Oct/Nov/Dec 09 - B2B Omaha Magazine

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The Know-It-All In The Office Omaha Redevelopment

Paul & Lori Hogan of Home Instead Senior Care

Omaha magazine • 5921 S. 118th CirCle • Omaha, ne 68137

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features

cover story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Home Instead Senior Care

Home Instead Senior Care co-founders Paul and Lori Hogan take a similar strategic approach to running their business as they do their marriage and family. The principles that guide their professional life are congruent with their personal life because they authentically express the couple’s beliefs.

feature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Elisa Ilana

how i roll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Bo Gratton arts & entertainment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 A Classic Mix: LIV Lounge omaHa! redevelopment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 A Look at Papillion in the office . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Mary Jochim the know-it-all . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Teapot Dome Again? omAHA! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Flying Worm arts & entertainment Page 14

column

business ethics ....................................................... 28 Rabid Reactions

fall 2009 B2B omaha 7

cover story

Story by Leo Adam Biga

•

Photos by minorwhitestudios.com

There’s No Place like home

Home Instead Senior Care

co-founders Paul and Lori Hogan take a similar strategic approach to running their business as they do their marriage and family. The principles that guide their professional life are congruent with their personal life because they authentically express the couple’s beliefs.

That consistent message helps explain how in 15 years they’ve grown from a single desk in Paul’s mother’s home to a new Omaha corporate headquarters with 100-plus employees. In that same time, they’ve grown from a handful of caregivers and clients to 872 independently owned and operated franchises employing some 60,000 caregivers serving more than one million clients worldwide.

Along the way, the Hogans helped create a new industry for delivering nonmedical home care and companionship, and become recognized leaders in the field.

8 B2B omaha fall 2009

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“One of the things we did before we started the business was we established our set of corporate objectives, which are to honor God in all we do, treat each other with dignity and respect, encourage growth in ourselves and others, and build value in service to others,” said Paul. “As I look back, that is the single most important thing we ever did in the business. The second most important thing is we shared those with absolutely everybody that’s ever joined the company — as a franchise owner, caregiver, and staff person. Therefore, before deciding whether to join us or not, you know where we’re coming from. Those two things done in the very beginning have played out now to be invaluable.

“I suspect it’s turned some people off, but those that identify with those values join us and thrive. They can be themselves and can achieve excellence, and that’s really the foundation for the chemistry that exists in the corporation.”

At the heart of it all is the story of Paul’s late maternal grandmother, Eleanor Manhart, whom family members cared for at the home of her daughter, Catherine Hogan (Paul’s mother). Grandma Manhart didn’t want to go to a nursing home. Paul and Lori were among her caregivers. The example of how Grandma thrived with personal, attentive, in-home care gave Paul the idea for the business. “Slowly her strength came back and she regained the will to live,” he said. “Without that experience, there wouldn’t even be a business. It was the impetus to give me and Lori the confidence this is needed and it works.”

He learned “the fear of being isolated, lonely and institutionalized” is universal, as is “the basic human need” or desire to stay at home. “That was the inspiration — the promise of home,” said Paul. He also learned “its not so much how well the towels get folded,” it’s how well people connect.

The quality of that connection has become the paradigm for Home Instead’s model.

“It’s one relationship at a time,” he said, “and the larger we get, the more important it is we continue to find ways to focus on our core strengths, and our core strength is our relationships with people. We’ve actually measured it. The most important aspect of our service between our caregiver and our client is the relationship.”

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That relationship model is expressed in a new Home Instead tag line: To us, it’s personal. “We all realize that is the key to success yesterday, today and the future,” said Paul. “So that’s a way we continue to build upon our core strength. It’s aspirational.

Every time that phone rings, that’s how we deal with people.”

“As we get bigger, we keep going back to those core values and with every decision, ask ‘Does it line up with our core values?’ If it doesn’t, it’s best we don’t do it,” said Lori, “and I think that’s been a really good guide for us to measure against.”

