June/July/August 2014 B2B Omaha

SUMMER 2014 JUNE/JULY/AUG

TD AMERITRADE

Green: More than Just the Company’s Color

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table of contents

summer 2014 • june/july/aug • volume 14 • issue 2

“I’m not exactly certain what will be next, but no, it won’t be retirement.”

SENATOR MIKE JOHANNS

32 Riding into the Sunset?

SENATOR MIKE JOHANNS

FEATURE

37

41

Rising from the Ashes The Rebirth of Plattsmouth’s Main Street Goes on Despite Inferno Linda Lovgren Talking Passion, Public Relations, Purpose

DEPARTMENTS

COLUMNS

6

15

B4B A New Way to Think About Business

8

Get Organized Today

21

On the Rise Flywheel

47

10 omAHA!

30

Business Ethics Lessons from a Japanese Proverb

13 omAHA!

54

Big Birge Plumbing

Buy Omaha Profiles

Omaha CVB Omaha Online

MTRL Design SPECIAL SECTION

Office Furniture

The Know-It-All Thoughts on Energy

16

Arts & Entertainment Omar Arts & Events

18

How I Roll Armand Gibbons’ Low Rider

22

Biz + Giving

Project Search

24 In the Office: TD Ameritrade Green: More than Just the Company’s Color BestOfOmaha.com

Summer 2014 • B2B Omaha Magazine 5

b4b

by wendy wiseman

B4B A NEW WAY TO THINK ABOUT BUSINESS

O

VER A YEAR AGO Omaha Publications

Founder and Publisher Todd Lemke floated the notion of “B4B” by me: the idea that the relationship between businesses doing business with each other is markedly improved when it is interactive and supportive, rather than one-way as the traditional “B2B” acronym suggests.

“B2B,” Lemke proposed, “is more like one business pushing something at another. It’s like a one-way street. I want you to know this. I want you to sell this. I want to sell you something that I think you need.

“B4B is like doing business more in a way that says ‘I am here to support you. I am FOR you.’ It

6

B2B Omaha Magazine • Summer 2014

OmahaMagazine.com

new way to think about business

b4b

speaks more to the new age of collaboration.”

That has a nice ring to it—especially given the lumps and bumps of the economy over the last several years and the impact it has had on business. It’s a matter of perspective and focus. If we change our perspective to one that seeks to help other businesses succeed—one that reaches out as collaborator—we all do better. And the good news is; this should be easier than ever with more information than ever available at our fingertips.

Via the Internet we can unearth a variety of resources to help us serve our prospects better.

Whether online or in our local market, we can also identify co-collaborators to bring to the table to make the partnership really work.

B4B isn’t a concept unique to Omaha Publications. It is in the vernacular. The Technology Services Industry Association (TSIA) has published a book with the title and even the cover shows the “4” overtaking the “2” in the acronym. Their preface states, “There are clear signs that the traditional B2B business model designed 125 years ago as a simple ‘make, sell, ship’ approach for early manufacturing companies is no longer capable of delivering the full potential of high-tech and near-tech solutions.

B4B seeks to frame what is possible in an age where suppliers are connected to their customers in real time.” The TSIA interpretation goes on to tout the difference as delivering outcomes for customers vs. selling things to customers.

Agreed, but in this new column in B2B Omaha magazine, we will go deeper and wider than the TSIA’s interpretation. We will showcase for readers prime examples of Greater Omaha area companies that are in it to win it by collaborating with one another. This is where you come in. Tell us about your B4B business practice or collaboration. Simply send a note with the subject line “B4B” to editor Robert Nelson at robert@OmahaPublications.com and we’ll be in touch! B2B Editor’s note: This is the first appearance of a new column that will explore a creative perspective on business relationships. By looking through a prism of business for business, Zaiss & Company’s Wendy Wiseman will examine new models for successful business relationships.

Wendy Wiseman Vice President, Creative Director Zaiss & Company

BestOfOmaha.com

Summer 2014 • B2B Omaha Magazine 7

on the rise

by robert nelson • photography by bill sitzmann

D No Daddy to GoDaddy FLYWHEEL AIMS TO PROVIDE A BETTER WEB-HOSTING EXPERIENCE

8

B2B Omaha Magazine • Summer 2014

USTY DAVIDSON DOE SN’T LIKE

to go negative in promoting his company.

