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volume 16 | issue 3

B2B OMAHA MAGAZINE

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DOUG MEIGS

LUKE BULLER LINDSAY WILSON

SCOTT ANDERSON KEITH BACKSEN JASON FOX JUDY HORAN BEVERLY KRACHER CHARLIE LITTON JENNIFER LITTON LISA LUKECART KATRINA MARKEL TOM MCCAULEY PATRICK MCGEE CAROL CRISSEY NIGRELLI DOUG SCHURING

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account executives

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RACHEL JOY

GREG BRUNS GIL COHEN KYLE FISHER MARY HIATT GEORGE IDELMAN GWEN LEMKE JOSHUA PETERSON

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MATTHEW WIECZOREK

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B2B Magazine is published four times annually by Omaha Magazine, LTD, P.O. Box 461208, Omaha NE 68046-1208. Telephone: 402-884-2000; fax 402-8842001. Subscription rates: $12.95 for 4 issues (one year), $19.95 for 8 issues (two years). Multiple subscriptions at different rates are available. No whole or part of the contents herein may be reproduced without prior written permission of B2B Omaha Magazine, excepting individually copyrighted articles and photographs. Unsolicited manuscripts are accepted, however no responsibility will be assumed for such solicitations.

omahamagazine.com FALL 2016 |

TABLE OF CONTENTS COVER FE ATURE

24 3D PRINTING

ADDS DEPTH TO OMAHA BUSINESSES

TRANSFORMING IDEAS INTO THINGS FEATURES

OMAHA DEFIES “HOUSING TRILEMMA” TRADE-OFF

DEPARTMENTS

08 ON THE RISE

The Nebraska Independent Colleges Foundation

12 16

IN THE OFFICE The Bike Union HOW I ROLL The Love Dub

FEEDING FRENZY

Low Interest Rates Supercharge Omaha’s Real Estate Market

SPECIAL SECTIONS

28 OmAHA! 52 BIZ + GIVING 54 FACES

10 15 35

51 OMAHA CVB 56 PLAYING BIG

65 OFFICE FURNITURE 66 ETHICS

Eat Fit Go

Hungry for Answers Keith Reid

BUY OMAHA PROFILE Elite Glazing Services BUY OMAHA PROFILE Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company THE FIRM DEAL REVIEW Growth Edition

COLUMNS

07 FROM THE EDITOR 34 THE BRAND BRIEF Winter is Coming

Local Need Not Equal Yokel

Omaha Tourism Trivia The 2016 Misery Olympics

Aging in the Office Ethical Nudges

BEAUTY & THE CYBORG BEAST Bioprinting Prosthetic Dreams for Children

volume 16 | issue 3

B2B OMAHA MAGAZINE

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Business & Commercial Law • Litigation • Estate Planning, Trusts & Probate Employment Law • Energy Law • Real Estate • Municipal Law Franchise Law • Special Needs Trusts B2 B

06 |

Let the love (+ customers) spark this summer!

TAINOUS SCALE

omahamagazine.com FALL 2016 |

FROM THE EDITOR

WINTER IS COMING

BY DOUG MEIGS

As the U.S. housing bubble burst, and the Subprime Mortgage Crisis fueled the Global Financial Crisis of 2007-2009, I happily rode out the so-called “Great Recession” in Hong Kong. A journalist in Hong Kong’s vibrant English language media, I benefited from the special administrative region’s booming economy (buoyed by the thriving mainland Chinese market). Meanwhile, back in my hometown of Omaha, anyone with a cash stockpile could have scored once-in-a-lifetime deals in the wake of the housing bubble. Not that I had any cash. I was fresh out of journalism school at the University of Missouri and dumping my income into a shoebox of an apartment. I paid nearly $1,000 a month for 350 square feet. My parents, back home, were appalled at the cost. But my colleagues thought I had a steal. Hong Kong remains the most expensive city in the world according to Mercer’s 2016 Cost of Living Rankings. What a relief it was to return home. At least for my bank account. I went from hemorrhaging rent through the yin yang to enjoying Omaha’s famous affordability (high Nebraska taxes not withstanding). A recent study by an Oregon economist explains just how Omaha’s affordability, economic strength, and quality of life compare with other U.S. metropolitan areas. The current issue of B2B explains how well Omaha fared (on page 18). Here’s a hint: Omaha was one of only three metros to defy the “housing trilemma.” While economic conditions are currently suffering a downturn back in Hong Kong and China, my attention has shifted to local concerns. Interest rates are on the way up, and the real estate market is rebounding. As a (prospective) first-time homeowner, I want to lock in a mortgage with interest rates near record lows. Read more about

how prolonged interest rates have affected Omaha’s real estate market on page 21. Although rates are poised to increase, local experts assure me they won’t be skyrocketing within the next year or so. Rather than worrying about interest rate hikes, I’d prefer to be worrying about more important things. Ice fishing, for example. With the words of House Stark echoing in my mind, I’d really like to fix my favorite ice fishing reel on the cheap. An essential piece on the reel broke during my first winter back from Hong Kong. New advances in local 3D printing might hold the answer. For inspiration on how 3D printing breakthroughs might help your business, turn to page 24 for the first part of our cover story. If the technology seems like science fiction, then you won’t believe the medical innovations now possible with 3D printing (see page 26). Local researchers and entrepreneurs are accomplishing remarkable things in the Omaha metro. Read on for more. B2B Doug Meigs is executive editor of B2B, a publication of Omaha Magazine LTD. He can be reached at doug@omahamagazine.com.

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B2B OMAHA MAGAZINE

“YORK…HAS AN EXCELLENT TEACHER PREPARATION PROGRAM. UNION HAS A VERY GOOD PHYSICIAN ASSISTANTS PROGRAM WITH A WAITING LIST ON IT. BELLEVUE IS PROBABLY, IN MY OPINION, ONE OF THE LEADERS IN NONTRADITIONAL PROGRAMS. HASTINGS HAS SUCH A VIBRANT LEGACY AND HERITAGE AND HISTORY THAT SPEAKS WELL FOR ALL OF THEIR PROGRAMS.” -JAMES JOHNSON

volume 16 | issue 3

omahamagazine.com FALL 2016 |

ON THE RISE | BY JENNIFER LITTON | PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL SITZMANN

THE NEBRASKA INDEPENDENT COLLEGES FOUNDATION GROWING DEMAND AND SCHOLARSHIPS Nebraska Independent Colleges Foundation (NICF) President James Johnson Ph.D. is used to change. Dr. Johnson, his wife, Lesa, and his Harley-Davidson moved to Omaha four years ago, after serving respected stints at a handful of universities across the nation. Such positions included president of Ohio Valley University in West Virginia, and director of forensics and assistant to the provost at Texas A&M University. The communication skills he has gained after a lifetime in education are making a difference in the lives of underprivileged college students in Nebraska. “We raise scholarship funds to help needy students in Nebraska attend Nebraska colleges, primarily independent colleges,” he says. Founded in 1953, the NICF has a staff of three and is about to get a whole lot busier as they prepare to double their size and serve more schools. Currently, they raise scholarship funds for the students of Union College, Bellevue University, York College, and Hastings College. Johnson says that, statistically, students who come out of independent colleges are hired quicker than state school graduates and they are promoted faster.

“I think it’s because of some of the types of students that private colleges attract and also smaller class size, smaller teacher/ student ratio (that allows) more individual attention in the classroom,” he says. Johnson says that the schools they currently work with are leaders in certain fields. “York, for example has an excellent teacher preparation program. Union has a very good physician assistants program with a waiting list on it. Bellevue is probably, in my opinion, one of the leaders in nontraditional programs. Hastings has such a vibrant legacy and heritage and history that speaks well for all of their programs.” Since Johnson began his teaching career in 1983 as a professor of communication at Lubbock Christian University in Texas, he has seen the average age of a student increase. “When I started teaching, the average age of a college student was about 23,” Johnson says. “Now the average age of the college student today is closer to 30. We have so many more adults going back to retrain or going back to make career changes.”

A recipient of the 2008 President’s Volunteer Service Award, which was presented by President George W. Bush, Johnson enjoys teaching and the relationships he has with students. He says he is able to fulfill his desire to teach through his leadership consulting firm, Ethos Leadership Group, where he serves as chief executive officer. Johnson notes that the NICF has an annual golf tournament that has grown in attendance by 50 percent over the past four years. The tournament raises awareness and provides an opportunity for fundraising. NICF accepts donations from both corporate and individual donors. “I enjoy being able to tell donors, when they write me a $1,000 check, that $1,000 is going to scholarships.” Johnson has his eyes set on a big prize for the foundation—a fundraising challenge of $2.5 million. If NICF reaches that goal by the end of the year, an independent donor will match that sum, bringing the total to $5 million raised. Now that’s enough money for a lot of books. Visit nicfonline.org for more information. B2B

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volume 16 | issue 3

B2B OMAHA MAGAZINE

BUY OMAHA PROFILES SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

ELITE GLAZING SERVICES Elite Glazing Services, a new commercial glazing company located in Omaha, specializes in aluminum storefronts and curtain walls, aluminum and automatic doors, windows, skylights, metal panels, and more. The new business launch coincides with the 15-year anniversary of Elite Glass Services (co-owned by Ben Alba and Darrel Piatt), a company that focuses on custom shower doors and mirrors, cabinet glass, shelving, and interior glass needs. Alba started the company in 2001, and Piatt joined as co-owner in 2006. Together, they grew the company into one of the leading interior glass companies in the area. “We are very proud of the success we have and the relationships we have created with builders, designers, homeowners, and architects but have always wanted to get into the exterior glass side as well,” says Piatt. “We had the privilege of teaming up with two incredibly experienced people, Jeff Creason and Scott Wiebelhaus,

and they joined Darrel and I in creating Elite Glazing Services,” says Alba. “Jeff has 31 years of industry experience and Scott has 23 years, combined with my 23 years and Darrel’s 20 years, we have the perfect team to grow this company and help our builders and architects with all of their exterior glass projects.” “We respect each other’s expertise and we all have special skill sets which is the perfect combination needed to bring these glazing services to the greater Omaha area,” says Jeff Creason. All four owners are passionate and committed to growing Elite Glazing Services into a successful company. They have worked within the industry nearly their entire adult lives, have raised families during that time, and have also stayed involved within the communities. “We are dedicated to making a positive impact everywhere we can. We can provide excellent service and products, we

have a great environment for employees to work where they are appreciated and respected, we have strong relationships with our clients and can do our part in growing the Omaha business community,” says Wiebelhaus. While the two companies are currently next door to each other, construction is underway on a new facility that will accommodate all of the needs for both businesses even better. The new building will be located off 107th Street and Chandler Road, only a few blocks from their current location in Omaha. B2B Elite Glazing Services 10327 Chandler Circle, Suite No. 200 La Vista, Nebraska 68127 402-916-5295 eliteglazingservices.com

omahamagazine.com FALL 2016 |

SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE OUR BANQUET HALL OR NEW CONFERENCE ROOM IS THE PERFECT FIT FOR ANY CORPORATE OR PERSONAL EVENT CORPORATE GATHERINGS • HOLIDAY PARTIES • CONFERENCES • MEETINGS • WEDDING RECEPTIONS

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In the purple checkered shirt: Miah Sommer, executive director at the Bike Union Mentoring Project

omahamagazine.com FALL 2016 |

IN THE OFFICE | BY LISA LUKECART | PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL SITZMANN