Home Instead is highly selective in awarding franchises. It has to be the right fit. A proprietary evaluation system is used to determine if candidates possess the right mix of five key talents deemed necessary for success. Paul meets every prospect.

“Caring and competitiveness are two of the five I’ll talk about,” said Paul. “If competitiveness is really high and caring’s really low, that’s a bad formula, or if caring’s really high and competitiveness is low, you’re not going to be aggressive enough to do what it takes to make it. We’ve turned down 25 to 35 (applicants) a year for the last seven or eight years, where the chemistry was just not right. If we were out just to sell franchises and put more money in the bank, we wouldn’t care about that, but that’s obviously not a good approach.

“I think another part of the formula is we’re not a public company, we’re privately held. Therefore, we can make those decisions. We’re not pressured by quarterly earnings statements that compel you to sell just to make the numbers.”

Communication is essential. Paul and his senior team leaders maintain contact with franchise owners. “We’re always getting feedback from our franchise owners before we go into making our next year’s plan.

Therefore, we’ve always been out in front of things — issues and challenges and opportunities as opposed to being in crisis mode.

It’s helped us as a couple to continue to enjoy the business, build the business, feel like we’re in control of the business...”

Paul first learned the corporate world working at Merry Maids, an Omaha-based company that found franchise success.

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concept — home cleaning — and made it a professional service by developing a system that ensured quality work,” said Paul. “So I took that experience into this and I was the first one to really do that in the industry.

Secondly, we focused on doing one thing and just doing it really well. Before we came along, there were other home health companies doing both medical and nonmedical, and there still are today.”

Building a niche, Lori said, has proven smart, as Home Instead’s positioned itself as THE expert in the private duty home care field.

“We have the goal by 2025 to be among the world’s most admired companies by actively changing the face of aging,” said Paul. “Today, the face is fear. We want to replace that with hope. We want to replace loneliness with companionship. The old face is institution — we want to change that to home. That’s why we’re writing a book called Stages of Senior Care, Your Step

by Step Guide to Making the Best Decisions (McGraw Hill).”

The book is slated for a fall release.

Home Instead does public awareness campaigns via print, video and online guides that help adult children and older parents navigate aging issues early on. There are tips on how to start the conversation about Mom and Dad’s living arrangements, bringing home care into the picture, etc.

Opening this fall will be the Home instead Center for Successful Aging, a partnership with the University of Nebraska Medical Center. The midtown drive-up facility will offer health and wellness services, and clinicians and will conduct research.

Said Paul, “We sponsored that center because we want to be a part of the solution. Maybe Home Instead can be a part of discovering some breakthroughs about Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s and so on. We’re going to avail to UNMC the thousands of clients we have to help with clinical trials.”

The Hogans view their work as a calling.

“We see it as our purpose and we see it as our mission,” Paul said. “It makes us feel like we’re doing something relevant, and we realize how that’s not easy to come by. We recognize how special that is.”

“We feel blessed,” said Lori.

story by sandy lemke

Photo by minorwhitestudios.com

Bo Gratton 1960 chevrolet corvette

B

o Gratton is all about family. When you ask him about his cars, he answers by talking about how he enjoys them most when his family rides in them. Of the 1960 Corvette pictured above, Gratton said “it is a very good-looking car, but it is beautiful when my wife Buffy drives it!” Gratton added, “I love to take [my children] Nick, Chad and Paige to their sporting events in it. One night I was at the Dairy Chef after a little league game and found eight children standing by my car. When I went to get in, I noticed it had hundreds of sticky fingerprints all over it. This didn’t bother me at all because I knew they were excited to look at it.”

Gratton said his interest in the ‘Vette was fueled by his childhood memories of the show “Route 66.” “It was about two young men driving a 1960 red and white Corvette around the country looking for adventure.” Gratton then heard through the grapevine about this particular car, which at the time “needed some TLC. I had to take it home. I rebuilt the original engine, buffed out the paint, put in new carpet and seat covers. It still has the original door panels, that look great for 49 years old.”

