MAY 7, 2021
THE BUSINESS NEWSPAPER OF GREATER OMAHA, LINCOLN AND COUNCIL BLUFFS
THIS WEEK ’S ISSUE:
Handing out flavor, Carter & Rye delights customers with signature hand pie offerings. – Page 2
40 er d Un 40 Paces focuses expertise on serving most vulnerable at Heartland Family Service. – Page 4
e rat on leb cti Ce stru n Co
High volume of home projects, innovations characterize construction trends. – Page 5
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VOL. 47 NO. 19
Nice Healthcare targets Nebraska expansion with ‘frictionless’ primary care by Richard D. Brown
Nice Healthcare, a four-year-old entrepreneurial health care provider, is targeting expansion into Nebraska and Iowa with what it bills as a “frictionless primary care mode” with a combination of virtual and in-person care centered on the patient’s home. The firm currently provides services to employees of more than 250 firms, that encompass about 40,000 members in its seven-state operational area. The company was founded by CEO Thompson Aderinkomi, COO Genevieve Swenson and Vice President of Engagement Allison Santos. In addition to its Nebraska and Iowa expansion, the company is positioning itself for growth into New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. “Effectively using a business model based on virtual technology and home visits to the patient is no longer a doubtful business model ... it’s something the consumer is demanding,” said Vice President for Growth John R. Young. Young said in the past two years Continued on page 18.
Vice President for Growth John R. Young and Nurse Practitioner Tilly Beaudette … Primary health care provider offers unique model focusing on combination of virtual and in-person visits. (Photo by MBJ / Becky McCarville)
RealmFive draws on farm upbringing to develop smart agri-technology by Dwain Hebda
If Lincoln’s RealmFive has one competitive advantage to lean on, it’s a firm understanding of the pain points today’s farmers face. After all, company co-founders Brant Burkey and Steve Tippery saw it daily in their upbringing in rural Nebraska. “Both of us are actually farm boys from Nebraska turned technologists,” said Tippery, CEO. “I would say the problem that we’ve been solving from
the beginning is the same and it’s this challenge of moving data effectively, reliably, simply in harsh environments like agriculture. “If you’re in the middle of western Nebraska or the outback of Australia or whatever, you don’t really have a network around, at least not in a reliable way. So, we made it our business to solve these rural connectivity problems by tying different types of Continued on page 17. Owner Abby McLeay … Green-certified coffee shop pivots to offer additional options such as curbside pick-up and community-building focus.
Zen Coffee Co. buzzes with second store, expanded bakery and training opportunities by Michelle Leach
Co-founder and CEO Steve Tippery … The agri-technology company produces a number of products and software that help today’s production agriculture run more efficiently.
Almost a year to the day that the COVID-19 outbreak was declared a national emergency, Zen Coffee Co. opened its second store in west Omaha near 132nd Street and West Center Road. The green-certified coffee shop joins its nearly four-year-old sister location, the first retail shop in downtown Omaha’s Farnam Hill neighborhood and, at the time of
this writing, plans were brewing for the likes of Zen’s Coffee School and an expanded bakery. “A second store has always been in the plans; however, location and amenities were definitely something we considered,” said owner Abby McLeay. “We started baking our own pastries at the start of 2020. So, a full kitchen was necessary for expansion. We had Continued on page 30.