoln Business Journal • MAY 2019 •

Code Beer Co. grows along with Telegraph District

by Dwain Hebda

Since opening its doors in summer 2017, Code Beer Co. has enjoyed a steadily growing clientele of craft beer devotees.

But it’s also been part of the larger growth of the neighborhood, Lincoln’s Telegraph District. In fact, the company is so plugged into its surroundings the brewery’s very name came in part to fit in with the location, said Matt Gohring, brewery operations manager, who co-founded the business with Adam Holmberg.

“Adam and I worked for a while on trying to find some kind of name that would mean something to us or that we wouldn’t get bored of,” Gohring said. “There wasn’t really anything big we were landing on so we decided to put all our eggs into the location and help try and play into that neighborhood because we really are excited to see how that’s going to develop and grow over the coming years.

“From a brand standpoint it was short, it was sweet, nobody has the name, which is super important because no one is going to sue us for it, which in today’s landscape is hard. And as we’ve been utilizing it, we’ve realized the potential that we can really branch that out in many different ways.”

The name also appealed to their individual backgrounds — Gohring coming from

by Gabby Christensen

play more to the Telegraph District I think Code will take on additional meaning and make us feel like it belongs in that area.”

The unique name aside, Code began the same way a lot of craft beer operations get going — with a hobby.

“I got interested in home brewing about eight years before we actually opened.

Those first few years were very amateurish,” Gohring said. “But the more I did it, the more I was interested in the process. I

Code Beer Co. Phone: 402-318-5888 Address: 200 S. Antelope Valley Parkway, Lincoln 68510 Service: brewery Employees: 6 Website: www.codebeer.co

Brewery Operations Manager Matt Gohring … Riding the growth of the Telegraph District. the advertising word and Holmberg from the location and it was vague enough that computer software. we could play with it a little bit,” Gohring “It was a name that meant everything to said. “As the neighborhood grows and they

Local opportunities, assistance make it easier for startups to flourish Both new and veteran entrepreneurs don’t have to look very far when it comes to finding guidance for their startups, as various local organization leaders say there’s no shortage of assistance options available in today’s entrepreneurial climate.

Jason Culver, COO/SVP at Nebraska Economic Development Corp. (NEDCO), said Nebraska is seeing a stronger growth in the number of entrepreneurs.

“We typically think of entrepreneurs in terms of startup technology companies that are heavily based on the West Coast, but more people are starting these same types of businesses right here in Nebraska,” Culver said. “A lot of the barriers facing startups are much smaller here in the Midwest where there’s a much lower cost of living, education is cheaper and more accessible, and small business assistance is more readily available.”

According to Culver, a big need for any startup is securing adequate capital and financing to move their business from concept to reality.

“Organizations like NEDCO offer SBA loans and can help bridge the gap,” he said.

“We help startups secure SBA financing by partnering with lenders to lower the risk while also giving the business better rates, repayment terms and lower down payments than traditional financing.”

Culver said Nebraska entrepreneurs can find a wide variety of assistance that ranges from meetings with other entrepreneurs to discuss problems and solutions to more indepth assistance, such as free legal advice and representation for startups through the UNL Weibling Entrepreneurship Clinic.

Culver also recommended entrepreneurs seek help from the Nebraska Business Development Center (NBDC) and UNL’s Center for Entrepreneurship.

Kim Preston, director of the Center for

7

Rural Affairs Women’s Business Center, said in Nebraska, the number of Latino businesses nearly doubled in five years, while non-Hispanic firms grew only 2.8%.

Additionally, she said there was 50% employment growth over those five years, despite the economic recession.

“Latino business growth hasn’t slowed since,” Preston said. “Due to the overwhelming need for services in Nebraska, the Center for Rural Affairs recently ex-

Culver Preston panded our scale and efficiency of our small business lending program. We now offer bilingual small business services across all of rural Nebraska, from South Sioux City to Scottsbluff to Nebraska City and all points in between.”

Preston said non-Latino small business needs have remained steady.

However, due to the recent natural disasters, Preston said both Latino and non-Latino small businesses and agricultural businesses throughout Nebraska are still assessing damages.

According to Preston, startups and existing entrepreneurs in Nebraska can receive assistance by taking part in the Center for Rural Affairs’ free business trainings, technical assistance and networking opportunities.

“Our one-on-one consulting can help guide perspective business owners through

ideas, business plans, the logistics of starting up a business, business expansions or any other questions. We also provide small business loans up to $150,000,” Preston said.

Christina Oldfather, director of innovation and entrepreneurship at Lincoln Partnership for Economic Development, said she’s definitely seeing a lot of momentum in the entrepreneurial climate.

She said there’s no shortage of resources and opportunities available right now for entrepreneurs at all stages.

Becoming involved through local events is extremely important, according to Oldfather.

Additionally, she said Southeast Comm u n i t y C o l l e g e ’s Oldfather Entrepreneurship Center offers various programming for entrepreneurs.

She also said there are a number entities that offer products and services designed to take startups to the next level, such as billing software, mentoring, angel investors and coworking space with other entrepreneurs to collaborate.

Oldfather said local and state funding also is available for small businesses through both small and large grants.

“Entrepreneurship can be lonely and challenging if you don’t have a network of people who are going through the same things,” Oldfather said. “I strongly believe that anyone who is interested in entrepreneurship should seek out these opportunities and get connected in the community.

It might even spark an idea of your own.

You never know what might be out there for you.”

loved beer so it was this quest to always try and make beer that was close to what you would call commercial quality.”

During those eight years, the craft beer boom accelerated to full throttle and with it plenty of expertise in the way of books and podcasts on the finer points of brewing. Gohring also found fellow brewers to be very willing to share their knowledge with others.

“As a home brewer, I rarely brewed the same thing over and over and over again,” Gohring said. “I was always of this mindset there are so many possibilities and I’m kind of an impatient person anyway. To just stand there and be like, I’m going to brew this pale ale 12 times in a row, I couldn’t do it. So I would bounce all over the place.”

This diversity comes in handy filling Code’s 12 taps. Gohring also discovered that despite being agnostic in his taste for brewing, the process itself didn’t change much among the various types of beer he made, another advantage when his hobby turned into a profession.

“If a brewer understands the process and can make good beer there’s some differences in there with equipment and just how things work, but it really doesn’t take too long to figure that out,” he said. “It’s like a really good chef. Whether they’re doing it in their home or a professional setting, sure, there’s some process differences but I think being the good chef you can adapt to that and correct them in a quick manner. To me that’s what makes a good brewer.”

LBJ SUBSCRIBERS

Do you have an address/ contact change?

For your convenience you can now update your records by simply emailing any new info to subscriptions@mbj.com or navigating directly to our website and filling out an update form.

The Lincoln

Business Journal www.mbj.com

8

• MAY 2019 • The Lincoln Business Journal

Industry & the Environment A section prepared by the staff of the Lincoln Business Journal

May 2019

Environmental engineers discuss latest challenges, area projects

by Gabby Christensen

Local environmental engineering and sustainability professionals say area projects have remained steady despite industry challenges.

According to Mike Heller, manager of the environmental services department at JEO Consulting, one of the largest challenges is the ever-evolving world of environmental regulations.

