22
• NOVEMBER 22, 2019 • Midlands Business Journal
A section prepared by the staff of the Midlands Business Journal
November 22, 2019
Firms balance technology, talent needs alongside diverse project stakeholders by Michelle Leach
Firmwide initiatives are reinforcing and reflecting industrywide transformation, while projects and partnerships are transforming the region’s landscape as investments in the future. “The architecture/construction business in Omaha/Council Bluffs is thriving and this trend does not seem to be slowing down anytime soon,” said HGM Associates Project Manager, Architect and LEED Accredited Professional Kim Bogatz. “Everyone in this industry seems to be saying the same thing: ‘We are busy.’” H G M ’s p r o j Wieseman ects range from a 2,000-square-foot office remodel to Iowa Western Community College’s 92,000-square-foot indoor turf/ wellness facility. “We do not have types of projects that keep us busy,” she said. “But our range of experience and services we offer is what keeps our team present.” BVH Architecture Business Development Strategist and Principal Corey Wieseman referred to diversification across sectors, and exploration of new geographies to diversify its service area. “The K-12 industry is becoming a bit more challenging because of agriculture and corn prices,” he said. “In rural Nebraska, it becomes a little more challenging
HGM Associates' Project Manager and Architect Kim Bogatz at the recently completed Dr. John W. and Jean Marshall Wellness Center at Iowa Western Community College. because those areas are heavily based on areas, represents another busy sector driven the success of ag … If the farming com- by favorable interest rates, alongside hismunity is doing well, it’s easier to pass toric preservation (i.e. county courthouses). referendums.” Where there are challenges, there are Wieseman referenced long development opportunities, Wieseman said; for instance, opportunities with school consolidation and automation and artificial intelligence facilia community retaining its identity in the tate new design, but may eliminate the need face of school closures; similarly, fund- for people and could present revenue losses ing-related challenges abound with state of 25% to 30%. government projects, while multi-family, “As efficiencies are gained, we may lose particularly in Omaha and Lincoln metro revenues,” he said.
Reaanddit
Enter Layer, a sister company whose focus is illustrated via BVH’s 10-year Nebraska State Capitol Building restoration project to document conditions in each of the Capitol’s hundreds of rooms. “We created an app that allowed us to provide direct information into a room and to tag information specific to a room,” Wieseman said. “It helps us organize, catalog and document for the owner’s use.” Tech meets talent, as Wieseman referenced success in securing “boomerang” Nebraska natives who spread their wings elsewhere and later return to the nest. “I have a lot of friends in competing firms and, even though we compete, we’re still friends,” he said. “The last thing we want to do is to ‘rob’ [employees]. It creates a vicious circle. We’re looking for the right employees to maintain and support the firm culture.” To specific prominent projects, OJB Landscape Architecture was awarded the Riverfront Revitalization Master Plan contract in fall 2016. “We joined our designer-partners in a 15-month development process, workshopping conceptual ideas and plans for nearly 200 acres along the Missouri riverfront,” said Managing Principal Kyle Fiddelke. “These included the River ’s Edge in Council Bluffs along with Lewis and Clark Landing, Heartland of America Park, and Gene Leahy Mall in Omaha.” Shepherded by a committee of stakeholders and city reps, the best use — from programming, design and financial standpoints — was identified, according to Continued on next page.
Reap!
Architecture — inside NOVEMBER 22, 2019
THE BUSINESS NEWSPAPER OF GREATER OMAHA, LINCOLN AND COUNCIL BLUFFS
THIS WEEK 'S ISSUE:
$2.00
VOL. 45 NO. 47
Finigree eyes growth for platform via community banks by Richard D. Brown
Lifestyle Fitness opens with intent to improve health and wellness of community. – Page 2
in en ss omsine W u B
Despite increase in women business owners, executive representation, ethnic diversity lags. – Page 4
40 er d Un 40 Diaz pursues life’s work in senior health care at Immanuel Communities. – Page 10
Finigree, an eight-year-old Omaha-based fin-tech company that partners with banks and businesses to protect financial data as it is stored, used and shared, is moving upstairs into a 4,000-squarefoot suite that is being renovated in the former Grain Exchange Building at 1905 Harney St. Co-founders Wes Miller and Ryan Barry, with assistance from 31 investors and 10 employees, have built a platform targeting secure financial data aimed at small to middle-size banks and other businesses. “We’ve wanted our platform to offer innovation in a box,” said Miller, CEO. Miller, a Mingo, Iowa native with a degree in international banking and finance from Iowa State University, came to Omaha about 15 years ago as an employee of a major national bank. His banking experience targeted mortgage loans and he later co-founded Central Omaha Mortgage. Those experiences led him to discover a niche Continued on page 32.
Co-founder Wes Miller … Expanding reach of security software with niche in community banks.
BVH Architecture challenges industry norms by deploying strategic solutions by Savannah Behrends
For BVH Architecture, a 52year old company with footprints across the Midwest, the key to its longevity can be defined in one phrase: creative problem solving. Now in its third generation of ownership, solidified this fiscal year, creative problem solving is even more relevant as the four partners grapple with technology and hiring challenges.
“Our biggest challenge, and that of the profession generally, is the replacement of potential lost revenue,” said Principal & Business Development Strategist Corey Wieseman. That potential lost revenue, according to Wieseman and fellow Principal and Architect Cleveland Reeves, is the result of evolving technologies like artificial intelligence that can handle some of Continued on page 32. Hospital Administrator Heather Burwell … Adding Nebraska’s first board-certified neurologist in 2020.
VCA MidWest expanding facility, services to meet demand for specialized pet care by Becky McCarville
BVH Architecture Principals, from left, Cleveland Reeves and Corey Wieseman … Firm highlights sustainability in K-12, higher education, historic preservation and workplace markets as an area of focus.
Since VCA bought Midwest Veterinary Specialists in 2015, which was a nonprofit owned by KSU Veterinary Clinic, and acquired the emergency clinic next door in 2016 that had been operating since 1972, patient counts have increased from 8,000 in 2016, 9,700 in 2017, 11,000 in 2018 and on track for the same in 2019. Hospital Administrator Heather
Burwell said that the goal is to see 15,000 pets with the addition of a neurologist and another internist in 2020 — a realistic goal without sacrificing quality of care. “In April of 2016, we merged,” Burwell said. “It was two very different cultures merging … and that’s when we changed our name to what it is now VCA MidWest Veterinary Referral & Emergency Continued on page 11.