Still, sometimes your company exists in part because somebody else is dropping the ball. So, let’s get this out of the way…

“Nobody loves their [web] hosting company,” Davidson says. “A lot of them can feel like a necessary evil.” In particular: “GoDaddy.com can have the Super Bowl ads with girls in bikinis and all. But the personal service isn’t there. We want everything we do focused on giving

OmahaMagazine.com

on the rise

flywheel

people a great experience and superior product.”

Davidson, like anyone else in the hosting world, can’t help but be envious of the traction GoDaddy.com gets from spending millions for their often racy spots. We all know the brand now. GoDaddy. com is, especially for those of us who are tech knuckleheads, the knee-jerk, go-to source when we want to get our own personal or startup company website.

But serious website designers, Davidson says, need more from their host.

To the rescue comes the Omaha tech startup company, Flywheel, which Davidson owns and operates with two partners.

All three of the young entrepreneurs come from backgrounds in web design and hosting. All three, Davidson says, had suffered impersonal, often clumsy and ill-fitted hosting experiences. They believed they could do better.

“We provide a better overall hosting environment for design firms,” he says. “We’re incredibly fast and incredibly secure.

Most of all: It starts with great support. We are right there with the designers at all times.

We make the workflow of the designer easier.”

Flywheel began in 2012 as a startup in the Mastercraft Building in North Downtown.

Now the 12-employee operation is graduating to its own space on the edge of the Old Market at 14th and Harney.

They will eschew risqué ads, Davidson says, building instead through social media sources and, most of all, word-of-mouth within the design community.

“Designers talk to each other,” he says. “You provide a great experience, word gets out fast.” B2B BestOfOmaha.com

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Summer 2014 • B2B Omaha Magazine 9

omAHA!

by kim carpenter • photography by bill sitzmann

On the Cutting Edge WITH A GIGANTIC LASER, ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE FOR MTRL DESIGN nick mauer (left) and josh powell

“H

ELGA DOESN’T DRINK. PLEASE keep beverages

away.” That sign is a gentle reminder for people not to go remotely close to Helga with anything potable.

Helga, however, isn’t a woman strangely averse to hydration; instead, she is a highly sophisticated Trotec SP 1500 flatbed laser machine from Austria, one that can cut and engrave with breathtaking precision and accuracy down to 1,000th of an inch.

The affectionately nicknamed machine is what MTRL Design (pronounced like “material”), located in downtown’s Mastercraft Building, uses to create its distinctive custom chairs, tables,

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B2B Omaha Magazine • Summer 2014

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omAHA!

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frames, boxes, cutting boards, coasters, signage, touch tablet stands, cell phone holders, puzzles, games and, honestly, just about any other object you might imagine. Helga’s laser can cut through almost anything from wood to acrylic but is also delicate enough to engrave glass, leather, and even paper.

Founded by partners Josh Powell and Nick Mauer in 2012, MTRL Design does more than create products with Helga. The design studio also handles design and creative services, which include brand identity and graphic design. But it’s the partners’ unique creations that frequently generate buzz. That’s because aside from being aesthetically appealing, Powell and Mauer’s custom objects are made from sustainable materials, an approach markedly different from the majority of the manufacturing industry, which uses wood treated with formaldehyde and other chemicals.

Their sustainable material is bamboo from a fair-trade-certified company in China. The bamboo arrives in flat sheets similar to plywood.

Bamboo, though, is nothing like plywood. Not only is it an organically sustainable and readily renewable material, it also has a tensile rate stronger than steel and has both anti-fungal and antimicrobial properties. The duo also uses almost no glue and minimal hardware. Rather, the clean cuts make assembly quick and easy by creating interlocking pieces, which are then shipped flat to diminish the carbon footprint even further.

“It’s a really holistic approach,” notes Powell.