“Environmental regulations are often updated based on the political climate,” Heller said. “As a result, our team has formed a strong working relationship with the resource agencies and this allows us to continue to provide our clients with up to date information regarding regulations or potential changes that may impact future projects.”

At JEO, Heller said some in-demand environmental services include wetland delineations and permitting, environmental site assessments, stormwater management and surveying for actively nesting migra-

tory birds.

Currently, Heller said the 56th and Morton streets project in Lincoln is ongoing.

“This project features a major channel reconstruction to increase flood resilience in the area,” Heller said.

Heller “This project has included environmental permitting, a flood study, a design based on the flood study to reduce flooding and environmental mitigation.”

Kim Copenhaver, senior environmental specialist at Terracon Consultants, said one of the latest challenges facing the environmental engineering industry is the changing weather patterns that result in more intense precipitation events.

“Streams and tributaries in the water-

Stenberg Jilek shed are becoming increasingly difficult to manage, and the regulatory standards that protect these are complicated,” Copenhaver said. “It has become more and more challenging to meet point source and non-point source pollution standards, as well as the stormwater management and wetland mitigation requirements that aim to prevent flooding and pollutant loading.

There just isn’t enough funding available for infrastructure improvements and proper

management of our manmade and natural infrastructure for water.”

Today, Copenhaver said some services currently in demand include upgrades to storm sewer collection systems, flood management and planning, design and monitoring of water quality improvement projects, and stream stabilization and wetland mitigation design.

On the natural resource side of the environmental engineering industry, Copenhaver said some major projects addressing this are the planning and creation of new reservoirs in the various watersheds, Dead Man’s Run Flood Risk Reduction project in Lincoln, and Omaha’s Combined Sewer Overflow Program.

Joel Stenberg, project manager at SCS Engineers, said the need to efficiently manage budgets and client expectations are consistent challenges.

“Increasingly, clients are looking to us for solutions to effectively share their resources between ongoing compliance programs and capital improvement projects to facilitate long-term positive business and environmental impacts,” he said.

At the moment, Stenberg said there is a high demand for due diligence services as clients continue to purchase and develop properties.

“We frequently perform environmental and business risk assessments of those properties so clients can make the best decision for their business,” Stenberg said.

With the historic flooding experienced in Nebraska and Iowa this spring, Stenberg said safely and effectively managing flood debris continues to be a significant issue.

Stenberg said SCS Engineers has been asked to evaluate structures that need to be repaired, but first need environmental assessments to ensure that flood-impacted building materials are properly handled and disposed.

In addition, he said the city of Omaha is preparing to enter into a multiyear contract with a vendor who will collect solid waste from residential properties, in which SCS assisted the city with data collection, data evaluation, cost estimating and bid preparation to help the city create a contract framework to efficiently and sustainably manage approximately 200,000 tons of material from about 150,000 households.

Zachary Jilek, environmental services department manager at E&A Consulting Group, said although the post construction Continued on next page.

Industry and the Environment •

The Lincoln Business Journal • MAY 2019 •

9

Air quality technology advances with consumer awareness

by Dwain Hebda

The subjects of environmental contaminants and air quality are much better understood by homeowners and business owners today. This new awareness has pushed the air quality industry to the forefront in many homes and businesses, experts say.

“Homeowners have also become more aware of dangerous toxins, such as radon and carbon monoxide, and are more likely to take action as a result,” said Aaron Ruskamp, director of operations for Thrasher.

He said many solutions to air quality issues aren’t particularly complicated or expensive, citing over-the-counter radon test kits and carbon monoxide detectors that have been around for years. However, he’s also seen an increase in homeowners that enlist the help of professionals to address air quality issues.

“Working with a radon professional will average person generates about 10 pounds ensure that the test is placed accurately, of dust and dander a year just from their errors are avoided and ensure that the en- activities, body and clothing. Depending on tire process complies with EPA how many people live there, that standards,” he said. “As far as all affects [air quality]. cost goes, a DIY radon test kit can “The type of filtration being cost as little as $10 to $15 and a used in furnaces also has a big professional test can run between impact on that. People with new $75 and $150.” systems and a circulate cycle that Common household dust and runs throughout the day help keep dander also can severely deteriothose dust levels down, where rate the quality of internal air. Bill somebody whose system might Hippen, owner of Duct Masters in not kick on for four or five days Lincoln and Omaha, said a wide because the weather is mild, their range of variables affect the level home is probably going to be Hippen of such pollutants. dustier during that same period.”

“Some homes burn a lot of candles, they Hippen said today’s processes for duct might have a lot of plug-ins, they might have cleaning are thorough enough to satisfy even a lot of pets, they may have old carpets and very sensitive individuals for prolonged carpets hold a lot of dirt,” he said. “The periods of time.

Controlling energy usage doesn’t have to mean investing in new equipment quite yet

dim the lights in that area and save energy.”

by Jasmine Heimgartner Beyond lighting, incorporating a proTechnology provides businesses many ways to enhance operations. When it comes gramable thermostat can reduce energy used to equipment, efficiently using energy not if a space is unoccupied. Additionally, power only affects the bottom line but also minimiz- management systems are available that can put control of an entire building es a businesses footprint when it and its power usage into the palm comes to the environment. of the hand.

Manufacturers are continually “A power management system updating equipment to provide the can be a relatively simple system latest and greatest in efficiency, that monitors and reports the enas well as how they are powered. ergy usage, or it can be complex Instead of electrical energy, opsystem that is incorporated into a tions include geothermal, which building management system to uses groundwater as a source monitor, control and limit energy of heating and cooling, or solar. usage,” said Tony Dupsky, PE, arNewer equipment often has built chitectural engineer, ETI. “There in monitors that allows for proDupsky are monitoring systems that can gramming zones to maximize use be easily added to existing systems and be while minimizing energy consumption.

As great as new technology is, fitting setup to communicate with smart devices or it into the budget isn’t always an option. send notifications about energy usage. The Luckily, there are other ways businesses can complex systems will need to be incorporated into the programing of the building managemake a change.

“If you don’t want the cost of new ment system. These systems are capable of equipment, then lighting controls are the demand limiting, stagger starting equipment, best manner of reducing energy,” said Cody automatic setbacks, etc.”

Every business is different, which means Hermsmeyer, electrical engineering designer, Geary Engineering. “Motion sensing switch- every business needs to consider their operaes and LED lights are easy to put in, and the tions when deciding to make a change.

“A small office building might want price of those have come down considerably.