THE FLYING SAUCER ON DODGE STREET THE BIKE UNION

A flying saucer landed on 1818 Dodge Street. The white circular structure with tall windows appears ready for takeoff to another planet. Maybe Mercury. It is rumored to have been intended to look like Mercury’s helmet. The building was first designed for Omaha National Bank, so it seems a good possibility. Mercury is, after all, the Roman god of financial gain. Others believe architect Nes Latenser wanted something futuristic when the “UFO” first emerged on Dodge back in the 1960s. Far-out and groovy things, such as a man landing on the moon, made anything otherworldly imaginable. Today, this alien structure holds something far more valuable than money—heart. CONT. PAGE 14

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volume 16 | issue 3

B2B OMAHA MAGAZINE

CONT. FROM PAGE 13 Miah Sommer invaded the space to open a bike and coffee shop. In the center, the small spherical space is perfectly divided. To the right, anyone can grab a cup of joe while getting a bike repaired to the left. The ceiling is fanned out with bright lights, a bit like Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Racing and mountain bikes frame the calming blue walls. Yet, this isn’t just any coffee/bike shop. Sommer launched the Bike Union in 2014 as a way to mentor at-risk youth who have aged out of the foster system. It is a place where former foster kids can mend their bruised and broken wings. Sommer acts as a mentor to ensure these young adults gain the necessary skills to achieve their goals. Sommer has three males and one female under his guidance between the ages of 17 and 23. According to Jim Casey of Youth Opportunities Initiative, one in five foster kids will become homeless and only half will be employed at age

24. Sommer says three of his former foster kids were not working or receiving an education, and it is something he wanted to change. Instead of fending for themselves, each member has been learning a mix of technical and soft skills while earning a paycheck and financial mentoring, 20 hours a week, for a year. Cooking classes, mindfulness training, and a book club round out the education. “If you want to make a positive change, it requires attention,” Sommer believes. Take Bre Walker, 21. A so-called “crack baby” as an infant, Walker headed straight into foster care with emotional and physical problems looming over her tiny shoulders. Walker’s life became a cycle of drifting from home to home—25 or 30 in all. She never unpacked. “It’s scary. You never know if you are ever going to have a place to lay your head,” she says.

When she aged out at 19, Walker had nowhere to go. After couch surfing and other housing attempts failed, she received help from Youth Emergency Services and Project Employment. Walker began working at the Bike Union in January. She was failing two classes at Metropolitan Community College. Then, with tutoring help from Bike Union mentors, she turned her grades around. In her recent class, she earned her first A. Mostly though, it was just finding people who believed in her. “They have faith in me. (Sommer) is more of a father figure than a manager. He wants the best for us,” Walker says. When her year is up, Walker thinks she will be sad rather than scared. Most importantly, she will have the confidence to walk out the door. “I live down the street, so they can’t get rid of me completely,” Walker says laughing. Visit thebikeunion.org for more information. B2B

omahamagazine.com FALL 2016 |

BUY OMAHA PROFILES SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

NORTHWESTERN MUTUAL WEALTH MANAGEMENT COMPANY ROB A. RANDELS CFP ®, MBA, RICP ®, ChFC ®, CLTC, CAP® Have you ever noticed people claim that the financial planning process is important, but do they carve out the time to focus on it properly? Our team helps to create a process to identify wants and needs and develop sound financial strategies to meet goals and objectives. We often introduce ideas that key decision makers were unaware of; and therefore, we can integrate solutions that increase the probability of their success. While 50 percent of our clients are in the medical or private business markets, we currently work with a variety of individuals, families, retirees, businesses and foundations. We enjoy moving people from where they are to a position of greater financial strength and security. I started working in our family business in the home improvement industry. I loved the physical work and reward of a tangible, quality finished product. While our craftsmanship was great, my family

struggled with the business side of running the business. I thought: “There must be a better way.” Originally, I intended to go to college to become a teacher, but decided to enter the college of business in search of “a better way.” I enjoyed the program, getting my BSBA in Finance with an MIS emphasis and went on to get my MBA at the University of Nebraska with a Finance specialization. I joke this is how I became the financial nerd I am today! We are fortunate to partner with the strongest financial firm in the industry, Northwestern Mutual and the Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company. One common misconception is that we only represent Northwestern Mutual, however, we have the ability to represent most quality firms in the industry when needed and appropriate. While everyone on our team specializes in a particular area of the financial planning process, we believe in

cross training disciplines to be sure our clients are well taken care of and our team members fully appreciate the entire picture of the planning process. We have a hardworking, well educated, complimentary team that— most importantly—cares. I am very proud of our team. The thing that drives me the most is knowing we are making a significant, positive impact on the lives of the individuals and families we touch. We know the work that we do is not always top-of-mind for those we work with, but that does not make it any less important. B2B Wealth Management Advisor Embassy Tower, Suite 500 9300 Underwood Avenue Omaha, NE 68114 402-390-8271 robrandels.com

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B2B OMAHA MAGAZINE

volume 16 | issue 3

omahamagazine.com FALL 2016 |

HOW I ROLL | BY PATRICK MCGEE | PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL SITZMANN

BEEP BEEP THE LOVE DUB

Beep Beep is no ordinary bus. It is a fully restored “sealing wax red” and white splitty Volkswagen (“splitty” refers to the two-panel windshield). The bus, named Beep Beep, was also its owner’s long-lost honeymoon ride. Beep Beep’s 86-year-old owner, John Adair, is a multifaceted businessperson. Adair calls himself an “educational entrepreneur” because of his experience starting several Montessori schools in Omaha. He is also the co-founder of U.S. Assets, a nearly 25-year-old tax business that buys delinquent property taxes from various states, pays them, and profits from penalty collections. The delinquent taxes, he explains, are crucial to funding schools. Adair also serves on a number of nonprofit boards. Adair’s philosophy is not about profit. Rather, he believes in generosity, freespiritedness, harmony, love, friendship, and family. These ideals, Adair says, are embodied in his choice of vehicle: a 1960 Volkswagen Microbus Deluxe-SO 22. Auto restoration expert Mike Carroll, proprietor of Air Cooled Express in Bennington, helped to bring Beep Beep back to life. Carroll says the bus model is the “high line of (VW) busses,” characterized by “nice chrome and a fancy interior—all of the amenities offered back then, and from Germany.” CONT. PAGE 62

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volume 16 | issue 3

B2B OMAHA MAGAZINE

FEATURE | BY TOM MCCAULEY | PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL SITZMANN

OMAHA DEFIES “HOUSING TRILEMMA” TRADE-OFF WE CERTAINLY “DON’T COAST” If the top 100 cities in the U.S. comprise a family awash in drama and competition, then Omaha is the kid sibling everyone keeps forgetting about. When discussed at the national dinner table (if at all), Omaha is misconstrued, underestimated, and blamed for things that are probably Portland’s fault. “Why can’t you be sunny and fun like your coastal brothers and sisters? Oh, ‘you don’t coast’? That’s your excuse for everything.” But the national report cards keep coming back aglitter with praise. They say: Omaha has a great future, America. Heck, it could be president someday. The latest batch of good news comes from, of all places, the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis. In a June report, economist Josh Lehner sought to answer the question of whether a city can boast affordable housing, lots of available jobs, and a high quality of life? His hypothesis was, essentially, “nope.” Cities can usually perform well on one or two measures, he found, but they can’t homer on all three. Lehner calls this “the housing trilemma.” Consider Austin, Texas. Austin boasts a robust job market and highly desirable quality of life. Consequently, the housing market cannot keep pace with the influx of new

residents, so even a one-bedroom apartment costs a couple of body parts per month. Omaha, however, is one of only three cities that performed solidly in all three categories of Lehner’s report. The other two? Oklahoma City and Des Moines, Iowa. Inspired by Lehner’s work, David Drozd, research coordinator for UNO’s Center for Public Affairs Research, looked further into the sources that Lehner used in the housing trilemma study. Drozd said that Omaha and Des Moines were pretty much the only two cities that were able to score within the top 30 on all three indicators of affordable housing, a strong economy, and a high quality of life. “It’s just good to see that, overall, the Midwest’s larger metros were tending to come into that sweet spot and basically achieve something that the author premised was somewhat impossible,” Drozd says. Moreover, Drozd says there is one more crucial perk to Omaha not covered in the Oregon housing trilemma study: the factor of the city’s unusually low cost-of-living, cost-of-goods, and services. Not just the housing, everything is cheaper here.

“As people make their location decision,” Drozd says, “they often just look at the nominal salary of the job they’re looking at and don’t factor in—at least to the degree they probably should—that cost-of-living component, which tends to make the salary you see go a lot further in the Midwest.” What about the loss of ConAgra? Will the food giant’s departure knock Omaha out of the housing-jobs-quality of life sweet spot in future studies? Drozd says it doesn’t help, but it might not hurt, either. “(Losing ConAgra) takes away some of the large job base. One of the reasons Nebraska, and specifically Omaha, was able to ride out the recession pretty well was that we had the diversity in employers. On the flip side, as those people move away, that opens up some housing, so that we don’t get pinched on the housing-affordability side.” Visit oregoneconomicanalysis.com/2016/06/08/ the-housing-trilemma for more information. B2B

AS PEOPLE MAKE THEIR LOCATION DECISION,” DAVID DROZD SAYS, “THEY OFTEN JUST LOOK AT THE NOMINAL SALARY OF THE JOB THEY’RE LOOKING AT AND DON’T FACTOR IN—AT LEAST TO THE DEGREE THEY PROBABLY SHOULD—THAT COSTOF-LIVING COMPONENT, WHICH TENDS TO MAKE THE SALARY YOU SEE GO A LOT FURTHER IN THE MIDWEST.”

David Drozd

omahamagazine.com FALL 2016 |

FEATURE | BY CAROL CRISSEY NIGRELLI | PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL SITZMANN | GRAPH BY RACHEL JOY

THE U.S. FEDERAL FUNDS RATE REACHED RECORD HIGHS OF 20 PERCENT IN 1979 AND 1980 AS THE GOVERNMENT FOUGHT STAGFLATION (PERSISTENT HIGH INFLATION PAIRED WITH HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT).

5.25% 4.25% THE CASE-SHILLER HOME PRICE INDEX REPORTED THE LARGEST PRICE DECLINE IN ITS HISTORY ON DEC. 30, 2008. THE COLLAPSE OF THE HOUSING BUBBLE PRECEDED A THEN- UNPRECEDENTED STRETCH OF PROLONGED LOW INTEREST RATES.

From record highs to record lows, the Federal Open Market Committee has decreased the federal interest rate, on average, half a percentage point every year since 1979, with interest rates flattening out around 0-0.25 percent from 2008 through late 2015. Federal interest influence personal and commercial loan rates and can indirectly affect the primary mortgage market.

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FEEDING FRENZY LOW INTEREST RATES SUPERCHARGE OMAHA’S REAL ESTATE MARKET

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The chatter among agents in the spacious, sunny work area of the NP Dodge Real Estate office in Elkhorn doesn’t focus on the global economy, the Brexit fallout, or what Janet Yellen and the Federal Reserve might or might not do about rate hikes. They are too busy writing up contracts and swapping stories about how fast a listing sold in what continues to be a robust housing market. “We’re seeing multiple offers on one home, like we had 20 years ago,” says Nancy Bierman, who manages 120 agents in the office at 204th Street and West Dodge Road. “Homes are selling above asking price. We’re seeing more cash buys, and homes are going very quickly, selling in one day.”