His business is all in the family too: Gratton Warehouse Company, a 115-year-old business, is in its fifth generation. It stores, manages and distributes inventories worldwide for its customers.

Perhaps some of that warehouse space is for Gratton’s car collection: “My other favorite car is my 1968 Shelby GT 500 convertible. I am not prejudiced against other car makes. I love them all! I have owned over 20 other makes – Triumphs, Ferraris, Porsches, Nash, Kaiser…” fall 2009 B2B omaha 13

story by heather akerber g

Photo by minorwhitestudios.com

A Classic Mix:

service and cocktails at liV lounge

A

well-balanced mix is the secret to making a good cocktail. Sam Hohman and her husband, David, owners of LIV Lounge, think the same can be said of a good bar. It’s about balance and the right ingredients.

“We’re not trying to get by on quantity. It’s about service and quality,” said David.

Located in Aksarben Village, LIV Lounge (2285 S. 67th Street) opened in May 2009 and has already exceeded sales projections. Surrounded by apartments, condos and office buildings, the bar has filled a void in the area for those looking for a nice place to have a drink.

“We’re not stuffy, but we are nice. So, if you come in a t-shirt and flip-flops, you’ll feel comfortable.

If you come here in a suit, you’ll feel comfortable,” said Sam. The décor is clean and classic with a 30s feelmuted tones, animal prints, and dark wood. The floor plan creates inviting and homey areas to sit. A half-wall runs down the center, with pub-style seating on one side and club chairs and lounge tables on the other. The lounge also features two fire pits, one inside and one outside on the patio. In the back, LIV has a party room, separated from the rest of the club by floor-to-ceiling velvet curtains that can be rented for private events. David credits the bar’s décor and concept to Sam’s vision.

14 B2B omaha fall 2009

Both lawyers by profession, LIV Lounge is Sam and David’s first venture into the hospitality field, beyond their experience working in bars while in law school.

“Our focus is the drink and the service,” said Sam. “It’s our hope that every cocktail is a good cocktail and that it’s accompanied by good service. If you narrow it down to those two things, it should be pretty easy.”

With this in mind, Sam did extensive research on classic cocktail recipes and liquors. Their menu features 54 Craft cocktails and 54 Classic cocktails, ranging from a Navy Grog to a Pink Squirrel. The names of the drinks are unusual and so is their approach to mixing them. At LIV Lounge, they mix the drinks the “old-fashion” way, using authentic and fresh ingredients, shying away from pre-mixes that you’re often served in bars today. They grow mint in their garden for use in their Mojitos, make their own simple syrup, and use real juices to create the unique flavors for each drink.

“We start from scratch. The way they were originally made. We use fresh ingredients. So, that’s how you’re getting the real thing,” said David.

“There is a lot of balance in these drinks,” Sam added. “They are made that way for a reason,” Sam said.

LIV’s drink menu actually originated as their bartender training manual. Each drink listed on the menu is accompanied by the exact recipe, so guests can see what goes into their drink and learn how to make it on their own.

“It’s about re-educating people on basic cocktails,” said Sam. When it comes to service, LIV Lounge also goes the extra mile. Their bartenders are encouraged to learn people’s names and remember their drinks. They’ll even grab you a blanket if you’re cold (yes, they have blankets). Even though LIV has only been open a few months, their bartenders have already received over 12 hours of training on everything from types of liquors and recipes to providing exceptional service.

All these lessons seem to have really sunk in, as David explained, “One of our servers came up with a tagline to describe our service: Welcome, warm, wanted and important.”

Sounds like a recipe for success.

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story by tony endelman

Photo by minorwhitestudios.com

A Look at Papillion

Jane nielsen, president, Sarpy County Chamber of Commerce, at Shadow lake towne Center. “it is wonderful that Papillion continues to be recognized.”

I

t’s hard to ignore Omaha’s continual growth as a city, cultural hot spot, and arts and entertainment destination. But, the communities surrounding the metro area are surreptitiously emerging as ideal places to live, work, and play. Recently ranked as America’s third best small town by Money Magazine, Papillion is garnering national attention for its stable economy, affordable housing, and affable residents. And now, with a population of just under 24,000, Papillion has surpassed Norfolk as the ninth largest city in Nebraska.