Changing light fixtures themselves from something simple, as it can be easily confluorescent to incandescent is a really good trolled by the occupants, where a large office option for energy conservation. You can also building would want a building management reduce usage by taking advantage of natural system because of the variables and complex daylight by harvesting it. If you have ample systems,” Dupsky said. “The type of business light coming in an exterior window, you can impacts the choices. A restaurant for instance uses a lot energy, however, the energy is required for cooking processes, and a warehouse might use little energy because they only have to maintain minimum temperature Continued from preceding page. and lighting levels.” stormwater management plan ordinance Since there are so many options, it’s often is not extremely new, it’s still been chal- hard to know where to start. lenging to inform homeowners about “You have to be in contact with the owner regulations. and ask what is the most important for them As they’ve begun to work more with regarding energy savings, as well as what is residential developments, Jilek has also the most realistic and what is the easiest for noticed that SWPPP (Stormwater Pollution the building owner to manage,” Hermsmeyer Prevention Plan) design has been in high said. “If they don’t want a complex control demand. system, we can keep it simple with a lighting “On the wetlands and permitting side, system. In the end, you want them to be happy they’re looking at giving the permitting with equipment that is not too hard to control authority to the Nebraska Department of so they don’t have to have a manufacturer’s Environmental Quality energy committee,” rep come out every time — something they Jilek said. “It’ll be exciting to see if this can manage in house and will be happy with.” new group can speed up permitting to Developing a strategy of gradual changes streamline the process a bit.” makes it easier to work toward the bigger,

Area projects

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.”

“Normally for families we’re at about three to six years, for empty nesters we often say about six to 10 years depending on lifestyle and habits,” he said. “I have a friend whose son has severe asthma and we ended up cleaning their house every 18 to 24 months, which is as extreme as I’ve ever seen. I told him, ‘It’s hard to tell that we’ve even cleaned it.’ He said, ‘I know, but my son can tell.’”

The future of the industry lies in technology, said MacKenzie Davis, environmental scientist with New Horizons Environmental.

“The future for technology includes monitors that can be controlled remotely through an app and can obtain results on a real-time basis, making it easier to test for air pollutants in homes and commercial facilities,” she said. “The air quality industry looks to continue growing with this increase in technology.”

In addition to being more responsive, tools will continue to add to an already robust list of elements that can be detected.

“Monitors can provide temperature and humidity readings, along with general air quality such as carbon dioxide and overall chemical concentration,” Davis said. “Instant-read devices provide real-time data and are increasingly user-friendly to operate and to understand the results.

“Devices can detect radon, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, formaldehyde and other common types of chemical pollutants. Instant-read devices can also give readings on other air quality parameters and oxygen levels.”

10

• MAY 2019 • The Lincoln Business Journal

Why it’s best to keep renovations simple when selling your home

by Neal J. Leitereg

When it comes to selling a home, some homeowners will go to great lengths to boost the value of their property. But do renovation projects translate to big paydays in the real estate marreal esTaTe ket? Not necessarily, Zillow data show.

A mid-range bathroom remodel ($3,000 or less) can bring back $1.71 for every dollar spent, according to Zillow, whereas high-end bathroom remodels see an 87-cent return on the dollar. Kitchen remodels, on the other hand, see only a 50-cent bang per your buck.

A fresh coat of paint, new light fixtures or even light landscaping are less invasive ways to brighten your home’s future on the market.

The value of vintage Tatiana Tensen, Sotheby’s International Realty, Los Angeles: One question I always ask sellers when I first meet them is what their budget for renovations is because every house can use a little tune-up before hitting the market.

The first thing I do is make sure we fix any glaring issues that could be non-starters.

Hello, popcorn ceilings. Hello, wall-to-wall carpet. I have an upcoming listing with a gorgeous and very prominent roofline. That unique roofline would usually be an asset but it is glaringly apparent that the roof needs to be replaced. It’s a big-ticket fix but if we leave it as is, we risk narrowing our buyer pool and selling for a lot less.

Painting can be everything. It is amazing what a couple of gallons of paint can do. Everyone should paint before selling. It sounds super boring but I encourage most people to go bright white in the interior.

There are many different ways you can go for the exterior but I have been loving the darker trends these days. Pair that with a lighter door like a pale aqua or peach and people will be pulling out their checkbooks before they even enter the front door.

Updating bathrooms and kitchens can add a lot but understand what you already have and make sure you don’t accidentally take out an asset. Nothing breaks my heart more than someone “renovating” a vintage Spanish tiled bathroom. I just want to yell, “Don’t touch it — it’s perfect the way it is!”

Also, depending on the area, people pay a premium for unaltered vintage spaces.

Small details can have a big impact.

Think of things like doorknobs, light fixtures and cabinet hardware as the home’s jewelry. They are the emotional details that can elevate a buyer from like to love.

Do-it-yourselfers, beware Debbie Weiss, Keller Williams Santa Monica: My advice is always the same. Less is more, in every regard.

I recently sold a perfectly cute Spanish house that hadn’t been touched since the 1920s, except for system upgrades and small improvements here and there, and had all its original charm. The sellers were concerned that the kitchen, which had the original cabinetry and an O’Keefe and Merritt stove, hadn’t been updated. I convinced them to clean everything out minus the furniture and let my designer offer suggestions.

Follow them and it would sell at top dollar.

The designer came, had them repurpose some of their own furniture and gave some other key suggestions such as painting and

power-blasting the deck. Their house had seven offers and sold for over asking. The renovations just weren’t necessary.

Alternatively, I had one situation where my clients expected over-market for their home because of the renovations they had done themselves. Although potential buyers liked the house, I kept hearing what they would have done differently. Ultimately, the sellers didn’t get the offers they thought the house warranted.

The moral of the story is: If you are doing it for a massive profit, don’t bank on a major renovation. Do it for your enjoyment.

And if someone else shares your vision and aesthetic when selling? Bonus. Keep your costs at a minimum and focus on clean and move-in ready, zero clutter and it will sell at a great price regardless. This simple strategy has worked for me time and time again!

Positives in a first impression Jason Insalaco, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, Los Angeles: Unless a client is flipping a property, I generally do not advise them to significantly remodel if the primary purpose is to increase property value for an upcoming sale.

Capricious tastes and shifting trends in design and style make it challenging to increase the value through a high-cost renovation. More importantly, when one takes into consideration the time, inconvenience, carrying costs and financial cost of the improvements, the return on investment is rarely worth the risk.

Clients who seek to optimize sales price

should consider installing a new garage door, a new or freshly painted front door, planting annuals, spreading fresh wood chips in planters, and buying some potted bowls of bright flowers for the front porch.

All of these improvements can usually be had for less than $5,000 and will present potential buyers with a warm and welcoming façade. A positive first impression should increase value by at least 1 percent to 2 percent.

Getting in character Cari Corbalis, RE/Max Estate Properties, Los Angeles: Each property is different, and each seller has a maximum number they are willing to spend on this.

Sellers almost universally will get their money back on fresh paint and new carpet, but what is really important here is the colors they use. We have walked into appointments before where the sellers have thought they were being proactive and painted the interior of the house all white.

All white interior walls are NOT the best sales tactic. The house will look stark and not welcoming.

The popular trend for interior colors now tends to lean toward the light-gray spectrum. Also having accent walls painted a few shades darker adds depth and character. We often suggest painting kitchen and bath cabinets if they are in good condition but simply the old-school orangy oak that was so popular a while back.

Installing new light fixtures is another quick and simple item that can update a

home immediately with minimal cost.

The timeless approach Chris Jacobs, Keller Williams Beverly Hills: First impressions are everything.

Curb appeal and landscaping are very important since it’s the first thing a buyer sees. Neutral colors are important and the seller has to remember that it needs to appeal to a large audience so skip any sort of “custom” items.