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Homeowners now include millennials, the biggest generation ever to come into the marketplace. They’re moving into all areas of the metro, not just west Omaha. “The urban market, Omaha’s core, seems to be really strong,” says Jeff Royal, president of Dundee Bank. “Young professionals want to live closer to older, established neighborhoods with more character like Benson, Blackstone, Dundee, Field Club, even south of Old Market in Little Italy.” CONT. PAGE 22

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volume 16 | issue 3

B2B OMAHA MAGAZINE

FROM PAGE 21 What’s driving Omaha’s housing frenzy? Chronically low 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages, now below 3.5 percent, tell part of the story— one that has benefited everyone involved in real estate, from brokers to builders to bankers. “It’s a good time to be a buyer,” says Royal. “We’re seeing an uptick not only in mortgage applications, but refinancing as well,” which follows a strong national trend. Figures from the Mortgage Bankers Association show applications have been running more than 21 percent higher than last year—a far cry from the darkest days of the Great Recession of late 2007-2009. “That was bad,” John Caniglia says bluntly. The owner of John Caniglia Homes, builders of higher-end custom homes, remembers buying a few foreclosures and flipping them just to stay afloat. “We started to see a perk up in 2011, even in the $450,000 range, when interest rates were really low. Then the tight regulations on borrowing money started to ease and we’ve been rolling along every year since, even our apartment and office development.” The experience of that recession made Caniglia and other developers highly skittish to build on spec—building before you have a buyer— which explains an equally huge factor in Omaha’s hot market: a lack of existing homes. According to Omaha Area Board of Realtors statistics, the 2,600 homes on the market this spring represented a 16 percent drop from 2015, and a whopping 56 percent drop from 2011, when 6,000 residences were available. In addition, the median price of existing homes rose 7 percent over the past year, to $155,000. “Many baby boomers looking to downsize are finding they have to pay more for less square footage because of the median prices going up, so they’re staying put and their houses aren’t available,” says NP Dodge sales associate Therese Wehner, explaining another piece of the housing crunch equation. This classic scenario of low supply and high demand has tossed homebuyers into a whirlwind.

a lion’s cage,” quips Carole Souza, associate broker at NP Dodge. “You have it on the market and within four or five hours you’ve got 10-15 showings. Before the day is done you have at least one offer, sometimes more.” But the downside of quick decision-making often leads to headaches for all involved. “We’re seeing an increase in buyer’s remorse,” explains Souza. “They win the battle, but lose the war sometimes.” The number of sales contracts that fall apart keeps rising. Wehner noticed, over a two-day period in early July, 19 houses that previously sold went back on the market. Three hours later, when she checked again, the number had risen to 21. Sales agents concede it is getting tougher and tougher to seal the deal. “The buyer rushes into something, they sleep on it and decide, ‘Well, I really like the first house I saw better,’ and then they look for an out,” says Wehner. “And I’m telling you, when that happens, the emotions from the buyers and the sellers can run very, very high.” Well-trained real estate agents will make sure their client asks all the right questions up front before making any decision. Sometimes they’ll suggest a simple, but effective, gesture to win a bidding war. “A listing agent told me my client got the house because of the ‘sappy’ letter my client wrote to the homeowners saying, ‘I love how you took care of your home and I will love it, too,’” says sales associate Kori Krause. “Letters can work.” The health of the real estate industry always depends on the big economic picture, especially as a presidential election looms. As John Caniglia says, “We builders pretty much spend our whole life worrying.” But with less than two months’ worth of housing inventory available and high demand, experts expect the Omaha market to continue its amazing run for the next three to five years. Visit federalreserve.gov/releases/h15 for more information. B2B

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B2B OMAHA MAGAZINE

volume 16 | issue 3

BY CHARLIE LITTON | PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL SITZMANN COVER FE ATURE

3D PRINTING ADDS DEPTH TO OMAHA BUSINESSES TRANSFORMING IDEAS INTO THINGS

Five years ago, there was little in the way of 3D printing in Omaha. Today, there are options for anyone with the desire to transform an idea into a tangible thing. Although still an emerging technology, 3D printing is garnering greater attention for its mainstream commercial and industrial potential. Local 3D printing resources can still be counted on one hand, but they are springing up on college campuses, as hobbyist organizations, and in a few commercial outfits with some real engineering chops.

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The long view points toward a day when the idea of shipping becomes a quaint notion, perhaps similar to how contemporary businesses view the telegraph. In the future, a consumer might buy a product online, then the neighborhood manufacturer prints the parts and assembles the final product. Even better, people might design their own thing—whether a coffee table, an auto body part, or a customized smartphone case—and then click “print.” It is a fantastic possibility, but still a long way from reality, says Shane Farritor, who left MIT in 1998 to join the University of NebraskaLincoln’s Mechanical Engineering department. The robotics engineer helped NASA design the Mars rover and co-founded a surgical robotics company, Virtual Incision. He is also the faculty adviser for the UNL 3D Maker Club. “(3D printing) is like printers in the ‘80s right now,” he says. “If you bought a printer in 1985 and brought it home to print things, that’s kind of like if you had a 3D printer today and brought it home to make things.” As 3D printing grows, researchers continue developing new materials and methods for more efficient systems. Out of the pages of science fiction, scientists are printing actual human tissue. That is an accomplishment worth repeating: The technology exists, right now, to 3D print some complex, living tissues compatible with the human body. A little closer to mainstream business interests, 3D printers are pushing the envelope with glass, wood, and even food. Applying the tech developments to the construction industry, some enterprises have begun experimenting with 3D printing concrete structures. Locally, Sympateco’s Kül 3D (an Omahabased 3D printing outfit) is partnering with area schools, inspiring youngsters and college students to consider the potential for the technology. Along similar lines, the 3D lab at Do Space is a playground for the 3D-curious, young and old. And then there’s

the innovative Tethon 3D, which holds the keys to a proprietary system called Porcelite, which makes it possible to print high-fidelity ceramics. It took more than eight years of research at Bowling Green State University to create a “resin” and bonding agent that would cure using the same hardware available in common 3D printers already on the market. Developed and patented by well-known artist John Balistreri, Tethon 3D’s Porcelite is a more complicated version of an ink jet refill. But instead of replacing ink with a new color, the 3D printer’s plastic capability is swapped for ceramic resin. The printed object could then be fired in a kiln and come out as porcelain. That sounds great for artists, but the breakthrough signals more than just a new way to churn out curious tchotchkes. For one, the organic materials could be used to produce optimal structures for encouraging growth of oyster and reef habitat. More than that, the level of detail allowed in the new method is limited only by the designer’s imagination. Even the most detailed mold or most skilled artisan could not match the intricate and intertwining weaves the ceramic printer can produce. “That’s what we’ve always looked for,” says Greg Pugh, Tethon’s director of technical operations, “making objects that can’t be made in any other way.” Before any revolutions in manufacturing and shipping can begin, 3D printing still has some growing to do. Its relatively high cost still makes 3D printing a hard sell for much more than specialized one-off projects or rapid prototyping. Small projects and prototypes are dirt-cheap when compared to traditional options. But when large-scale production enters the equation, injection-molding remains king.

that balance: a local company with roots in building cabinetry for hair salons. “(3D printing) is changing the way manufacturing works. It changes the way people think,” says Paula Crozier, Kül’s director of business development. “So we wanted to be on top of that technology.” Sympateco moved far beyond its beginnings in the beauty industry, and created what is believed to be Omaha’s first commercial 3D printing company. The range of design and projects include the novel and curious: A modern take on imprinting a child’s handprint in plaster of Paris is now a full-scale replica of the actual hand. Sympateco has made the practical: reverseengineering vintage parts that are either impossible to find or impossible to afford. And they have made the inspiring: printing customized prosthetics, including parts fabricated into a bionic Iron Man arm. The same bionic arm created a small media stir last year when actor Robert Downey Jr.— who portrays Iron Man in the blockbuster Hollywood movies—presented the arm to a gobsmacked 7-year-old Florida boy, Alex Pring. Entrepreneurs and budding inventors also bring ideas to Sympateco. Sometimes the ideas are scratched out on scraps of paper; the company then turns the scribbles into three-dimensional things. Anyone with the inclination—and the ability to use computer-assisted design software— could run down to Do Space, and design and 3D print to his or her heart’s desire. More artistic visions could be realized at Tethon 3D. Or join the Omaha Maker Group and really dive into the whole process. Nice thing is, Omaha has options now.

Striking an efficient balance between 3D printing’s current strengths and weaknesses appears to be the real trick. An unlikely source has apparently found

Visit kul3d.com, tethon3d.com, dospace.org, and omahamakergroup.org for more information. B2B

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B2B OMAHA MAGAZINE

FEATURE | BY CHARLIE LITTON | PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL SITZMANN

volume 16 | issue 3

BEAUTY & THE CYBORG BEAST BIOPRINTING PROSTHETIC DREAMS FOR CHILDREN

Jorge Zuniga, Ph.D.

omahamagazine.com FALL 2016 |

Less than three years ago, it dawned on scientist Jorge Zuniga why a childhood friend wanted nothing more than to play baseball.

doesn’t cover the device; and especially for children, to provide a fast solution to wear, tear, and outgrowing the artificial body part.

It was odd. Growing up in Santiago, Chile, there were not many baseball fans. Just the one, as far as Zuniga knew (after all, soccer reigns supreme in Chile). Even more curious, Zuniga’s friend had just one hand.

But prosthetics only scratch the surface of possibilities awaiting biomedical 3D printing. The FDA, for example, recently approved the first 3D printed drug—an incredibly fast-acting seizure medication that dissolves in seconds thanks to a structure only possible through 3D printing.

Why baseball? “There’s not one baseball field in the whole country,” Zuniga says, laughing at the exaggeration, “but this one kid without a hand wants to be a baseball player.” Then, 20-odd years later, Zuniga and his 7-year-old son are playing catch in the long shadows of the front yard. Zuniga remembers his one-armed friend and his inexplicable love of baseball. Then it hits him. “Oh,” Zuniga says, “I bet this kid that didn’t have a hand just wanted to do what every kid wants to do.” He yearned to play catch. Earlier that same day, he had listened to a radio news report about “Robohand,” a project in South Africa that creates 3D-printed prosthetics for children. Zuniga—with a doctorate in exercise physiology and a lab at Creighton University—wanted to know more about the Robohand. But he had difficulty connecting with the researchers involved. After several attempts to reach the people in South Africa, he relied on his own knowledge, resources, and expertise to make a prosthetic on his own. It took several months to perfect his prototype, but Zuniga’s journey highlights how the health care industry is utilizing new breakthroughs in 3D printing technology. Nothing is more personal than health care. And few things are more customizable than the 3D-printed object. The field of prosthetics represents just one obvious medical application for the technology, one with many advantages: to provide a custom-fitted solution for an amputee; to shave thousands off the cost of traditional prosthetic limbs; to negate the financial burden if insurance

Improvements to medical devices that were once too expensive to contemplate can be prototyped on the cheap. Zuniga, who now (as of August 15) works out of the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s Biomechanics Research Building, says he has printed the model of a fetus for a blind mother who wanted to “see” her unborn baby. He has also worked with physicians at Omaha Children’s Hospital to print three-dimensional models of patient hearts so surgeons can study the organ long before they pick up a scalpel. Zuniga’s use of 3D printing carries immediate significance and practicality. A glance at the more fantastic applications, however, can be found at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. There, biomedical engineer Bin Duan is heading up a new bioprinting unit that is printing and growing bone and cartilage for regenerative purposes. Later this year, Duan and his team will implant small plugs of printed bone into animals that should eventually integrate with the animal’s existing tissue. Bioprinting works by printing with at least two different materials. First, a biocompatible polymer creates a scaffold or lattice in the desired shape of the tissue, such as an ear or a piece of bone. The second material, living cells, are printed onto the scaffold. The cells cling to the structure, and over the course of several weeks they live and multiply as the scaffold slowly degrades and disappears. Eventually, the scaffold material is gone, but the tissue remains. One potential application of UNMC’s bone tests could be used to help future children born with certain defects. A printed bone implant made from the child’s stem cells would then grow with the child, eliminating the need for multiple surgeries.