Once thought of as having a less-than-stimulating downtown area and hardly anything to do, the City of Papillion has worked extensively to change this. In 2007, Shadow Lake Towne Center officially opened at the corner of 72nd Street and Nebraska Highway 370. An 880,000-square-foot open-air mall, Shadow Lake Towne Center boasts a wide variety of stores and restaurants, and offers a little something for everyone. “Shadow Lake is not only a great place to shop,” describes Jane Nielsen, president of the Sarpy County Chamber of Commerce, “but it is also a place to gather for live music on Friday nights, and has special activities for families.”

Currently, Papillion is in the midst of a multi-year downtown revitalization effort that includes 16 B2B omaha fall 2009

revamping the sidewalks and installing antique lighting. Last year, the city opened Sumtur Amphitheatre, a unique $1.5 million performing arts center that hosts concerts, free movies, and fine arts productions. Just south of the intersection at 108th Street and Highway 370, the amphitheater has permanent seating for nearly 350 people, as well as open-grass seating for more than 1000.

Additionally, Sarpy County officials recently announced that in 2011, the Omaha Royals will formally relocate to Papillion.

Plans for a new stadium have already taken shape, and a groundbreaking ceremony for the project was held in August. Sarpy County will own the 6,000-seat facility and lease it to the Royals for 25 years. “The new baseball stadium is definitely a welcome addition to Sarpy County,” says Nielsen.

“The business community expects more growth and development to accompany it, and welcomes the Omaha Royals to the city.

The goal was to keep the Royals in the area, and this does just that.”

Papillion’s recent growth is likely due in part to its thriving economy. “The shops at Shadow Lake have greatly increased the city’s sales tax revenue”, points out Nielsen.

And, at just 4.5 percent, Sarpy County’s unemployment rate is less than half of the national average. Living near Omaha allows Papillion residents to work at large area employers, including: Con Agra, Union Pacific, TD Ameritrade, and Mutual of Omaha. Not to mention that both InfoUSA and Alegent Health have offices that sit within Papillion’s city limits. Since 2000, Papillion has seen a 30 percent increase in population, and continues to maintain a cost of living nearly 9 percent lower than the U.S. average.

“It is wonderful that Papillion continues to be recognized,” says Nielsen. “We have friendly and safe neighborhoods, great schools, terrific shopping, and quality restaurants close to home. The leadership at city hall and all the city employees are to be commended for their dedication to making this one of the best places to live in the nation.”

But if you want to see results, get personal training in a private studio. No distractions. No crowds. Just you, your personal trainer and a customized workout created specifically to help you reach your goals. So call today.

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story by daVid williams

Photos by minorwhitestudios.com

Mary Jochim

of sterling Financial services

T

here are no gallery hours posted on the door. No browsers whispering in hushed tones of awe while standing before vibrant works by a number of the best local and regional artists.

That’s because the gallery isn’t a gallery at all. It’s just Mary Jochim’s way of surrounding herself with what she loves. Sterling Financial Advisors’ offices contain a collection that, while perhaps smallish in comparison, rivals in tone, impact and quality the holdings of heavy hitters across Omaha’s business landscape.

“I just love coming here in the morning…there’s an energy to the place,” said the 30-year industry veteran who started her own company 10 years ago. “And art contributes as much for our staff as it does for our clients. We’re flattered at the number of times we’ve been told how beautiful our offices are.”

Located in a handsome but otherwise nondescript mixed-use commercial setting in northwest Omaha, Jochim’s offices showcase an eye-popping array of two- and threedimensional works.

18 B2B omaha fall 2009

Thanks for Votingg us Standing guard in the lobby is a Michael Gustavson ceramic obelisk at the mouth of a stream of iridescent floor tiles whose magenta hues, chameleonlike, wink in the light as one navigates the room. The gentle arc of tile laps at a wall-mounted installation of Ruth Ann Davis’s variegated, bubbled and blistered glass panels that only further the theme of – as a certain ancient mariner might say – water, water, everywhere!

