MBJ 40 Under 40 2019 • Midlands Business Journal • NOVEMBER 8, 2019 • you. It wasn’t as though he was out golfing or something. “He was very proud of his paper, you could tell he was he had very high expectations for it. Once he began to trust you he didn’t micromanage. But he did review every story.” Davis said Hoig had a distinctive brand of criticism and a “tell it like it is” approach to writing evident when he returned the first draft she submitted to him. “It was covered in red ink. I made the changes, and after looking at what I had written and what the suggestions had been, it was a way better article when he made the changes to it,” she said. “He sat me down and said he didn’t want me to be disappointed; he was very nurturing even then. And he said, ‘Here’s the thing, Kim. A lot of people who read the magazine, they know what the word ameliorate means, but they didn’t want to have to think that hard.’ I’m like, ‘Okay, I get it. You’re spending a lot of time making it pretty and that’s not what anyone wants.’” Davis still works in the field of communications today as the vice president of development for the Nebraska Humane Society. Her time at the Midlands Business Journal was in the era of manual typewriters, pre-Internet and email, but she said many of the skills she learned there she still uses today. “I learned to act like a professional.” Linda Lovgren, president and CEO of Lovgren Marketing Group, has also known Hoig since the early days of the Midlands Business Journal and said she sees his legacy as even larger than being a publisher: local champion of small businesses. “Bob, through his publication, and personally as well because he’s such an advocate, has given small businesses visibility they might not otherwise have had, and a way to build their brand,” she said. “The
success of a business is the sum of all the people who have influenced the life of a business, and he certainly has been one of those individuals.” Lovgren isn’t alone in characterizing Hoig as an important catalyst for business development. Cella Quinn, president of Cella Quinn Investment Services, said, “Bob helped small businesses grow by telling us about each other. We didn’t have to leave our businesses to network, we could read the Midlands Business Journal and find other compatible companies with which to exchange ideas and do business.” Quinn also acknowledges that Hoig has been a good newsman above all. “A good reporter holds a mirror up to society so we can all objectively see ourselves and make changes we deem merited. Whether it was business news or the legal notices in the middle of MBJ, Bob managed to do that,” she said. “He did this in a special way because he believed in the adage attributed to an anonymous Texas newspaper editor, ‘A news story should be like a mini skirt on a pretty woman. Long enough to cover the subject but short enough to be interesting.’” Greater Omaha President and CEO David Brown, whose organization has a mission to ensure a thriving business community, praised Hoig for his genuine enthusiasm and unflagging support. “Bob has a real passion for small business, and I think that was reflected in the path that the MBJ took. There are a lot of different markets it could have covered, but I think he has such a keen interest in seeing small businesses being supported and recognized for the impact that they have on the community, that he decided that the Journal should be focused on that type of topic,” he said. “I think Bob’s passion shows up in how the MBJ is written every
week.” That passion is even more evident in person, Brown added, like at the annual “40 Under 40” awards. “He seems to always be in his element at those events because he is surrounded by small business people. And he loves being around folks that have the same passion for small business that he does,” he said. “So whenever I think of Bob, I think of this those moments I saw him at those awards breakfasts, smiling from ear to ear because he’s surrounded by people he respected a lot.” Hal Daub, another notable Omaha who’s “had the pleasure of knowing Bob and his wife and family before they started their journalistic enterprise,” remarked on Hoig’s extraordinary commitment to the business community. “I’ve known him because I’ve active in local affairs, not just political affairs but community affairs as well as business here. I got to know him and I can tell you that— through my experiences with him before I went to Congress, while I was privileged to be in the House of Representatives, and while I was privileged to be mayor and now as a member of the Board of Regents, and as a practicing lawyer for 50 plus years her in Omaha—Bob Hoig has been the steadfast champion of Omaha and her small business interests,” he said. “The family have been great citizens of the community. They’ve been charitable and philanthropic and they spend lots of time encouraging people to get together and do good for our community. They’re not only great citizens of Omaha and our state, but they’re very patriotic and really believe in America and free enterprise, and I think that’s what Bob teaches, mostly, that free enterprise is the cure for all the ills of life.” Daub also said Hoig has made the Midlands Business Journal a blend of edifying and interesting. “If you stop to think about it, every small business is affected or afflicted by city, county, state and federal government and the bureaucracy of regulations and licensing. So when you can pick up the Midlands Business Journal, you get stories of small business, you get all new corporate filings going on in Douglas County, and you get some flavor of the philosophical/political things that are going on,” he said. “You’ve got a perfect half an hour to an hour of wonderful learning experience every time the Midlands Business Journal hits your in box.” Like Daub, John Bothof (president of Northwest Bank) said he considers Hoig a friend as much as someone to be admired. “Bob is a historian and passionate about his country and his business. Bob is a friend, a visionary, a risk-taker and a great businessman. Businesses of Omaha and all of Nebraska have a great asset in the MBJ and most importantly, Bob Hoig,” he said. “Bob has had a
huge impact on small business with the introduction of the Midlands Business Journal. Bob stepped out and, like other small businesses and entrepreneurs, risked his professional reputation and personal finances for what would become the Friday business paper that we all wait to be delivered. If you want to know what is happening in Omaha in business, business expansion, new technology or who is doing what, you read the Midlands Business Journal.” Bothof said his company’s relationship with the Midlands Business Journal has been beneficial. “The MBJ provides a medium to tell your businesses story. Many businesses subscribe to the MBJ and it has been a good method for Northwest Bank to open doors to new opportunities,” he explained. “Several years ago, we decided to join with Bob for the introduction of the “40 Under 40 event. This event recognizes 40 people under 40 years of age on their business or professional success. We thought it was an excellent opportunity for a new startup bank to invest in recognizing the future leaders of our community. The “40 Under 40” event moved our brand to new heights.” He also noted Hoig’s boldness. “If the stories of businesses in the MBJ doesn’t take all of your idle time, you have to read Bob’s editorials and get a common-sense approach to issues facing business, our country, and the political environment, to name a few.” Hoig has made friends everywhere he goes. Restauranteur Leo Fascianella of Pasta Amore said Hoig has been a patron since 1986. “I’ve known Bob since day one when I opened the restaurant. He’s always been an inspiration to me and encouraged me about the business and told me how wonder-
15
ful I was doing,” Fascianella said. “He’s a beautiful person to talk to and such a nice man. I feel like I’m part of his life, I’ve known him for so long. He’s a very nice man, very encouraging, very supportive of small business in Omaha. He’s such a great person.” Fascianella also mentioned Hoig’s love for flying small aircraft, a pastime he’s had to regretfully step away from. “That’s the most devastating thing about this…when you have to give up something you just so truly love,” Hoig said. “It took me such a small amount of time to build a thousand hours. Flying gets in your system. It gives you a certain push to your life to just know you’ve got the keys in your pocket to simply at any time go to Eppley, cart off the plane and you’re off into the wild blue.” Stepping out of the cockpit is just on hard adjustment forced by age, and as Hoig recovers, his plans for the future are still in flux. But he said he’s developed a renewed sense of gratitude for his loved ones. “The joys of family, and the understanding of how family can rally around you and it really means something, not just a cliche. That’s probably the most significant truth of my life right now,” he said. “That’s one of the real satisfactions of life, once you’ve seen the path that you chose is the one that is right, and they’re all in their own separate careers—with some small help from you in choosing the right thing at the right time for them,” he said. And looking back at his 85 years, Hoig said he doesn’t want people to know him as just a publisher. “Good father in an odd way. Pilot in a good way. Skier in an unusual way,” he said. A remarkable life.