Updates to bathrooms, such as putting in new fixtures and inexpensive tile that looks great, always increase value. Your property will appeal to a much larger crowd when the work is done, and you won’t miss out on the buyers who are too busy with life to make renovations after they purchase a home.

I have dealt with clients who spent a lot of money on renovations that meant something only to them. I listed a property in Beverly Hills and the owner had pavers imported from Italy to put around the pool and added high-end fixtures that were a very specific taste. The seller wanted to list the property at a higher price because of the custom items, but it would have been a mistake.

Sellers have to remember that just because these items are special to you, it doesn’t mean that other buyers are going to like them. My advice to sellers is to always avoid things that are too custom and always try to go with something that is timeless. ©2019 Los Angeles Times Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Pa. farmers, faced with labor shortage, struggle to keep afloat

by Katie Park

Phillips Mushroom Farms, business is booming and the owners would like to expand. But they can’t.

There aren’t enough harvesters, the people who rise before dawn to work in dark grow houses rapidly cutting mushrooms loose from their beds.

Trends “There’s no one around,” said Jim Angelucci, the Philadelphia farm’s general manager. “And it’s not just the mushroom industry. Everyone is struggling for workers.”

Amid renewed federal emphasis on immigration enforcement, farmers are experiencing a shortage of labor. It’s a problem for virtually all enterprises that rely on difficult manual work, but it’s especially pronounced in agriculture, where farmers rely largely on immigrants — some of them undocumented.

In Pennsylvania, the shortage of workers has disproportionately affected farmers — mushroom, dairy, and others.

In New Jersey, Dory Dickson, director of the Medford-based volunteer organization Migrant Worker Outreach, said local farms have substantially fewer workers this year than in previous years.

Farming and mushroom harvesting is a skill, “and some people just don’t have it,” said Megan Klotzbach, regulatory manager at Mother Earth Organic Mushrooms in Landenberg, Pa. Beyond that, she said, fear of deportation has sent some undocumented immigrants — long a staple of farm work — back to their homelands. “What we really need,” she said, “is some immigration reform.”

Meanwhile, some mushroom and dairy farmers desperate for labor have begun to turn

to places they may not have once considered, such as inmate work-release programs, organizations that help the visually impaired find employment, and others that help veterans find work. While the programs have been met with mixed success, overall they aren’t “moving the needle,” Klotzbach said.

The job of a mushroom harvester is a “hard sell,” said Stephanie Chapman, director of human resource management at Phillips Mushroom Farms. Full-time positions require workers to pick six days a week, including holidays. Days start early and the work can be difficult, as workers have to bend between narrow, dimly-lit wooden mushroom beds, knife in hand, and delicately cut thousands of mushrooms piece by piece. Harvesters are rewarded with a bonus — an amount Chapman declined to disclose — for picking extra quickly.

“One of the biggest problems in agriculture and dairy is that American citizens no longer want to work like that,” said Christian Landis, owner of Worth the Wait Farm, a dairy operation in Stevens, Lancaster County.

“And immigrants — illegal or legal — are the only ones who are willing to step up to the plate to serve these positions.”

The lack of workers is so pronounced that some mushroom farms, like Phillips, can’t cleanly pick their last harvest cycle.

Dairy farmers, mired in a struggling milk market, have seen even thinner profit margins as they push to find workers.

“It’s getting really bad,” said Caroline Novak, deputy director of the Professional Dairy Managers of Pennsylvania, a trade association in Harrisburg. “Quite honestly, they’re dirty jobs. “They pay far above minimum wage, but they are dirty jobs. You’re

behind cows. You’re going in and out of rain, snow, sleet, and hail.”

The labor shrinkage, combined with falling milk prices, she said, has forced some dairy farmers to downsize and others to postpone plans to upgrade to robotic milking machinery.

Mushroom farms are managing to stay afloat, although some say operations aren’t what they once were.

“We just used to always have people coming in, and we’re just not seeing that in the last five years,” said Klotzbach, of Mother Earth Organic Mushrooms. “They (workers) are not feeling happy with the country, or they’re not feeling they want to be here. A lot of them are just going home, whether that be Mexico or somewhere else, and they don’t know if they’re coming back or not.”

Still, mushrooms farms like Phillips have managed to retain some workers for decades, such as J. Trinidad Perez, 54, a 32-year employee who said he legally immigrated from Guanajuato, Mexico in 1985 and now works as a harvesting supervisor. Phillips credits retention to on-site housing, retirement plans, vacation days, and medical coverage they’ve invested in to remain attractive to prospective employees who have their choice of mushroom farms to work at in southern Chester County, Pa. But even so, the next generation of labor is far from guaranteed when mushroom workers’ children, many of whom were born and raised in the U.S., want to work in another industry, Klotzbach said.

As it stands, current farm laborers are shouldering more responsibility as fewer employees are available, said Kathleen Continued on page 16.

The Lincoln Business Journal • MAY 2019 •

11

Building an Insurance Benefits Package

A section prepared by the staff of the Lincoln Business Journal

Topics may include the following:

Building an Insurance Benefits Package Overview • Health insurance Recruiting & retaining • Elective employee benefits • Employee wellness programs Issue Date: June • Ad Deadline: June 13

Buy/Sell Your Home

A section prepared by the staff of the Lincoln Business Journal

Topics may include the following:

How to Buy/Sell Your Home overview • Home real estate market Technology • Mortgages/refinancing • Home improvement and remodeling Issue Date: June • Ad Deadline: June 13

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

Topics may include the following:

Tech trends 2019 overview • Latest on cyber-security • Technology law Doing more with data and artificial intelligence (AI) • Finding new tech talent Issue Date: June • Ad Deadline: June 13 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.

Julie Whitehead - Julie@mbj.com • Catie Kirby - ads@mbj.com

12

• MAY 2019 • The Lincoln Business Journal

May 2019

Employment & Staffing A section prepared by the staff of the Lincoln Business Journal

Amidst low unemployment, employers offering incentives to attract and retain talent

by Gabby Christensen

Staffing and recruiting professionals across Lincoln say a low unemployment rate accompanied by a strong market means employers will need to start utilizing creative hiring tactics.

Paula Aksamit, branch manager at LSI Staffing in Lincoln, said one of the biggest challenges the industry is facing right now is the shrinking workforce.

“Lincoln’s unemployment has been low for quite a while now,” she said. “Most employers are truly thinking out of the box to find ways to attract and keep workers.

More employee perks, incentives, flex time, sign-on bonuses and higher wages are all examples of what we are seeing right now.”

Grausnick Caldwell Additionally, Aksamit said employers are investing more into their employees — training and promoting from within to take on new responsibilities — instead of trying

to find someone new to do the job.

Additionally, she said social recruiting remains popular. “ Yo u w i l l s e e more companies using marketing techniques to recruit employees to their organizations,” Aksamit said. “We will Malcolm be marketing jobs and positions just as we would other products — trying to spark that interest, need or create a brand/company loyalty.”

Scott Grausnick, president of Habringer

Partners, said because unemployment is below zero, it’s a good time to be in the staffing industry.

Additionally, he said rate and salary adjustments are starting to take place within the past quarter.

“Lincoln’s market is solid,” he said.

“Omaha may be a little bit stronger, but towns outside of a large metropolitan, such as Lincoln, usually see some heightened problems.”