The design studio has a strong client base that includes a wide variety of businesses such as architectural firms, restaurants, breweries, and bars. For example, the firm created Masonite tree shapes for the Mellow Mushroom restaurant in Lincoln as well as coasters for Plank Seafood Provisions, Secret Penguin, and Cunningham’s Bar in Omaha. MTRL Design additionally creates orders commissioned by individual clients that have included items such as a remote-control airplane and keepsake boxes. Recently an archeological team in Jerusalem even contacted the studio about creating a model of a city dating to 500 B.C. While it might seem ironic that a cutting-edge contemporary machine is rebuilding an ancient city, it’s indicative of how far-reaching MTRL Design has become. “Everyday someone walks in the door and asks us to come up with something unique,” says Powell. “It’s hard to keep up, and we need to bring on someone else. We’re at a stage now where we need to.”

To make Helga rise to her fullest potential, that’s probably a very good idea. B2B

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omAHA!

by leo adam biga • photography by justin barnes & bill sitzmann

Marketing Turns Sexy BIG BIRGE PLUMBING

P

LUMBING HAS NEVER LOOKED like this.

An Omaha couple is turning heads with online teasers for their Big Birge Plumbing Company and gaining new customers in the process. Brad and Lallenia Birge lend their killer smiles and buff, model good looks to Pop Art-style ads that emphasize primary colors, tongue-in-cheek graphics and sex appeal dynamics.

The company logo features an illustration of Brad’s flexed arm, adorned in a rolled-up red and black flannel shirt to expose a bulging bicep. His burly hand grips a red wrench.

In a profile pose they stand back to back. He’s dressed in the iconic working man’s garb of a flannel shirt, blue jeans and work boots, an oversized wrench dangling from one hand. Lallenia’s attired in a blouse, shorts and heels as she holds a plunger. In some shots she wears a retro, red and white polka dot dress. In others she dons a white sweater with a blue or red skirt to evoke a cheeky vibe. In still more poses she clutches a giant wrench or a frying pan in an oven-gloved hand. Her expressions range from mock distress to amour.

In these fanciful turns he’s the strong, dependable man and she’s the woman in need of rescue. The campaign echoes vintage television situation comedies, Technicolor romance movies, comic strips, pulp novels and pinup glossies. It’s Betty Page exotica meets Doris Day-Rock Hudson fantasy meets Li’l Abner-Daisy Mae shtick.

Completing this throwback homage is the tagline: “Honesty, quality, American craftsmanship. Old-fashioned values reborn.” The alter-ego personas are exaggerations of the couple’s real selves, but the expressed values are how they live and do business.

“We take it very seriously,” says Brad. “We stay true to what we say we are. I can’t stand bad service. The way you treat somebody is everything.

It’s totally how you present yourself. On any job I do I try to make it a positive experience for clients.

“We do have a lot of repeat customers and there’s a reason why. We treat people right. We give people a good price and good service. Our clients become our friends.” >

BestOfOmaha.com

Summer 2014 • B2B Omaha Magazine 13

omAHA!

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< He’s a master licensed plumber with years in the trade. She’s a personal fitness trainer who’s opted to devote more time to their son, Wyatt, and to the business. Her entrepreneurial skills have proven invaluable. She conceives the marketing strategy and executes it with help from his mother and photographer Justin Barnes.

“She’s turned out to be a really big part of the company,” Brad says of Lallenia. “Without her backing me, and giving me feedback, and throwing ideas out and putting it into play, the business wouldn’t be where it is today. As far as our image, it’s all her.”

Lallenia, who enjoys finding frilly props and playing adult dress-up, says it’s all about finding creative ways to make the Big Birge brand stand out among all the clutter.

“When you see other plumbing ads it’s all guys,” she says. “I was like, ‘We need a woman’s touch here.’ It’s just fun for us to do our own thing right now and to be ourselves. People think we shell out big bucks for our marketing, but we don’t. As long as we can do it ourselves, we’re going to continue doing it.”

The couple says their business website garners high traffic and positive feedback. The same is true for their Facebook page and for the YouTube videos they’ve made. Their eyecatching promos extend to T-shirts, yard signs, and company vehicles.

Coming soon is Lallenia’s own website, The Plumber’s Wife.

“It’s about wives helping their husbands as entrepreneurs,” she says.