Drifting along the current of red carpet in the main hallway we are confronted with a conspiracy of canvas in the form of Rebecca Hermann’s quartet of ethereally gauzy abstracts. The opposing interior wall is cleverly angular and glass-topped, thus allowing natural light to flow into what would otherwise be a dim space. Now deposited in Jochim’s spacious personal office, one is immediately struck by the thoughtful equilibrium of scale and form, as a monumental Hal Holoun landscape is perfectly counterbalanced by a ceilingscraping behemoth of a rubber plant with leaves the size of pregnant watermelons.

With almost 20 pieces elbowing their way into a space that is less than 2,000 square feet, nowhere does the arrangement appear crowded or forced in any way. Even an out-of-the-way niche sprouts an explosion of color. Practically leaping from its wall is a twisting, turning Stuart Wheat sculpture, one whose patterns and coloration evokes echoes of Keith Haring’s graffiti-inspired, street art fame.

Jochim gives the late Ruth Ann Davis, ASID, much of the credit for the expressiveness of this space, as well as that of Sterling’s former offices, which housed much the same collection. Davis’ contributions to the decor earned her a prestigious award from the American Society of Interior Designers.

Especially refreshing about the Sterling offices is the bravado of it all in bending the rules of convention so commonly displayed in the pedestrian, pin-stripe-splattered milieu of many commercial spaces.

“I’m almost glad that I’ve run out of walls around here,” said Jochim. “I can focus on my client’s needs even while I feed off all of this energy. And isn’t that what great art does? It enriches,” said the financial advisor.

“What better theme could there be for my business than that?”

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feature

Story by Melissa McElroy

Photo by minorwhitestudios.com

langdon-gerber in her spacious West Omaha store. Despite a lagging economy, “i’m slightly up (in sales) since moving to this location.”

Elisa Ilana Lori

Langdon-Gerber has perfected the double-cheek kiss. Going Hollywood can do that. The Golden Globes? Been there. The Oscars? Done that. The Elisa Ilana jewelry store founder and owner has done swag for numerous Hollywood award shows, including the 2008 Oscars. She boasts high-profile, celebrity clients. Everyone from “Desperate Housewives” Teri Hatcher and Eva Longoria-Parker, to Mandy Moore and Nancy Sinatra.

It’s hard to believe that this internationally known jeweler, who has ads in elite fashion magazines like Vogue and InStyle, started her business out of her home. Just don’t ask her about her humble beginnings. She sighs wearily. Apparently everybody always asks about that. While she can understand why people in today’s troubled economy could use a good Cinderella story, she feels like her business has evolved past that point and her past struggles growing her business belong in the past. “There were growing pains. Just like any starting business.” There was no formal structure. The business, named after her step-daughter, grew organically over time. Now she commands a creative team in a spacious studio. Despite how far her business has come, all her jewelry is still made by hand and is one-of-a-kind. But you don’t have to be a Hollywood hot shot to shop there. Prices start at about $25 and can go up to as much as $15,000.

The stockbroker, turned car finance pro, turned jewelry maker and entrepreneur, started her business in the mid-90s. “This was not initially a vision. It was a creative outlet,” Langdon-Gerber says 20 B2B omaha fall 2009

matter-of-factly. Her goal was to provide what was missing for generations: unique jewelry that appeals to everyone from the classroom to the boardroom. She cornered the market in personalized jewelry.

She started a line called “beyond words” with meaningful quotes on jewelry. People flock to her store wanting one-of-a-kind pieces. That meaningful touch that has made her the go-to person for special occasion jewelry: everything from wedding parties to black-tie affairs.

She was also a pioneer in the cause jewelry market long before there was a sea of pink merchandise being sold for breast cancer. Her cause jewelry remains popular today. A portion of the proceeds goes to the corresponding charity, which includes: various specific cancers, ALS/ Lou Gehrig’s disease, Diabetes, Liz’s Legacy, American Heart Association, and A.I.D.S. Awareness.