In Lincoln, Grausnick said companies are becoming more creative with hiring practices by offering incentives such as work from home and flexible schedules.

“Right now, we’re also seeing a lot Continued on page 14.

Employment & Staffing •

The Lincoln Business Journal • MAY 2019 •

13

Talent specialists weigh in on war for top employees and how to ‘win’ it

by Michelle Leach

Local recruiters and staffing professionals indicate it’s not an overstatement to refer to the fiercely competitive process of talent acquisition with adjectives more often seen in “Stars and Stripes.”

“For many of our positions, we are seeking out top performers that are not actively searching for a job change,” said Zelle Consultant Jake McMullin. “This intensifies the ‘battle’ for talent and puts pressure on recruiters to present the right culture fit, skill set and overall drive to fill a position. Another point that should not go unnoticed is that the unemployment rate is at a historic low — 2.2%. With the unemployment rate at the lowest level in almost 18 years, the battle for talent is heightened based on numbers alone.”

That said, finding top people always is fiercely competitive.

“But having an extensive recruiting process and being selective in the hiring process allows a company to create the

culture they want,” McMullin said. “Once the right culture has been created, recruiters can seek out top talent and confidently share a company’s story to win the ‘battle’ for top talent.”

Talent sourcing is the biggest challenge employers are dealing with across all industries, said Angie Smathers, senior account manager with C&A Industries affiliate, Smathers Celebrity Staff.

“It’s a candidate’s market, so employers need to make quick decisions if they have found the right person because candidates are receiving multiple offers,” she said. “If an employer waits a day or two to make an offer, that candidate is more than likely off the market and has accepted another offer.”

As companies grow and have a lot of open “add to staff” positions (rather than replacements), Lutz’s Lincoln office Talent Acquisition Lead Alex Cassidy said, while exciting for communities, the dynamic makes hiring challenging.

“The word ‘battle’ characterizes the search for talent in some industries at certain levels; for example, the mid-level Cassidy roles that want seven to 10 years of experience are particularly complicated,” she said. “Typically, this is a candidate in their early 30s that is coming up on the peak of their growth potential in their current organization. On the flipside, it is also a time when candidates realize there is no growth potential and are opening themselves up to other opportunities.”

Either way, Cassidy noted, these candidates are most likely to be passive and the least likely to be applying to job postings.

“It is a complicated level to hire for and can truly be a ‘battle,’” she said.

Zelle’s McMullin said good recruiters need to be fast-paced.

“If you aren’t attempting to contact top talent, someone else will be,” he said.

“With that said, the process can be rushed, which typically leads to situations of a ‘bad’ hire.”

He referred to multiple touch points with more than one recruiter, allowing recruiters to share what they like about a candidate and any “red flags.”

“Depending on the severity of what those red flags are, the lead recruiter can then follow up to resolve or validate red flags with additional questions,” he said.

Celebrity Staff ’s Smathers said responding quickly (same day), and with a text message versus a voicemail or email, Continued on next page.

14

• MAY 2019 • The Lincoln Business Journal

• Employment & Staffing

Firms challenged to create attractive benefits packages

by David Kubicek

Competition for good employee talent is a challenge across all industries today.

Low unemployment and strong economic growth has led companies to look at other areas of compensation to attract talent.

Structuring a successful salary and benefits package that will attract and retain workers requires an employer to regularly monitor its industry to ensure the package is competitive, according to Michelle L. Sitorius, an attorney with Cline Williams Wright Johnson & Oldfather.

Employers will need to recognize shifting demographics — an aging workforce which is becoming increasingly female and more racially and ethnically diverse — to find the right balance between salary and benefits.

Typically, employers continue to offer the traditional set of benefits, including health, dental, vision, life insurance for the employee, and disability coverage, some

War for top employees Continued from preceding page. is most likely to lead to a successful connection with a candidate.

“We now employ a social media talent scout, which has positively improved our company’s reach to a range of candidates,” she said.

“While the war for great talent is critical, employers are still learning to change their expectation from a 90% match to a 60% match considering what transferable skills that candidate offers with an emphasis on training your new hire on job specific duties,” Smathers said.

Balance patience and “responsive punctuality,” Lutz’s Cassidy said.

“You certainly do not want to hire someone out of desperation and hurry through the process; however, you want to put yourself in a position to act if a strong candidate presents him or herself,” she said. “In this tight market, hiring an outside recruiting service helps reach the passive candidates that are not applying to your roles online.”

holiday and sick leave and some mechanism for retirement savings.

To address affordable health care, employers have implemented several variations in their health insurance programs, including health reimbursement arrangements (HRA) and health savings accounts (HSA). Many employers continue to use wellness programs, primarily to ensure that employSitorius ees understand their health risks but also to help manage and improve the health of the group plan members.

“Employees have indicated their interest in flexible work hours,” Sitorius said. “Employers and employees have also shown increased interest in addressing student loan debt, an interest which most likely will grow as forecasts suggest that the U.S. workforce will continue to become more educated in each progressive

generation. Similarly, we have seen changes to and reevaluation of leave policies in relation to parental and maternity leave.”

“Over the years, benefit programs have

Murphy Meays stayed consistent with an emphasis on cost containment,” said George Murphy, senior vice president at Lincoln Financial Group.

“This gave rise to voluntary benefit programs, which companies offer at a group rate so employees get a better deal than they would on their own.”

Voluntary benefit programs can include supplemental insurance for accidents, critical illness, pet insurance, legal coverage and other items.

“One program that is generating a lot of interest is helping recent college graduate students pay off student loan debt,” Murphy said. “Parental leave is another benefit with rising interest.”

Most employers need to balance a number of items when looking at compensation and benefits programs. First, they must understand what kind of programs are needed to attract the necessary talent to compete in their given market, as well as motivate and retain these employees. Second, they must determine how competitive they want to be and what level of compensation and benefits program they can afford. Finally, employers should consider what kind of culture these programs create and support over time.

“The benefits landscape has changed dramatically over the past few years,” said Jared Meays, a sales executive with the Harry A. Koch Co. “There are so many new vendors coming into the space that it’s a challenge keeping up with those that are viable options. One of the biggest trends I’m seeing is using partners that educate and navigate employees to low cost, high Continued on page 16.

Employers offering incentives to attract and retain talent Continued from page 12. more permanent placement work than in previous years,” he said. “As the economy becomes more robust, employers are more comfortable hiring permanent employees because they are confident they’ll need those people for years to come. When the economy dips, we start to see that contract work is more prevalent.”

Grausnick said another huge issue in the industry is employee engagement.

“Historically in the United States, we are consistently bumping up against new thresholds of employee disengagement,” he said. “Because of this, we’re going to see that it is up to the employers to fix this.

Employers will need to make a better work environment.”

Angela Caldwell, chair for the Lincoln Human Resource Management Associ-

ation’s community outreach committee, said she’s observed a significant increase in companies utilizing third-party staffing vendors to complement their internal recruiters and HR team.

