Midlands Business Journal May 31, 2019 Vol. 45 No. 22 issue by Midlands Business Journal

• MAY 31, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal

Focus on Safety May 31, 2019

A section prepared by the staff of the Midlands Business Journal

Opioid-related deaths, workplace violence among safety threats to workers by Michelle Leach

While many potential hazards exist, such as workplace violence and persistent fatigue, there are significant opportunities to keep one’s workforce productive, happy and healthy. Safety Manager Ross Menard said it took three or four years for Outlook Nebraska to build a very strong safety culture, evidenced by its earning the National Safety Council, Nebraska’s Nebraska Safest Companies Award. Outlook Nebraska has gone more than 2,000 days without a “lost-time incident.” More than three of every four production floor associates are legally blind. “A lost-time incident is going to be a more serious incident, it’s going to be an injury or condition where you need to take some days off of work,” Menard

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said. “We have a strong return to work program and offer various light-duty assignments.” Menard indicated the idea is to make employees “whole again,” which reflects all factors — from lost wages to the emotional “rot” of not being at work. Furthermore, one may initially think of the challenges of securing a safe workforce with machine operators who may be completely blind. “These associates take a lot less risk than their sighted counterparts,” he said. “They don’t go running around a machine, or reach past guarding.” Menard also noted how the executive team has allowed him to be in the plant every day, whereby relationships of trust and respect can be built.

Eric Koeppe, president and chief executive officer of National Safety Council, Nebraska. Words matter. If an associate isn’t wear- due to drowsy driving-related crashes. NSC ing safety gear, Menard will ask employees also noted more than 43% of workers are questions like, “How do you think your sleep-deprived. “At risk” workers include daughter would feel if something happened those with night, long and irregular shifts; to you?” Menard knows employees — their work demands such as rotating shifts overfamilies and what’s important to them. ride natural sleep patterns. Body clocks can’t According to Outlook Nebraska infor- adapt to alternative patterns. mation, cultural features are coupled with Employers lose a reported $1,200 to adaptive technology such as voice $3,100 per employee annually output software and audible alerts due to less productive, fatigued on its walk path gate. workers. Menard said companies visit For the first time in U.S. histoto see how associates work, so ry, NSC reported a person is more they can hire visually impaired likely to die from an opioid overpeople, too; reportedly, seven of dose than a motor vehicle crash (1 every 10 working-age, visually in 96 versus 1 in 103 respectively). impaired people in Nebraska “The opioid crisis is affecting aren’t employed full-time, yearNebraskans — in their personal round. lives as well as at work,” Koeppe The National Safety Council, said, citing a recent NSC poll that Henning Nebraska highlighted opioid abuse showed 75% of employers have and fatigue as among significant issues affect- been affected (only 17% feel prepared to deal ing workplace safety. with it). “We believe the best defense to this “Employees are at a greater risk of an problem is providing ongoing information, incident when fatigued,” said President and including training and workshops to help CEO Eric Koeppe. “An employee who gets employers understand their responsibilities. just two fewer hours of sleep during the night Koeppe’s team is partnering with the Huthan their regular schedule is the equivalent man Resource Association of the Midlands of having three beers, which means they are (HRAM) to host a bi-annual workshop on working or driving impaired.” opioids, “Prescription Drugs in the WorkNSC researchers found a person is three place,” on Oct. 4. times more likely to be in a car crash if he A number of resources at NSC.org assist or she is fatigued, and that more than 5,000 employers on these and other issues; for Continued on page 6. lives were claimed in a single year (2014)

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Focus on Safety — inside MAY 31, 2019

THE BUSINESS NEWSPAPER OF GREATER OMAHA, LINCOLN AND COUNCIL BLUFFS

THIS WEEK 'S ISSUE:

$2.00

VOL. 45 NO. 22

Boyd Jones benefits from master planning for clients by Richard D. Brown

Olive & Ash Pizza Co. offers new take-out and delivery model in northwest Omaha. – Page 2

40 er d Un 40 Vivekanandan excels as mentor for other women in health care at Creighton. – Page 3

ty un rt Co epo y R rp Sa owth Gr

Philanthropy supports flood recovery; infrastructure positioned for long-term growth. – Page 22

The owner and president of Boyd Jones, a 95-year-old Omaha based general contractor, has plenty to be optimistic about. His company's 100-plus employees have relocated to a historic downtown Omaha building, venture capital investments in global construction technology are topping $1.3 billion, two in-house recruiters/retaining specialists will help staff with the anticipated additional positions and the company is expanding its services to include more emphasis on master planning. Jon Crane said the offices of Boyd Jones, in 20,000 square feet of the 100,000-square-foot long-vacant Rail and Commerce Building that his firm renovated and now houses multiple tenants, has been a game-changer for his company. “We've come a long way from our longtime home near 43rd & Nicholas,” Crane said. “It used to be that people couldn't wait to leave at the end of the day but now they're not in a hurry and they tend to linger Continued on page 9.

Owner and President Jon Crane … Emphasizing need for master planning for varied client base. (Photo by MBJ / Becky McCarville)

McNeil Co. builds upon over 40 years of residential, commercial expertise by Michelle Leach

Leveraging 3D modeling and other technologies with a more than 40-year homebuilding tradition, McNeil Co. is seizing opportunities in a healthy market spanning residential, commercial and multi-family construction — growth that is necessitating four more hires. “We are finding the residential market to be exceptionally strong

at our price point, and the neighborhoods where we have a lot inventory,” said President Joe Pogge. “The last couple of years have been spotty where buyers were interested but not necessarily ready to pull the trigger on new construction. The last eight months we have seen this trend change to where buyers come armed with a deposit, and want to Continued on page 9.

President Brian Goracke … Accounting firm adds creative services, wealth management and coverage divisions to more efficiently serve clientele.

Verdant positions firm to scale with new divisions, employee engagement by Savannah Behrends

President Joe Pogge … Notable commercial projects, keen residential and multi-family markets converge as construction company invests in more people, technologies.

Verdant, an Omaha-based firm that began as Goracke & Associates 68 years ago, is leveraging employee talent to take the company into its next evolution. Third generation President Brian Goracke, who two years ago led the team in a rebranding overhaul that resulted in the name Verdant, heads the firm.

“The problem with being Goracke & Associates is that I was the only Goracke and everyone else was an associate,” he said. The 38-person firm chose Verdant because of it’s unique, crisp sound as well as it definition: green with growing plants. At its core, Verdant started as an accounting firm to help both Continued on page 11.

• MAY 31, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal

Olive & Ash Pizza Co. offers new take-out and delivery model in northwest Omaha by Gabby Christensen

New to the northwest Omaha scene, Olive & Ash Pizza Co. has modernized the traditional take-out and delivery pizza concept in order to offer the area with fresh, made from scratch options, according to General Manager and Head Chef Steve

Olive & Ash Pizza Co. Phone: 402-502-2257 Address: 12221 Mary Plaza, Ste. 100, Omaha 68142 Founded: January 2019 Service: take-out and delivery pizza restaurant Employees: 6 Goal: To grow current location, as well as add new location and further expand catering services and offerings. Website: www.oliveandashpizza.com

Weitkemper. The pizza shop, founded and owned by local entrepreneur Nick Bartholomew, opened in January 2019. Weitkemper, who has previous experience in the restaurant trade, has been on board from the very beginning by helping with anything from construction to restaurant set up. “I’ve always had a passion for this industry so when Nick asked for my help, I was more than happy to lend a hand,” Weitkemper said. “At the time, I didn’t realize he would ask me to run the place, but I’m glad he did. It’s been a fun ride.” In order to deliver on the restaurant’s

General Manager and Head Chef Steve Weitkemper … The pizza restaurant concept has had good reception from customers. original and fresh idea, Weitkemper said option, which has been especially popular. all pizza dough is made in house every day. The shop also serves up a selection of Olive & Ash Pizza Co. offers both a sandwiches, salads and wings. thin crust style and a classic pan style, Weitkemper said the wings, which are which is a deeper dish with a thicker crust. slow cooked and then ran through the pizza As more people have started desiring oven, have also been very well-liked. vegan and other alternative options recent“We don’t really do any crazy twists or ly, he said Olive & Ash has made it a point exotic toppings,” he said. “But we do offer to offer a cauliflower gluten-free crust some outside-of-the-box options. You’re

The Midlands Business Journal's

Business Minute Name: Dan Kurtz. Age: 51. Title: Vice president of business development. Place of employment: LightEdge. Associations/ Titles: Dad. Hometown: Kendallville, Indiana. Education: Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems from Bellevue University. How I got into Kurtz the business: I enlisted in the Air Force as an Arabic Linguist. After nine months of training it was apparent I wasn’t going to master the language. I had a choice to be an Air Force police officer or try computer programming. This was 1989 and I had never seen a computer. I knew I didn’t want to be a police officer, so I chose programming by default. Best decision of my young life! Accomplishments or milestones: Having my fourth child at 49. First job: Pizza Hut busing tables. Biggest career break: Leaving a comfortable position to start my second company and it ended up working out pretty well. The toughest part of the job: Creating awareness of the LightEdge brand in Omaha. We are fairly new to the market.

Dan Kurtz, vice president of business development at LightEdge

In late 2017, we purchased the Cabela’s data center in Papillion and converted it into a multi-tenant, colocation and cloud services facility. We are headquartered in Des Moines and have been in business for 22 years. We have a great story to tell. The best advice I have received: My Grandfather - Work smarter AND harder. About my family: My wife - Chapin Kurtz is a beautiful mother, exceptional realtor and my best friend. I have a 24-year-old daughter, Paige, who is just starting a career in real estate management; a 5-year-old daughter, Parker, and a 3-yearold daughter, Kennedy. I lost a son, Grant, to cancer at age 15 about six years ago. Something else I’d like to accomplish: Starting another company. Book I finished reading recently: “To America: Personal Reflections of an Historian” by Stephen Ambrose. Something about me not everyone knows: I used to be a runner and did half marathons. The new knee has slowed that down. How my business will change in the next decade: IT changes so rapidly, I doubt anyone can tell what it will look like in 10 years. I do think AI and hyperscale deployments are the near future. For companies like LightEdge that means we need to be

ahead of the curve on facility related issues in order to support extremely dense workloads. The largest impact will be on cooling solutions. Trying to cool a cabinet that is drawing 30 kilowatts of power is challenging for data centers that are designed for 10 kilowatts per cabinet. Currently, in-row heat containment or cooling is available to counter this. We might see a re-introduction of water-cooled servers (mainframes were water cooled back in the 70s’ and 80s’). This will be the challenge for all data center operators in the future. Mentor who has helped the most in my career: Brian Johnston. I have started a couple of businesses with Brian. He is very bright and knowledgeable, but always manages to make the people working with him better. He is a great servant leader while constantly challenging for improvement. Outside interests: I love to barbeque, travel and golf. Pet peeves: Clutter and chaos. Favorite vacation spot: Bahamas. Other careers I would like to try: I would love to be a chef. Favorite movie: Rudy. Favorite cause or charity: Mustaches for Kids (M4K). Favorite app: Uber. (Interested in being featured in the Business Minute? Email news@mbj.com for more information.)

always going to find people who love pizza and we’re grateful for that.” Along with the local and fresh aspect that’s attracting people, Weitkemper said customers are also choosing the business for its convenience. “When you order from Olive & Ash, you don’t have to go buy a frozen pizza and then bring it home and have the mess of it,” Weitkemper said. “You’ll also get every flavor you’re supposed to be getting with quality ingredients when you choose us.” In addition to take out and delivery options, Olive & Ash Pizza Co. has also developed catering services since opening its doors. The restaurant has also started serving its pizza in some local bars. Ultimately, Weitkemper said the team hopes to open a new location in the future as well as participate in some charity events. He said it’s been somewhat challenging to juggle tasks when he’s unable to physically be at the restaurant 24/7; however, he said his team works hard to ensure that customer service is always met. “We love feedback,” Weitkemper said. “We always want to make sure that our customers have the best experience. If they don’t, we want to take care of it and make sure we bring those customers back.” While Weitkemper said this industry can have frustrating moments, it’s all worth it. “There will always be some stressful days,” he said. “But we’re extremely fortunate to be situated in a neighborhood that has supported us from the very beginning. We’re doing what we love and having fun serving our customers with our unique concept. We love to hear that people love our product. We couldn’t ask for more than that.”

Midlands Business Journal Established in 1975

PUBLISHER & FOUNDER, Robert Hoig

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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.

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Midlands Business Journal • MAY 31, 2019 •

Vivekanandan excels as mentor for other women in health care at Creighton 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

It’s difficult to decide which is the most important accomplishment of Dr. Renuga Vivekanandan’s multi-faceted career. There’s the developing-the-next-generation angle, which she plays as associate professor of medicine and assistant dean of strategy and accreditation at Creighton University School of Medicine. There’s the advancing-the-stateof-medicine-for-all angle, which comes out of her accomplished research. And there’s healing sick people, which she does as a patient-facing physician. Even Vivekanandan herself has a little trouble pinning her biggest contribution down to one thing. But if it were that she was a mentor and role model for the next generation of women in health care, she’ll take it. “I think that’s extremely important,” she said. “Being on faculty for five years, a practicing physician for five years with leadership roles and some of the things I have worked on, I think I’m a role model for our younger generation and I take it very seriously.” One of the reasons mentoring strikes such a chord with Vivekanandan is because despite more women than ever entering medical school, they’re still disproportionately represented once they get out. “Nationally, we’re still struggling. Like, only 4% of us females are CEOs of hospitals and only something like I think 14% are deans,”

she said. “In medicine, 50% of us graduating medical students are female and about 40% of residents that are practicing are female. But as we get higher and more encompassing, it just dwindles down.” Vivekanandan said a good part of the credit for her own success has been the local health care culture, which bucks the national trends. “[Gender is] a national issue, but in Omaha, CHI Health and Creighton really have done a good job focusing on this issue,” she said. “They’ve both been such great partners in giving a lot of leadership roles and trying to help me grow my skills and promoting me. It’s been a really fantastic opportunity.” For her part, Vivekanandan didn’t let any of her opportunities go to waste. She has received six clinical research grants, published 46 journal abstracts, written 20 manuscripts and delivered 19 invited lectures. In 2016, as a part of her role as medical director for antimicrobial stewardship and epidemiology for CHI, Vivekanandan built programming and processes to respond to new mandates from the Centers for Disease Control. She’s also kept one eye forward-looking, noting that the future of health care in Nebraska lies in communities of all sizes learning how to collaborate better. “Our communities are so amazing. We cooperate and we collaborate so well and we have so many good practices that are already happening in other communities,” she said. “I think it’s important to partner and see what each other’s needs are and how we could help. “If we have expertise, for example, at Creighton Academic Medical Center, how can we take that innovative research and dissem-

Renuga Vivekanandan, associate professor of medicine and assistant dean of strategy and accreditation … Utilizing experience in the medical field to serve as mentor to women in health care. inate that? How can we collaborate and take in 2007. In 2011, she completed her residensomething and actually see these hospitals and cy in internal medicine and pediatrics at the incorporate that into practice to make a better University of Nebraska Medical Center and outcome for the patient? The key is collabo- followed that in 2013 with an infectious diseases ration.” fellowship there. Vivekanandan received her undergraduate In 2015, she earned the Department of degree from University of Waterloo in Water- Medicine James F. Sullivan Award and was loo, Canada in 1998 and completed Medical recognized by the CHI Health board of directors University of the Americas, St. Kitts and Nevis with the 2018 Leadership Excellence Award.

Proud Sponsors of the 2018 40 Under 40:

• MAY 31, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal

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

May 31, 2019

Opioid-related deaths, workplace violence among safety threats to workers by Michelle Leach

Focus on Safety •

Midlands Business Journal • MAY 31, 2019 •

Risk management is key to safety and health in workplace by Gabby Christensen

Health and safety remains a top priority for employers, and experts say risk management and risk assessments are necessary components to avoid accidents in the workplace. Jack Struyk, president at Lockton Cos. – Nebraska, said all businesses engage in some

Struyk Keenan form of risk management, which involves identifying risks and either attempt to reduce, retain or transfer them to a third party — usually an insurance company. “Reduction is done typically through loss control efforts, making the workplace, and jobsites safer,” Struyk said. “Retain is through deductibles or knowingly not purchasing insurance for some risks — cyber liability, employment practices, pollution. Transfer is the most used technique through contractual agreement and/or buying insurance coverage.” Struyk said Lockton routinely performs risk management assessments, which entails gaining an understanding of the insured’s operations, walking facilities or jobsites,

in OSHA regulations, we make safety about compliance not productivity and efficiency. We often become too focused on safety regulations without looking at the whole picture.” Keenan said higher levels of engagement drive better outcomes when it comes to safety, as well as overall well-being. While employers are the top line of a risk assessment, Keenan said all levels of employees and managers should be involved

Payne

Jim Baker, risk management consultant/account executive at LMC Insurance & Risk Management. reviewing the safety program, standard companies that assess and manage risk procontractual agreements, loss history and actively are more efficient and productive, thoroughly reviewing the complete current and at the same time enhance the safety and insurance policies. wellbeing of their valued employees. “The goal of assessment is to determine “Many employers base their safety proif there are better ways to manage their risks, grams around OSHA compliance rather than and make the workplaces safer and typically truly looking at hazards within their workmore efficient,” Struyk said. place and how to reduce the risk associated Mike Keenan, area senior vice president with the hazards,” Keenan said. “If we use of loss control services at Gallagher, said the minimum standards of safety put forth

Kuehn

in the risk assessment team. “If we do not engage the frontline employee, we will miss some of the most critical items,” Keenan said. Another critical piece of the risk assessment process is continual follow up to make sure the improvements made are having the desired effect, according to Ali Payne, global practice leader and DVP of wellbeing & engagement at Gallagher. “Change can be difficult and in many cases employees will revert back to the same old way we have been doing things without continual monitoring and encouragement,” Payne said. Payne said a great place to start a risk Continued on next page.

• MAY 31, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal

• Focus on Safety

Opioid-related deaths, workplace violence among safety threats to workers Continued from page 4. instance, one can calculate the “real costs of fatigue” in his or her workplace based off of input such as facility/office location, industry type, and the number and type of employees. Generally, Koeppe said the local office is seeing a significant flux in safety professionals who are looking to continue their education in leadership and emergency preparedness. “Leaders understand the impact that a culture of safety has on their bottom line and the value of a corporate-wide initiative of preparedness,” he said. To meet these needs, Koeppe said the organization has partnered with the University of Nebraska at Omaha. “Unfortunately, there has been an increased focus on workplace violence,” said Nebraska Safety Council Workwell Director Lisa Henning. “Workplace violence has increased 23%, which is the highest increase in history. Directly related, worksite wellness programs have experienced an uptick focus on mental wellbeing.” In Nebraska, Henning said workplace stress is the greatest reported source of lost work time — outpacing obesity by almost 40%. In turn, the Nebraska Safety Council has merged its wellness and safety program, resulting in Worker 360, based on the National Institutes of Occupational Safety and Health Total Worker Health program. “We recognize that issues at the workplace do not live in isolation,” she said. “We also know that factors outside of the office contribute to personal safety and health risk. We focus on the entire person both on and off work.”