After working out of her home and later her first shop, she moved to Westroads Mall, where she was in her 11th year before settling on her current location: the old Rick Billings photography studio off of 132nd and Dodge. “The Westroads was very good to me. But I wanted my own stand-alone building. I wanted to control one inventory and have more control over my business.” Having her own building meant she could make her own hours and also make executive decisions, such as closing the store if there was 12 feet of snow on the ground.

She searched for the perfect place for over two years. Originally she wanted something in the Old Market. She thought the downtown, eclectic vibe suited her business perfectly. Plus the area would

provide plenty of foot traffic. She searched and searched, but the right building eluded her. Most places she looked at didn’t have enough space. One day she was in the 132nd & Dodge area running an errand, when she saw a “For Sale” sign in front of the old Rick Billings location. It wasn’t the ar ea that she originally envisioned, but intrigued, she ventured in to look at the space. It turned out to be the perfect building for her business and an excellent location. There was plenty of room for her creative offices, graphic arts and web site, which are all on-site. The web site brings in business from all over the world.

Looking around her shop, it is clear that she put a lot of thought into its aesthetic.

Her shop has an artsy, gallery feel with its earth-toned concrete floors and stone pillars. She didn’t want it to look like a typical jewelry shop. At first she was nervous about moving from the mall, where there were built-in customers, to a destination location where customers would have to drive to her business specifically to shop there. It turned out to be a brilliant move. “I’m slightly up since moving to this location.” She knocks on wood as she says this. In a time of corporate bailouts and a lagging economy, she

still managed to increase her sales in the new location. “We have been very fortunate.” She hasn’t ruled out an Old Market location just yet. She has considered opening a second store if the right space became available.

Langdon-Gerber wanted to be original, both in her product and how she ran her business. She wasn’t interested in doing what everyone else was doing or fitting a cookiecutter mold. She wanted to work in an arena that showcased her talents and provided something fresh to the market. Her quest for originality has taken her far and continues to serve her as she looks to the future.

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Teapot Dome Again?

I

t seems that all levels of government, from local to national, spend more than they take in. There are a few exceptions to this, though, but then it is the exception that proves the rule. Regardless of why, elected officials are looking far and wide for ways to generate cash that don’t involve increasing the tax burden of its citizens. To that end, a novel solution has been gaining traction across the country: The sale of public assets to private investors.

Electric Power: A number of states have introduced competition into the supply of electric power to consumers. The net result of this indicates that the increase of electric rates has been greater in states with the most competition. With the interconnected interstate power grid, it may be better to have a look at a state outside of this grid to see just how deregulation has affected consumers. Texas is unique in oh-so-many ways, including electric power generation. Texas is not connected to the national power grid. On June 18, 1999, then-Governor George W. Bush signed into law the deregulation of electricity, as a solution to high electric prices. Since then, Texas electric rates have climbed faster than any other state. Last summer the wholesale prices rose briefly to more than $4 a kilowatt hour -- about 40 times the national average.

What if the Nebraska Unicameral decided to sell the publicly owned electric power generation facilities, for a quick infusion of much-needed cash? What would the cost to consumers be long term?

I think we can look at the experience in Texas for the answer: A short-term gain, which will result in long-term suffering by consumers. Industries, which are often dependent on electric rates, will look to states with more reasonable pricing. Can Nebraska afford to lose any industry?

Highways: The interstate highway system was built and maintained by the gasoline taxes our parents and grandparents paid (in addition to federal taxes on trucking). By the end of the 1980s, the system extended nearly 45,000 miles. Last year we were told that the Federal Highway Trust Fund was broke. Their solution is to privatize roads. Not just the construction of new roads, but the wholesale of existing interstate highways. Fortunately, the executive branch stopped the sale of por22 B2B omaha fall 2009

tions of I-80. If this sale had gone through, Katie bar the door, every interstate highway would be privately controlled.