“One of the most significant issues today is due to low interview show rates and candidate ghosting,” she said. “The resources involved in advertising for positions can be quite costly, and the time that your recruiters set aside for interviews that don’t show up can be very taxing on a company’s resources. Companies who hire temporary professionals as a part of their contingent workforce often can gain greater agility to address changing business demands. A flexible workforce often allows companies to remain competitive in their respective industry in both delivery and cost.

Caldwell also said most of the candidates she is seeing fill positions are coming

from other full-time roles by utilizing a headhunter.

“The market will continue to get more competitive, and there is no foreseeable end in the near future, especially with a major sector of the workforce reaching retirement age,” she said.

Caldwell also said she’s noticed companies move toward hiring more diverse populations.

Sarah Malcolm, staffing manager at Express Employment Professionals, said the Lincoln market is holding strong and is certainly a people market.

“Most all companies in the Lincoln area are hiring at this time,” she said.

“There is a need for good people and a lot of opportunity in the Lincoln area. A lot of companies are having to be more creative on how to recruit and retain employees, as it is very easy for people to leave for a new opportunity.”

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.

The Lincoln Business Journal • MAY 2019 •

15

16

• MAY 2019 • The Lincoln Business Journal

Mortgage seekers may see more relaxed lending standards

by Lee Nelson

If buying a home or refinancing has not been in the cards in the past, you might want to give it a chance again.

Joe Molacek, production manager at PrimeLending, said this year is likely to bring some welcome developments for buyers and mortgage borrowers as lenders are making it easier to qualify for a loan. And first-time homebuyers are gettting more attention with low down payment options.

Lenders have gradually been relaxing the lending standards.

“These relaxed standards can come in the form of less stringent documentation, lower credit score requirements, bigger loan to value ratios, and/or smaller down payments,” Molacek said.

Because of the bad weather earlier this year, the housing industry and mortgages had a late start.

“As a result, potential homebuyers postponed house hunting, open houses have been cancelled, and some sellers have delayed putting their homes on the market until the weather warms up,” he said. Homebuyers this year, though, will continue to compete for a short supply of homes, and prices could continue to rise, Molacek said.

The home financing industry is very competitive, meaning homebuyers will have options, he said. It’s important that homebuyers choose to work with mortgage companies with a proven track record of delivering quality products and services.

Look for the best value, which isn’t necessarily the lowest rate.

Adam Stirba, mortgage loan officer at Capital City Mortgage, said one of the latest trends that has been picking up speed is the different technologies being used in the mortgage industry.

“The industry has been behind others in advancement but is catching up quickly,” he said. “This is important as it simplifies the process for the borrowers and allows mortgage companies to work more efficiently.”

The use of technology has greatly shortened the length of time it takes for a loan to go from submission, to cleared, to closed status at Capital City Mortgage, he said.

“It was only a few years ago that 45 days was common for a purchase transac-

Attractive benefits Continued from page 14. quality facilities.”

For instance, two main factors drive the decision to select a provider: a doctor’s referral and the network they belong to.

“If an employer is willing to be forward-thinking with their benefits package, they have no network so that barrier is removed,” Meays said. “Then have a personal health assistant help recommend low cost and high quality facilities based on available data. If someone needed a knee replacement, wouldn’t you like to know you are going to a place that does knee replacements frequently with extremely good outcomes? [Employers] are incentivizing employees by lowering or completely covering their deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums.”

tion. But today, it is not uncommon for us to see a purchase transaction cleared to close in two to three weeks,” Stirba said.

Refinances are a lot rarer than they used to be thanks to the rising interest rates, he said.

Stirba “The two situations we are seeing the most refinances for: getting cash out of their equity for home improvements and for divorce situations,” Stirba said. “On the purchase side of things, there is still good flexibility in underwriting

guidelines and products. There are also several very good low and no down payment programs available for homebuyers.”

B a r b B u l o w, mortgage loan officer at Union Bank & Trust Co., said rates are back down Bulow to where they were last year, and that means someone can get 30-year loan for around 4.25%.

“With these great rates, you can get cash out to do home improvements, pay student loans and more for a very low

rate,” she said.

It’s also a great opportunity for people who want to buy a home to get a good rate with a lower payment than in the last few months, she said.

“We anticipate rates will remain relatively low, probably not over 5% Union Bank offers 90% cash out refinance and with excellent credit the mortgage insurance that would be required is very reasonable and you can take the money out for any purpose,” Bulow said.

New construction is still going strong, and Union Bank offers construction loans that can easily move over to a permanent loan once construction is complete, she said.

Millennials don’t want heavy antiques, brown furniture; they crave ‘Mad Men’-era stuff

by Erin Arvedlund

Grand pianos. Your grandparents’ floral china. Heavy, dark dressers. Crystal and collectible figurines, such as Lladro and Hummels. And fur coats.

Mischa Greenberg has seen them all bursting out of closets and attics at her baby boomer client homes Trends around Philadelphia.

And, she says, all that stuff isn’t worth much.

“People can’t even give their things away, because young people don’t collect,” said the founder of Moves-Made-EZ.com, who specializes in downsizing and moves for Boomers.

The market for antiques, older furniture, and collectibles — once a popular alternative asset — today has become a mediocre financial investment.

That’s in part due to the ocean of “brown furniture” and antiques flooding the marketplace from downsizing boomers, a flood that experts estimate began about 10 years ago.

Only the very highest-end jewelry will fetch a good price for resale, she said.

“Most of it isn’t popular. The millennials and Gen Xers don’t dangle emeralds.

And the fur coats I put on eBay? Most of them sell for between $50 and $500 to buyers in China,” said Greenberg.

Even military collectibles on the lower end of the price scale aren’t maintaining value. Civil War-era swords, for example, sold for $2,000 a decade ago, said art appraiser and former FBI investigator Robert Wittman.

“Today, they go for $800 to $850 for a standard-issue sword,” Wittman said.

There are exceptions: Generals’ swords with their names inscribed “stay high in price. But overall, this trend isn’t good for the industry because new, young collectors aren’t joining the market. Young people would rather have a top-of-the-line iPhone than a grand piano,” he added.

The desire for hand-me-down furniture evaporated due to taste and economics.

Millennials may enjoy antiques but can’t afford them, or don’t have space, as rents rise and living spaces shrink.

“Young people have built-in dressers, drawers, and closets — not furniture that’s big and heavy. Millennials don’t make enough to be able to buy the big homes and apartments. They rent, and studio or townhouse rentals in Philly are small. Even

the free furniture from mom and dad isn’t finding a home,” Wittman said.

As boomers age, “all their stuff ’s glutting the market. They’re the biggest population, and as they age, there’s so much out there that the bottom has fallen out,” said Wittman.

High-end colonial furniture from the 1700s, collected by the Winterthur Museum and other institutions, still fetches exceptionally high prices. But those pieces are not what drives the antiques secondhand buyer — who instead wants everyday usable furniture.

Philadelphia’s premier auctions show large amounts of once-pricey furniture selling for discounts. At an auction this year, a six-piece mahogany Chippendale-style bedroom set with ball-and-claw feet sold for just $750.

Wittman himself just bought six highend chairs made in North Carolina, which retail new for $2,500. “I got them for $200” at Briggs Auction, headquartered in Garnet Valley, Pa., he said.