Businesses engaged in this model, she said, tend to see an improved culture and better health and safety outcomes. Henning also said one of its instructors is a certified police officer. “He conducts several trainings a year including basic workplace violence and a new program called ‘Verbal Judo,’ which focuses on de-escalating dangerous situations,” she said. Henning referred to the likes of flexible work arrangements that accommodate familial demands, and financial wellness to ease finances-related stress. When asked about threats to workplace safety and health, she isolated the perennial threat of funding. “When companies demonstrate the value of the safety and wellness program in business language and metrics (i.e. what is the value or return on investment), then management understands and typically will continue

to fund programs,” she said. “If the company does not show the business value, then wellness and safety become discretionary in the minds of business leaders. Additionally, grant funds that support services for small and nonprofit businesses are also getting cut due to administrative changes at state and federal levels.” According to information provided by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Omaha Area Office, one of the root causes of workplace injuries and incidents is the failure to identify hazards. OSHA encourages a proactive, ongoing hazards assessment encapsulated in six steps: information collection; workplace inspection; health hazard identification; incident investigations; emergency and nonroutine situation hazards identification; and interim control measures and priorities. More information can be found at www. OSHA.gov.

Risk management is key to safety and health in workplace Continued from preceding page. assessment is to look at data from insurance loss runs and OSHA 300 logs to determine existing hazards. Tony Kuehn, director/consultant of health and safety services at Integrated Loss Control, a service provider to North Risk Partners/Bearence Management Group, said formal risk management risk assessments create awareness of hazards and risks that are present at an organization and identify who may be at risk. Additionally, he said risk assessments determine whether a control program is re-

quired for a particular hazard; if the existing controls are working. “They prevent injuries or illnesses and reduce the frequency or severity,” Kuehn said. Kuehn said the process requires a handson, team evaluation. “Employees who work with the process under review need to be involved as they are the most familiar with it,” Kuehn said. “Organizations of any size need to thoroughly document any risk assessments that they conduct. Not only does that meet any regulatory or legal requirements but makes the process of reducing risk sustainable.” Overall, Kuehn said the goal of a risk assessment is to evaluate health and safety hazards, then remove that hazard or minimize it by adding control measures, as necessary. “Organizations that do so create a safer and healthier workplace, improve their brand and maximize the ROI,” Kuehn said. Jim Baker, risk management consultant/ account executive at LMC Insurance & Risk Management, said the risk assessment process is made up of two parts that work interdependently to not only protect workers on the job, but to also shield business owners against losses arising from gaps in commercial insurance coverage and/or deficiencies in their overall risk management strategy. “A true risk consultant will want to get a well-rounded view of your risk profile,” Baker said. “Be wary of those offering quick quotes and immediate fixes.” Baker said risk management should be a proactive process and not a reactive decision. With that in mind, he said the process may take some time to complete. “The assessments are generally divided into three categories: insurance coverage, workplace safety and human resources,” Baker said. Ultimately, Baker said a detailed plan is designed to identify, prioritize and manage risk. “Every recommendation we make promotes health and safety in the workplace,” Baker said. “We can create return-to-work programs, recommend technology to treat injuries and illnesses more quickly and effectively, and design policies that keep workers safe while simultaneously protecting a business owner from catastrophic financial loss.”

Focus on Safety •

Greg Donsbach, CEO of Method Insurance Services, LLC.

New legislation making impact on workers’ compensation law

be compensable under Iowa Code Chapter by David Kubicek Over the past year, as workers’ com- 85 [the Iowa Workers’ Compensation Act] pensation claims have continued to de- even in cases involving idiopathic falls. In that case, a worker with epilepsy crease, Nebraska and Iowa have passed legislation that can impact how injured suffered a seizure. When he fell, his head hit a cement floor, which was part of his employees are compensated. Method Insurance Services CEO Greg work environment. The court said that had Donsbach said that over the past year WC he been someplace else where the floor claims frequency have continued to de- was comprised of a different surface, his injury might not have been as cline, although at a slower pace severe. As a result, it cannot than previously, which has led to be automatically assumed that continuing rate decreases. Iowa Code Chapter 85 does “The aging workforce will not apply simply because the impact loss costs, and low unemfall arose out of the employee’s ployment will impact loss costs long-term epileptic condition. due in large part to workers do“In the Blumel case, the ing jobs they may not have skills Court opened the door to confor,” Donsbach said. “Technolsidering other circumstances ogy improvement will provide to determine if the employee’s safer work environments but injury would be covered under could also impact loss costs bePattermann the Workers’ Compensation cause new medical technologies Act,” Pattermann said. are expensive.” The Iowa legislature immediately The competitive WC environment will continue to push rates down. Favorable passed a bill under Senate File 507, which economic conditions and the fight for tal- states that injuries due to idiopathic or ent will result in continued wage inflation. unexplained falls from a level surface onto “Frequency will decrease but at slower the same level surface are not compensable rate than previous years,” Donsbach said. under Iowa Code Chapter 85. This new “Expect experience to deteriorate over section of the Code puts a greater burden the next few years as rates bottom out. on the injured employee to prove the exact Eventually rates will tick up as insurance nature and circumstances of the fall. “The employee has to address the matcarrier experience deteriorates.” With workers’ comp, employees tradi- ter almost under a negligence analysis to tionally do not have to prove negligence prove their case should be covered under in order to be compensated, according to Chapter 85,” Pattermann said. “This begins Laura Pattermann, a partner in Gallner & to erode the foundation of workers’ compensation, which benefits the workers and Pattermann. “As a trade-off for that, because em- the long-held premise that you do not have ployees don’t have to prove the employer to prove negligence in a workers’ compendid anything wrong injured employees are sation case. Negligence was not an issue.” In 2019, the Iowa Legislature also not allowed to be compensated for pain and suffering,” she said. “Employees are also added new code Section 85.55, which allowed to collect only a percentage of addressed the circumstances under which an employee of a franchisee would be contheir full wages in workers’ comp.” In 2018, the Supreme Court decided in sidered employed by the franchisor. Under the case of Blumel v. Vee Jay’s, Inc. [Long the new law, the franchisor would have to John Silvers] that the increased risk of in- either agree to be the employer or would jury due to the type of floor surface, could Continued on next page.

Midlands Business Journal • MAY 31, 2019 •

• MAY 31, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal

• Focus on Safety

Escalating workplace violence rocks hospitals by Marlene HarrisTaylor, Ideastream

Across the country, many doctors, nurses and other health care workers have remained silent about what is being called an epidemic of violence against them. Safety The violent outbursts come from patients and patients’ families. And for years, it has been considered part of the job. When you visit the Cleveland Clinic emergency department — whether as a patient, family member or friend — a large sign directs you toward a metal detector. An officer inspects all bags and then

instructs you to walk through the metal detector. In some cases, a metal wand is used — even on patients who come in on stretchers. Cleveland Clinic officials say they confiscate thousands of weapons like knives, pepper spray and guns each year. The metal detectors were installed in response to what CEO Tom Mihaljevic calls an epidemic. “There is a very fundamental problem in U.S. health care that very few people speak about,” he said, “and that’s the violence against health care workers. Daily — literally, daily — we are exposed to violent outbursts, in particular in emergency rooms.” Many health care workers say the phys-

New legislation impacting workers’ compensation law Continued from preceding page. have had to exercise sufficient control over the employee that the commissioner found they acted as the employer. “Additionally, there were tremendous changes made to Iowa Code Section 85 in 2017,” Pattermann said. “These changes greatly diminished workers’ rights under that chapter and made it more difficult for employees to be compensated for their industrial disability.” These changes involved removing a shoulder injury from being a body as a whole injury, changing jurisdictional requirements for out-of-state injuries to be classified as Iowa claims, removing the ability for claimants to convert the payments to lump sum versus weekly benefits without both parties agreeing, and modifying the full responsibility rule as to what injuries an employer is responsible for compensating. Changes in the Nebraska workers’ compensation law include a provision on debt collection for workers’ compensation-related bills. In cases where injured workers’ claims are denied, and they are forced to use their own resources to pay for medical care, this statute can require that the medical care providers hold off on debt collection until the court has determined whether the defendant is responsible for paying those bills. “Often in the past, debt collectors were

not willing to hold off on collection,” Pattermann said. “This provision helps remove some of that ongoing financial stress.” Addressing the death of employees, the Nebraska Legislature decided that even when the employee had no dependents, if the death arose out of the work injury, the funeral/burial expenses were to be provided up to a certain amount. The Legislature also decided that in the case of noncitizen employees whose injuries resulted in death, the consular officer of the employees’ countries of citizenship shall be regarded as the sole legal representative of any alien dependent of the employee residing outside of the United States. “This new provision of law still provides that nonresident alien families can designate other suitable persons to act as attorney in fact in proceedings before the court,” Pattermann said. “The court then has the opportunity to determine if the interest of the nonresident alien dependent would be better served by such person than by the consular officer.” The bottom line is that Iowa WC law is becoming less amendable to injured workers, but the Nebraska Legislature is heavily considering the rights of injured employees, the toll such injuries have on their lives and amending the Nebraska laws to address those issues, Pattermann said.

ical and verbal abuse come primarily from patients, some of whom are disoriented because of illness or from medication. Sometimes nurses and doctors are abused by family members who are on edge because their loved one is so ill. Cleveland Clinic has introduced other safety measures — such as wireless panic buttons incorporated into ID badges and more safety cameras and plainclothes officers in ERs. But these incidents aren’t limited to emergency rooms. Allysha Shin works as a registered nurse in neuroscience intensive care at the University of Southern California’s Keck Hospital in Los Angeles. One of the most violent incidents she has experienced happened when she was caring for a patient who was bleeding inside her brain. The woman had already lashed out at other staff, so she had been tied to the bed, Shin said. She broke free of the restraints and then kicked and punched Shin in the chest — before throwing a punch at her face. “There was this one point where she swung, and she had just glanced off the side of my chin. If I hadn’t dodged that punch, she could have knocked me out,” Shin said. “And she very well could have killed me.” The encounter left Shin shaken and anxious when she returned to work days later. She still has flashbacks. She used to be afraid to speak about these types of attacks, she said, because of what she calls a culture of accepting violence in most hospitals. “It is expected that you are going to get beat up from time to time,” Shin said. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, incidents of serious workplace violence are four times more common in health care than in private industry. And a poll conducted by the American College of Emergency Physicians in August found nearly half of emergency physician respondents reported having been physically assaulted. More than 60% of them said the assault occurred within the previous year. Groups representing doctors and nurses say that, while the voluntary safety improvements that some hospitals have enacted are a good first step, more needs to be done.

There is still a code of silence in health care, said Michelle Mahon, a representative of the labor group National Nurses United. “What happens if they do report it?” she said. “In some cases, unfortunately, they are treated as if they are the ones who don’t know how to do their job. Or that it’s their fault that this happened.” “There’s a lot of focus on de-escalation techniques,” Mahon added. “Those are helpful tools, but oftentimes they are used to blame workers.” In California, the nurses’ labor union pushed for a law giving OSHA more authority to monitor hospital safety. The group is now backing a national effort to do the same thing. “The standard that we are recommending federally holds the employer responsible,” Mahon said. “It mandates reporting of incidents and transparency.” The Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act, introduced last fall in Congress, would require hospitals to implement plans to prevent violence. And any hospital could face fines for not reporting incidents to OSHA, Mahon said. The goal of the legislation — and of the union — is to hold administrators more accountable for acts of violence in their hospitals. (This story is part of a partnership that includes Ideastream, NPR and Kaiser Health News.) Kaiser Health News (KHN) is a national health policy news service. It is an editorially independent program of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation which is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente. ©2019 Kaiser Health News Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Midlands Business Journal • MAY 31, 2019 •

McNeil Co. builds upon over 40 years of residential, commercial expertise Continued from page 1. know how quickly we can get them a home designed and built.” The firm that started in 1977 when Pat McNeil built his first home, is based at 4666 S. 132nd St. in Omaha, and provides development, design-build, general contracting,

McNeil Co. Phone: 402-333-1462 Address: 4666 S. 132nd St., Omaha 68137 Services: development, design-build, planning, pre-construction, construction management, general contracting across residential, multi-family and commercial segments Founded: 1977 when Pat McNeil built his first home Employees: 30 Website: www.mcneilcompany.com

planning, pre-construction and construction management expertise. On the home front, Pogge described a trend toward modern architectural styles. “I just toured the newest-to-market products in Irvine, California a month ago and you are already seeing the influence of these design trends hitting the Midwest,” Pogge said. “What once took years to start in California, hit the East Coast and reverberate to the Midwest, happens instantaneously now. Amenities like steel-structured staircases and stacked, sliding glass doors that open into rear-yard entertainment areas are exciting.” Pogge is also noticing trends whereby children’s play areas are moved to the top of the second-floor stairs instead of the basement and areas that encouraged clutter or excess are designed out of plans. “Neat, clean, organized and thoughtful has replaced sheer volume of space,” he said. App-based systems like Sonos, with a smattering of wireless speakers, are driving down costs and have (aside from theater rooms) replaced a typical home A/V package. A strong silo for the last 25 years for the firm, multi-family construction has in recent years accounted for a very large portion of McNeil Co.’s overall volume. “It takes a lot of single-family residences to equal a project the size of Park120 Oak Hills, for example,” Pogge said. “But, our company was founded on building homes, and will continue to respect the relationships we have created from working with individual homeowners throughout the years.” Commercially, the environment is healthy, evidenced by the parties Pogge speaks with who have nice pipelines of work. “The data centers are driving the construction demand market by employing thousands of workers that would otherwise be scattered among a much wider swath of projects,” he said. “When you hear various contractors are trying to hire for over 100 positions per company, you know the next few years certainly looks promising. Economic indicators point toward a correction but you wouldn’t know it if you only looked at the construction industry.” The Aksarben Village-based Right at Home headquarters and the Bridges Trust

headquarters at 133rd and Dodge streets were isolated as primary commercial projects. “Both are five-story commercial buildings, roughly 100,000 square foot each,” Pogge said. “What makes the Aksarben project noteworthy is the building and the surroundings will now completely tie all areas together. From Stinson Park all the way to [University of Nebraska Omaha], it will be cohesively connected now with a strong sense of walkability due to the landscaping, retail shops and places for chance interactions.” Similarly, Pogge continued, the Bridges Trust project fills a major gap on the Dodge corridor. With all aspects of its business, Pogge said McNeil Co. isn’t trying to be the “biggest general contractor around.” “We want to be known for providing an exceptional product that provides an exceptional experience for the end user,” he

said, referencing the time spent upfront understanding clients’ immediate and future needs, and designing spaces that evolve with families, businesses and investors. Pogge described the company’s biggest adaptation as technology implemented during the design phase to help end users understand their investments and to simplify the construction process, mitigating design flaws. “At the end of the day, it’s so fun from a sales perspective to see a client’s eyes light up when they can virtually experience their new project at such an early stage,” Pogge said. 3D modeling is layered with drone technology. “Never has there been a better way to design and market with the cameras and perspectives that can only be achieved with drones,” he said. The company is also poised to make additional personnel investments, adding

four individuals to its 30-member team. “We find the ROI on training and emerging technology is a multiple,” Pogge said. He indicated all boats rise when trained employees share their leadership and design software knowledge with others. Visitors to its Facebook page may encounter references to the Stephen Center; the Omaha-based 501©(3) was established in 1983 by the late parents of McNeil Co.’s founder, Sharon and Dick McNeil, to assist those living in poverty in south Omaha. The Apostle Stephen distributed food and charitable aid to the poor. “It’s my opinion that the care and humility that Pat expects each of our employees to show our clients or investors directly reflects the way he was taught to care for all of humanity from growing up around the Stephen Center,” Pogge said. “Everything we do is personal, as is the Stephen Center.”