With the exception of some bridges, Nebraska has been spared the impact of paying tolls. However, investor/contractors are bidding highway projects that take the toll road idea to a whole new level, an idea called “managed lanes.” Managed lanes allow video cameras and sensors to determine how busy the road is (motorists pay more to drive when the road is busy); how many people are in your car (motorists pay more if they are alone); and what time of day it is (motorists get a discount if it is the middle of the night). Either the driver installs a magnetic “toll tag” to the inside of their windshield, and pre-funds the toll company’s bank account with money to automatically draw tolls from, or the toll company sends you a bill with a service charge added.

If you don’t pay the toll, an arrest warrant will be issued for the owner of the car. Yes, I think that taste for tolls will result in the opportunity for the folks in the great state of Nebraska to have managed lanes too.

The most well-meaning of bureaucrats will see the “adjustment” of tolls as a means to modify your driving behavior.

Remember, carpooling reduces your “carbon footprint.”

What if a Spanish company appeared at the doorsteps of your favorite legislators promising millions in exchange for the control of I-80 between Omaha and Lincoln? Maybe even a company like Cintra, S.A. (Concesiones de Infraestructuras de Transporte). Backed with Chinese money, they could offer Nebraska and the Fed the “fair market value” for the public road. Then, promising to build additional lanes, they get a 52-year lease. The state gets the value of the road up front, making the state treasury look great for a year or two.

What’s not to like? Imagine paying, say $10, to drive to the game in Lincoln. No big deal, is it? What about paying that every time you drive to Lincoln?

Oh, don’t worry about any of this stuff.

Your elected legislators would never do that to you. Nebraska legislators would never sell public assets. Or, would they?

Let’s remind our legislators that privatized doesn’t mean better in every case. Do the math, and follow the money.

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This project is supported in part by Region 6 Behavioral Healthcare through funding provided by the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services/Tobacco Free Nebraska program as a result of the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement.

s to r y b y lu c a s Fa h r e r

Photos by minorwhitestudios.com

Flying Worm

entreprenuer and vintage clothing lover Joe Dempsey: “it’s the best because it doesn’t seem like work. it’s just fun.”

J

oe Dempsey likes other people’s leftovers.

Not day-old pizza or last night’s meatloaf, but clothes that have been outgrown, become outdated or just unwanted.

Dempsey is the owner of The Flying Worm, a new vintage clothing store in the Old Market that aims to resell garments purged from others’ wardrobes. He also runs a wholesale trade, exporting large quantities of clothes to foreign countries infatuated with American fashion.

But Dempsey, a lifetime lover of vintage clothing with no history in business, might still be performing title inspections and serving subpoenas for Douglas County had he not stumbled upon a fellow enthusiast.

“I was at a Salvation Army looking through vintage clothing…and a Japanese guy was there buying clothes, too,” Dempsey recanted. “We both noticed each other and met in the parking lot afterwards and I sold him a jacket out of my car. I asked how much he’d pay for it and he offered $75. I was just shocked.”

He continued to do business with the same man and decided to sell vintage clothing part time in 1993. Three years later, he left his jobs at Douglas County and Antiques and Fine Art to start selling vintage clothes full time.

“It’s the best because it just doesn’t seem like work,” Dempsey said. “It’s just fun.”

His days of scouring clothing aisles in charity thrift stores are over — he now fills his warehouse and retail store with clothes saved, quite literally, from the scrap heap.

The amount of donated garments is often too plentiful for charities such as the Goodwill or Salvation Army to hold on to and the excess clothes are sent to poor countries or rag houses. It’s fall 2009 B2B omaha 25

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here that Dempsey comes to the rescue.

The rag houses, the nearest being across the river in Council Bluffs, sort and set aside bales of the old-fashioned clothes for the entrepreneur.

He buys massive amounts of clothes and it’s quite an operation to sort through it all.

“We buy in bulk — truckloads with 40,000 pounds of clothes,” Dempsey said.

“Then we sort it out depending on customer orders and ship it, but we save a little bit for the store.”