However, an Arne Jacobsen red chair and ottoman, with straight midcentury modern design, fetched more than $3,500 at a recent Briggs auction. It’s a trend that Philadelphia auctioneers, such as Freeman’s, have tried to capitalize on by featuring affordable, midcentury modern pieces that appeal to millennials.

A member of the National Association of Senior Move Managers (NASMM), Greenberg says she has worked with at least 400 families, and the conversation is often awkward when getting rid of their onetime status symbols.

“I have a dozen grand pianos come through my business per year. One or two are resold, the rest are donated. Cunningham Piano just bought back a piano from a client,” she said. In another case, she tried to resell a $60,000 grand — but got no response.

“There was a time everyone had a piano in their house, it was like a coffee table.

You had to have one. Now, in some cases, I’m forced to take them to the dump,” she said.

Photograph your stuff If you can’t bear to part with something, take a photograph of it for sentimental value, said Clemence Scouten, founder of Attics Anonymous. She helps families create personal histories of their relatives and heirlooms.

“When your parents are gone, you’re attached to furniture or china or stemware.

But you can take a picture and make a book out of it,” Scouten said.

“My mom was French. My grandmother had an enormous hutch for china and flatware. It followed her throughout her life. But my mom couldn’t sell it, and it didn’t fit in an apartment,” she said.

“When my mom died, we sold everything, and I went out to my car and wept. It’s complicated.”

She advises families to sell expensive pieces of art and divide proceeds among heirs.

“You sell it and share the cash. There are ways to preserve what was meaningful about the object without the object itself.

That’s where there is opportunity. Don’t put it in storage. Take pictures of it and make a book, explaining where and from whom it came,” said Scouten.

She charges clients a $75 hourly rate to organize, and a flat rate to write books about their families and possessions.

“One client wanted a book about her mom’s hats,” she said. “That kind of emotional association you can pass on.” ©2019 Philly.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Labor shortage Continued from page 10.

Sexsmith, an assistant professor of rural sociology at Penn State -University Park who interviewed 60 Chester County mushroom farm laborers from Latin America as part of her year-long research into the industry’s labor shortage. “Their work day gets very long,” she said.

Her research found that workers would often start their day at 5 a.m. and not finish until 5 p.m., though they were to clock out at 1 or 2 p.m.

It’s a similar situation for dairy workers, who work “until the job’s done,” said Landis, the dairy farmer.

“The American public as a whole does not want to work these hours anymore,” he said. “And quite frankly, if the immigrant labor force was not there, there would be a major void in the labor force of the agriculture industry across all sectors.” ©2019 Philly.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

The Lincoln Business Journal • MAY 2019 • REGIONAL LANDSCAPES

Briefs…

GlynOaks Plaza saw significant growth in 2018 with the addition of four new businesses and the expansion of a fifth. And there is room for more. Fly Fitness and Rock ’n’ Joe Coffee Bar both occupy 5025 Lindberg St., while Sebastian’s Table and Honest Abe’s Burgers and Freedom share 8340 Glynoaks Drive. Bubbles & Blocks Child Development Center at 4930 Lindberg St. also has finished a renovation and expansion of its popular service.

Bryan Seck, Prosper Lincoln’s developer for employment skills, presented Lincoln Literacy with the Prosper Lincoln Step Up award.

Lincoln Literacy plays a critical role in helping people learn English so they can succeed in the workplace. They work with TMCO, a Lincoln manufacturing company, to provide on-the-job English-language training free to their many refugee employees. With financial assistance from Community Health Endowment, Lincoln Literacy also helps refugees with medical backgrounds learn the language so they can become certified nurses aids.

Sage HOA Services, a homeowners association management company, recently opened its second office in Lincoln and will begin servicing local associations immediately. Sage launched in Omaha in 2017 to meet a growing need of local Homeowner Associations.

The growing GovTech company gWorks has acquired Omaha-based Data Technologies Inc., a leading technology provider of financial accounting software for local governments in the Midwest. The combined companies offer over 30 applications that address the critical functions of small local government and public utility operations, such as financial accounting, permitting, licensing, billing, infrastructure asset management, GIS, and more. The company also provides a variety of professional services to help local governments optimize operations, collect data, balance books, budget, and plan.

The YMCA of Lincoln added new board members and honored volunteers, employees and corporate partners. Four new members joined the YMCA of Lincoln Board of Directors for 2019-2020 including: Blake Anderson, Dustin Bauer, Betty Mason and Todd Ogden.

The YMCA of Lincoln named Apple Roofing LLC as its 2018 Corporate Partner of the Year.

Jessica Karas was honored as the YMCA’s parttime employee of the year. The 2018 YMCA of Lincoln volunteer of the year award went to Alex Gonzalez.

Education notes…

The University of Nebraska–Lincoln has been named a member of the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

The network mobilizes global scientific and technological expertise to promote practical solutions for sustainable development. As a SDSN member, the university will have access to an online communication platform, SDSN Mobilize, which enables members of SDSN institutions to identify and connect with sustainable development experts, promote activities and events, discover new prospects for funding, and form national and international collaborations.

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.

Health care notes…

Tabitha was voted the Best Home Care Provider by area residents. This is the 10th year in a row that Tabitha’s Home Health Care program has landed at the top in KFOR and sister station’s annual Best of Lincoln’s rankings. Tabitha also was awarded runner-up in Best Place to Work and Best Retirement Community, as well the top three for Best Physical Therapy.

Bryan Bariatric Advantage offers weight loss surgery options, expertise and support for people ready to lose weight and improve their health. The program achieved Comprehensive Center accreditation by the American College of Surgeons Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program.

MOVING FORWARD! UPCOMING SECTIONS IN THE LBJ

June

Technology

Activities of nonprofits…

Feya Candle Co. is a Nebraska Benefit Corporation that donates a meal to children in need for every candle sold. In February, Feya customers, employees, and supporters physically packed 10,000 meals to donate to Jacobs Well Haiti and Haiti Children’s Hope, two organizations providing support in Haiti and helping to end hunger. Feya Candle Co. has partnered with Omaha Against Hunger, a satellite for Kids Against Hunger.

Smithfield Foods Inc. has donated 26,000 pounds of protein to Food Bank of Lincoln.

Smithfield’s contribution was part of the company’s 2019 Helping Hungry Homes donation tour. Helping Hungry Homes is Smithfield’s signature hunger-relief initiative focused on alleviating hunger and helping Americans become more food secure. The donation, equivalent to 104,000 servings of protein, will support continued recovery efforts in an area impacted by widespread flooding last month.

Building a Benefits Package

Arts and Events…

Lincoln’s Gateway Sertoma Club and Tabitha will join forces June 7 for the 17th Annual Gateway Sertoma Golf Event at Lincoln’s NuMark Golf Course. The event will raise funds to support Tabitha Meals on Wheels program. Tournament registration is now open and includes a four-person scramble, lunch, steak dinner and prizes. Registration, lunch and range time begin at 11:30 a.m. with the shotgun start at 12:30 p.m. Event proceeds will benefit Tabitha Meals on Wheels, which serves more than 500 individuals in the Lincoln community daily. Seventy percent of recipients are unable to afford the $6.25 cost of a meal.