Boyd Jones benefits from master planning for clients Continued from page 1. industry expertise and maintain continuity because they've got places to collaborate in planning over a long period of time that and socialize.” can encompass numerous projects, large The modernization of the former and small. postal facility was done to contemporize From land needs to funding and preconthe interior look of the structure and with struction design, Schuler said Boyd Jones the installation of energy-efficient natural can offer long-term planning for a client light while saving the historical integrity firm's needs. of the four-floor fa“Its important to cility designed near- Boyd Jones look at things from ly 100 years ago by Phone: 402-553-1804 a holistic, long-term renowned architect Address: 950 S. 10th St., Suite 100, perspective, discuss Thomas Kimball. The Omaha 68108 perspectives on fustructure now houses Services: feasibility, preconstruction, ture expansion and more than a dozen construction, facility maintenance, master take into account inplanning separate offices. frastructure needs,” From those quar- Founded: 1924 by W. Boyd Jones Schuler said. ters Crane, who start- Employees: more than 100 He cited at least a ed in the construction One-year goal: Attract additional new 25-year relationship industry at age 14 talent via use of two full-time in-house with a north Omaha more than 40 years recruiters/employee retaining specialists. manufacturer. ago as an equipment Industry outlook: Nationally venture cap“Our success is yard worker around ital investments in construction technology grounded in being a h i s s c h e d u l e a t are up but more aggressive and creative small, family-owned Creighton Prep High approaches must be used to inform high company that takes School, has seen a school students about the advantages the on varied and often maturing in the con- trades offer. complex projects tracting field — one Website: www.boydjones.biz that other companies that is demanding might not want to proficiency at leveraging technology such tackle,” Crane told Midlands Business as multi-dimensional virtual modeling, Journal in a 1999 interview. “For a compaamong others. ny our size we've always been into a lot of Crane said he and his company are different things.” keeping pace. There's a bevy of projects Now, 20 years later, Crane lists technolinvolving multiple sectors on the drawing ogy such as laser scanning, virtual reality board and a recent report by CB Insights, and process improvement equipment, and an industry source, which shows that last drones, among others, as important tools year investors pumped $882 million into for such a myriad of projects. the industry via 103 total deals. This year so Crane and Schuler laud the use of drones far the industry has already snagged $1.38 to scan construction sites, and in specific billion across 61 deals. terms on the site of St. Wenceslaus Church, Venture capital is betting big on conwhere the technology is being used as part struction technology, Crane said. of a volumetric survey to determine, among Crane and George Schuler, a 22-year other things, how much dirt is on-site. veteran of the industry who joined Boyd The additions comprising 56,000 square Jones in 2011 and who is heading the firm's feet when finished will include a new wormaster planning initiatives, said the Omaship center, day chapel, and church office ha-based contractor has been at the forefront complex. Differentiating features of the by identifying new technologies as early as worship center include tongue-in-groove 20 years ago that have enabled the company wood ceilings accentuated by beams trato grow with such a wide range of projects. versing the length and width of the nave in Master planning services can enable addition to a sunken baptistery. a client to take advantage of Boyd Jones’ Technology and outside-of-the-box

thinking have been important to the growing relationship Boyd Jones is building with DC West Community Schools. The Omaha contractor was called in to address ongoing mold issues in the middle school building that forced the relocation of several classrooms. While securing portable classrooms as a temporary solution would have been suggested in the past, Crane said his firm found that the district could save more than a million dollars and create an 11-classroom addition in just 13 weeks. “We accelerated construction of a planned athletics addition to be used for temporary swing space and lowered ceilings in the new building shell to better accommodate learning spaces,” Communications Manager Cole Epley said. “We also streamlined installation of sheetrock to save time during completion of rough interior finishes.” Crane said education, renewable energy and work for governmental entities are the three largest project categories for Boyd Jones. Projects can range from $50,000 office remodeling to multi-million dollar projects, the latter which the company is pursuing with greater vigor. While much of the work is in Nebraska, Iowa or nearby states, Boyd Jones does go farther to complete multiple projects for clients. One example is work done for Proctor & Gamble’s pet foods product division. Energy sector projects have included construction of Nebraska's largest wind turbine (in Polk county) and work at UNMC for a large rooftop solar unit. Crane, who succeeded his father Roger L. Crane as president of Boyd Jones in 2000, said he was profoundly impacted by his start in the industry as such a young age. “My early contact with the industry was not with the executives and office types — it was with the laborers, carpenters, and ironworkers, many of whom were World War II veterans,” Crane said. “I respected what they did as people, as members of society, and they were very proud yet humble about what they accomplished.” Now, Crane said he uses respect as his guiding force as a core value at Boyd Jones.

• MAY 31, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal

Tourism season in full swing for Council Bluffs attractions by Lee Nelson

New events and activities along with annual festivities are on the schedule for Council Bluffs residents and visitors. “Council Bluffs has some big events and activities this summer,” said Mark Eckman, executive director at Council Bluffs Convention & Visitors Bureau (CBCVB). The new office and visitor center at 509 23rd Ave. is scheduled to open soon. The Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI) will start in Council Bluffs July 21, he said. “More than 20,000 bicyclists will depart from here on this 47th annual trek across the state of Iowa,” he said. “Hundreds of local volunteers will be involved in hosting this singular bicycle event.” Rachel Tew, marketing and office manager at PACE (Pottawattamie Arts Culture Entertainment) in Council Bluffs, said PACE will continue Music in the Park, a six-week series of live music presented by regional bands each Wednesday beginning in June through the end of July. Movies in the Park is a six-week series of family-friendly movies held each Friday from June through July, and the movies begin at dusk. “We are pleased and proud to say we are working towards one of our major initiatives: to create an art and culture center that features a performing arts theater and a multi-use facility with studio space for aspiring artists, exhibit areas, classrooms and more. This complex will be called the Hoff Family Arts and Culture Center,” Tew said. The Hoff Family Arts and Culture Center will open in spring 2020. The organization

is projecting a big increase in attendees with 800-plus students served, 9,000 attendees and 25,000-plus impressions. Vincent Martorello, director of Council Bluffs Parks & Recreation Department, said the annual Loessfest, typically held Memorial Day weekend, will be postponed until Labor Day weekend because of flooding. “It is an annual celebration of all the great things happening in Council Bluffs, Eckman as well as our unique landscape,” he said. “Established in 2013, in our first five years, Loessfest has drawn more than 175,000 people from all over the region to our riverfront. The hub of the festivities is

at the Tom Hanafan River’s Edge Park, an 85-acre preserve and recreational area located at the foot of the Iowa side of the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge. “We are looking forward to recreation activities in the parks such as outdoor yoga and perhaps dance classes. We will be developing a recreation activities plan which focuses on community-based recreation activities to energize our parks during the LaBounty week and weekend. Art classes, recreation classes and more will be our focus at first, and then we will expand this to day events and then multi-day events.” Patricia LaBounty, curator at Union Pacif-

ic Railroad Museum in Council Bluffs, said the museum is engaging in a thoughtful reflection of the 150th anniversary of the completion of the nation’s first transcontinental railroad. “This year, our seasonal exhibit is ‘Hidden Histories of the Transcontinental Railroad,’” she said. “Just days after the completion of the nation’s first transcontinental railroad, in seven years and ahead of schedule, the country was transformed.” On May 10, exactly 150 years after the railroad was completed, the 150th Kickoff Celebration unveiled a new exhibit.The annual Railroad Days will have activities planned on July 13 and 14. LaBounty said they are expecting an increase in visitation this year. “While the museum has always pulled visitors from all 50 states and all over the world, we are seeing an increase in local families attending our events like Family Nights, which we have the first Friday of every month,” she said.

Technology reshaping higher education across metro area by David Kubicek

From online learning to virtual reality (VR) to artificial intelligence (AI), technology is reshaping higher education. Bruce Exstrom, dean of instructional assessment at Southeast Community College (SCC), said online courses allow students — and faculty — the flexibility of working on their classes any hour of the day or night. VR also has been a boon to education, allowing students to experience lessons in a different way than through classroom lectures and review the lessons often. “Like any technology, the cost of VR will come down, making it more affordable,” Ex-

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strom said. Over the next few years, he expects to see more educational apps on mobile devices. “I think we’ll see a lot more commercial apps come out,” he said. “We’ll see the cost

Exstrom Miller come down and the efficiency go way up because students will be able to access outside research material that isn’t related to the college. We’re headed that way now. I think we’ll see more and more of that.” Kandace Miller, president and CEO of AIM Institute, said that according to the Nebraska Department of Labor there are more than 36,000 unfilled jobs in Nebraska and a growing shortage of skilled workers in the tech field. “Our Interface Web School maintains an 80% job placement rate upon graduation,” Miller said. “Web developers are in high-demand. Students often go straight from Interface course completion into full-time positions with partner organizations.” Online applications, like Blackboard and Moodle, allow instructors to moderate discussion forums, collect assignments, post lecture slides and supplemental materials, and conduct class-wide polls. Health care education institutions are using visualization and simulation tools to bolster learning. For example, the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s iEXCEL program allows students to practice fundamentals using robots as patients long before they meet a patient in real life. Students increasingly use simulation tools to study real-world scenarios like plane crashes or complex medical emergencies as they happen. Over the next few years, AI will play a greater role in education and industry, from grading projects to individualization of curriculum and helping identify improvements in courses with feedback through

analysis and data. “Technology has improved communication, collaboration and overall effectiveness, especially within the past several years,” said Dave Koopmans, solutions engineering manager for Scantron Technology Solutions. “Students fully expect that they will be able to register for a class, communicate with faculty and administration, share things with peers, view their course syllabi and requirements, access learning resources, and Koopmans submit assignments — all using technology devices, especially their mobile phones.” The addition of technology infrastructure beyond the classroom has made it much easier to manage educational duties and requirements. The ability to access core systems from anywhere releases instructors from being tied to their offices to manage student communication, grading, course creation and maintenance, and assessment. Instead of requiring campus real estate for finals and midterms, instructors can develop cheat-resistant online assessments that provide more extensive and accurate results with less scoring effort. Students can also work anywhere, on their own schedule and appreciate the more immediate feedback made possible by technology advancements. “The increasing prevalence of technology infrastructure has ushered in a wave of pedagogical and practical innovation,” Koopmans said. Challenging traditional approaches are innovations like the “flipped classroom” where students view recorded lectures or readings extended beyond traditional textbooks and classroom time is spent on meaningful discussion. With increased technology, instructors can add interactive elements with much less effort and engage students more thoroughly. Over the next few years, the cost of basic enabling technology will continue to decrease, but due to the shortage of skilled IT administrators in the United States — which will lead schools to subscribe to outsourced services — costs will increase on a per-student/perfaculty basis.

Midlands Business Journal • MAY 31, 2019 •

Verdant positions firm to scale with new divisions, employee engagement Continued from page 1. individuals and businesses do just that — grow. In addition to the name change, the firm has added three other sectors in the last two years — wealth management, creative and coverage — to more efficiently aid clients. “We want to be in a situation were we can wrap around the business,” Goracke said. “Realistically that’s what the world is turning into. People don’t want to shop around for an investment adviser or accountant, they would rather just come in and get it done.” Verdant Wealth, for example, handles SUPER CROSSWORD

90% of its clients businesses and personal accounts. “It only makes sense that we pull all of the pieces together because the business is you,” Goracke said. Having multiple contacts within the firm also ensures that no matter who is on vacation or out sick, there is someone to help the client. Both Verdant Creative and Verdant Wealth are brokered partnerships with established, specialized firms. Verdant Creative, a four-person team lead by Chris Lacroix, handles everything from branding to marketing to design and works BYLINES

Schroder said that it’s a family-oriented culwith clients until they love the product. ture “were you feel cared about.” “One of the things that sold me on Goracke noted that several team members Chris was when he said he likes to design do the non-competitive bike ride RAGBRI stuff that people would like on a t-shirt,” together each year and it’s not uncommon to Goracke said. “He said if you give a client find the team together something they’ll only after hours. wear to paint in, that’s Verdant “If you look at a problem.” Phone: Verdant North: 402-452-3007; some of the other While the depart- Verdant South: 402-330-1300 companies that won, ment was meant to Address: Verdant North: 14301 FNB Pkwy they’re offering unbring in new clients, Suite #110, Omaha 68154; Verdant Southlimited vacation and he said it’s been more 12110 Port Grace Blvd, Suite #100, La stuff like that and successful with cur- Vista 68128 maybe we don’t ofrent clients “who were Services: accounting, wealth managefer those things but tired of what they had ment, creative services, employee benefits it says a lot about our and wanted some- Employees: 38 culture that it doesn’t thing fresh — which Website: verdantgrows.com take those things,” is exactly what we Goracke said. went though.” Verdant, like most companies, is feeling Verdant Coverage was the brainchild of the squeeze of historically low unemployan employee who after going to conference ment, putting them in a constant state of asked Goracke why Verdant didn’t offer recruitment. At the same time, the ecoMedicare supplement insurance. The green nomic stability is sending the firm more light was given and now the firm offers a client referrals. whole suite of employee benefits, such as The firm was scheduled to host around health insurance, disability and life insurance. 1,500 clients and family members on FriEmployee input is one way that the firm day, May 31 for its annual barbecue, which hopes to grow and engagement is one reason includes music by Billy McGuigan and Baird Holm rated the firm No. 3 in the Best The Downliners as well as dinner, drinks Places to Work in Omaha list. and dessert. Business Development Director Angela

The bogus-check scam is back, in the form of a car-wrap offer by David Lazarus

Answers on page 12.

Scammers aren’t dumb — they stick with what works. It’s always interesting, though, when a classic ruse gets dressed up in new clothes. In this case, we’re looking at a variation on a well-traveled boConsumers gus-check scam, rejiggered to attract people open to pimping their rides for advertising purposes. Pay attention to how this works because it’s a con you’ll almost certainly see again. Los Angeles resident Jesse Marquez, 67, recently received a text message asking if he was interested in a so-called car wrap — that is, turning his 2010 Dodge Caliber hatchback into a rolling marketing campaign for Monster Energy, the energy drink characterized by a stylized M logo that looks like a claw mark. The text said Marquez could earn $500 a week for 12 weeks, or $6,000, if he was selected to participate in the program. It linked to an online application, which Marquez filled out. “The thing is,” he told me, “my brother has Stage 4 cancer and his insurance doesn’t cover everything. I could use the extra money to help him.” This is common among scam victims, I’ve found. It’s not that they’re particularly reckless or naive, although those can be factors too. Rather, there frequently are extenuating circumstances that make a person vulnerable to being hoodwinked. As with all successful scams, the trickery lies in the details. After Marquez submitted his application, he started receiving text messages ostensibly from the company handling

Monster’s marketing program. They began with innocent-seeming follow-up questions, such as “How many miles do you cover on a daily basis?” and “How long have you been driving?” Marquez was asked to take a photo of his car and show where the decals would be placed. This part of the racket played out over several days. Finally Marquez was told that he’d been selected for a car wrap. Actually, he was told he’d been “choosen,” which should have been a red flag that he likely was communicating with nonnative speakers, possibly based overseas. “You will receive check of $1570, Once you get it you are to keep $500 your upfront weekly payment and the rest is for the decal artist who will come for the decal,” the text said in broken English. “I hope you understand?” Marquez asked for more details about what the decals would look like. He promptly received a text that included a photo of a Monster-branded car. It was a fake. “Monster has no car-wrap program,” said Tamara Taylor, a spokeswoman for the Corona-based company. “This is something that’s been going on for a while,” she said, adding that Monster Energy is cooperating with authorities investigating the racket. At this point, however, nobody knows who’s perpetrating it. Marquez’s check arrived via a FedEx priority overnight shipment, which made it seem more legit. It also allowed the sender to track the package and know when it had arrived. Timing is everything in this fraud. The check appeared to be issued by Continued on next page.

• MAY 31, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal

Sterling Bay to back life sciences startups, with eye on Lincoln Yards by Ryan Ori

Chicago real estate developer Sterling Bay aims to make Lincoln Park on the city’s North Side a center for life sciences research, an industry that the firm hopes will fill a lot of space in its $6 billion Lincoln Yards megadevelScience opment. Sterling Bay announced the creation of a new investment arm, called Prysm Life Sciences, that will plow millions of dollars into emerging biotech and pharmaceutical companies. The Prysm venture will include the Stanley Manne Children’s Research Institute, a life sciences incubator based in a Lincoln Park medical building that Sterling Bay bought last year from Anne & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. The goal is to address what Sterling Bay CEO Andy Gloor said is a shortage of high-quality life sciences research lab space in Chicago, which leads companies to move out of the area to research hotbeds such as Cambridge, Mass. Other developers are eyeing properties elsewhere in Chicago, including in the Illi-

nois Medical District and near McCormick Place, for research space. Through Prysm, Sterling Bay and other investors will provide funding to early stage companies with the goal of creating new, high-paying jobs in the city. Companies that outgrow the incubator could move to space at Lincoln Yards, which Gloor said is expected to have a large portion of life sciences research space. Expanding companies that move to Lincoln Yards would further boost the value of Sterling Bay’s investments in the startups. “We want to provide a network to keep those companies in Chicago, similar to what 1871 has done for the tech sector,” Gloor said of the incubator based in the Merchandise Mart. “This is an industry that is growing exponentially, and Chicago needs to get its fair share of these businesses.” Sterling Bay’s initiative should complement the work already being done by Matter, a health care technology incubator that opened in 2015, said Matter CEO Steven Collens. “There’s a huge shortage of lab space

in Chicago,” Collens said. “It hurts life science entrepreneurs as they’re looking to build their businesses.” Lab spaces can be significantly more expensive to build than other types of spaces, he noted. Matter thought about building lab spaces when it was opening but anticipated other non-Matter projects, then in the works, would fill the need. Those projects, however, he said, ended up falling through. “When you think about what it is that early stage life sciences ventures need in order to thrive, they need capital, they need talent and they need infrastructure,” Collens said. “We’re missing the infrastructure piece and I think this will be really helpful.” Sterling Bay already has benefitted from the growth of tech jobs in Chicago in recent years, signing companies such as Google, Uber, Gogo, Twitter and Glassdoor to office leases in its buildings. It has made investments in young companies, one of which it plans to relocate to Chicago as part of the Prysm venture. Prescient Medicine Holdings will move later

The bogus-check scam is back, in the form of a car-wrap offer Continued from page 10. Excell Auto Group in Boca Raton, Fla. And, yes, a search for Excell Auto Group will turn up a legitimate company with the same street address as on the check. Scott Zankl, owner of the Florida luxury-car dealer, told me he was aware his company’s name was being used by fraudsters but wasn’t sure what to do about it. “We’ve been getting calls about this for the last few years,” he said. “It’s crazy.” The next red flag for Marquez was that the size of the check he received was a lot bigger than what he’d been promised. It was for $2,570.86. This is generally a sign that the scammer believes a sucker is hooked and a bigger payoff is possible. “Hello,” said an ensuing text message, “i tracked the payment just now and it has been delivered to your mailbox so how soon will you be getting it deposited?” Subsequent messages encouraged Marquez to deposit the check and confirm the transaction as quickly as possible. Here’s how the scheme typically plays out from there: After the check is deposited, the scammer will say something to the effect that the decal artist is very busy and needs to be paid upfront to schedule time to come out and apply the decorations. Instructions will be provided to wire the money. The con relies on the fact that it usually takes several days for a bank to clear a check, even though it will appear on your account that the deposit is complete. If you immediately withdraw and wire the money as instructed, therefore, you’re not wiring just-deposited funds. You’re wiring your own cash. And you won’t know you’ve been had until a few days later, when the bank informs you that the check has bounced. That cash you wired? It’s irretrievable. In Marquez’s case, he would have been out $2,070 of his own money (and wouldn’t have gotten the $500 he thought

he was keeping for himself). However, he was saved at the last minute by his desire to share the wealth with others. Before the check arrived, Marquez had asked the scammer by text if it would be OK if he encouraged a few friends and family members to also apply for the program. Needless to say, the scammer said this was a great idea and instructed Marquez to forward the link to the online application to as many people as he wanted. It was Marquez’s son who, after receiving his father’s text, was sharp enough to check online and see if this was a swindle. He told his dad not to deposit the check and not to send money to anyone. For the last couple of weeks, Marquez said, he’s been stringing the scammer along as he’s tried to interest the Los Angeles Police Department, the L.A. city attorney’s office and the L.A. County district attorney’s office in the case. “No one has gotten back to me,” he said. If so, that’s not surprising. Many law enforcement agencies lack the resources to investigate fraud and know these shenanigans frequently originate abroad, beyond their jurisdiction. So Marquez called me. Since he lost no money, this is a teachable moment for the rest of us. “If you get a message urging you to deposit a check and wire money back, it’s a scam,” says the Federal Trade Commission. “Every time. No matter the story.” The car-wrap angle is a nice twist — very modern, very alluring to people looking to make a fast buck. However, as the FTC observes, “if this were a legitimate car-wrap opportunity, wouldn’t the company directly pay the car-wrapping vendor instead of asking you to do it?” Marquez’s intentions were good: He wanted to help his ailing brother. In almost all cases, though, just taking that extra moment to ask yourself if ev-

erything’s on the up-and-up can save you a bunch of heartache. I asked Marquez what advice he’d give to anyone who receives a similar text message. His answer was a simple one. “Don’t.” ©2019 Los Angeles Times Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

this year to Lincoln Park from Hummelstown, Pa., chief operating officer Kevin Stineman said. The company will move 85 workers, with plans to hire another 40 after relocating to Chicago, Stineman said in an email. Prescient is in the final stages of submitting clinical trial data to the Food and Drug Administration for LifeKit Predict, a genetic test that determines a person’s risk for developing opioid addiction. Prescient expects to gain approval and commercialization by later this year, Stineman said. Sterling Bay in April finalized city approval to build up to 14.5 million square feet of office, residential and other buildings on 55 acres on the Chicago River along Lincoln Park and Bucktown. Sterling Bay paid almost $20.5 million for the Stanley Manne Children’s Research Institute in October. The building at 2430 N. Halsted St. is about a mile east of Lincoln Yards. Lurie workers, who are moving to consolidated space in the Gold Coast, will be out of the building in the next few months, and Prysm will open there soon after, Gloor said. CBRE broker David Saad will lead leasing at the 120,000-square-foot Halsted Street property. By the time Lurie moves out, Sterling Bay said it expects to have several lab tenants signed. (Chicago Tribune’s Lisa Schencker contributed.) ©2019 Chicago Tribune Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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Going Green