In a more distant future, an organ transplant might not be from a random donor, but from the patient’s own stem cells: a new, perfect organ printed when it is needed, and far less prone to rejection. Skin grafts and bone regeneration, all of it made with a patient’s personal cells. UNMC’s bioprinting program is still in its infancy, so a breakthrough with more complex systems will likely come from a place like Wake Forest University in North Carolina. Widely regarded as the national leader for 3D bioprinting, researchers there have already printed skin, blood vessels, bladders, and muscle—some of them implanted in humans. But complex organs like the heart, kidneys, and liver remain unsolved puzzles…for now. In the here and now, researchers like Zuniga can make accessible what was once out of reach for many. When he finished his first 3D-printed prosthetic arm, he showed it to his young son. The elder Zuniga expected to impress his son with the level of realism it held. The boy was not impressed. “He said, ‘If that’s for children, that’s not gonna work,’” Zuniga says. “’Daddy, that hand is too real. You need something cooler than that.’” Inspired by his son’s insight, Zuniga created “Cyborg Beast,” a brightly colored, prosthetic, cybernetic hand that more closely resembles something out of a science fiction movie than a human limb. The plans and instructions on how to use them are open and free to anyone with access to a 3D printer. “You’d be surprised at how many people around the world have access to (3D printing) machines,” Zuniga says. “… It’s like the start of a revolution.” An artificial limb that once cost $4,000, can now be had for about $50—about the cost of a trip to the ballpark. Visit cyborgbeast.org to learn more. B2B

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volume 16 | issue 3

B2B OMAHA MAGAZINE

omAHA! | BY KATRINA MARKEL | PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL SITZMANN

EAT FIT GO A FAST FOOD REVOLUTION

Fast-casual restaurant chains, such as Panera Bread and Chipotle, have gained market share in recent years. They offer fresher fare than traditional fast food joints, but maintain the speed and convenience of counter service. Omaha-based Eat Fit Go ups the ante with an even faster and arguably healthier option for consumers on the go. “I think, in general, the public is going through a food revolution,” says Eat Fit Go owner Aaron McKeever. “Everybody is kind of going towards that health conscious customer. And that’s definitely us. We’re convenience, grab, and go.” McKeever’s three Omaha stores have large refrigerators stocked with a wide variety of pre-packaged meals and snacks. Every package clearly lists nutritional information and nearly all of them have fewer than 600 calories. There are microwaves for customers to heat up their meals if they choose to dine in. “When we put this concept together, my partner, Sam (Vakhidov), and I wanted the

feeling of a Starbucks-meets-an-Apple-Store. It’s fresh, it’s inviting, you can stay,” says McKeever. This isn’t McKeever’s first foray into restaurants or retail. Twenty years ago he started in business with a car dealership and is a former owner of Pitch Pizzeria and Jams Bar & Grill. He says he recently sold his shares in his other restaurants because “at the rate we’re growing with (Eat Fit Go), this needs my focus.” He is not the company’s only industry veteran. Executive Chef Karl Marsh is the vice president of kitchen operations and comes up with several of the menu ideas. Sitting at a table in the stylish Aksarben Village location, McKeever explains that they have a range of customers with different dietary needs, including people on low calorie, gluten-free, and diabetic-friendly diets. He says athletes like it because they know exactly what they are putting in their bodies. CONT. PAGE 60

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ELEVATED DIGITAL MARKETING ANDREW BOEHM Team Elevated is in business to help local businesses succeed (and show them an affordable route to promoting and branding their businesses). We are experts in software development, web programming, and driving traffic to specific campaigns. Our clients are the life of our business, and we take that very seriously. With our websites, elevatedseo.com and localtouch.co, and our newest acquisition, omahanightoutguide.com, we have a full stack of business-to-business offers. We also specialize in specific niches such as home improvement, law, dentistry, HVAC, plumbing, clinical trials, and many more. Our passion is online marketing and branding. As a student of the Live Your Message Mentor Program, I have an international community of business owners and entrepreneurs that keep me on top of my game and on the front lines of what’s working now in online marketing. If you explore our past client history in our expansive portfolio you will see we have done branding, advertising, and web design for a number of prestigious clients.

We look forward to helping you reach a broader audience with your services. We are also working on compiling an online branding and coaching program that will help more business owners and entrepreneurs become successful with their own brands and businesses online. We can fill an important niche by becoming a branch of your company’s marketing efforts. We are a fullstack development firm that specializes in lead generation. We help business owners live up to their full potential and help them create the business of their dreams. I feel like everyday we face new challenges and provide new solutions. This is an amazing industry that is so expansive and diverse. Creating good content and backing that with a strategy to reach your potential client is our job. We want to be the expert in marketing, so you can focus on taking care of the leads that come in and do the work that you love most.

Here at Elevated, we love working with service professionals and folks in either blue-collar or whitecollar industries. Our ideal customer is someone who is passionate about their business and knows what their goals are in the long term. We strive to help businesses reach their highest potential as well as the goals they have set in place for their business. B2B Elevated Digital Marketing 801 N 96th St. Omaha, NE 68114 402-320-5375 elevatedseo.com

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30 B2B OMAHA MAGAZINE

AFTER HOURS | BY PATRICK MCGEE | PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL SITZMANN

DUNGEONS, DRAGONS AND LAWYERS

volume 16 | issue 3

omahamagazine.com FALL 2016 |

Clean Results. For all of your facility cleaning needs, Jani-King’s trained and dedicated franchisees deliver beyond expectations. It’s all of the efforts behind the scenes that prepare you for success. Call our local Jani-King office today and discover how our efforts help your business each and every day. Zack Carlson, 28, is a district court attorney by day. Come the weekend, he’s a dungeon master. One of the Omaha native’s favorite pastimes— Dungeons and Dragons (D&D)—allows him to swap his suit and tie for imaginary armor. D&D requires a group of players to simulate fictional characters of their own devise in a fantastical setting. Popular styles of play incorporate elements of board-gaming, such as moving token pieces around a game board and rolling dice. Carlson compares the game experience to being in a Game-of-Thrones-style world in which one’s friends can also participate and make decisions. “It is awesome,” he says.

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The game, first published in 1974, shares themes with mainstream fantasy staples such as Lord of the Rings and World of Warcraft. For many players, including Carlson, playing D&D is about more than just an interest in the fantasy genre—it is about the community of individuals who share in that interest. Carlson explains that D&D differs from playing online games because “It is in the flesh. You have to physically be there.” In-person presence creates a social atmosphere that appeals to many players.

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Carlson considers D&D a catalyst for friendships that transcend the game. “I have made many friends this way,” he says, noting that he has played with people from many different professional backgrounds. His D&D gaming friends include a doctor, financial professional, research scientist, military personnel, and a police officer. His college fraternity house even had a D&D group (his first). He says that his gaming groups have not been gender exclusive, despite the prevailing stereotypes that D&D is for guys.

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B2B OMAHA MAGAZINE

volume 16 | issue 3

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SOS HEATING AND COOLING JON STUEHM Harry Schneiderwind founded our company in 1950. My grandpa, LeRoy Stuehm, was his first employee. LeRoy particularly enjoyed the service side of the business because every call was a new challenge. He was one of the first technicians in town to go on call 24/7. LeRoy purchased the company in 1971. He chose the name SOS because it stood for “Schneiderwind or Stuehm” and highlighted his 24-hour emergency service. LeRoy still came into the office until just weeks before he passed in December 2014. Our service department works with anyone from a residential customer to mid-sized business. Our installation department handles anything from a $100 install in a home to a million dollar multi-phase commercial project. Our techs make the same amount whether they clean a furnace flame sensor for $85 or put in a $10,000 system. My father, Rod, took control of the company in 1992. Shortly after, he departmentalized the company and

promoted Gary Kropf to manage the install department and Rick Mills to run the service department. He also hired Greg Clark, who eventually took over much of the accounting and office management, and is currently a minority owner and vice president. Keeping a family atmosphere is one of our core values. We bring everyone together for monthly meetings, company outings, and honor anniversaries, of which there are many. Employees Dan Bosn, Greg Clark, Terry Gambrel, Mike Greenwood, Gary Kropf, Rudy Matulka, Rick Mills, Gina Plugge, Ken Rochholz, and Jim Schutz, have been with the company over 20 years. Our biggest accomplishment is making happy customers who tell others they must call SOS. We go the extra mile for our fellow employees and our customers. Our on-call techs have been working 60-80 hours per week this summer.

I earned a business degree in 2005 from Dana College and a master’s degree in 2014 at UNO. Owning and operating a lawn care company gave me a different perspective on work; but I knew where I would ultimately work…after all, I came to the shop as a little kid and worked here as summer help in high school. In 2007, I came back to the company full time, and in 2009 took over majority control. We mean it when we say our techs don’t earn commission and that we have been your “trustworthy company since 1950.” B2B SOS Heating and Cooling 8314 Maple St. Omaha, NE 68134 402-391-2336 soshvac.com

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volume 16 | issue 3

B2B OMAHA MAGAZINE

THE BRAND BRIEF

BY JASON FOX

LOCAL NEED NOT EQUAL YOKEL As a child of not-the-90s, I grew up watching reruns of Leave It to Beaver, The Andy Griffith Show, and Get Smart on the local UHF channel. Which means most of the commercials interrupting my quality time in the Cone of Silence were for local businesses. And while some were memorable, few were good. Every car dealer had a goofy huckster named Boots or Sonny, while everyone else had a horrific jingle (I still haven’t cleansed my soul of the USA Baby ditty “she’s having a baby and you think it’s kinda neat, but you better decide where the baby’s gonna sleep!”). But there was, at least, a half-valid reason why these ads reeked of low-budget dollar stretching—they were shot on legitimately low budgets. They couldn’t afford to shoot on 35 mm film with a 20-person crew, followed by weeks of postproduction like the national brands could. And that production value gap showed. It wasn’t just the production values that separated the local remodeling company’s commercials from, say, those of McDonald’s. Nor was this difference limited to expensive broadcast productions—it invariably extended to all parts of the brand and its marketing. (Disclaimer: I freely admit there are more than a few good local ads and more than few hideous national campaigns, but space will only permit for so much wonkish deconstruction.) Even as a nascent writer who sometimes felt like a nut and sometimes did not, I could tell that these efforts were a few steps behind the conceptual curve. It was as if the ads’ creators were content to produce something that looked like an ad without worrying about little details like effectiveness, memorability (in a good way), or long-term brand building. They were not just producing TV spots (and

radio ads, and billboards, and direct-mail pieces, and telemarketing calls) that looked or sounded bad—they actually were bad. It need not be so. Not then. Not now. Compared to even my first days in the industry, the production budget gap has shrunk immeasurably. While it still costs actual money to produce something of aesthetic value, it is possible to get a well-made spot or video without begging the CFO for an advance on the next decade’s marketing budget. This is the easiest thing to take care of in winning the game of advertising called Who Doesn’t Want to Look Like a 1980s Soap Opera? But before you spend the money for adequate production values (which you absolutely, positively should, regardless of which media you choose), you need to invest in an idea worth producing. Which means investing in the people capable of both coming up with such ideas and also executing them. Which means treating the creative manifestations of your brand like the investments they are instead of the expenses your procurement department may wish them to be. Such people do exist in this town. People who can take your brand to the next level without ever once using a cliché like “taking your brand to the next level.” People who will give you a unique identity, marketing materials that do not look like they came out of Print Shop for Mac circa 1993, and ads that neither bore the viewer with marketing doublespeak nor look vacuously pretty.