MEETINGS AND SEMINARS Tuesday, May 21 The Lincoln Independent Business Association is hosting its monthly luncheon from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at The Graduate Hotel. This month’s luncheon will honor the 2019 LIBA Free Enterprise Scholarship recipients. Registration is available online and the cost to attend is $14.

Tuesday, June 11 The Lincoln Human Resource Management Association is hosting its June program and workshop at the Wilderness Ridge from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The event includes lunch and a keynote address on “Recruitment Creativity — Hiring the Formerly Incarcerated” from Jeremy Bourman from RISE and Pam Bourne from Woods & Aitken LLP. Registration is available online.

17

Buy/Sell Your Home

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.

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.

18

• MAY 2019 • The Lincoln Business Journal

KidGlov adds Stuhr as new Omaha art director

Uland

Odgen

CEO Uland retires from Downtown Lincoln Association, Ogden takes role

Downtown Lincoln Association’s President/ CEO, Terry Uland, announced his retirement after 12 years of service to the organization.

Uland will be handing over the reins to current DLA Deputy Director Todd Ogden on May 31.

Since Uland took over in 2007, Downtown Lincoln has experienced over $1 billion dollars of investment, spanning from West Haymarket to the Telegraph District, and everything in between. Uland has a longstanding history in community leadership in Lincoln, including 15 years as executive director of NeighborWorks Lincoln prior to his time with DLA. Uland has been involved with several community organizations including Voices of Hope.

The DLA board of directors did a national search for a new leader, and ultimately decided the right person to lead the organization was Ogden. Ogden has been with DLA for over 12 years, and was most recently named deputy director in 2014

Lutz adds Strutzel as director for family services office team

Lutz announced a new service line, Family Office Services, and has selected Lisa Strutzel to lead as director.

Bringing over 14 years of experience as an executive of a family office, Strutzel joins Lutz as family office services director. She will lead the team by coordinating the efforts to provide customized, cost effective services to high-net-worth cliStrutzel ents. She graduated from Iowa State University with distinction and is a licensed CPA with the State of Nebraska.

She obtained the Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy designation from the American College of Financial Services.

Lutz’s Family Office team assists high-networth families manage their family enterprise by helping them determine their goals and priorities, establish processes and providing integrated financial services.

Follow us on @mbjpublications

KidGlov has hired Omaha-based art director Ashley Stuhr to its growing team of creative professionals.

As art director for KidGlov, Stuhr will apply her visual approach to a variety of clients at all of the company’s locations. Before joining KidGlov, she worked at Iridian in Omaha.

Her skillset in graphic design, print production, photography and Stuhr interactive allow her to flesh out a concept across any number of media types. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including AMA Awards and ADDY Awards.

Nebraska Community Foundation hires Bucknell, senior accountant

Nebraska Community Foundation has hired Kyle Bucknell as senior accountant.

Bucknell handles general accounting for NCF investments, fees, fund statements, budget analysis and financial reporting. Bucknell assists NCF volunteer fund advisory committees across the state by providing services related to their account balances, endowment Bucknell payouts and financial reports. Before joining NCF, Bucknell was senior financial analyst with Bryan Health for more than 20 years. There he managed a wide range of accounting procedures, including fund management of Bryan Foundation. Bucknell’s experience with nonprofit organizations includes serving as accountant for Goodwill Industries in Lincoln. Bucknell received a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Doane University appoints Frey interim dean, College of Education

Dr. Tim Frey, professor of education and chair of undergraduate education programs at Doane University, has been named interim dean of the College of Education, effective July 1. Frey’s appointment comes after a six-month search to replace Dr. Lyn Forester, who is retiring in June.

Frey has been a Frey faculty member at Doane since 2013 when he was hired as an associate professor of education.

Frey has taught education courses at the undergraduate and graduate level. In his role as interim dean, Frey will oversee the education faculty, lead the charge of any additional accreditation efforts needed after the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation’s on-site visit, and work on the possible expansion of graduate education programs in the future.

The Lincoln Business Journal • MAY 2019 •

The University of Nebraska hires Andrews for directorship position

Francis

Sheldon

Wolfe Snowden adds Francis, Sheldon and Valencia to firm

Lincoln law firm Wolfe Snowden Hurd Ahl Sitzmann Tannehill & Hahn, LLP has added Kelli Anne Francis, Justin A. Sheldon and Justin C. Valencia as associate attorneys.

Francis’ practice focuses primarily on general liability and workers’ compensation, but she is equally at home in the board room. She received her bachelor’s degree Valencia from the University of Nebraska at Kearney and her Juris Doctor from the University of Nebraska College of Law. Sheldon’s practice focuses primarily on transactional law, including real estate, entity formation, mergers and acquisitions, general corporate transactions and municipal law. He received his bachelor’s degree from UNK and his Juris Doctor from the University of Nebraska

Following a national search, Matthew T. Andrews, Ph.D., has been chosen to serve as the next director of the Nebraska Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, a program of the University of Nebraska.

Andrews is currently executive associate dean of the College of Science at Oregon State University. A molecular biologist, Andrews Andrews also is a tenured professor of biochemistry and biophysics.

He will begin his duties on July 1, succeeding Dr. F. Fred Choobineh, who is returning to his faculty position full-time on June 30. As Nebraska EPSCoR director, Andrews will lead coordination and administration of statewide efforts to earn projects from federal agencies like the National Science Foundation. He will also lead Nebraska’s Institutional Development Award program.

College of Law. Valencia’s practice primarily consists of bankruptcy and litigation representing and litigating the interests of debtor and creditor clients. He received his bachelor’s degree from Nebraska Wesleyan University and his Juris Doctor from Western Michigan University Cooley Law School. He is currently an adjunct professor at Bellevue University where he has taught legal ethics and compliance.

19

Lincoln Plastics hires Wedding

Warren

Peterson

KidGlov promotes Warren, Peterson, Landis to VP roles

KidGlov has promoted three vice presidents.

Katherine Warren has been promoted to vice president, operations director. Her primary role will be to build efficiency within a “best places to work culture” at all KidGlov locations while continuing to serve as account director on a number Landis of accounts. She has more than 15 years of experience working with brands on in-house teams and at the agency level.

Kelley Peterson has been promoted to vice president, nonprofit creative director.

She will lead creative strategies for KidGlov’s nonprofit accounts while also sharing her expertise through local, regional and

Lincoln Plastics has hired Abi Wedding as the new production assistant.

Wedding will be helping with the various product lines offered by Lincoln Plastics, especially with Flexiduct and agriculture product.

She will be handling orders, logistics, and the daily reporting of production data. She started at Lincoln Plastics in March and has been able to Wedding hit the ground running in this position, leveraging over three years of experience in customer service.

She graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2018 with a degree in criminal justice, and a minor in English. national speaking engagements. She is a past president of the National Professional Chapters Council of the American Marketing Association and has more than 20 years of experience in helping organizations advance their brands.

Jen Landis has been promoted to vice president, executive creative director. She will lead and grow KidGlov’s creative teams in Lincoln, Omaha and in Loveland, Colorado, with emphasis on developing new ideas. She has worked within marketing and advertising industry for more than 20 years and is the current president of the American Advertising Federation Lincoln.

20

• MAY 2019 • The Lincoln Business Journal