Health & Wellness Midlands Business Journal • MAY 31, 2019 •

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

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Going Green overview • Green/sustainability projects • Green travel & tourism How information technology is redefining ways commercial/industrial buildings operate Sustainable transportation solutions/trends • Recycling programs/efforts Niches in energy/environmental law • Going green at home Issue Date: June 7 • Ad Deadline: May 30

Topics may include: Health & Wellness overview • Elder care Individual wellness • Telehealth • Employee incentives Healthy eating and exercise • Pharmacies Issue Date: June 7 • Ad Deadline: May 30 A section prepared by the staff of the Midlands Business Journal

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Management

A section prepared by the staff of the Midlands Business Journal

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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

• MAY 31, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal

Trump, Obama and Congress will all be to blame for what happens with Iran Difficulties with Iran will recur regularly, like the oscillations of a sine wave, and the recent crisis — if such it was, or is — illustrates persistent U.S. intellectual and institutional failures, starting with this: The Trump administration’s assumption, and that eorge of many in Congress, is that if the president wants to wage ill war against a nation almost the size of Mexico (and almost four times larger than Iraq) and with 83 million people (more than double that of Iraq), there is no constitutional hindrance to him acting unilaterally. In April, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was pressed during a Senate hearing to pledge that the administration would not regard the 2001 authorization for the use of military force against al-Qaeda and other nonstate actors responsible for 9/11 as authorization, 18 years later, for war against Iran. Pompeo laconically said he would “prefer to just leave that to lawyers.” Many conservatives who preen as “originalists” when construOpinion ing all the Constitution’s provisions other than the one pertaining to war powers are unimpressed by the framers’ intention that Congress should be involved in initiating military force in situations other than repelling sudden attacks. The Economist, which is measured in its judgments and sympathetic to the United States, tartly referred to the supposed evidence of Iran’s intentions to attack U.S. forces, allies or “interests” as “suspiciously unspecific.” Such skepticism, foreign and domestic, reflects 16-yearold memories of certitudes about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction: Remember Secretary of State Colin Powell spending days at the CIA receiving assurances about the evidence. There also are concerns about the impetuosity of a commander in chief who vows that military conflict would mean “the official end” of Iran, whatever that means. U.S. policy makes easing economic sanctions against Iran contingent on Iran doing 12 things, most of which (e.g., halting development of ballistic missiles, withdrawing from Syria, ending support for allied groups) it almost certainly will not do. This U.S. policy is congruent with U.S. disregard of this truth: Any nation, however prostrate, poor or ramshackle, that ardently wants nuclear weapons can acquire them. Just four years after Hiroshima, the Soviet Union, which had been laid to waste by World War II, became a nuclear power. China was an impoverished peasant society in 1964 when it detonated a nuclear weapon. Pakistan’s per capita income was $470 in 1998 when it joined the nuclear club. In the more than a decade since North Korea acquired nuclear weapons, U.S. policy has pronounced this “unacceptable.” But U.S. behavior has been to accept it while unfurling the tattered flag of arms control — hoping to talk North Korea into giving up what it has devoted three decades to develop. Fifteen years ago, Condoleezza Rice, then President George W. Bush’s national security adviser, said that an abstraction (the “international community”) would not “allow the Iranians to develop a nuclear weapon.” Allow? In 2012, President Barack Obama said: “Iran’s leaders should understand that I do not have a policy of containment. I have a policy to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.” If — probably when — that policy fails, we shall have a policy of containment, or a major war. Trump’s national security apparatus might include a plucky cohort of regime changers who, undaunted by 18 discouraging years (Afghanistan, Iraq), cling to the fatal conceit that U.S. policies, such as sanctions, can manipulate the internal dynamics of societies such as Iran’s. In any case, today’s president is, in one respect, like his predecessor: Obama denied that hundreds of U.S. airstrikes that killed hundreds in Libya and helped to

G W

President’s immigration plan could use some work Recently, the Trump administration released the outline of an immigration plan meant to reshape how and which people are allowed into the United States. The plan would prioritize merit-based immigration and high-skilled labor over those who already have family here. Far from comprehensive or sufficient, it’s a modest improvement over the administration’s previous restrictive pushes. The plan’s centerpiece is a shift toward a “merit” system very similar to those in place in Australia and Canada. The reform would boost skill-based immigration from 12% to 57%, while decreasing family-based and lottery-based immigration by 50%. This is great news for employers in the market for high-skilled workers. Indeed, the cap for H-1B visas (for temporary, skilled workers) and employment-based green cards has not increased for many years, while the U.S. workforce has grown by 38 million since these programs’ inception. During his testimony before the House Committee on Small Business, my colleague Daniel Griswold advised

by Veronique De Rugy

members of Congress that in order to better serve our booming economy—especially the tech and health care industries but also future American businesses (large and small) -- increasing the number of high-skilled workers is key. He suggests tripling of the number of H-1B visas to 195,000 and doubling the 1990 cap of 140,000 of employment-based green cards. Griswold rightfully recommends that “spouses and minor children of the primary green card worker should be exempt from the cap” to preserve family units without taking away from our ability to attract more workers. Finally, he also suggests repealing the per-country quotas on green cards, which counterproductively discriminate against immigrants based on their country of origin. The best feature of the Trump administration’s plan, however, is that it would maintain current immigration levels. While this may sound like a bad approach since we actually need more immigrants, it’s better than the administration’s previous proposals to cut legal immiContinued on next page.

destroy a regime constituted involvement in “hostilities.” Trump recently vetoed a congressional resolution that would have terminated U.S. involvement with Saudi Arabia and its allies in the war in Yemen, by the terms of the 1973 War Powers Resolution. It forbids the “introduction” of U.S. forces into “hostilities” for more than 90 days without congressional authorization. It defines “introduction” to include the assignment of U.S. military “to command, coordinate, participate in the movement of, or accompany the . . . military forces of any foreign country or government when such military forces are engaged . . .

in hostilities.” The U.S. military is providing intelligence, logistical support and, for a time, occasional in-flight refueling of Saudi bombers. This certainly constitutes involvement in the commanding, coordinating and movement of military forces. This is similarly certain: Whatever the United States does to Iran militarily will be decided unilaterally by this president. But his predecessor, and today’s Congress and previous Congresses, will be implicated in the absence of restraint by laws or norms. The Washington Post

Midlands Business Journal • MAY 31, 2019 •

Trump’s $16-billion farm bailout means you’re paying for his tariff war twice by Michael Hiltzik

We’ll say this for President Trump: When he misunderstands something, he misunderstands it more than anyone else in creation. Take the business of tariffs. Trump is unshakably convinced that his tariffs are a tax on China. He repeated this grossly erroneous claim recently, during his announcement of a new $16 billion bailout for farmers harmed by, yes, his tariff war. “Just so you understand,” he said, “these tariffs are paid for largely by China. A lot of people like to say by ‘us.’ ” Well, the people who say that are economists and other experts who have done the math, and found that the tariffs Trump has imposed on imports from Economy China cost American consumers $68.8 billion last year, though some of that spending got funneled back to some domestic producers in the form of higher prices (which their customers, of course, paid). But our main topic here is that $16 billion bailout, and what it says about who pays for Trump’s trade war and how much. The newly announced bailout comes on top of $12 billion in emergency farm aid he announced last year, aimed heavily at soybean farmers whose exports to

President’s immigration plan Continued from preceding page. gration in half. It is baffling that anyone would seriously call for cutting overall levels of immigration. As the great professor and economist Julian Simon used to assert, people are the ultimate resource and with more people come more brains and the promise of greater things to come. It’s even more stunning to call for lower levels of immigration during an economic boom with the lowest unemployment rate in half a century. In fact, a recurring complaint from the business community is the difficulty of finding enough employees. This is true from high-skilled jobs in manufacturing to low-skilled ones in retail and the restaurant industries. At the very least, for now, it appears that the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner is the person behind the plan and has managed to squash this destructive idea. That said, this plan falls short in many ways. Here are a few: First, it fails to enhance the legal immigration of lowskilled workers in spite of the many studies that show the benefits of importing labor. This is the result of the president’s misguided belief that—contrary to academic evidence—those foreigners who come to the United States to work as housecleaners, gardeners, construction workers, kitchen helpers and nannies aren’t good for Americans and America. Yet, in a country where wages are growing, access to low-skilled workers would help even more workers come back into the labor market. Furthermore, as The Wall Street Journal recently editorialized, “Merit systems don’t measure entrepreneurship and would keep out many less-skilled workers who start small businesses like the neighborhood dry cleaner.” Added to the plan’s failure to streamline the guest-worker visas, this amounts to a serious opportunity cost for the country. The administration’s proposal also fails to resolve the issue with the “Dreamers,” who are condemned to stay in limbo. And it does nothing to give the current illegal population—two-thirds of whom have already been here for a decade or more—a more stable and legal status. With the Democrats unwilling to give any proposals coming from the administration a chance on the House’s floor, including this one, this proposal is better understood as a political document than a serious legislative proposal. As such proposal goes, it fails to be aspirational and implement a comprehensive and needed immigration plan. Yet, it should be commended for putting an end to the nonsense about scaling back legal immigration. Copyright 2019 Creators.com

China have fallen to zero, thanks to the trade war. As Jordan Weissmann observes in Slate, the $28 billion total is “about what the U.S. spent last school year on Pell grants for college students.” That raises doubts about Trump’s priorities. To get a sense of where these expenses fall, it’s worthwhile to follow the money. The $68.8 billion tariff cost estimated by a team of economists led by Pablo D. Fajgelbaum of UCLA, is reflected in the prices of imports, which are passed through almost entirely to U.S. consumers. The money is paid by importers to the U.S. government, which can redistribute it to the direct victims of the trade war, such as farmers, if it wishes. But that’s a narrow recompense. It doesn’t help collateral victims, such as the buyers of foreign-made washing machines, the median price of which rose to $835 from $749 after tariffs were imposed on the appliances (at the behest of Whirlpool, a domestic manufacturer). It won’t help the estimated 40,000 beer industry workers who have lost their jobs, in part because of tariffs on the aluminum used to make cans, according to industry reports. Nor will it help others who lose their jobs if the tariffs foment a general economic slowdown. Nor are the agricultural bailouts evenly distributed within the farm sector. They’re heavily concentrated among Midwestern growers, including soybean farmers, leaving dairy farmers and others wanting. It’s proper to note that the pain in this sector isn’t a direct result of U.S. tariffs, which at least return some money to the Treasury: It’s the result of retaliatory tariffs from China and other trading partners, which destroys foreign demand for U.S.

production. No one pockets any gains from these tariffs; they’re simply a deadweight loss to international trade. As farmers are well aware, the bailouts won’t compensate them for the longer-term damage to their export prospects. Soybean farmers can’t count their losses simply in terms of lower annual exports while the tariffs are in effect; they’re fearful, rightly, that when former customers such as the Chinese turn to other countries for their supplies, they may never come back. “The noose is getting tightened a little bit more than it was before,” Michigan farm spokesman Jim Byrum said a couple of weeks ago. So U.S. consumers are paying a tax to the U.S. government in the form of higher prices for imported goods. Some of those funds are circulated back into the economy as emergency aid — but it’s not going back to all the consumers who paid the tariffs. Nor is its certain that the tariff revenue is actually going to the trade war victims: The government is running a deficit, caused in considerable part by the tax cuts enacted in December 2017, which largely benefited corporations and the wealthy. Arguably, it’s their tax breaks, not the losses of soybean farmers, that are being subsidized by Trump’s tariff revenue. Moreover, because the farm losses are due to foreign, not domestic, tariffs, no revenue at all is coming to the United States as a result. The bailouts are our expense, completely. That’s another way in which the tariffs are paid not by China, but by “us,” Mr. Trump. See how it works? ©2019 Los Angeles Times Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Vanguard issues its 10-year forecast for stock, bond market returns by Erin Arvedlund

Vanguard released its 10-year projected returns for stock and bond markets, an eagerly awaited piece of research out of the world’s largest mutual fund firm with over $5 trillion in assets. Vanguard published a range of annual market returns the firm forecast for the next 10 years: U.S. equity returns: 4% – 6% U.S. aggregate bond returns: 2.5% – 4.5% International equities returns: 7.5% – 9.5% International bond returns (hedged): 2% – 4% Vanguard’s annual market forecasts are “nominal” returns, meaning they don’t account for inflation. Assuming 2% annual inflation Stock Market would lower those forecasts by the same amount; for example, equity returns after inflation, or “real” returns, would be 2 to 4% annually. Vanguard also said it sees no imminent recession threat, and said the U.S. economy is currently in the midto late-stages of the business cycle. The firm predicts a 35% chance of a recession in the next 12 months. As for the bond markets, Vanguard noted that the yield curve (as traditionally defined by the 3-month and 10-year U.S. Treasury) briefly inverted in late March. Some market watchers say that an inverted yield curve is a predictor of recession. But “a key distinction about this inversion compared with others is it’s driven almost exclusively by long-term rates dropping below short-term rates,” Vanguard wrote in its forecast report. “We see little evidence that the inversion, in isolation, is signaling a recession in 2019/ early 2020.” However, “the expected easing of global growth in the next two years — driven by a fading boost from U.S. fiscal stimulus and the continued slowing of growth in China — is fraught with economic and market risks. “ Vanguard believes the U.S. economy can tolerate an additional interest rate hike, but that “the Federal Reserve has clearly stated its intention of no hikes in 2019. We do not see a valid justification for cutting interest rates as of now, and given our expectation for a modest recovery in the second half of 2019, a cut seems quite unlikely.”

Core inflation should remain near or below 2% while an escalation in tariffs would “only temporarily” affect U.S. core inflation. Long term, Vanguard’s 10-year outlook for investment returns “remains guarded, given the backdrop of high valuations and depressed risk-free rates across major markets.” Returns in global equity markets are likely to be about 4.5 to 6.5% for U.S.-dollar-based investors, Vanguard added. Vanguard foresees improving return prospects in non-U.S. developed markets, building on slightly more attractive valuations. U.S. fixed income returns are most likely to be in the 2.5 to 4.5% annual range, driven by rising policy rates and higher yields as central bankers’ policy normalizes, the Malvern, Pa.-based investment giant wrote. Vanguard expects the global economy to continue to grow, albeit at a slightly slower pace, over the next two years. Trade, policy, and financial market uncertainty may prompt growth scares. U.S. economic growth should drop back toward a more sustainable 2% a year as the benefits of expansionary fiscal and monetary policy abate, Vanguard said. China’s growth will remain near 6% a year, with increasing policy stimulus applied to help maintain that trajectory. Vanguard estimates that a “sustained growthscare scenario in China could have a negative impact on U.S. growth of nearly 30 basis points,” or 0.30 percent. ©2019 The Philadelphia Inquirer Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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• MAY 31, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal

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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 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 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 HALEY REAL ESTATE GROUP, LLC 10703 J Street, Suite 101 Omaha, NE 68127 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION FOR POINTE HC4, LLC A Certificate of Organization was filed with the Nebraska Secretary of State for Pointe HC4, LLC (the “Company”) on April 19, 2019. The address of the Company’s designated office is 10703 J Street, Suite 101, Omaha, NE 68127. The name and address for the Company’s registered agent is Carl J. Troia, Jr., 10703 J Street, Suite 101, Omaha, NE 68127. First publication May 31, 2019, final June 14, 2019 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 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

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 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 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 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 AMANDA M. BARRON, Attorney P.O. Box 597 Fremont, Nebraska 68026 LEGAL NOTICE TO THE DEFENDANT(s), LARRY BRANT You are hereby notified that Credit Bureau Services, Inc., a corporation, filed its complaint in the County Court of DOUGLAS County, Nebraska on 02/18/2019 on Case Number CI19-4480, the object and prayer of which is to recover the sum of $1190.00, plus interest, attorney fees and court costs. You are required to answer the complaint of the Plaintiff on or before 07/07/2019 or the allegations in said complaint will be taken as true and judgment entered accordingly. CREDIT BUREAU SERVICES, INC., A CORPORATION First publication May 24, 2019, final June 7, 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 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 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 WHITMORE LAW OFFICE LLC 7602 Pacific Street, Suite 200 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION Notice is hereby given that Screaming Meadows, L.L.C. (the “Company”) has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The designated office of the Company is 14817 Parker Plaza, Omaha, Nebraska 68154. The registered agent of the Company is Scott Maupin, 14817 Parker Plaza, Omaha, Nebraska 68154. The Company was formed on May 24, 2019. First publication May 31, 2019, final June 14, 2019

Midlands Business Journal • MAY 31, 2019 • LEGAL NOTICES 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 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