The trick, of course, is finding these people and then letting them do what they do best— making your brand look good and driving sales. You cannot do that when you treat all creative firms as though they produce the same caliber or style of work. This is not a commodity industry where the lowest bidder should get the gig. The agency that says it can give you seven things for your budget will probably be less effective than the one that says it can produce four things. Judgment must be exercised. Great ideas have real value in time frames both short and long. The good news is that, while great ideas properly executed often do cost more than lower-quality work, that cost is not nearly as high as most marketers fear. More importantly, the return on investment tends to dwarf any cost differential in the long run. It’s up to you. You can go the standard route and show happy people, happily using your product as they happily go about their happy lives while consumers happily tune you out; or, you can invest a little more money, a little more time, and little more courage into making your brand as unforgettable and irresistible as possible. B2B Jason Fox is the founder of adsavior.net, and the chin behind @leeclowsbeard.

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of current cash flowing businesses for sale—from contracting companies, to professional service businesses, to medical-based practices.

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Step Out of Your Comfort Zone

he decision to make a financial investment into business ownership can be nerve-wracking. Money is a precious commodity that many of us guard closely and find hard to part with. Deciding to increase your earning potential is the first step toward making your money work for you; however, choosing the right avenue to funnel that capital into can be challenging.

by Cortney Sells president/editor

Simply relying on earning interest can be far less rewarding than relying on your own fiscal acumen and operation skills to

best manage your future. Many choose to invest in businesses in familiar fields, but expanding into unknown territory can be equally fruitful. Taking a set of practices learned in one sector can lead to innovation and success in another. Dipping your toes into more than one industry helps portfolio diversification and flexes your business muscles. What you can’t do in one business you can certain practice in another. Recharge your creative juices and see what different opportunities are out there. The FIRM Fall 2016

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Net Worth:

Financing Options Available for Buyers written by Brenda Gibson, Northwest Bank | photography by Keith Binder

Insight on the SBA

uying a business can be frightening for a buyer, but fortunately, financing the acquisition does not need to be. Several financing options are available for startup companies, business acquisitions, and business expansions.

Typically with financing acquisitions, a portion of the purchase price includes goodwill, which may represent true value to the business but does not necessarily provide any tangible collateral to the lender. By working in conjunction with the Small Business Administration, the lender can often provide financing to the buyer while minimizing risk to the lender, a win-win for both parties. The sheer mention of SBA financing once brought tears to the eyes of lenders and borrowers. Those days no longer exist, and bankers welcome the opportunity to work with SBA. The process has been significantly streamlined through technology and the addition of numerous SBA programs to provide quick approvals and closings for

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the borrower and the lender. Depending on the nature of the business, loan amount, and type of collateral being provided, loan closings can range from a couple of weeks to more than 60 days. The delay is often due to the requirement of appraisals as well as business valuations. With business acquisitions, startup companies, and existing businesses, it is critical for the borrower to be surrounded by four key partners; a reputable attorney, an experienced broker, a knowledgeable CPA, and a lender who is well versed in both SBA and conventional lending. This team of individuals is committed to the borrower to ensure that the business being purchased carries a valid price as well as adequate cash flows to support the business, the ownerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s personal goals, and the bank debt. These individuals play an important role in providing the financing structure that is appropriate for the borrower while minimizing risk to both the borrower and the lender. Many times SBA is the fourth key partner to make the financing possible.

While cash flow pays the bills and is the primary factor to consider when buying a business, collateral is important to the lender as it provides some cushion should the business be unsuccessful. The borrow should realize that no lender wants to liquidate collateral as a source of repayment. Without adequate cash flow, the deal typically is not feasible unless personal incomes and personal collateral from outside sources are available to support the debt. If cash flow is proven, and a buyer shows experience that will aid in operating the business, collateral shortfall can often be mitigated by using SBA as a guarantor. Lenders and SBA have worked together for many years to provide individuals an opportunity to start, acquire, and expand existing businesses. The partnership between SBA and lenders has proven invaluable to borrowers otherwise unable to fulfill their dreams of business ownership under another financing arrangement. â&#x20AC;&#x201A; THE FIRM

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Purchasing the Perfect Business is Worth the Wait written by Kathy Rygg | photography by Keith Binder

The Firm Deal Review Offer to closing: Over 6 months Customer base: Over 3,200 Loan type: SBA Lender: Mutual First Credit Union, Randy Bauer

hen purchasing your own business, determining what type is the first step, and sometimes the most difficult. But for Derrick and Kaitlyn Reinhart, that was the easy part. They both have a passion for animals and knew they wanted to someday own a dog day care and grooming business. Derrick grew up in Atkinson, Nebraska, surrounded by livestock and wanted to combine that love with owning a business. In fact, Derrick wrote a business plan for a dog day care after graduating from the

University of Nebraska-Lincoln. However, finding a location proved difficult and it was much too costly to do a start-up. So when Dogtopia Boarding, Daycare & Spa in Omaha went up for sale, the Reinharts called The Firm right away. They began the purchasing process in November 2015, hoping to close in two or three months. Unfortunately a number of obstacles arose. The franchise itself was undergoing a change in ownership, creating additional documents that needed to be submitted and approved. This added months onto the process. The structure of the loan also took some time, since the business didn’t have a lot of liquid assets. After submitting fingerprints for the background check, which take up to a month to have approved, one of Derrick’s prints

was smudged, adding another month of waiting. “It was a waiting game,” he says. “But worth it.” The Reinharts finally closed on their dream business in May 2016. They spent a week in Phoenix training with the franchise, then spent several more weeks working at the front of the store meeting the families and their pets. “Clients knew the business had been sold, so we wanted to reassure them that nothing was going to change,” Derrick says. “This is a business based on trust. Pets are family members, so they want to know they’re in good hands.” All staff remained in place, making a majority of the changes transitional, such as >

“It’s a waiting game, but worth it!”

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< informing vendors of the new ownership. Kaitlyn also works a full-time job at ConAgra, but spends all of her extra time helping at Dogtopia. She and Derrick work 80 hours a week each to ensure the new business is running smoothly. And now that they’re a couple of months into their ownership, they feel settled in and are pleased with the business’ progress.

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His advice to other business owners looking to purchase is to make sure it’s a business you can love, and not just to make a purchase for the cash flow it can bring in. “It might be appealing at first, but six months down the road when the newness wears off, you still have to love it,” he says. Working with The Firm made that long process easier for the Reinharts. They felt The Firm helped to keep things moving forward as quickly as possible, with good communication all along the way. In the end, they are very happy. Derrick’s favorite quote sums up his experience perfectly: “If you don’t go after your own dreams, somebody will gladly pay you to go after theirs.” THE FIRM

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They also want to learn as much as possible as business owners so they could potentially apply it to growing the current business or even expand to additional business opportunities. Derrick’s favorite aspect of being a business owner, however, is seeing the pets every day. “They’re always happy, and no matter what kind of day you’re having, they will put a smile on your face,” he says. “It’s what made the long purchase process worth the wait.”

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Even better is the fact that the new franchise owners share the same vision for the business as the Reinharts. “We’ve met with them numerous times, and their plans for the future aligns with what we envisioned for the business,” Derrick says. “It’s even the same as what I had included in my original business plan out of college.” Their goal is to improve the existing business the best they can while earning and retaining customers’ trust and loyalty, which is why Derrick and Kaitlyn spend so much time at the front of the store, rather than just in the back office.

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Take Our Hand:

Featured Opportunities for Sale Sports Bar with Taco Twist

Residential Roofing & Exterior Contractor

MONTHLY SALES $25,000 PRICE $116,000

OWNER’S PROFIT $66,284 PRICE $105,000

This Hotspot for Mexican food and drinks is established with a full staff including a GM and several servers and cooks. Their location has more than 30,000 cars drive by daily, making their clientele diverse and consistent.

Focus on commercial and residential roofing, siding, gutters, and windows has a well-rounded base of business, working with referrals from insurance and commercial contract bids. This variety of business sources equates to a stable mix of income for its 8 subcontractors.

Four Profitable Orange Leaf Stores

Commercial Property Concrete Maintenance

OWNER’S PROFIT $199,663 PRICE $735,000

OWNER’S PROFIT $254,761 PRICE $789,000

Top Ranked Turnkey Stores at Premium Locations in Omaha, Papillion, and Council Bluffs! These Orange Leaf locations are part of the most successful frozen yogurt chain in the country. The brand recognition of Orange Leaf also helps to attract customers from all around Omaha.

Seasonal business generates over $250,000 in profit in only 9 months out of the year. This construction company lays flat concrete including driveways, sidewalks, and parking lots. After 18 years of providing quality service, this business has developed a loyal group of about 20 commercial property managers.

Home Health Care Providing Medical Assistance

Second Hand Children’s Name Brand Store

OWNER’S PROFIT $245,280 PRICE $890,000 With 17 fully trained and experienced staff, this business requires no MD in order for Ownership. The business was founded in 2004, and provides professional medical assistance to patients who wish to continue living in familiar surroundings.

OWNER’S PROFIT $144,502 PRICE $405,000 This unique and well established, since 1996, zero to ten-year-old clothing shop is in a prime location. Currently selling 5% new clothing and 95% resale. This is not your typical second hand store. It features brands such as: Polo, Playskool, VTech, Disney, Carters, Osh Kosh, Justice, and more.

Turnkey Salon & Spa with Nine Stations

**Midwest Rigging Contractor

2015 SALES $275,755 PRICE $65,000

OWNER’S PROFIT $953,599 PRICE $3,146,000

Salon and spa offers services such as tanning, manicures/pedicures, massages, and make-up as well as their highly praised hairstyling services. This high praise is evidenced by their many glowing reviews on Yelp, and Google, as well as their 1,000 likes on Facebook.

A heavy lifting company serving manufacturing, utility, and machinery industries. This rigging business provides the lifting power necessary to move manufacturing equipment, turbines, printing presses, etc.. With 7 different lifts, this company is able to take on a wide range of jobs.

** Broker’s Choice | 110+ Available Business Opportunities For Sale. Please visit TheFirmBusinessBrokerage.com. Fall 2016

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When Great Food Turns Into a Great Business Model

Building a Successful Brand of Sports Bars & Grills written by Kathy Rygg | photography by Keith Binder

“BUT EVERY TIME WE DRIVE BY ONE OUR RESTAURANTS AND MY TWO-AND-A-HALF YEAR OLD WANTS TO STOP AND EAT THERE, IT’S ALL WORTH IT.” -Brett Clure

The Firm Deal Review Newest Investment: Arena Sports Bar & Grill First Tanner’s Location Purchased: 2010 Total Tanner’s Locations Owned: 11 Number of Owners (not partners): 7 Business Brokerage Preferred: The Firm Brokerage Preferred

pportunities often arise in surprising ways. When Brett Clure and his close group of colleagues and friends started meeting at Tanner’s Bar & Grill off 156th Street & West Maple Road, it was simply as a social outing. They felt the food and service far exceeded any other local sports bar. They liked it so much they talked about owning it themselves. That casual conversation turned into a serious business proposition for the owners of Tanner’s, and in 2010, Clure and his group bought the location.