His warehouse in the Old Market is a floor stocked with giant boxes and bundles of clothing, packed with everything retro, from golfer pants to old-school concert shirts. Most of the work Dempsey does himself, although some of his friends lend time helping him and he has a few employees at the store. He sifts through the mounds of clothes searching for the gems — garments still in good condition, without holes, stains or rips — and saves them for The Flying Worm.

The retail shop is fairly new, having just been opened in May at 1125 Jackson Street, the former spot of the Vignettes Boutique.

Dempsey said the vintage clothing business is just now growing in Omaha but has been prosperous in other cities.

“In places like New York, Los Angeles, Portland and Seattle…it’s huge,” Dempsey said. “Here…it’s just coming around to where it could support a store.”

And combined with an economy in recession, it might seem that the entrepreneur in his first business venture would be uneasy about his own business. Dempsey, however, has faith.

“I like it when (business) gets slow because it weeds out the competition,” he said. “The people who are good and strong can survive.”

With 16 years of experience, Dempsey carries an unpretentious savvy that has kept him in the business and could propel him further, though he is undecided on plans to expand.

“The wholesale won’t get any bigger but maybe I’d add more stores,” Dempsey said. “I’d keep everything within driving distance.”

Whatever he does, his businesses are living proof that one man’s trash is truly another’s treasure.

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business ethics b y b e v e r ly J . k r a c h e r , P h . d.

Rabid Reactions

It

used to be the case that we could talk about anything over the dinner table except religion and money.

Now add health care to the list.

Recently, I have seen otherwise healthy human beings reduced to rabidity and egoistic emotions when the topic of health care arises.

[Against] “….There is absolutely, without a doubt, no such thing as a moral right to health care…”

[For] “….If you don’t believe in universal health care then you don’t have a moral bone in your body…”

[For] “….If private corporations run our

health care industry then we are doomed to a failed, unjust system…”

[Against]“….If the government is in then I want out…”

Ahem. I’d like to say three things to all of these people: First, my mother would be ashamed of me, and rightly so, if I were to act like I have the answer to a problem and everyone who disagrees with me is either stupid or ill informed. I’ll bet yours would be, too.

Let’s seek a little graciousness. Let’s do as Epictetus, my favorite ancient philosopher, says – feel the situation but not be swallowed by panic and emotion. Our country

has a health care dilemma because we are in a right vs. right situation. There are good reasons for most solutions to the health care issue. Let’s listen to them and compile the best of what we find.

Second, remember that currently both the government and the private sector play roles in delivering our health care. This will remain true in the future. The question is a balance of power. The thing is – each sector has its warts. On the one hand, government waste is a known fact. Remember the $640 toilet seat? On the other hand, the private business sector is not necessarily a beacon of efficiency. Bank, insurance and automobile

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At The Paxton bankruptcies continue to rock the media.

But warts and all, we need the strength of both sectors to solve our health care woes.

This leads to my third, and final, point.

Critics and participants alike need to adopt a collaborative, practical, ethical attitude in the process of working out a solution to our country’s health care issues. We can look to our own Omaha problems regarding police and firefighter’s retirement pay to understand this.

Robert Bates, retired insurance executive and the Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Omaha Business Ethics Alliance, was recently called on by the Omaha mayor to lead a task force to recommend a solution to the retirement issue. I learned many things by watching Bob handle the challenge. To begin with, he got representatives from all sides to sit down together. Then, and just as important, he treated everyone with respect. Bob made it clear that collaboration is essential and did not let people treat each other as adversaries. Vilifying others gets us nowhere – and is not honorable. When applied to health care, this means that government is not evil incarnate and free market capitalism is not the hand of god – or vice versa.

Bottom line: The #1 reason for personal bankruptcy in the United States is health care.

So we can’t put our heads in the sand – a devastating health care problem, and thus bankruptcy, could happen to any one of us.

Let’s all put our force behind those people, business leaders and politicians alike, who are working to solve the health care dilemma in a constructive, ethical and collaborative way – and leave rabidity for the dogs.

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