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

ERICKSON l SEDERSTROM, P.C., Attorneys 10330 Regency Parkway Drive, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF TETRA HOLDINGS COMPANY, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that Tetra Holdings Company, LLC, a Nebraska limited liability company (the “Company”), has been duly organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska, with its designated office located at 3900 Old Cheney Road, Suite 201, #104, Lincoln, Nebraska 68516 and designating its registered agent as Erickson & Sederstrom P.C. a limited liability organization with its registered office at 10330 Regency Parkway Drive, Suite 100, Omaha, Nebraska 68114. First publication May 24, 2019, final June 7, 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 AND RESTATEMENT OF THE ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION OF JULIE HOCKNEY DESIGNER, INC. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Articles of Incorporation of Julie Hockney Designer, Inc., a Nebraska corporation, were amended and restated on May 21, 2019, in their entirety as follows: Article 1 states the name of the Corporation is Julie Hockney Designer, Inc. Article 2 states the registered agent is Koley Jessen P.C., L.L.O., 1125 South 103rd Street, Suite 800, Omaha, Nebraska 68124. Article 3 states the purpose. Article 4 states the number of shares the Corporation is authorized to issue is 1,000 shares of common stock having a par value of $1.00 per share. Article 5 states the Corporation shall have perpetual existence. Article 6 states the provisions relating to amending the Articles and Bylaws. Article 7 states that provisions relating to director liability. First publication May 24, 2019, final June 7, 2019 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION of a Limited Liability Company Notice is hereby given the registration with the Nebraska Secretary of state’s office of Daniel's Lawn Service, LLC under the laws of the State of Nebraska as follows: The name of the company is Daniel's Lawn Service, LLC. Registered agent and office of Daniel's Lawn Service, LLCat 6038 S 38th Street, Omaha, NE 68107. Initial members: Daniel Altamirano Valladares. General nature of the business is the general law service 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 24, 2019, final June 7, 2019 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION of a Limited Liability Company Notice is hereby given the registration with the Nebraska Secretary of state’s office of Chameleon's Pro Remodeling, LLC under the laws of the State of Nebraska as follows: The name of the company is Chameleon's Pro Remodeling, LLC. Registered agent and office of Chameleon's Pro Remodeling, LLC at 2511 N 18th Street, Omaha, NE 68110. Initial members: Mariana I Guerra. 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 24, 2019, final June 7, 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 DIXIE LAND AND CONSULTING, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that Dixie Land and Consulting, LLC has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The designated office of the limited liability company is 431 North 62nd Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68132. The registered agent and office of the limited liability company is Koley Jessen P.C., L.L.O., 1125 South 103rd Street, Suite 800, Omaha, Nebraska 68124. The limited liability company commenced business on May 15, 2019. First publication May 24, 2019, final June 7, 2019 DVORAK LAW GROUP LLC 9500 West Dodge Road, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF KRC, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that KRC, LLC (the “Company”) has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The Designated Office Address of the Company is 825 North 90th Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68114. The Registered Agent of the Company is DDLG Business Services, Inc., 9500 W. Dodge Road, Suite 100, Omaha, Nebraska 68114. First publication May 24, 2019, final June 7, 2019 DVORAK LAW GROUP LLC 9500 West Dodge Road, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF THE GROUP DPC, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that The Group DPC, LLC (the “Company”) has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The Designated Office Address of the Company is 825 North 90th Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68114. The Registered Agent of the Company is DDLG Business Services, Inc., 9500 W. Dodge Road, Suite 100, Omaha, Nebraska 68114. First publication May 24, 2019, final June 7, 2019

• MAY 31, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal

LEGAL NOTICES TIEDEMAN, LYNCH, KAMPFE, McVAY & RESPELIERS, Attorneys 6910 Pacific Street, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68106-1045 LEGAL NOTICE In the County Court of Douglas County, Nebraska. PR19-667 Estate of Norma L. Kemp, a/k/a, Norma E. Kemp, Deceased Notice is hereby given that on May 19, 2019, in the County Court of Douglas County, Nebraska, the Registrar issued a written statement of Informal Probate of the Will of said Deceased and that Daniel L. Kemp, whose address is 3604 South 94th Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68128, has been appointed Personal Representative of this 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 24, 2019 or be forever barred. CARROL L. MILLS Registrar First publication May 24, 2019, final June 7, 2019 LEGAL NOTICE In the District Court of Hall County, Nebraska. PR17-523 STATE OF NEBRASKA, on Behalf of EMANUEL ANTONIO RIVERA, Minor Child, Plaintiff, vs. ANTONIO JAMES RIVERA, Defendant, MARTHA ROMINA RIVAS, Defendant. TO: ANTONIO JAMES RIVERA, Defendant: You are hereby notified that Defendant Rivas has commenced an action in the District Court of Hall County, Nebraska, the object and prayer of which is for Defendant Rivas to obtain legal and physical cusody of the parties' minor child; establish parenting time and that the parties should share in the daycare expenses and unreimbursed medical expenses of the minor child; for a modification of child support effective May 1, 2019; for attorney fees; and for such other and different relief as the Court may deem just and equitable. You are required to answer said Complaint on or before July 10, 2019, or an order will be entered against you. MARTHA ROMINA RIVAS, Defendant Joshua A. Johnson, #25260 CONWAY, PAULEY & JOHNSON, P.C. P.O. BOX 315 Hastings, NE 68902-0315 402-462-5187 jjohnson@hastingslaw.com Attorney for Defendant Rivas First publication May 31, 2019, final June 21, 2019 APPLICATION FOR REGISTRATION OF TRADE NAME Trade Name to be registered is: Solopreneur Life Name of Applicant: Cherokee Street Investments Inc Address: 6306 N 142nd Avenue Omaha NE 68164 Applicant is a Corporation If other than an Individual, state under whose laws entity was formed: Colorado Date of first use of name in Nebraska: 10/2018 General nature of business: Online education and coaching KRISTOPHER KLUVER Signature of Applicant or Legal Representative May 31, 2019 APPLICATION FOR REGISTRATION OF TRADE NAME Trade Name to be registered is: Cherokee Street Publishing Name of Applicant: Cherokee Street Investments Inc Address: 6306 N 142nd Avenue Omaha NE 68164 Applicant is a Corporation If other than an Individual, state under whose laws entity was formed: Colorado Date of first use of name in Nebraska: 4/2019 General nature of business: Publishing books and workbooks KRISTOPHER KLUVER Signature of Applicant or Legal Representative May 31, 2019 JAMES WALTER CRAMPTON, Attorney 1904 Farnam Street, Suite 200 Omaha, Nebraska 68102 NOTICE OF TRUSTEE SALE TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: You are hereby notified that the following described property will be sold by James Walter Crampton, Successor Trustee, at public auction to the highest bidder at the Douglas County Civic Center, Farnam Street Level, 1819 Farnam St, in the City of Omaha, Douglas County, Nebraska on July 12, 2019, at 9:00 a.m. Lot 9, and the East 40 feet of Lot 10, Block 126, South Omaha City Lots, now a part of the City of Omaha, as surveyed, platted and recorded in Douglas County, Nebraska. DATED, at Omaha, Nebraska May 20, 2019. First publication May 31, 2019, final June 28, 2019 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

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 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 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 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 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

MATTHEW T. PAYNE, Attorney PANSING HOGAN ERNST & BACHMAN LLP 10250 Regency Circle, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114-3728 NOTICE OF ARTICLES OF AMENDMENT TO ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION OF FLYING D ENTERPRISES, INC. Notice is hereby given of Articles of Amendment to the Articles of Incorporation of Flying D Enterprises, Inc. as follows: Article I of the Articles of Incorporation of the Corporation is hereby amended so that, as amended, said Article shall provide that the name of the Corporation shall be Orion Equipment, Inc. The Articles of Amendment to Articles of Incorporation were filed with the Secretary of State of Nebraska on May 17, 2019. In all other respects, the Articles of Incorporation remain unchanged. First publication May 24, 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: ANDREA S. ARON, 2705 North 45th Street, Omaha NE 68104, you are hereby notified that on April 2, 2019, American Family Mutual Ins. Co., S.I. filed a suit against you in the Douglas County Court at docket CI19-7322, the object in prayer of which was to secure a judgment against you in the amount of $14,638.67, 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 15th day of July, 2019, the Petition against you will be considered as true and judgment will be entered against you accordingly. First publication May 24, 2019, final June 14, 2019 WILLIAM N. BEERMAN, Attorney PANSING HOGAN ERNST & BACHMAN LLP 10250 Regency Circle, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114-3728 NOTICE OF DISSOLUTION OF BLING BY ZING, INC. BLING BY ZING, INC., a Nebraska corporation (the "Corporation"), has filed Articles of Dissolution with the Nebraska Secretary of State with a dissolution date effective April 22, 2019. The terms of the dissolution provide for the payment of liabilities of the Corporation and the distribution of any remaining assets to the Shareholders of the Corporation. Kimberly Nelson, President, will manage the Corporation's affairs and distribute its assets. As of the close of business on April 22, 2019, the Corporation had no liabilities and no assets. First publication May 24, 2019, final June 7, 2019 ALLAN M. ZIEBARTH, Attorney 1702 South 10 Street, Suite 2 Omaha, Nebraska 68108 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF BRAD PRESTON FLOORS AND MORE, 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 24, 2019, final June 7, 2019 ALLAN M. ZIEBARTH, Attorney 1702 South 10 Street, Suite 2 Omaha, Nebraska 68108 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF MIDWEST HEMP GROWERS, 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 24, 2019, final June 7, 2019 ALLAN M. ZIEBARTH, Attorney 1702 South 10 Street, Suite 2 Omaha, Nebraska 68108 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF PRINT IMAGE SOLUTIONS OF MISSOURI, 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 24, 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 APPLICATION FOR REGISTRATION OF TRADE NAME Trade Name to be registered is: Intelligent Building Systems Name of Applicant: Intelligent Buildings, LLC Address: 1210 Limerick Road, Papillion, NE 68046 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: New General nature of business: Any lawful business HOWARD CARSON Signature of Applicant or Legal Representative May 31, 2019

Midlands Business Journal • MAY 31, 2019 • LEGAL NOTICES NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that Purposeful Priorities LLC, a Nebraska limited liability company, is organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska, with its designated office at 2715 N 189th St, Elkhorn, Nebraska 68022 and with Rachelle Swanson as its initial agent for service of process at such address. First publication May 24, 2019, final June 7, 2019 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF GLAD HOTEL DEVELOPERS, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that Glad Hotel Developers, LLC (the "Company") has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The Designated Office Address of the Company is 11550 “I” Street Suite 200, Omaha, Nebraska 68137. The Registered Agent of the Company is John Hughes, 11550 “I” Street Suite 200, Omaha, Nebraska 68137. First publication May 24, 2019, final June 7, 2019 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that JM Coaching, LLC has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The Designated Office Address of JM Coaching, LLC is 6714 N 60th St. Omaha, Ne 68152. First publication May 24, 2019, final June 7, 2019 SUNSET MEDIA LLC 621 N 48TH ST #1 OMAHA, NEBRASKA 68132 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION Notice is hereby given that Sunset Media, L.L.C., a Nebraska limited liability company, is organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska, with its registered office at 621 N. 48TH ST #1 Omaha, Nebraska 68132. The general nature of the business is to engage in and do any lawful business, other than banking or insurance, for which a limited liability company may be organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska, and for all other purposes authorized by law, to the extent as natural persons might or could do. The limited liability company was formed on April 11, 2019. Its affairs shall be conducted by the members pursuant to an Operating Agreement duly adopted by the company. First publication May 24, 2019, final June 7, 2019 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION Notice is hereby given that Rowley Consulting, LLC, a Nebraska Limited Liability Company, has been organized under the laws of the state of Nebraska, with its initial designated office at 4718 N 108th Cir Omaha, NE 68164. The initial agent for service of process of the Company is Laura Rowley, 4718 N 108th Circle Omaha, NE 68164. The nature of the company is social emotional learning instruction and coaching. First publication May 24, 2019, final June 7, 2019 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION Trustegic Insurance Notice is hereby given that Trustegic Insurance, 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 Cyrus Jaffery, and with its initial designated office at 4910 N 136th Street, Omaha, NE 68164. First publication May 24, 2019, final June 7, 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 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 MWCDE, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that MWCDE, LLC has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The designated office of the limited liability company is 1125 South 103rd Street, Suite 800, Omaha, Nebraska 68124. The registered agent and office of the limited liability company is National Registered Agents, Inc., 5601 South 59th Street, Lincoln, Nebraska 68516. The limited liability company commenced business on May 15, 2019. First publication May 24, 2019, final June 7, 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 SOCIAL HOLDINGS LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that Social Holdings 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 14, 2019. First publication May 24, 2019, final June 7, 2019

GROSS & WELCH, P.C., L.L.O., Attorneys 2120 South 72 Street, Suite 1500 Omaha, Nebraska 68124 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF AMBER CROWN NATURALS, LLC a Nebraska Limited Liability Company Notice is hereby given that AMBER CROWN NATURALS, LLC, a Nebraska Limited Liability Company, has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska, with its registered office located at 2120 South 72 Street, Suite 1500, Omaha, Nebraska 68124. The general nature of its business is to engage in and do any lawful act concerning any and all lawful business, other than banking or insurance, for which a limited liability company may be organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The Certificate of Organization was filed in the office of the Nebraska Secretary of State on May 14, 2019, the Company commenced business thereon, and shall have perpetual existence. The affairs of the Company are to be conducted by the Managing Member. Frederick D. Stehlik, Organizer First publication May 24, 2019, final June 7, 2019 BARBARA MEDBERY-PRCHAL, P.C., L.L.O., Attorney 10305 Joseph Circle La Vista, Nebraska 68128 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF SQUARE ONE FINISHES, LLC Notice is hereby given that a limited liability company has been formed under the laws of the State of Nebraska, and that the name of the company is Square One Finishes, LLC The name and street address of the company’s initial registered agent is Law Offices of Barbara Medbery-Prchal, P.C., L.L.O., 10305 Joseph Circle, La Vista, NE 68128. The designated office is located at 4729 S. 47th Street, Omaha, NE 68117. John Menichetti, Member First publication May 24, 2019, final June 7, 2019 TIEDEMAN, LYNCH, KAMPFE, McVAY & RESPELIERS, Attorneys 6910 Pacific Street, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68106-1045 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION Notice is hereby given that MAXMARY Properties, LLC, has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska with its designated office at 6910 Pacific Street, Suite 300, Omaha, Nebraska 68106. The general nature of the business is to engage in any lawful business for which a limited liability company may be organized. The limited liability company was formed on May 15, 2019, and shall have perpetual existence. The affairs of the company shall be conducted by its Members. First publication May 24, 2019, final June 7, 2019 LEGACY DESIGN STRATEGIES 9859 South 168th Avenue Omaha, NE 68136 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION 1. The name of the Limited Liability Company is STERKEL PROPERTIES, LLC 2. The address of the designated office of the company is 11825 Skylark Drive, Omaha, NE 68144. 3. The purpose for which the company is organized is to engage in any and all business which is lawful under the Uniform Limited Liability Company Act of the State of Nebraska. 4. The company commenced its existence on April 18, 2019, and the period of duration of the Company shall be perpetual. 5. The affairs of the company shall be conducted by its Members in accordance with the company’s operating agreement. Andrew C. Sigerson First publication May 24, 2019, final June 7, 2019 LEGACY DESIGN STRATEGIES 9859 South 168th Avenue Omaha, NE 68136 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION 1. The name of the Limited Liability Company is B. HANSEN PLATTE RIVER PROPERTIES, LLC 2. The address of the designated office of the company is 13802 Biel Dike Road, Gretna, NE 68025. 3. The purpose for which the company is organized is to engage in any and all business which is lawful under the Uniform Limited Liability Company Act of the State of Nebraska. 4. The company commenced its existence on April 18, 2019, and the period of duration of the Company shall be perpetual. 5. The affairs of the company shall be conducted by its Members in accordance with the company’s operating agreement. Andrew C. Sigerson First publication May 24, 2019, final June 7, 2019 LEGACY DESIGN STRATEGIES 9859 South 168th Avenue Omaha, NE 68136 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION 1. The name of the Limited Liability Company is B. HANSEN MUFFLER SHOP, LLC 2. The address of the designated office of the company is 4841 South 137th Street, Omaha, NE 68137. 3. The purpose for which the company is organized is to engage in any and all business which is lawful under the Uniform Limited Liability Company Act of the State of Nebraska. 4. The company commenced its existence on April 18, 2019, and the period of duration of the Company shall be perpetual. 5. The affairs of the company shall be conducted by its Members in accordance with the company’s operating agreement. Andrew C. Sigerson First publication May 24, 2019, final June 7, 2019

ABRAHAMS KASLOW & CASSMAN LLP, Attorneys 8712 West Dodge Road, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION Thrive Partners, LLC has been organized as a limited liability company under the Nebraska Uniform Limited Liability Company Act. The street and mailing address of the initial designated office of the company is 18615 Edna Street, Omaha, NE 68136. The name and street and mailing address of the initial registered agent of the company for service of process are R. Craig Fry, Abrahams Kaslow & Cassman LLP, 8712 West Dodge Road, Suite 300, Omaha, Nebraska 68114. First publication May 24, 2019, final June 7, 2019 KOLEY JESSEN P.C., L.L.O., Attorneys 1125 South 103rd Street, Suite 800, One Pacific Place Omaha, Nebraska 68124-1079 NOTICE OF DISSOLUTION NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that A Latere Academy LLC, a Nebraska limited liability company, filed its Statement of Dissolution with the Nebraska Secretary of State on May 22, 2019, and the company is in the process of voluntary dissolution. The terms and conditions of such dissolution are, in general, that all debts and obligations of the company are to be fully paid and satisfied or adequate provision is to be made therefore, and that the balance of any remaining assets are to be distributed to its Members. Ellen Miller will wind up and liquidate the company’s business and affairs. If you have a claim against A Latere Academy LLC, please provide the following information with respect to your claim: (1) your name or the name of your entity; (2) the nature of your claim; (3) the amount of your claim; and (4) the date your claim arose. All claims shall be mailed to 2517 N 56th Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68104. A claim against against A Latere Academy LLC is barred unless an action to enforce the claim is commenced within five (5) years after the publication date of the third required notice. First publication May 24, 2019, final June 7, 2019 MYRON J. KAPLAN, Attorney McGILL, GOTSDINER, WORKMAN & LEPP, P.C., L.L.O., Attorneys 11404 West Dodge Road, Suite 500, First National Plaza Omaha, Nebraska 68154-2584 NOTICE OF INCORPORATION OF PLB, INC. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that PLB, Inc., a Nebraska nonprofit corporation, is incorporated under the laws of the State of Nebraska, with its registered office at 11404 West Dodge Road, Suite 500, Omaha, NE 68154. The general nature of its business is any and all business which is lawful under the Nebraska Nonprofit Corporation Act. The corporation commenced its existence, which is perpetual, on May 20, 2019. The affairs of the corporation are to be conducted by a Board of Directors, and by the officers which shall be a President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer and such other officers as shall be designated in the Bylaws. Myron J. Kaplan, Incorporator First publication May 31, 2019, final June 14, 2019 ERICKSON l SEDERSTROM, P.C., Attorneys 10330 Regency Parkway Drive, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF DIRTY DEVIL DETAILING, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that Dirty Devil Detailing, LLC, a Nebraska limited liability company (the “Company”), has been duly organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska, with its designated office located at 19463 Orchard Avenue, Omaha, Nebraska 68135 and designating its registered agent as Erickson & Sederstrom P.C. a limited liability organization with its registered office at 10330 Regency Parkway Drive, Suite 100, Omaha, Nebraska 68114. First publication May 31, 2019, final June 14, 2019 GROSS & WELCH, P.C., L.L.O., Attorneys 2120 South 72 Street, Suite 1500 Omaha, Nebraska 68124 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF MEA HOME INVESTMENTS, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that MEA Home Investments, LLC, a Nebraska Limited Liability Company, is organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska on May 22, 2019. Its designated office is located at 11630 Tyler Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68137. Its initial registered agent for service of process is Allen Mayville with an address at 11630 Tyler Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68137. Gerard T. Forgét, III, JD, MBA, LLM (Taxation), Organizer First publication May 31, 2019, final June 14, 2019 SUSAN J. SPAHN, Attorney FITZGERALD, SCHORR, BARMETTLER & BRENNAN, P.C., L.L.O. 10050 Regency Circle, Suite 200 Omaha, Nebraska 68114-3794 LEGAL NOTICE In the County Court of Douglas County, Nebraska. PR19-737 Estate of Marianne Murray, Deceased Notice is hereby given that on May 24, 2019, in the County Court of Douglas County, Nebraska, Maureen O'Connor, of 12911 Nicholas Street, Omaha, NE 68154, 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 31, 2019 or be forever barred. CARROL L. MILLS Registrar First publication May 31, 2019, final June 14, 2019