Their plans were not to just own one. “We knew it had legs and could expand,” Clure explains. Tanner’s actually started in 1985 out of Kansas City, and Clure’s holding group, Hooksbiz, became licensees. “We had our eyes on our other locations, we explored them, and it’s been exciting,” he adds. The second location they purchased was in Madison, Wisconsin. Clure says they wanted to see if the brand could travel and do well in a market where it was not already known.

The move proved to be successful, and the group continued to expand at a rapid pace. Three more locations opened in Omaha, with a fifth opening later this year. They also opened locations in Cedar Rapids, Ankeny, and Sioux City, Iowa; and one in Lincoln with a second to open soon. “Things are going very well, and we’re profitable across all markets,” Clure says. “So we’ll keep moving forward with the business plan.” Clure attributes a large part of their success to the team he has in place. There are seven on the management side of the holding company, with Clure serving as president and responsible for finding each location site—a good fit given his background in real estate. His brother, college roommate, and a close friend of his father’s are all partners. Several of Clure’s friends, all of whom played football together at Burke High School, hold management roles at various Tanner’s locations. “People say not to work with friends, but I have had the opposite experience,” he says. “We have become closer friends than ever; we travel together, our families spend time together, and we allow each other to do what each does best.” For Clure, that is overseeing the real estate and daily operations, working with the general managers at each location. With so much success in the neighborhood sports bar and grill arena, Clure and his group decided to try a new concept. They recently opened Tavern 180, an upscale

restaurant, in west Omaha. The idea had been brewing for several years. Clure and his partners, avid golfers who travel frequently, visited upscale restaurants around the country, gathering ideas they wanted to incorporate and then tweaking them to fit the Omaha marke “We wanted to redefine the dining experience to reflect what we consider is the best,” Clure says. That includes offering prime steaks, something typically only found at high-end steak houses. The menu also includes salads and BLT sandwiches. “We wanted to bring fine and casual dining together,” he says. They asked Happy Hollow Country Club Executive Chef Jason Hughes to help create the menu. They also brought on board Mahogany Prime Executive Chef B.J. Engler, whom they thought was the best in Omaha at cooking prime steaks. Other aspects incorporated from similar restaurants on the coasts include a tablet-based menu that provides photos and descriptions of every item. “When you can see what a dish looks like, it makes it more appealing,” Clure adds. Tablet menus are also being tested at Tanner’s in Sioux City to see if it works well in a casual environment. The Pairing Pro is also part of Tavern 180. This tablet menu feature shows customers 10 suggested (or paired) wines for each dish—similar to what a wine sommelier does in a high-end restaurant. There are cold beers and cocktails courtesy of a Frost Frio and wine on tap. Tavern 180 is also the > Fall 2016

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< first restaurant in Omaha to introduce dry ice martinis. “Our main goal with Tavern 180 is to offer a fun dining experience, whether you’re there to watch a Husker game or have a nice anniversary dinner,” Clure says. So far, the feedback has been fantastic. “It’s everything we hoped for,” he adds. With the right team in place and a successful conceptual foundation, Clure says their biggest challenge is keeping a consistent level of customer service across all the markets. Clure says those challenges are manageable, and they are implementing better training tools, again tablet-based, to help new employees more quickly understand the food products they offer. Clure has worked with The Firm Business Brokerage for several opportunities on both buy and sell sides of the closing table, and says they have been extremely helpful. His advice to other entrepreneurs considering making a move to buy their own business is that it will be what you make of it. “There are always bumps in the road when taking on that risk, and you have to be aware of what can happen if the risk doesn’t pan out,” Clure says. “We’ve been very fortunate, but we made sure we had the right business partners to help. Surround yourself with people who have been there and done it successfully, and make sure they have a broad business background.” Even more important though than having good business partners is having a supportive family. Clure says everyone from his parents to his wife and children are understanding of the industry. When they open a new restaurant in another city, he is out of town for two to three weeks at a time. “If it weren’t for the understanding of my family, we wouldn’t be six years into it,” he says. “But every time we drive by one our restaurants and my two-and-a-half year old wants to stop and eat there, it’s all worth it.” THE FIRM

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Opting for an Investment that Gives Back

Fueling a Charitable Business

written by Maureen Tierney | photography by Keith Binder

Fall 2016

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The Firm Deal Review Lender: American National Bank; Timothy Johansen and David Ridder Number of Locations: 6 including a Distribution Center [3 States] Number of Employees: Over 150 Sellside CPA Firm: Bush CPA Buyside CPA Firm: Frankel Zacharia

ohn Gilbreath knows a good deal when he finds one, and if his years in the boom-and-bust energy sector have taught him one thing, it is to give back whenever possible. As a senior vice president at an Omaha-based capital management firm, Gilbreath knows how to read a bottom line and make an investment work for clients. After a few years of careful searching, he has finally found his own investment that not only will serve his financial stability, but also help serve the disadvantaged in our community. Most of us have seen at least one of Thrift World’s four Omaha locations, but few of us know the underlying benefits its revenue serves for charitable organizations. Gilbreath sought to acquire Thrift World as a way to “not only make a decent investment, but to help nonprofits raise money.” He also chose the company because of its 20-plus years of demonstrated success, but was truly sold on its charitable backbone. The charity-minded stores partner with Paralyzed Veterans of America in Omaha and Community Services League in Kansas City. A portion of every dollar earned is reserved for both organizations. Thrift World seeks to sustain itself and the larger community around it, most especially those in need. A veteran of charity in his own right, Gilbreath has volunteered with Big Brothers Big Sisters and Boys & Girls Club for many years. As the current treasurer and a board

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GILBREATH’S OWN REASONS FOR VOLUNTEERING AND GIVING TO CHARITY ARE DEEPLY ROOTED IN HIS UPBRINGING. THE SON OF A SMALL-TOWN VOLUNTEER MAYOR AND FIREFIGHTER, GILBREATH LEARNED FROM HIS PARENTS FIRSTHAND HOW IMPORTANT COMMUNITY IS, AND THAT NO COMMUNITY IS WHOLE WITHOUT THE HEALTH AND WELL-BEING OF ITS MEMBERS member for Big Brothers Big Sisters, Gilbreath channels his passion for getting involved with nonprofits on a grander scale with Thrift World. Using his fundraising skills and past experience, Gilbreath is hoping to “partner some structure” and increase awareness of Thrift World’s partners. It’s an investment strategy with the potential to benefit a significant cross-section of our community. The crux of Thrift World’s ingenuity boils down to increasing awareness through advertising. Organizations like Paralyzed Veterans of America rely heavily on the charitable spirit of others. Thrift World increases that exposure through free advertising and the payment of fees, based on a percentage of profits earned from the sale of donations. Thrift World allocates its resources to service Paralyzed Veterans of America and Community Services League by picking up donations on their behalf and sporting their names on collection bins and vans. While this service was already in place before Gilbreath got onboard, his plans are to not only increase Thrift World’s physical presence, but also its digital one. He sees the potential to “increase the awareness of [these] organizations further” and to help spread the word that “these are entities that you can donate to on a tax-deductible basis.” Gilbreath hopes to fund the websites of Thrift World’s charity partners to delve deeper and help the disadvantaged use the

services available to them through Community Services League and Paralyzed Veterans of America. Letting people know their money and donations are tax deductible is a gentle reminder that giving back can be a fiscal boon, but the more rewarding reason is in the spirit of generosity. Gilbreath’s own reasons for volunteering and giving to charity are deeply rooted in his upbringing. The son of a small-town volunteer mayor and firefighter, Gilbreath learned from his parents firsthand how important community is, and that no community is whole without the health and well-being of its members. Having done well in his career, Gilbreath has taken his parents’ example and chosen to follow their lead, believing that one has to work hard, and “having been fortunate enough to be fairly successful…as a result, I feel the need to give back and am excited for that.” Gilbreath’s enthusiasm for charity is catching, and an excellent example that investments can do more than increase income well into retirement. They can also make great strides to helping create a stronger community from the unlikeliest of places. THE FIRM

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Banking on Being a Boss

Trading a Desk Job for an Owner’s Manual written by Maureen Tierney | photography by Keith Binder

Support from his wife “put everything at ease”

irk Hoffman’s decision to quit a comfortable career and jump into an entirely different business was a nerve-wracking venture, but to hear him confidently speak about it is enough to calm any fears. After nearly three decades in accounting, most recently as CFO for a small family-owned business, he grew tired of the long hours and desk-bound work. He started his search for an opportunity to be his own boss. Hoffman strayed outside his comfort zone when choosing to take over the franchised residential gutter shield company Heartland MasterShield, but his confidence in his abilities and strong support from his wife “put everything at ease.” One month at the reins and Hoffman already had big plans for his recent purchase, a specialized company that provides micro-mesh filters that slip under shingles and over existing gutters so everything but water slides over the top. With territory from Pella, Iowa, to Grand Island, Nebraska,

Hoffman is covering familiar ground and has a top-notch mentor in Heartland MasterShield’s pervious owner. The transition from accountant to full-time salesman won’t be as much of a stretch as one might think, as Hoffman has experience “in the back end” of a business and is “comfortable working and selling” out in the field. More importantly, his mentor has gifted him relationships with contractors and vendors, which Hoffman plans to use to stake claims in Kansas City and his hometown of Sioux City. Hoffman took his time in choosing Heartland MasterShield. A few years back he looked at an engine repair shop, but ultimately decided that was not the right time or the right move. Heartland MasterShield came along as an ideal investment—when Hoffman had better personal financing— and as a company with “three times the sales (as the engine repair shop) and more opportunity for growth.” Using only outside contractors so that there are no employees

to manage, Heartland MasterShield has 75 percent of its sales sustained in the Omaha and Lincoln areas. Hoffman travels to Des Moines up to twice a month to follow and land Iowa sales leads. Understanding what makes a strong balance sheet is half the struggle, and Hoffman already has that in the bag. Pairing his own knowledge and techniques with those of his mentor is a successful strategy, and he hopes to expand the business in the next year or two through marketing and maintaining existing relationships while seeking out new ones. Hoffman envisions hiring a future sales team and purchasing a gutter machine, an aluminum cutter that would custom-create seamless gutters. His enthusiasm for Heartland MasterShield’s product is palpable, and he’s excited for the direction in which he can take the company. But, in the end, it’d be really cool to get ahold of that gutter machine. THE FIRM

Fall 2016

The Firm Deal Review

Putting Moms on the Road to Success written by John Jeanetta, Heartland Family Service

“EVEN THOUGH IT WAS JUST A VEHICLE THEY HELPED ME OUT WITH, IN A WAY THEY SAVED ME.” -Michelle Kaczmarek

ad in The Reader for the Heartland Family Service Ways to Work program, which provides small, short-term, low-interest loans to families with challenging credit. “All loans are repaid, so, instead of handouts, Ways to Work gives families a helping hand-up toward a more stable financial future,” says Lisa Picker, Heartland Family Service’s Ways to Work Program Coordinator. Kaczmarek “thought it was too good to be true,” but decided to call anyway and completed the loan application process. She has had her 2004 gold Ford Explorer for six years, and her loan has been paid in full.

“Instead of a Hand-Out, this is a Hand-Up”

s a child, Michelle Kaczmarek watched her mom live a life of drugs and alcohol. She and her younger sister often didn’t know where they were going to sleep.

“I swore when I was younger that I would never fall into that pattern that she fell into, and I ended up falling into that pattern anyway,” Kaczmarek says. “That’s when my life exploded and I decided I don’t want to be that mom.” Kaczmarek and her husband began rebuilding their lives with their four children, and she enrolled in college to work toward an associate degree. Then her car broke down.

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Fall 2016

Making only $15,000 a year at the time, Kaczmarek found public transportation to be an inconvenient solution. She was not alone. As jobs move away from urban cores and former industrial job centers near working class neighborhoods, a survey by the National Economic Development and Law Center found that many low-wage workers are struggling with transportation. Reliable transportation is therefor one of the paramount factors in accessing successful employment, quality child care, affordable housing, and higher education. The lack of transportation caused Kaczmarek to miss some classes. A glimmer of hope came when her husband saw an

“Ways to Work is more than a car loan program,” Picker says. “It is a chance for families to begin to develop a sense of consistency, because the factor of ‘How do I get there?’ has been taken out of the equation.” Kaczmarek recently graduated with a master’s degree in business administration. She is working toward starting her own business. “Even though it was just a vehicle they helped me out with, in a way they saved me just by showing there is someone, there is a program that cares,” Kaczmarek says. “I just think the help Heartland Family Service gave us opened doors for us.” THE FIRM

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Executive Impact

Reaching Out is Key to Helping Buyers Find the Right Opportunity written by Kathy Rygg | photography by Keith Binder

process and is able to effectively help clients understand how transactions work. She’s also effective at listening to an entrepreneur’s vision, whether it is owning their own business or transition out of the current business they are in. “With my experience I am able to ask specific questions to help people narrow down what it is they are looking for,” McGill says. These questions often include: “What are your interests?” and “How much cash flow does your family need?” She also proactively reaches out to The Firms’ large portfolio of qualified buyers to update them on current listings, or to existing companies that might want to expand their services. McGill also contacts community leaders throughout Omaha and the region to make sure they are aware of any potential opportunities that might be a match for businesses in their area. “I’m always trying to increase the portfolio of buyers and understand what each of them wants,” she says. One of the challenges McGill enjoys is the creative process involved with marketing the available listings. “I like to keep things fresh, exciting, and come up with new ways to make connections; and reach out to those I think would be a good fit for a particular business,” she says. “I help determine what a buyer’s passion is, what they’re strengths are, and where there are opportunities for growth. It’s a lot like putting pieces of a puzzle together.”

“I determine what a buyer’s passion is”

Not every business is right for just everyone. Although some entrepreneurs know exactly what type of business they’d like to own, others aren’t as sure what might be a good fit. Rather than leaving it to chance, The Firm Business Brokerage reaches out to qualified buyers to help them find the right

opportunity. Tina McGill, Outreach Coordinator for The Firm, specializes in helping make those connections. McGill brings years of experience in previous roles where she worked with both buyers and sellers. She understands the

Sending a buyer different listing and asking what they like and do not like about the opportunity goes a long way toward narrowing down the right fit. It can help potential business owners discover something new or expose them to a specialty business they may not have considered before. McGill added, “Our goal at The Firm is to help people find the right business they can get excited about.” THE FIRM

Fall 2016

The Firm Deal Review

omahamagazine.com FALL 2016 |

OMAHA TOURISM TRIVIA

OMAHA CVB

BY KEITH BACKSEN

(FOR THE NEXT TIME YOU’RE ON JEOPARDY) With the College World Series and U.S. Olympic Swim Trials in the city this past summer, out-of-town visitors were front and center, but do you know how many out-oftowners visit Omaha during a typical year? Take a guess:

250,000

1.2 million

750,000

D 11.9 million

If you guessed B or C, you are like most people we ask, but the answer is D. According to research conducted by Tourism Economics—an Oxford Economics Company, 11.9 million visitors come to Omaha every year. We define a visitor as someone who travels to Omaha from more than 50 miles away. About 60 percent of those are day visitors, folks who travel in from places like Shenandoah, Iowa, to go shopping, out to eat, to see their doctor, or to take in a performance and then return home. The other 40 percent are overnight visitors—people who come to visit relatives, families who want to enjoy a long weekend getaway, fans who travel to Omaha for sporting events or concerts, convention delegates, and business travelers. While we at the Omaha Convention and Visitors Bureau (OCVB) don’t have much control over where your relatives live, or with whom you do business, we do have an impact on leisure travelers and convention delegates.

Our convention sales team focuses on bringing convention business here. They travel the country promoting Omaha to groups such as the Council of Engineering and Scientific Society Executives, which met in Omaha in July. The organization is made up of 200 associations that also hold meetings throughout the year, so this one meeting could garner even more convention business in the future for the city. Last year alone, the convention sales team was responsible for 291 meetings here in Omaha, and those meetings brought in more than $125 million to our local economy. Our marketing team focuses on building Omaha’s reputation as a great leisure destination, a place where families, couples, and friends can enjoy a fun getaway. In addition to purchasing national advertising to brand Omaha as a visitor destination, the marketing team also targets the drive market, a 250mile radius around Omaha. A 10-month-long regional advertising campaign in Kansas City, Des Moines, and Sioux Falls paid off. According to independent surveys conducted by Scarborough Research, a total of 402,212 visitors from those cities came to Omaha for

an overnight visit during 2015, a 9.3 percent increase over 2014. Think about it: if each of these visitors spent $100 while in Omaha, that’s a $40 million payoff for our city. So next time you’re on Jeopardy and they ask how many people visit Omaha each year, aim high…we do. B2B

Keith Backsen is executive director of the Omaha Convention & Visitors Bureau

52 |

B2B OMAHA MAGAZINE

volume 16 | issue 3

BIZ+GIVING | BY JUDY HORAN | PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL SITZMANN

HUNGRY FOR ANSWERS

How will the relocation of ConAgra Foods’ headquarters affect local philanthropy? Short answer: No one knows for sure. What is certain is that ConAgra Foods will continue its charity work in the Omaha area, and it will persist in fighting hunger (the company’s signature philanthropic cause). The relocation of the headquarters of the Fortune 500 company—founded in 1919 as Nebraska Consolidated Mills—is well known. But Chris Kircher, vice president of corporate affairs and president of the ConAgra Foods Foundation, says many people have got it wrong about how many jobs will be lost. “ConAgra will retain a large presence in Nebraska,” says Kircher. “Only 300 jobs are moving to Chicago. Our presence in this area is about 2,100, still three times the size of the Chicago operation.” With 1,200 employees on its riverfront campus, Omaha remains ConAgra’s largest office location. This is good news for the nonprofit groups that count on ConAgra employees for their history of generous volunteer assistance. ConAgra’s downsizing is occurring at an increasingly competitive time for the food industry. More competition and lower revenue streams have driven change within the company. The corporate transformation has real implications for ConAgra’s philanthropic footprint.

“WE WILL CONTINUE TO SUPPORT THE FOOD BANK FOR THE HEARTLAND AND HUNGERFOCUSED INITIATIVES…IT REFLECTS ONE OF THE PRIMARY PHILANTHROPIC AVENUES WE’VE HAD A LONG TIME AND WILL CONTINUE TO HAVE.” - CHRIS KIRCHER, CONAGRA FOODS FOUNDATION PRESIDENT

“We are in the process of divesting and spinning off businesses. We announced (it) early on as part of the transformation efforts selling our private brand label,” says Kircher. “When you are a smaller company, that’s going to affect every functional area, including the foundation.”

omahamagazine.com FALL 2016 |

Annual giving has been in the area of $10 million, he notes. A good portion of that is local. Add to that in-kind donations. “The question is ‘will that $10 million still be available?’” says Kircher. “It’s safe to assume we’ll continue to be engaged in hunger locally and continue to support the Food Bank for the Heartland in a big way.”

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People also misconceive how active ConAgra has been in Chicago for some time. “About three-fourths of our retail food business has been headquartered in Chicago before we announced these changes. Only one-fourth of the retail food business was in Omaha.

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“We have explained we aren’t going to have the same kinds of resources as in the past.”

ConAgra is not suddenly leaving their partner nonprofit organizations without support. Many local groups received what Kircher calls “an exit grant.”

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B2B OMAHA MAGAZINE

Keith Reid

volume 16 | issue 3

omahamagazine.com FALL 2016 |

FACES | BY DAISY HUTZELL-RODMAN | PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL SITZMANN

KEITH REID POSTMASTER OF OMAHA

Coming home to a pile of packages on the doorstep is like…well…celebrating Christmas. Postmaster of Omaha Keith Reid knows that, because his team of postal workers deliver tons of packages to people each and every day. Those packages that come from UPS? They actually come from the U.S. Postal Service… at least they are dropped off by someone at the USPS. Those books and electronics from Amazon? Yep, USPS again.

“The last mile is the most costly,” Reid explains. “For them it’s more practical to bring it here. If you think about it, just at Boys Town (Post Office), I have about 55 routes. It’s more cost effective for them to drop it at the post office when we have seven carriers going to those places anyway.” UPS pays the USPS for that last mile.

It is one of the many ways the postal service is combatting the decline in correspondence.

Conversely, packages that need to fly from one place to another, even when mailed from the USPS, often come through FedEx, for the same reason. It is costly to fly packages.

Reid says Omaha, specifically, has found increased revenue in packages.

In terms of revenue, however, the biggest increase has come from efficiency.

“Packages have increased by 20 percent over 2015 and 18 percent over 2014,” Reid says. “That is a volume count from our machines. We now track every package. For Omaha, our package delivery volume was up 21.9 percent from same time last year.”

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That 20 percent increase represents eight million packages delivered as of early July. They also created a revenue stream by delivering packages for United Parcel Service. While UPS delivers 90 percent of the way to a home or office, the USPS goes the extra mile to send those packages down the last mile.

“That way the customer knew they wouldn’t need to wait,” Reid says. “It used to be 15 minutes per passport.” In order to reduce the wait time, customers go online and make the appointment. The customer is then emailed with instructions on what to bring with them.

“It’s down to seven or eight minutes,” Reid says. “I have four clerks doing passports.” Postal service employees also offer more personalized services than they used to. Need stamps to send a letter or bill? Need to send a stack of fliers regarding a coming sale? Let your local carrier know. He or she will help you. “We are getting our employees involved,” Reid says. “We originally looked at where our competitors went. Now, we will go right up to businesses and ask how we can help them.” Friendliness goes a long way. “We’re over a million in revenue, just by having our carriers talk to customers,” Reid says. Reid also believes the USPS’ positive results will continue. “Every time people refer to us as a dinosaur, we establish ourselves as bigger and stronger.” Visit usps.com for more information. B2B

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volume 16 | issue 3

B2B OMAHA MAGAZINE

PLAYING BIG

by Scott Anderson

THE 2016 MISERY OLYMPICS HOW NOT TO WIN THE GOLD MEDAL I love the term “Misery Olympics” and wish I’d thought of it first. Google it and you will get “about 660,000” results, but who has time to get to the bottom of that rabbit hole? Basically, the Misery Olympics represent the braggadocio of overachievers. Laura Vanderkam wrote an article in the May 16 edition of The New York Times that references this phenomenon with statistics from the June 2011 Monthly Labor Review. The MLR, a publication of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, found that people estimating 75-plus hour workweeks were off, on average, by about 25 hours—in other words, they WAY overestimated. It turns out, based on self-reported time tracking, many people work far less than they think they do. Why do we brag/lie/misestimate/ overestimate about working so many hours? Wouldn’t working fewer hours be much more brag-worthy? Are we still so chained to 20th century ideas about work and self-sacrifice that we believe the Misery Olympics are worth winning?