• MAY 31, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal

LEGAL NOTICES DVORAK LAW GROUP LLC 9500 West Dodge Road, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF SOIL AND WATER, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that Soil and Water, LLC (the “Company”) has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The Designated Office Address of the Company is 2059 N. 61st Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68104. The Registered Agent of the Company is DDLG Business Services, Inc., 9500 W. Dodge Road, Suite 100, Omaha, Nebraska 68114. First publication May 24, 2019, final June 7, 2019 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 ORGANIZATION OF SNELLMAN, LLC The name of the limited liability company is Snellman, LLC. The address of the initial designated office is 17514 Renfro Street, Omaha, NE 68135. The name and address of the initial agent for service of process is Lisabet Snellman Alexander, 17514 Renfro Street, Omaha, NE 68135. Snellman, LLC was converted from Snellman Limited Partnership, a Connecticut limited partnership. The conversion of Snellman Limited Partnership, a Connecticut limited partnership, to Snellman, LLC, a Nebraska limited liability company, was approved by the sole General Partner and all of the Limited Partners and complied with the governing laws of the State of Connecticut. SNELLMAN, LLC By: Elizabeth A. Sevcik First publication May 24, 2019, final June 7, 2019 WHITMORE LAW OFFICE LLC 7602 Pacific Street, Suite 200 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF INCORPORATION Sam 1, Inc., whose registered agent is Ghassan Aboied and registered office is 6922 Spring Street, #211, Omaha, Nebraska 68106, was formed on May 16, 2019 to engage in any lawful business. The corporation has authorized 10,000 shares of capital stock. Thomas E. Whitmore, Incorporator First publication May 24, 2019, final June 7, 2019 WHITMORE LAW OFFICE LLC 7602 Pacific Street, Suite 200 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF INCORPORATION Epoxy On, Inc., whose registered agent is Whitmore Law Office, LLC and registered office is 7602 Pacific Street, Ste. 200, Omaha, Nebraska 68114, was formed on May 14, 2019 to engage in any lawful business. The corporation has authorized 10,000 shares of capital stock. Thomas E. Whitmore, Incorporator First publication May 24, 2019, final June 7, 2019 DVORAK LAW GROUP LLC 9500 West Dodge Road, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF NKC CAFFEINE OPPORTUNITY ZONE, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that NKC Caffeine Opportunity Zone, LLC (the “Company”) has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The Designated Office Address of the Company is 17007 Marcy Street, Suite 2, Omaha, Nebraska 68118. The Registered Agent of the Company is Andrew A. Snyder, 17007 Marcy Street, Suite 2, Omaha, Nebraska 68118. First publication May 24, 2019, final June 7, 2019 MARY E. VANDENACK, Attorney VANDENACK WEAVER LLC 17007 Marcy Street, Suite 3 Omaha, Nebraska 68118 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF RKMM LLC Notice is hereby given that RKMM 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 17007 Marcy St., St. 3, Omaha, NE 68118. The agent for service of process for the Company is VW Agents LLC located at 17007 Marcy Street, Suite 3, Omaha, NE 68118-3121. First publication May 24, 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: MICHELLE RECKINGER, 5453 S. 50th St, Omaha NE 68117, you are hereby notified that on April 11, 2019, American Family Mutual Ins. Co., S.I. filed a suit against you in the Douglas County Court at docket CI19-8044, the object in prayer of which was to secure a judgment against you in the amount of $2,595.80, 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 15th day of July, 2019, the Petition against you will be considered as true and judgment will be entered against you accordingly. First publication May 24, 2019, final June 14, 2019

NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION of a Limited Liability Company Notice is hereby given the registration with the Nebraska Secretary of state’s office of GAEL's Construction, LLC under the laws of the State of Nebraska as follows: The name of the company is GAEL's Construction, LLC. Registered agent and office of GAEL's Construction, LLC at 1122 N 29th Street, Omaha, NE 68131. Initial members: Jose Hugo Sarmiento Canales. 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 31, 2019, final June 14, 2019 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION Notice is hereby given that Sunhouse Global, 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. 44th St, Suite 101, Omaha, NE 68105, and the name of the registered agent at such address is Tran & Associates Law, LLC. 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 5/03/2019 and shall have perpetual existence. The affairs of the Company are to be managed by its managers. Khanh Tran, Member First publication May 31, 2019, final June 14, 2019 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION Notice is hereby given that 6646 Binney, LLC (the “Company”) has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The address of the Company’s designated office is 2214 S 86th Ave, Omaha, NE 68124, and the name of the registered agent at such address is Yuri Paskar. 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 5/24/2019 and shall have perpetual existence. The affairs of the Company are to be managed by its managers. Yuri Paskar, Member First publication May 31, 2019, final June 14, 2019 AMANDA M. FORKER, Attorney PANSING HOGAN ERNST & BACHMAN LLP 10250 Regency Circle, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114-3728 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF THE POMERLEAU GROUP LLC Notice is hereby given of the organization of The Pomerleau Group LLC. 1. The name of the limited liability company is The Pomerleau Group 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 Amanda M. Forker, 10250 Regency Circle, Suite 300, Omaha, Nebraska 68114. First publication May 31, 2019, final June 14, 2019 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION of a Limited Liability Company Notice is hereby given the registration with the Nebraska Secretary of state’s office of JRS Construction, LLC under the laws of the State of Nebraska as follows: The name of the company is JRS Construction, LLC. Registered agent and office of JRS Construction, LLC at 5838 S 13th Street, Omaha, NE 68107. Initial members: Jonathan Rivera Sanchez. 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 31, 2019, final June 14, 2019 DENNIS P. LEE, Attorney LEE LAW OFFICE 2433 South 130th Circle, Suite 300 P.O. Box 45947 Omaha, Nebraska 68145 NOTICE OF SUIT TO: DESHAUNA M. STARKS, 10365 Hamilton Plaza Apt 308, Omaha NE 68114, you are hereby notified that on March 26, 2019, Credit Acceptance Corporation. filed a suit against you in the Douglas County Court at docket CI19-6818, the object in prayer of which was to secure a judgment against you in the amount of $8,858.07, together with court costs, interest and attorney's fees as allowed by law. Unless you file your Answer with the Douglas County Court on or before the 22nd day of July , 2019, the Petition against you will be considered as true and judgment will be entered against you accordingly. First publication May 31, 2019, final June 21, 2019 MYRON J. KAPLAN, Attorney McGILL, GOTSDINER, WORKMAN & LEPP, P.C., L.L.O., Attorneys 11404 West Dodge Road, Suite 500, First National Plaza Omaha, Nebraska 68154-2584 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF PARAMETRIC RESEARCH, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that Parametric Research, LLC, a Nebraska limited liability company, is organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska, with a registered office at 11404 W. Dodge Road, Suite 500, Omaha, Nebraska 68154. The general nature of the business is to engage in any lawful business for which a limited liability company may be organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The limited liability company was formed on May 24, 2019, and its duration is perpetual. Management of the Company shall be vested in its Managers. First publication May 31, 2019, final June 14, 2019

ERICKSON l SEDERSTROM, P.C., Attorneys 10330 Regency Parkway Drive, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF KARST NIELSEN, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that Karst Nielsen, LLC, a Nebraska limited liability company (the “Company”), has been duly organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska, with its designated office located at 322 N Molly St., Bennington, Nebraska 68007 and designating its registered agent as Erickson & Sederstrom P.C. a limited liability organization with its registered office at 10330 Regency Parkway Drive, Suite 100, Omaha, Nebraska 68114. First publication May 31, 2019, final June 14, 2019 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION Notice is given that MG PAINTING, LLC has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska with the following registered agent and registered office: Marcelo Felipe Gallardo at 2705 H St. Omaha, NE 68107. The general nature of the Company's business is to engage in any lawful business permitted under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The company was organized on April 22, 2019, and it shall continue in perpetuity unless sooner terminated in accordance with the terms of its operating agreement. In general, the Company's business is to be managed by its primary member Marco Felipe Gallardo in accordance with the Company's operating agreement. First publication May 31, 2019, final June 14, 2019 SHANNON G. MCCOY, Attorney LAMSON, DUGAN and MURRAY, LLP 10306 Regency Parkway Drive Omaha, Nebraska 68114-3743 APPLICATION FOR REGISTRATION OF TRADE NAME Trade Name to be registered is: Husker Demo Name of Applicant: Husker Demo, LLC Address: 16623 Cedar Circle, Omaha NE 68130 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: April 2019 General nature of business: all lawful business SHANNON G. MCCOY Signature of Applicant or Legal Representative May 31, 2019 BENJAMIN J. PICK, Attorney PANSING HOGAN ERNST & BACHMAN LLP 10250 Regency Circle, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114-3728 APPLICATION FOR REGISTRATION OF TRADE NAME Trade Name to be registered is: Stoli's Lounge Name of Applicant: MNT Stoli's, LLC Address: 715 North 120th Street Omaha NE 68154 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: February 6, 2015 General nature of business: Bar BENJAMIN J. PICK Signature of Applicant or Legal Representative May 31, 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: Frostbite Audio Enclosures Name of Applicant: Chronos Specialty Auto Works, LLC Address: 3712 S. 132nd Street, 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: May 1, 2019 General nature of business: Selling of audio enclosures. SCOTT ANDERSON Signature of Applicant or Legal Representative May 31, 2019 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION OF JH Jorgensen, LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that on May 23, 2019, JH Jorgensen, LLC was organized as a limited liability company under the Nebraska Uniform Limited Liability Company Act, with a designated office at 14216 Huntington Avenue, Omaha, NE 68164. The Company’s initial agent for service of process is Jerry Jorgensen, whose address is 14216 Huntington Avenue, Omaha, NE 68164. First publication May 31, 2019, final June 14, 2019 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION of a Limited Liability Company Notice is hereby given the registration with the Nebraska Secretary of state’s office of Palacios Patios & Landscaping, LLC under the laws of the State of Nebraska as follows: The name of the company is Palacios Patios & Landscaping, LLC. Registered agent and office of Palacios Patios & Landscaping, LLC at 5641 S 49th Street, Omaha, NE 68117. Initial members: Nemorio Lemus-Romero. General nature of the business is the general construction, landscaping 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 31, 2019, final June 14, 2019

Midlands Business Journal • MAY 31, 2019 • LEGAL NOTICES APPLICATION FOR REGISTRATION OF TRADE NAME Trade Name to be registered is: Candle Sense by Donna Rae Name of Applicant: Amerian Ag Com Inc Address: 14820 Sprague St Omaha Ne 68116 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: May 1, 2019 General nature of business: Sells Candles & Supplies MICHAEL PONTIER Signature of Applicant or Legal Representative May 31, 2019 NOTICE OF ORGANIZATION FOR Greater Omaha Paint & Design LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that Greater Omaha Paint & Design LLC has been organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska. The office of the Company is 5017 Underwood Ave. #12, Omaha, NE 68132 and it’s registered agent is Jennifer A. Hughes. The general nature of the company is residential paint and interior design and was organized in May 2019. First publication May 31, 2019, final June 14, 2019 AMANDA M. BARRON, Attorney P.O. Box 597 Fremont, Nebraska 68026 LEGAL NOTICE TO THE DEFENDANT(s), JACOB D WEES You are hereby notified that Credit Bureau Services, Inc., a corporation, filed its complaint in the County Court of DOUGLAS County, Nebraska on 01/15/2019 on Case Number CI19-1857, the object and prayer of which is to recover the sum of $162.70, plus interest, attorney fees and court costs. You are required to answer the complaint of the Plaintiff on or before 7/14/2019 or the allegations in said complaint will be taken as true and judgment entered accordingly. CREDIT BUREAU SERVICES, INC., A CORPORATION First publication May 31, 2019, final June 14, 2019 MICHAEL D JONES, Attorney ELLICK, JONES, BUELT, BLAZEK AND LONGO, LLP 9290 W. Dodge Road, Suite 303 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 LEGAL NOTICE In the County Court of Douglas County, Nebraska. PR19-714 Estate of Robert G. Hoig, Deceased Notice is hereby given that on May 22, 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 Oliver E. Hoig, whose address is 321 Laurel Ridge Lane, Knoxville, TN 37922, 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 31, 2019 or be forever barred. CARROL L. MILLS Registrar First publication May 31, 2019, final June 14, 2019 CHARLES E. DORWART, P.C., L.L.O., 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. PR19-677 Estate of Jimmy R. Martin, Deceased Notice is hereby given that on May 20, 2019, in the County Court of Douglas County, Nebraska, the Registrar issued a written statement of Informal Probate of the Intestacy of said Decedent and that Janis C. Martin, of 3303 Curtis Avenue, Omaha, NE 68111, 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 31, 2019 or be forever barred. CARROL L. MILLS Registrar First publication May 31, 2019, final June 14, 2019

Could drones be the solution to traffic gridlock? by Kelly Yamanouchi

Could passenger-carrying drones someday be the answer to traffic delays? It seems like an outlandish, space-age fantasy — but some in the burgeoning urban air mobility industry believe short-haul flights in unpiloted electric flying vehicles will be a key answer to gridlock in major metropolitan areas. A number of startups, including Uber Elevate, are working on developing such a system that could transport people and goods. Some have attracted millions of dollars in venture capital funding. Trends Yet there are staggering hurdles, ranging from cost to safety, noise, public acceptance, regulations, space for vertiports, and questions about who would pay for and who would control the infrastructure for such transportation. In metro Atlanta, discussion about the technology’s future has already begun. Georgia Tech this year created a Center for Urban and Regional Air Mobility to explore the development of aircraft for transportation in densely populated urban areas. Professors leading the effort held an urban air mobility workshop in Atlanta in January. Three months later, national industry publication Aviation Week held an urban air mobility conference at the Georgia World Congress Center. “We’re entering this era in large cities where we’re facing intense gridlock and it’s just getting worse,” said Mark Moore, engineering director of Uber’s urban air mobility unit Uber Elevate, at the Georgia Tech conference. The Uber air service his company envisions could potentially cut peak commute times by more than 50 percent, according to Moore. Uber Elevate plans to eventually start demonstration flights of small electric aircraft in Dallas and Los Angeles and launch commercial service in 2023. Georgia Tech professor Brian German, director of the new Center for Urban and Regional Air Mobility, said there are more than 100 electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing aircraft under development by different companies. These aircraft would not be as powerful as helicopters, but would cost much less to operate and maintain, and would be designed for short hops. A survey of 2,500 commuters in Atlanta and other cities is underway to determine the potential demand for an air taxi service for what is now a 30-minute commute, according to Georgia Tech civil engineering professor Laurie Garrow, associate director of the new air mobility center. “We are trying to understand different factors that will help adoption, or the barriers for urban air mobility taxi service in Atlanta,” Garrow said. The city of Atlanta’s transportation plan notes that autonomous vehicles can change the way people get around but does not address the prospect of drone transportation in particular. Last year, Georgia Tech engineering professor JohnPaul Clarke testified at a U.S. House committee hearing on the subject “Urban Air Mobility — Are flying cars ready for takeoff?” He called urban air mobility a “logical response to the perennial quest for speed in congested urban areas,” but noted the challenges that lie ahead, including concerns about noise, privacy and safety. The technology has not yet developed to the point where local officials are making any plans for vertiports, since flying passenger drones are still unproven and years away from becoming a reality in everyday life. But the Georgia Department of Transportation says it is “actively engaged with the industry” looking at emerging transportation technology, according to GDOT’s intermodal division director Carol Comer. German said he expects commercial service of the new electric aircraft in five to 10 years or so, possibly starting with flights from small general aviation airports. “Some people think the aircraft will (first) be flown by human pilots. Other people think it will be autonomous from the beginning,” German said. “If it’s a piloted aircraft operating from existing airports and existing heliports, the operation will look a lot like ordinary aviation.”