They find no solace in their “gold medals” anymore. The thing these entrepreneurs worked so hard to avoid has become just that: a job. Is it possible to boycott the Misery Olympics? • Important question. The famed millennials may have the key. They don’t “get” the correlation between productivity and time spent in a cube because they produce differently: faster and simpler. They leverage technology and, most of all, put family and friends first. The lines between work and play, socializing and networking, are much more fluid. And their lives are—based on my own four millennials—much less miserable.

I took my own advice and experimented with my own business—I wrote this article from a beautiful medieval town in northern Italy where I have worked and played all summer.

So, how does it feel to be a big loser in the Misery Olympics? Pretty terrific. B2B

Ready to boycott the Misery Olympics? You can! •

• I coach many entrepreneurs who are especially stuck in this cycle of over-work—real and imagined—that is entirely of their own making.

children (ages 3-13) and much less time in the office. He and his family are now writing a book and launching a website to help other families follow suit.

I’m working with a client in Philadelphia whose primary goal in 2016 is to run his contracting business entirely from his boat, a salty 43-foot trawler named “Slow Poke” that he sails in Chesapeake Bay. A long-time client and old friend has structured his market-leading commercial cleaning company so he can spend much more time with his wife and five

Scott Anderson is CEO of Doubledare, an executive coaching, consulting, and search firm.

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Suffering from Flatlining Sales? According to Carlson, the many misconceptions that persist today about D&D are not as misguided as they have been historically, when some concerned observers likened the game to a cult. Popular contemporary television shows, such as The Big Bang Theory and Community, now depict D&D players as nerd chic, geeky hipsters rather than Satanists—but nerds nonetheless. Players are thought of as people who are “not charismatic,” according to Carlson. “But that couldn’t be further from the truth,” he says. “D&D is a social activity.” D&D requires that groups of players collaborate to devise creative solutions to problems they face in the game. They might work together to defeat a monster. Characters might also clash sword-to-sword. “There is a competitive aspect to it,” says Carlson. Role-playing a character requires ad-libbing. “It can be kind of like improv comedy,” Carlson explains. “You get into ridiculous circumstances by everyone building off of one another.” Social interaction is the vehicle that drives the plot forward.

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Carlson reports that D&D uses much of the same skill set that he uses when practicing law. He explains that in both law and D&D, an arbiter settles disputes on the rules and interprets those rules when necessary. He notes that lawyers and players must be able to think on their feet. In law practice there is a real element of chance/randomness to any lawsuit, because it is impossible to know exactly what an attorney will find in discovery or what will happen at trial. In D&D chance is simulated with dice, which generates suspense. Still, Carlson says his co-workers joke with him about being a nerd. “But it is good-natured,” he says. Although he does not go around telling people he plays D&D, Carlson does not deny it either; he even recruited another attorney from his office into his current D&D group. Carlson says, “nerd culture is becoming mainstream.” Visit dnd.wizards.com for more information. B2B

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volume 16 | issue 3

B2B OMAHA MAGAZINE

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Howell lives alone and says he doesn’t always want to cook in large batches for himself. He also points out that Eat Fit Go is teaching him about appropriate portion sizes and what is possible to prepare on his own. NOLA’s Dirty Rice and the All American breakfast are his favorites. “It’s all very high-quality food, and it all tastes good,” says Howell. “That breakfast is like 320 calories, and I struggle to finish it.” McKeever says his target customers were originally soccer moms who didn’t have time to cook but wanted their kids to eat

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The company is developing a kids’ menu and vegetarian entrees. As the organization expands and more franchises are sold around the country, each market will have a central, corporate-run kitchen that supplies the franchisees with meals.

“I think that the biggest thing with this concept—this grab-and-go concept—is changing people’s lifestyles. They want a healthy option that really hasn’t been out there in terms of convenience. I think that making dinner now at home is a luxury,” says McKeever.

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The first corporate-owned Eat Fit Go locations opened in early 2016 in Omaha, with franchises set to open in several Midwestern cities and as far away as Atlanta and Scottsdale, Arizona. “They should put one by my house, too, and take all of my money,” says Howell. Visit eatfitgo.com for more information. B2B

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volume 16 | issue 3

B2B OMAHA MAGAZINE

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Adair rescued the abandoned, rusting, and hopelessly immobile Beep Beep from an Iowa forest in 2014. Long before that time, Beep Beep carried Adair and his now-late wife, Rosemarie, across Germany during their 1960 honeymoon. Beep Beep was “born in Hanover (Germany), same as Rosemarie,” says Adair. He purchased the vehicle on behalf of his father with the agreement that he could use the bus on his wedding trip in Europe. Beep Beep’s first outing was in the Swiss Alps. After the honeymoon, Adair relinquished Beep Beep to his father and subsequently became estranged from the vehicle until 40 years later, when a family friend asked what had become of the bus. They traced the bus to its resting place in the forest.

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He received Beep Beep from Adair via flatbed. When Carroll first saw the bus, he says it “looked like an unfixable wreck… It sat in a forest for 40 years.” The bus had changed owners many times since Adair’s initial possession. It had served many roles: from family van, to television sales vehicle, to being a storage container.

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“I repaired everything I could,” he says. Other parts he located internationally. Carroll accredits the upholstery to Sky’s Interior Shop, and the paint and body work to Extreme Paint (both of which are located in Fremont). Carroll says, “when we put that last piece in there, it just about brought a tear to your eye to see it.”

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Adair says that Beep Beep “went from an ‘I can’ car to an ‘icon’ car.”

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Since the complete restoration, the bus has earned first place in the Restored Class at the World of Wheels show in March 2016, and Best in Class and Best in Show in the Omaha VW Club show in June 2016. Adair says that Beep Beep “is symbolic of happiness” and “the free spirit of living.”

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volume 16 | issue 3

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omahamagazine.com FALL 2016 |

OFFICE FURNITURE

BY DOUG SCHURING

AGING IN THE OFFICE AGING IN THE OFFICE The older workforce is continuously growing. By 2022, the number of workers over the age of 54 is projected to increase by nearly 40 percent, due largely to baby boomers working past typical retirement age. Older workers’ valuable experience contributes to their companies’ productivity. Yet, they experience natural age-related conditions that compromise peak performance. Paying attention to ergonomic principles in office furniture and work practices can improve and enhance older workers’ ability to effectively contribute. An older workforce brings stability and institutional memory to a company. In fact, older workers often impart knowledge to new hires—which is a proven way new workers learn how to do their jobs. C-level employees often become mentors, developing younger talent. Older workers at all job levels tend to be more motivated, with lower rates of absenteeism. The down side is there’s no denying agerelated functional limitations. Fortunately, steps can be taken in everyday office tasks to prevent strain or injury. These include: understanding sound ergonomics and methods of human factors, along with teaching how to recognize the principles of universal design, regardless of age, or physical limitations. Age affects the musculoskeletal system by reducing one’s strength. Muscles and tendons weaken. Similarly, bones become more porous,

and cartilage can degenerate—both of which are considered a normal consequence of aging. Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) often involve back, hand, shoulder, and arm pain. While 62 percent of men and women between ages 51 and 61 report one or more MSDs, work-related MSDs are difficult to separate from those caused outside the office. Employers should be proactive in making sure tasks neither cause MSDs nor make them worse.

•

Vision changes begin to affect most people in their 40s or 50s. While the amount of light needed to see increases, the time it takes for eyes to adjust to changing levels also increases.

THESE STEPS WILL ASSIST WORKERS OF ALL AGES:

Addressing these limitations may require individually adjustable task lighting, reducing the pace of presentation in training situations, using larger type in instructional materials, and employing sound-masking techniques to dampen background noise. Though these changes are intended to help older workers, such steps are likely to benefit all workers.

CLOSING

Ergonomically designed seating with effective lumbar support is essential for an office chair. Armrests are doubly important for the older worker to support forearms during typing, and to help rising from the chair.

2. Encourage breaks. Short stretch breaks disrupt the repetitive arm/ wrist/finger motions of keyboard and mouse usage. Standing to work is more available today, and should be done approximately 18 minutes every hour.

Recognizing both sensory and musculoskeletal differences in older workers means adapting the workplace to offer them as much comfort and safety as possible. It also means encouraging ergonomically sound ways of working. These adjustments help younger workers as well, who will continue to benefit from them as their generations mature. B2B

OTHER AGE-RELATED CHANGES •

Hearing loss occurs at a rate of 2–3.5 percent per year throughout life, meaning, a 50-year-old may miss what a 25-yearold hears clearly. Also, an older worker is less able to tune out background noise.

Doug Schuring is the director of sales administration at All Makes Office Equipment Co.

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volume 16 | issue 3

B2B OMAHA MAGAZINE

ETHICS

BY BEVERLY KRACHER

ETHICAL NUDGES When your mom falls asleep in church, you don’t need to yell in her ear, “MOM, wake up!” to keep her head from bobbing. You can just bump her with your elbow. If you are practicing how to shoot, but your aim is off, you don’t need someone to build a stand to hold your gun level. It is better to have an expert next to you and have him lightly adjust the barrel direction with his finger. And when you are learning how to lift weights, a coach can watch your knees and hips and correct your stance with a small correction here, another one there. Nudges. Often, small nudges are all we need in order to do what we are doing better. A new body of social science research is showing that the same is true in business ethics. If we want to motivate ourselves to do the right thing at work, we do not necessarily have to visit a psychologist to rid ourselves of our weakness of will. Instead, employers can slightly adjust the work environment to “nudge” employees to do well. Three recent ideas about ethical nudging come from the research of University of North Carolina business professor Sreedhari Desai, Ph.D. She has an interesting YouTube video (titled “Small Nudges Can Create Ethical Behavior”) that is worth checking out.

The first form of ethical nudging pertains to bids and contracts. Dr. Desai wondered if bids can be fair when they include: 1. a description of a service, and 2. one overall price for the service. Through experiment, she found that vendors are more ethical, that is, their bids better reflect the true cost of the service, when they itemize the cost for each aspect of the service. Itemization is a small difference in the bidding process, but one that makes a larger financial difference, and definitely makes an integrity difference. Workspaces can also be designed to nudge employees to think and act ethically. Again, only small nudges are needed. Through experiment, Dr. Desai showed that when office walls have pictures of aspirational figures (pick your leader…Gandhi? Rosa Parks? Tom Osborne?), employees make better ethical decisions than they do when there are no aspirational pictures. The third form of ethical nudging that Dr. Desai describes is also about the workspace, specifically, the items we have around us with which to touch or play. Hold onto your hats… Dr. Desai determined that when workspaces include teddy bears and other childhood play items, ethical decision making is enhanced. She speculates that introducing childhood toys into the workplace puts us in mind of a time when life was pure and simple. A slight nudge towards our better selves.

So what do we do with this social science research about ethical nudges? Well, we can ask ourselves if we want to introduce any of the previous three ethical nudges into our business practices. Personally, I am not going to bring a teddy bear to work, but I like the idea of aspirational pictures. And it is simple to break out the costs of service in the bidding process. We can do it when making a bid or ask for it when receiving one. In addition, this social science research can motivate us to investigate other ethical nudges that can positively affect our work systems. Let me know what your experiments yield, OK? View “Small Nudges Can Create Ethical Behavior,” Dr. Desai’s video: youtube.com/watch?v=xt8OS92Bd3s B2B

Beverly Kracher, Ph.D., is the executive director of the Business Ethics Alliance and the Daugherty Chair in Business Ethics & Society at Creighton University.

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