The first customers might be business travelers transferring to a commercial airport for a flight, or between corporate sites in a metro area, since the cost of service will be high to start, he said. Then, as costs come down, a greater variety of people might use the service. Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport general manager John Selden, a former airline pilot, sees potential in the idea that autonomous pods that run along a rail might someday be able to transport people between the domestic terminal and international terminal. But to make pilotless passenger planes a reality, “You would have to overcome a whole lot,” Selden said. Among the biggest challenges would be getting regulatory approval from the Federal Aviation Administration and developing vertiports. Aside from the safety of the aircraft themselves, flying passenger drones would add even more complexity to air traffic control. “If this increases the number of flight operations in a city by a large amount, then the old mechanisms we have won’t be adequate anymore,” German said. In considering where the aircraft would take off and land, Uber Elevate sees parking decks in downtown areas as a potential location for “skyports.” If ride-sharing and, eventually, self-driving cars reduce the need for parking in downtowns, then parking decks might be used less and the upper levels could be converted into vertiports. Building rooftops, already a common spot for heliports, might also be used as vertiports. While some private operators might want to develop their own vertiports and control them, with limited space available in city centers, that could affect how much competition develops. Airports, for example, are typically run by local governments or local or state government authorities, but can involve public investment. “I think cities are going to have a lot of say and questions related to land use, whether they would allow a vertiport or not, questions like noise ordinances, what would be the flight paths over a city,” German said. The biggest demand for urban air mobility, or UAM, would likely come from the cities with the worst congestion, Garrow said — making Los Angeles a preferred city for the first wave of service. Other cities near bodies of water where commuters have to drive over bridges to get to work, causing traffic pinch points, could also be good candidates, she said. “One promising aspect for Atlanta is we’re not as built up around the suburbs as some other cities are,” allowing more room for vertiports, German said. “We want to see it here, and we want to have Atlanta as kind of a living laboratory for urban air mobility,” with test corridors. Debra Lam, managing director of Smart Cities and Inclusive Innovation at Georgia Tech, said she sees urban air mobility as one of the “tools to get from point A to point B” that could tie into the airport, public transit, an e-scooter or an Uber car ride. A key question: Will people be willing to fly in the aircraft? And will residents of cities be comfortable with the noise and with passenger-carrying drones buzzing overhead? Some note that helicopters already generate a backlash from residents, causing many heliports to go unused. In San Francisco, there’s even a website called Stop The Helipad where residents organize to block helipads. During a panel discussion on barriers to urban air mobility at the Aviation Week conference, HMMH Aviation Services vice president Gene Reindel said: “To some people it’s a fear of the aircraft coming down, crashing on them. … Now we’re talking about putting these (low-flying) UAMs over urban areas where there are people.” With new technology, “you will have some public failures,” Lam said. “Even once this goes forward there are still going to be challenges. There will be a crash at some point,” she said. “I don’t think that should necessarily preclude it from continuing,” she said. “There should be room for some of those challenges.” ©2019 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Atlanta, Ga.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

• MAY 31, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal

SARPY COUNTY

GROWTH REPORT A section prepared by the staff of the Midlands Business Journal • May 31, 2019

Philanthropy supports flood recovery; infrastructure positioned for long-term growth by Michelle Leach

Corners of the county long associated with a lack of activity are now ground zero for new developments, as Sarpy County leadership also works through pressing challenges not limited to flood recovery, transportation and affordable housing. “It’s the first development inside the city limits in years,” said Gretna Chamber of Commerce President Bryan Boyce. “Everybody is buying all the lots in the perimeter of Gretna.” Boyce is referring to a development undertaken by his comGay pany, B Douglas Construction, near Highway 6 and 370. Spanning around 35,000 square feet and valued at $4 million, Boyce noted 7,000 square feet is dedicated to Inter-Tech Collision Centers. The development will also be home to the Beanery as well as offices for B Douglas Construction. Furthermore, he spoke to work on developments in neighboring areas — such as in Ashland. “We’re trying to get a coffee shop or a day care — there is no day care service in Ashland so they have to drive to either Lincoln or Gretna,” Boyce said. Likewise, due to the tailgating traffic along the highway on Husker game days, Boyce noted they are open to destinations such as a brewery or liquor store. Generally, Boyce said there is so much work to be done in Gretna, that one superintendent is dedicated just to those local jobs — which might also range from a new 1920s-erastyled home to basement finishes. “Sarpy County’s strength is in our infrastructure, the housing market and new businesses coming into the community,” said Midlands Community Foundation Executive Director Tonee Gay, who also referenced activities ranging from the Omaha Storm Chasers and (slated) pro soccer, to events such as Gretna Days and Bellevue’s RiverFest. When asked about priorities for MCF, Sarpy’s worst flooding in more than 50 years was top of mind. “Midlands Community Foundation is the administrator to the Bellevue Community Foundation (BCF), an affiliated fund of MCF,” she said. “The BCF board of directors has made it their mission to assist families and businesses impacted by the recent devasting flooding in the area. The BCF raised more than $67,000 to date

“As Sarpy County continues to grow the need for more employees continues to grow as well,” she said. “Transportation solutions will be necessary to get those jobs filled from the higher unemployment/underemployment areas and in a reasonable time from home to job.” Lots of discussions are happening, and solutions being proposed, according to Gibler. “An additional topic is more affordable housing options in some of the city/ county areas where the growth is happening,” she said. “With the growth of business and neighborhoods in Gibler Sarpy County we have had to look at how the Sarpy Chamber can continue to grow with the community and meet the needs of the continued growth.” Strategic planning meetings with the chamber board are dedicated to planning a solid structure to adapt to strong, sustainable growth. Other “hot topics” associated with positive impacts include: the new exit from Interstate 80; new sewer system and mental health facility, and the widening of county roads and highways.

Bryan Boyce, president of the Gretna Chamber of Commerce, at the future site of Inter-Tech Collision Centers in Gretna. for flood relief.” When asked about the latest with regard to She also noted an increased need for food transportation options, Sarpy County Chamber and personal hygiene products. of Commerce President Karen Gibler said “As a result, MCF received a record num- Metro is looking to become a regional transporber of grant requests this spring for funding to tation authority (evidenced by LB 492). support the area food banks,” Gay said. “We were able to provide funding to five local food banks/pantries for a total of $30,000.” Street and Cornhusker Road. by Gabby Christensen In all, MCF grants, discretionary gifts and According to Rainbolt, one of the larger Sarpy County is showing signs of strong 130-plus charitable funds infused a reported more than $1.1 million into the community in growth as the area continues to flourish with new projects under construction is the 67,000-squarefoot Securities America building in La Vista. projects and developments. the past fiscal year. He also said the City Centre Andrew Rainbolt, executive “We have annual fundraising events such as project continues to come into view our spring golf tournament and our Reflection director at Sarpy County Economic with mixed use-buildings and a Ball, which helped fund 76 nonprofit organiza- Development Corp., said major parking garage going up. tions last year,” she said. “Along with our Match industrial highlights continue to be “From the perspective of the Program in December, which generated over along the Highway 50 corridor. business attraction, we are in a po“The Facebook data cen1,000 donors raising more than $740,000 within sition that we have not been in for one month, we are continuing to see strong ter project continues their build quite some time, if ever,” Rainbolt growth patterns in our donations along with out,” Rainbolt said. “Right next to said. “We have several hundred Facebook, Omaha Box Co.’s new community involvement in Sarpy County.” thousand square feet of immediately Gay also noted MCF has seen an increase 335,000-square-foot building should available industrial space that we in donor-advised funds — especially with tax be finished soon, and tenants are can market to new employers. We starting to move into R&R Realty’s law changes. Rainbolt also have fully entitled building sites “A donor-advised fund provides maximum speculative industrial building on that are available for custom built industrial flexibility and immediate tax benefits to the Gold Coast Road.” Soon, Rainbolt noted Sarpy County will also building. This dramatically shrinks the developdonor,” she said. “It also allows the donor the ment timeline for prospective users and makes ability to schedule charitable contributions be home to all area semi-truck dealers. Additionally, Rainbolt said Merck Animal us a much more competitive location.” over time allowing the donor the freedom from Todd Andrews, director of integrated comresponsibility and cost of legal and administra- Health recently completed a sizeable addition to its warehouse space in Hilltop Industrial Park, munications at The Salvation Army, said Kroc tive details.” She also indicated such funds make it easier and White Lotus Development is currently Center teams have been working continuously Continued on next page. grading its 120 acre I-80 Logistics Park at 132nd for families to get involved in philanthropy.

Sarpy County is booming with new developments

Sarpy County Growth Report •

Midlands Business Journal • MAY 31, 2019 •

Urban growth brings more people looking to settle in Sarpy County by Jasmine Heimgartner

People looking to buy a home in Omaha and Lincoln have faced an overly competitive market in recent years. While Sarpy County might be a little better, it isn’t far behind the race, especially when it comes to homes under $250,000. Similar to bigger cities, there is a lack of moderately priced homes. “Anything that is $250,000 and below typically has multiple competing offers,” said

Doyle Ollis, Realtor with Keller Williams Realty. “If you put a sign in the yard, it wouldn’t be surprising to sell it in a day. Anything over that price point is much more balanced. We are seeing a longer market time and not as many multiple competing offers. Over $350,000, it starts to shift to more of a buyer’s market where you are seeing more seller concessions.” Luckily, the hotspots of Bellevue, Gretna and Papillion continue to see significant new

developments starting and entering their second phase. This includes around five new neighborhoods in the Bellevue Kay Park Corridor, which will bring an estimated 1,000 homes. Development of Shadow Lake and Granite Lake are entering the second phase. While this growth is exciting, many of these newer homes are well beyond $200,000. “The new construction is great, but when you consider that it is only about 20 or 25% of

Continued from preceding page. since mid-March in flood-relief endeavors as part of the broader Salvation Army Western Division flood-relief effort. Andrews said teams have been running a disaster resource center at the former JCPenney in the Southroads Mall as a means of providing direct aid to flood survivors, supporting the cooking and serving of hundreds of meals a day during the peak of the flood-relief operation and providing emotional and spiritual Andrews care to flood survivors. “The biggest initiative Kroc Center is working on is senior life,” Andrews said. “Our goal is to expand our engagement of older adults in a Healthy Aging Initiative program. We will do this by tailoring our programming to meet the needs and interests of a broader, older active adult community, expanding community out-

reach and marketing efforts to reach potential members and move to an inclusive, diverse population appealing to all walks, cultures and abilities.” Tim O’Brien, director of economic development and external relations at OPPD, said OPPD’s Economic Development team works with a number of community partners to support current and planned developments. “The district continues to make infrastructure investments across Sarpy County,” O’Brien O’Brien said. According to O’Brien, one large project OPPD is undertaking is the new Sarpy Transmission Project (STP), which will support load growth, while creating redundancy to support electric service reliability. Overall, O’Brien said these investments in infrastructure support growing customer needs,

as well as service reliability. “Our team’s work, in conjunction with the work of our community partners, also brings new jobs and additional tax revenue,” O’Brien said. “These investments also support OPPD’s ability to keep rates low for our customers. In that way, our entire 13-county service territory benefits, as well.” Dannie Buelt, manager of transmission engineering at OPPD, said OPPD is currently expanding transmission and substation assets in Sarpy County to support the strong load growth from residential and commercial development. “The Sarpy Transmission Project is a 6.5 mile double circuit transmission line that consists of both 345kV and 161kV circuits,” Buelt said. “The new transmission line will be steel monopole construction and will predominantly follow the path of an existing 69kV transmission line that will be removed as part of the overall project effort. Substations on both ends of the transmission line will be upgraded to support the additional terminations. Planning for this project started in 2016 and construction is expected to be complete in December 2019.”

Sarpy County is booming with new developments

the market, we need a lot more under that,” said Andy Alloway, president and CEO at Nebraska Realty. “Although there are around 20 or 30 developments happening in Sarpy County, it is difficult considering the cost of everything to build, including labor and material.” For first-time homebuyers, the current market requires changing expectations in finding that perfect first home. “Entry level pricing has gone up dramatically,” Alloway said. “There are opportunities, they are just competitive. First-time buyers have to do their homework in advance and get advice so they can be prepared. They will have to have a Alloway strong offer and make it quickly. They are competing with many people who need to make decisions based on schools. My recommendation would be two wait until July or August, after those people have made their school-based decisions, which might present a better opportunity to buy.” A number of reasons have played into the race to move into the area. “You have three major things depending on the city,” Ollis said. “Papillion has been on every top 10 cities to live in the past 10 years. That is a big draw for people moving in from out of the area. For Bellevue, you have the consisting and predictable air force base. You know every year there are a certain amount who will be buying and selling because of the base. Gretna Continued on page 27.

• MAY 31, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal

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REGIONAL LANDSCAPES

Briefs…

Hy-Vee, Inc. customer donations and corporate participation during The Great American Milk Drive helped raise $360,846 to purchase much-needed milk for local food banks throughout Hy-Vee’s eight-state region. During the month-long campaign customer donations totaled $277,846, with an additional $83,000 in corporate giving from Hy-Vee. The Mid-America Council honored community members at its 48th annual Citizen of the Year. NP “Sandy” Dodge, Jr., chairman of NP Dodge Company, received the 2019 Citizen of the Year award; Thomas H. Warren, Sr., president and CEO of Urban League of Nebraska received the Whitney M. Young Jr. Service Award; and Children’s Hospital & Medical Center received the 2019 Corporate Partner award. Girl Scouts Spirit of Nebraska honored volunteers who devote their time and talents to mentoring Girl Scouts. Local honorees include: Bellevue: Theresa Clary; Gretna: Stephanie Neill; La Vista: Kristie Cook, Georgette Zelfel, Cindy Miller; Omaha: AIM Institute - The Brain Exchange, Papio-Missouri River National Resources District, Picotte Elementary, Jennifer Delaney, Bonnie Reinig, Kristi Baker, Courtney Cooper, Jennifer Walters, Kimberly Whiting, Nicole Bence, Brittany Galvan, Jennifer List, Julissa Nesler, Isabella Saklar, Jana Ammon, Jessica McNett, Inez Runnels, Jewel Schieuer, Melanie Boudreault and Kathy Robbins-Wise; Papillion: The Collaboratory, Jennifer Miller and Adam Talkington. LPL Financial has paid the State of Nebraska $499,000 as part of a nationwide settlement of claims that it sold unregistered securities. State securities regulators concluded that LPL offered and sold unregistered, non-exempt securities and failed to reasonably supervise the flow of information to ensure full and proper compliance with state securities registration requirements. The settlement also found that LPL violated state securities laws by failing to maintain books and records, failing to effectively supervise its agents and staff, and that it was negligent in cancelling certain third-party services critical for compliance with state securities requirements. Hearst Television, owner of KETV, has been honored with the National Association of Broadcasters’ 2019 Service to America Award for Television, in the Ownership Group category. Hearst Television was honored for its in-depth political and public affairs programming. Locally, KETV NewsWatch 7 and KETV.com “Commitment 2018” coverage included investigations of political campaign tactics, profiles of local and statewide candidates, as well as a debate featuring the candidates for Nebraska’s second district congressional seat. KETV also provided indepth interviews with candidates on KETV NewsWatch 7 Chronicle. Alan Hauschild earned the Certified Financial Planner designation. The CFP designation is awarded to experienced candidates who complete a prescribed program of study and a 10-hour comprehensive exam, and fulfill certain ethical and professional experience requirements. Designees receive training in financial planning; more specifically, income tax, cash flow, retirement, estate and investment planning. Hauschild specializes in working with individuals and businesses on their insurance and financial service needs. Hauschild is with Heritage Financial Services,

LLC. He is also a Registered Representative with Securian Financial Services, Inc., securities dealer, member FINRA/SIPC. Renaissance Financial, a full service financial firm for individuals and businesses, has moved to a new building centrally located in the Sterling Ridge Development. The new address is 12801 Pierce St. in Omaha. Renaissance Financial has six locations across the country and first opened its doors in 1994 in St. Louis, Missouri. Transformation Hill on the former Dana College Campus continues to evolve thanks to the Omaha-Council Bluffs Metropolitan Area Planning Agency, the city of Blair, the Midwest Housing Development Fund and Angels Share Incorporated. Five speculative houses, designated as workforce housing, are being built at Transformation Hill. Housing should be complete later this year and each house is expected to sell for approximately $240,000. The Dana Suites Project involves the renovation of a former dormitory into a 12-unit, two bedroom apartment complex. The project is estimated to cost $809,000. It would provide housing and workforce skills for children aging out of foster care. Governor Pete Ricketts proclaimed May 1 as “SmartBiz Omaha Day, powered by Cox,” kicking off a first of its kind event showcasing cutting edge technology that is advancing organizations across industries. In partnership with The Startup Collaborative, a program of the Greater Omaha Chamber, SmartBiz Omaha, allowed attendees to see, touch and feel the future in five, interactive hubs: connected health care, connected retail, connected city, connected education and connected workplace. The National States Geographical Information Council selected Nebraska in its pilot project. NSGIC is hosting a GEO-enabled elections project that will help assure that correct ballots will be issued to voters with even greater accuracy. Geographic Information System technology is a framework for gathering, managing, and analyzing data. Secretary of State Bob Evnen has identified a core team for implementation testing led by Wayne Bena, deputy secretary of State-Elections. The project will start with Sarpy County testing a previously unused GIS module of Nebraska’s voter registration system, with the ultimate goal of a statewide implementation. Jackson Lewis P.C. and its Omaha attorneys have been recognized in the 2019 edition of Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, an annual guide ranking the leading law firms in the U.S. The firm was honored as a nationwide leader in labor and employment. Jackson Lewis’ Connecticut, Maryland, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire and South Carolina offices maintained their Band 1 distinctions, the highest rating attainable by the directory. Jackson Lewis Nebraska attorneys designated as “Leaders in Their Field” for 2019 are: Joseph S. Dreesen, Christopher E. Hoyme, Timothy D. Loudon, Amy L. Peck (Nebraska and nationwide), and Chad P. Richter. First Westroads Bank announced that Robert C. Dalrymple has been appointed to the bank’s board of directors. Dalrymple brings more than 35 years of experience to First Westroads Bank, recently retiring as the EVP, division executive of the Midwest division for Bank of the West. His diverse banking career includes leadership in commercial and Continued on next page.

Midlands Business Journal • MAY 31, 2019 •

REGIONAL LANDSCAPES Continued from preceding page. retail management, business development, sales management, project management, and credit administration. Dalrymple received a political science degree from California State University, Northridge and is a 1996 graduate of the Pacific Coast Banking School. The Omaha City Council voted in support of a North 24th Street Business Improvement District from Cuming Street to Ames Street. One of the next steps is to determine the initial projects for the North 24th Street Business Improvement District. The North 24th Street Business Improvement District has both short and long-term goals. These initial, short-term goals will provide needed solutions for the current business and property owners to improve their investments, while the board of directors develops long-term strategies for greater impact and economic significance. Kids in Omaha will benefit from the Miller Park revitalization that will provide a safe place for kids to play. The Kiwanis Club of Omaha is donating $25,000 for a Sutu Soccer Wall and hopes to raise more money to allow for additional pieces to be added to the project. The Sutu Soccer Wall is a unique, interactive smart ball wall that is constantly changing on the 16 impact-sensitive panels that attract all generations. This new piece of equipment from Yalp has never been seen before in Omaha. Americans for the Arts, a nonprofit organization for advancing the arts and arts education in America, announced that Omaha Steaks will be honored this fall with Americans for the Arts’ national Arts and Business Partnership Award. Presented annually, the Arts and Business Partnership Awards honor 10 U.S. companies, a business leader, and an arts and business partnership for their commitment to the arts through grants, local partnerships, volunteer programs, matching gifts, sponsorships, and board membership. Bob Chalupa, senior vice president in NorthMarq’s Omaha-based regional office, secured the $27 million refinance of Chateau Apartments Portfolio, a multifamily portfolio consisting of a combined 647-units. The property is located in Lincoln. The permanent-fixed rate transaction was structured with a 15-year term on a 20-year amortization schedule. NorthMarq arranged financing for the borrower through its correspondent relationship with a life insurance company.

Education notes…

The College for Teens program at Metropolitan Community College will have seven trade camps available this summer for youths ages 13-17. The camps are designed to introduce trade fields, giving high school and middle school students an understanding of possible career paths that are in high demand. The Explore Trade Careers Camp, June 24-28 at the Fort Omaha Campus, will allow students to explore the possibilities of working in a highly skilled trade. Make Sparks Fly, Welding Camp, June 10-14 or July 8-12 at the Fort Omaha Campus, will serve as a stepping stone for students to discover if welding is a possible career path. Each camp is $5. Registration is online. Doane University and Northeast Community College signed an agreement that ensures Northeast students can transfer to Doane to complete a bachelor’s degree. This includes all programs and locations at Doane. This agreement applies to a new student to Doane

who has completed an associate-level degree from Northeast. A Northeast student who transitions will receive a 15% tuition reduction from Doane on a per-credit hour basis for up to 2.5 years while remaining continuously enrolled. Northeast students who transfer and enroll in the College of Arts and Sciences on the Crete campus will receive a $20,000 grant for four semesters, if the student is continuously enrolled. Creighton University’s expansion into Arizona just got a big boost. The trustees of the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust have awarded a $10 million grant to Creighton to support the construction of the health sciences building on the Creighton’s Arizona Health Sciences Campus — a 180,000-square-foot, nearly $100 million campus set to open in the heart of midtown Phoenix in 2021. Creighton’s Phoenix campus will serve nearly 900 health sciences students seeking degrees in medicine, nursing, pharmacy and other health care professions. The school is scheduled to open in the fall of 2021, with full enrollment by 2025. Metropolitan Community College has partnered with the nonprofit No More Empty Pots to provide workforce-training opportunities to individuals interested in culinary careers. The 15-week, noncredit Culinary Workforce Training Program from No More Empty Pots will be taught by MCC culinary instructors and will provide skills training, work experience, career development and job support to prepare participants for entry-level jobs in the food and beverage industry. Program participants may be eligible for the Community College Gap Assistance Program. Applications are accepted until June 7 for cohort eight, which begins in July. An assistant professor and three medical students from the University of Nebraska Medical Center were presented awards from the Kinman-Oldfield Family Foundation. David E. Warren, Ph.D., assistant professor in the UNMC Department of Neurological Sciences, is the 2019 recipient of the Kinman Oldfield Alzheimer’s Research Award, which is conferred annually as a $10,000 stipend to an individual with promising new ideas in Alzheimer’s disease research. The foundation also presented the Nancy and Ronald Reagan Alzheimer’s Scholarship Fund Awards to medical students Carly Faller, Claire Ferguson and Ran Jing.

Health care notes…

The Fremont Area Alzheimer’s Collaboration has donated a $60,000 pilot grant to go toward Alzheimer’s disease research at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. The latest FAAC grant will support UNMC’s Alzheimer’s research in two areas — developing screening biomarkers and exploring novel treatment approaches. The screening biomarkers include cerebrovascular measures, retinal measures, and blood and saliva samples. Each of these screening biomarkers is noninvasive and relatively inexpensive. The grant will provide additional support for several clinical trials at UNMC, including a study of repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation as a treatment to improve memory in subjects with very mild Alzheimer’s disease. In addition, the FAAC funding will allow UNMC to recruit subjects for several new clinical trials of promising new medications. Nebraska Medicine — Nebraska Medical Center was named one of Newsweek’s first-ever World’s Best Hospitals 2019, checking in at No. 56 on the list. The World’s Best Hospitals is based on a number of factors, including results from patient surveys, pub-

licly available hospital performance data and responses to an online survey sent to almost 40,000 health care professionals. Nebraska Medical Center is the only hospital in Nebraska to be ranked in the top 150. Signature Choice was awarded a contract with the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs to deliver claims administration services for its health system. The services will include processing claims from community providers as well as launching a new centralized VA national call center to support health care providers, enhance communication and improve the overall claims administration experience.

Activities of nonprofits…

The Down Syndrome Alliance of the Midlands and Cunningham’s Pub & Grill are hosting the Drinks for Down Syndrome – A Benefit for DSA, on June 6 from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. There will be a beer raffle and drink specials. Admission is free and raffle tickets are $1 each. The Midlands Latino Community Development Corp. has named Rafael Maldonado to its board of directors. He currently serves as human resources director for OneWorld Community Health Center. Maldonado previously held positions in human resources management for Omaha Steaks and Mutual of Omaha. Maldonado received his master’s degree in human relations from the University of Oklahoma and has bachelor’s degrees in human resource management and business administration, as well as two degrees from the Community College of the Air Force in computer science and instructor methodology. Maldonado is a Certified Compensation Professional and a Senior Professional Human Resources.

Arts and events…

The 22nd Annual Taste of Omaha Festival kicks off on May 31 at the Heartland of America Park and the Lewis and Clark Landing. The event, presented by Cox, will have six stages with live entertainment and over 50 local restaurants. The event is free and open to everyone. The Omaha Press Club’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony, a night to honor journalists past and present, is happening on June 1. The 11th Annual OPC Journalists of Excellence Hall of Fame will induct six industry professionals recognized for their extraordinary contributions to the media industry. Past hall of fame recipient Ann Pedersen will emcee the evening, which begins at 5:30 p.m. with cocktails and dinner to follow. The event is open to OPC members and non-members, but reservations are required. The 2019 inductees include: Joan (Joni) Ballion, Ben Gray, Walt Kavanagh, Mike McKnight, Carrie Murphy and Kent Warneke. The 7th Annual Omaha Biathlon (a bikerun event) will start at Viking Park Route on June 2. The 15-mile ride takes cyclists through Carter Lake Park and along the Pershing Drive. The 5K run takes participants along 10th Street and Abbot Drive to the Riverfront Drive. Lincoln Murdoch will be riding/running with participants. Murdoch is a 60-year-old tri-athlete who is a USA Triathlon National Champion, a three time Regional Champion and first place winner of 30 triathlons. Registration for this timed event is online. Sacred Heart Church is hosting the Summer Parish Festival on June 2 from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. Sacred Heart will block off 22nd street from Binney Street to Wirt Street. There will be pony rides, face painting, clowns, car-

nival games, a bounce house and more. Food will be available. Tickets are $20 for adults or $10 for kids. Roger Ibbotson, an economist known for his groundbreaking work on the historical returns of the stock market, will speak to insurance and financial planning professionals from across the country at the Senior Market Sales 2019 Sales Forum in Omaha. While the four-day sales forum is open only to SMS partners, Omaha-based SMS invites insurance and financial planning professionals from Omaha and the surrounding area to attend the Ibbotson address at 3 p.m. on June 4 at no cost. Interested participants must register to attend. The 2019 Omaha Home for Boys Golf Classic will take place on June 5 at the Tiburon Golf Course in Omaha. The event begins at 10:30 a.m. with registration, followed by lunch at 11 a.m. and a shotgun start at 11:45 a.m. Proceeds will benefit the 300 at-risk youth, young adults and families served by Omaha Home for Boys. The event is a four-person scramble and registration is available online. MEETINGS AND SEMINARS Tuesday, June 4 The Nebraska Society of Certified Public Accountants is hosting an all-day workshop on “Federal Income Taxation and Estates and Trusts Update” at the German American Society. Art Werner with Werner Rocca will be focusing on how to complete a IRS Form 1041. He will discuss essential IRC Sections, new legislation, estate planning and probates and more. The workshop is worth eight hours of CPE credit and lunch is included in the cost. The cost is $265 for society members and $315 for non-members. The Nebraska State Bar Association is hosting a workshop on “Building a Roadmap for Your Success in Law: Creating and Resourcing an Individual Development Plan” from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the UNO Thompson Center. Megan Belcher, senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary at The Scoular Co., will be leading the talk. Participants will learn how to build an individual development plan, whether it’s increasing client base, launching an in-house practice, developing new or evolved business skills, acquitting expertise, or more. Registration is available online. Wednesday, June 5 The Nebraska Society of Certified Public Accountants is hosting an all-day workshop on “The Best Estate and Financial Planning Topics of 2019” at the German American Society. Art Werner with Werner Rocca will discuss estate and gift planning, common mistakes and issues on charitable planning among other topics. The course is worth eight CPE credits and lunch is provided. The cost is $265 for society members and $315 for non-members. HRAM and Revela have partnered to host the eight-session HR Think Tank, starting on June 5. Every person, regardless of the position held within an organization, is capable of being a leader. Revela’s HR Think Tank series uses its Intentional Leader program as a catalyst to help attendees build leadership presence. This program has been pre-approved for 20 PDCs from SHRM’s Professional Development Certification and 20 hours of HR recertification credit from HR Certification Institute. Registration is available online.

• MAY 31, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal

Ruskamp

Fritz

Cabrera

Kramolisch

Thrasher promotes Ruskamp, Fritz hires Cabrera, Kramolisch, McAtee

As Thrasher, Inc. continues to grow, the basement waterproofing and foundation repair company has hired three new personnel and promoted two employees. Thrasher has promoted Aaron Ruskamp to director of operations. Ruskamp is responsible for the day-to-day operations of leading the general managMcAtee ers of each business unit. He joined Thrasher 10 years ago as a lead installer and has since been promoted to production manager, process improvement manager and general manager for health and safety solutions. CJ Fritz has been promoted to general manager of basement repair in Omaha. Fritz will be developing key growth strategies, tactics and action plans, all while executing the business unit’s annual goals and understanding customer trends. He joined Thrasher in 2013 as a system design specialist and was promoted to sales manager less than two years later. Prior to joining Thrasher, Fritz attended the Motorcycle Mechanics Institute in Phoenix, Arizona and became a Certified Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Technician. The Thrasher Commercial Group has hired Matt Cabrera as the general manager. As general manager, Cabrera will be responsible for developing key growth strategies, tactics and action plans, all while executing the unit’s annual business goals. Prior to joining Thrasher, Cabrera spent 14 years in the asphalt industry. Most recently he was a sales director who oversaw a team of representatives covering the Midwest. Thrasher has hired Sarah Kramolisch for the director of supply chain management role. Kramolisch will be responsible for all supply chain operations, including the management and sourcing of the company’s fleet, equipment and tools needed for production crews. Additionally she will manage the inventory materials, facility maintenance and will be accountable for the selection of vendors. Kramolisch graduated from Iowa State University with a bachelor’s degree in operations and supply chain management. Thrasher has hired Dustin McAtee to lead the Grand Island branch as manager. As branch manager, McAtee will be responsible for the complete operation of the Grand Island satellite office. He will lead and manage the production team while

working on long-term growth in the sales and service teams. McAtee graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Nebraska at Kearney and is currently working towards an MBA. He also has over 12 years of employee training and managerial work.

Lee

Brachtel

Mutual of Omaha promotes Lee and Brachtel to VP roles

Mutual of Omaha has promoted Ronald Lee to vice president of advanced markets and brokerage field relations and Kim Brachtel to vice president of emerging and strategic solutions operations. Lee heads the advanced markets department that provides planning guidance to financial advisers and insurance agents, and the brokerage field relations department that acts as a liaison between the Mutual of Omaha home office and its field partners on producer performance and contracting issues. Lee joined Mutual of Omaha in 2001. Before assuming his current position, he held various leadership positions within the advanced markets department. Before joining Mutual of Omaha, Lee was the sole practitioner at Lee Law Office. He received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and has a doctorate in law from Creighton University. As vice president of emerging and strategic solutions operations, Brachtel oversees product development and compliance, strategic projects, service upgrades and process improvement efforts for the company’s emerging and strategic solutions business unit. Brachtel joined Mutual of Omaha in 1998 as a pension analyst. Since then, she’s held a variety of positions within the company’s retirement services division, including finance supervisor, project portfolio manager, director of 401(k) operations, and most recently, the director of emerging and strategic solutions operations. Brachtel received her bachelor’s degree from Northwest Missouri State University.

Midlands Business Journal • MAY 31, 2019 •

Bank of America Merrill Lynch names Urzendowski in VP role

Bank of America Merrill Lynch has named Michele Urzendowski vice president for business banking. Based in Omaha, Urzendowski will provide a variety of financial solutions, including treasury, credit, investment banking, risk management, international and wealth management to busiUrzendowski ness banking clients with annual revenues of $5 million to $50 million. A graduate of the University of Nebraska at Omaha, she has previously held roles at First National Bank and US Bank. Urzendowski is a member of the Greater Omaha Chamber and the Association of Corporate Growth.

EGiS Technologies adds on Takemura in client support

EGiS Technologies has added Gage Takemura to the team as a client support specialist. Ta k e m u r a d e veloped a customer-first mindset from three years of customer service, and sales within various organizations. He also spent four years in the Navy as an aircraft quality assurance technician. Takemura While building computers in his free time Takemura decided to redirect his focus to the IT world, and is now pursuing a bachelor’s degree in computer information systems.

Urban growth Continued from page 23. has boomed because there was land there, and it was a smaller school district. You get the small town feel, plus it’s an easy commute to either Lincoln and Omaha.” Additionally, now that the next generation is looking to settle down, it has increased the demand. “You have a lot of the millennials who in 2006-2008 realized they needed a good job, good credit and money down. They were very smart and did those things,” Ollis said. “Now, they are of that age where they are buying homes, are well prepared and well educated, creating an influx at entry level buying. In this area, that means looking into existing homes. One problem with that is the turnover on those has slowed.” While there is still need for more options like townhomes or condos, expanding retail in the county, as well as new employment opportunities nearby, seem to indicate that growth won’t be slowing down anytime soon. “The future is very bright, especially when you look at the corridors,” Alloway said. “As Gretna expands, school districts have come to compromises between each other and helped development flow. There are some great school districts and great places to raise families. With everything else being done on Highway 50, we will see accelerated growth in Sarpy County.”

Security National Bank of Omaha names Lyon senior vice president

Security National Bank of Omaha has added Johanna Lyon as senior vice president, retail delivery channel division head. Lyon leads the sales and service teams at SNB’s 12 retail-banking locations in the Omaha-Council Bluffs Metro Area. Lyon has more than 13 years of experience in banking leadership in the Midwest. She received a Lyon bachelor’s degree from the University of Sioux Falls and is a graduate of Nebraska Banker’s Association’s Advanced School of Banking. Security National Bank is a privately-held community bank with $962 million in assets. In addition to the bank’s metro retail locations, the bank operates a Trust Services and Loan Production Office in Des Moines, Iowa.

Lutz selects Prokupek for talent acquisition position

Lutz, a Nebraska-based business solutions firm, has added Kelly Prokupek to its talent division in the Omaha Office. Prokupek joins the firm as a talent acquisition assistant. She is responsible for providing administrative support to the Lutz Talent team. Her job duties include reviewing applications, writing job ads and corresponding with Prokupek candidates. Prokupek graduated from Creighton University with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education.

US organic sales pass $50 billion mark for first time by Kristen Leigh Painter

U.S. organic sales continue to outpace the broader market, surpassing $50 billion for the first time last year, as pesticide-free, nonGMO products take a bigger slice of the total consumer dollars spent every year. That rate is slowing from Trends earlier this decade, a sign that the organic market is maturing and new types of health and wellness claims are fragmenting consumer spending. The annual survey, published Friday by the Organic Trade Association, is primarily composed of organic food sales, but includes a rapidly-growing nonfood segment of personal care products, household goods and pet food. “Organic is now considered mainstream. But the attitudes surrounding organic are anything but status quo,” Laura Batcha, chief executive of the Organic Trade Association (OTA), said in its announcement. The vast majority of the more than 200 companies that responded to the survey, conducted by Nutrition Business Journal on behalf of OTA, make and sell food. In 2018, organic food sales reached $47.9 billion, or nearly 6% of the food sold in the U.S., the survey found. Fruits and vegetables remain the largest driver, accounting for more than one-third of all U.S. organic food sales. Organic’s second-largest sector, dairy, struggled in 2018 along with its nonorganic counterpart. Despite diet trends that shifted consumers away from dairy and eggs, organic sales in those categories eked out nearly 1% growth last year with $6.5 billion in sales. Overall sales of organic products grew 6.3% last year with nonfood products seeing an even bigger boost of 10.6%. “Consumers want clean labels and to reduce the chemical load on their bodies,” the OTA release says. But the double-digit gains that organic food sales saw a decade ago are gone. For the last three years, organic food sales have been

in the mid- to high-single digits. Last year, organic food sales grew 5.9% compared to 2.3% for total U.S. food sales. “The (U.S.) population isn’t growing as quickly as it once did and the fertility rate is declining,” said Michael Boland, director of The Food Industry Center within the University of Minnesota’s Department of Applied Economics. “The (organic market) maturing is happening, I think, because people have decided they don’t need to be 100% organic and people are only going to fill their baskets with so many fruits and vegetables.” Perhaps more importantly, Boland said, is the changing view of health and wellness claims. Before the recession, organic was the clearest market helping consumers to make a better-for-you, better-for-the-planet purchases, he said. Since then, packaged goods companies and food retailers have gotten smart about marketing other types of health and wellness claims — like plant-based ingredients, healthy fats, fewer ingredients, or improves gut health and digestion. “The space has become more complicated,” Boland said. “You have a fragmentation going on.” Champions of organic recognize the marketing challenges and are trying to make the USDA organic standards more stringent. “Organic is in a unique and tough environment. The government is slowing the advancement of the organic standard, but the positive news is that industry is finding ways to innovate and get closer to the consumer without walking away from the organic program,” Batcha said in the release. “So, whether it’s grass-fed, regenerative, or Global Organic Textile Standard certified, they all have to be organic. The industry is committed to standards and giving consumers what they want.” ©2019 Star Tribune (Minneapolis) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

â&#x20AC;˘ MAY 31, 2019 â&#x20AC;˘ Midlands Business Journal

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