“I am a plumber’s wife and I’m darn proud of it.” B2B

14

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ME TIME Schedule appointments with yourself. Use your calendar and schedule appointments with yourself to complete tasks and focus on certain projects. Don’t let yourself be interrupted. Set reminders in your calendar to keep on track of your personal and professional goals.

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Summer 2014 • B2B Omaha Magazine 15

a&e

by sarah wengert • photography andrew j. baran

Copyright Andrew J. Baran 2014

Classic Space

HAT DO DOUG MCDERMOTT

and the Omaha Press Club, local fashion designers, brides, corporations, and churchgoers have in common?

Congratulations if you said Omar Arts & Events, in the Omar Building at 43rd and Nicholas. All of the above have had events there since it opened almost 18 months ago.

Executive Director/Partner Mark O’Leary says most local venues of comparable size are unlikely to display the character of Omar Arts & Events.

“It’s completely modern but simultaneously has all the charm and character of an old industrial building,” he says.

Ray Trimble, owner of the Omar Building which originally opened in 1923 to house the Omar Baking Co., is an architect himself whose sense of precision guided the space’s renovation.

The Omar Arts & Events space is bright, airy, well-equipped, and, like the building as a whole, a beautiful hybrid of old and new. Omar flour sacks and other artifacts hang in O’Leary’s

B2B Omaha Magazine • Summer 2014

OmahaMagazine.com

OMAR ARTS & EVENTS IS OMAHA’S NEW GO-TO VENUE. 16

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Copyright Andrew J. Baran 2014

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office. Original fire doors remain. The gorgeous exterior brick has been sandblasted back to immaculate condition. On-premises parking is ample and free.

“We have the feel of a downtown venue, but you don’t have to go downtown,” says O’Leary.

Most spaces in the Omar Building are artsrelated, including the John Beasley Theater, a dance studio, web design firm, photographers, and filmmakers. It also houses a fitness center, law offices, Project Interfaith, and more, garnering comparisons to Downtown’s Mastercraft Building.

“It’s proved to be a really popular building,” says O’Leary. “It’s like it was just kind of waiting to be born so all these people could get in here.”

The event space was the last project completed, but has already hosted Opera Omaha’s gala, Omaha Fashion Week, the Omaha Press Club’s Face on the Barroom Floor for Doug McDermott, and a host of weddings, seminars, sales meetings, and other events.

Omaha Fashion Week had higher attendance than previous such events at other venues, and organizers swiftly signed on again for 2015.

Citylight Church has a five-year contract to use the space for Sunday worship, when they hold two services to accommodate their diverse, inclusive congregation of 1,400-plus.

“It’s been remarkable,” says O’Leary. “We thought our first year would be slow, because for this size venue people are usually booked a year in advance. But as you see on that calendar behind you, every one of those X’s is an event for this year, and we’re still adding one to two a day.”

Suffice to say, X marks many spots on O’Leary’s wall calendar.

“We’re trying to bring back midtown and the Omar Building has become kind of a center point in that,” he says, adding that it’s gratifying to watch the neighborhood he grew up in revitalize around him. “It’s really a quiet, safe little neighborhood, and it’s got great access.”

“I’m a midtown guy and I just like to see these older parts of the city come back,” says O’Leary, who also owns the Cornerstone Mansion and has worked as a producer, actor, event planner, and photographer. “The neighborhood has been completely positive. They’ve loved that there’s some life here and a legitimate business investing in their neighborhood. We work to stay a cut above, and people have responded to that. Plus, we’re one of a kind. There’s just not another venue like us in town.” B2B BestOfOmaha.com

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Summer 2014 • B2B Omaha Magazine 17

how i roll

Armand Gibbons

A

RMAND GIBBONS AND THE low-

slung contraption under him draw a few double-takes from joggers as they pass by him on the trail in Memorial Park. The looks are not unusual, he says. “These bikes are what’s unusual.”

Indeed. Gibbons has been riding a recumbent bicycle around Omaha for 30 years.

During that time, he’s only known a few dozen others who owned them. On his first RAGBRAI bike ride across Iowa, he was one of 12 recumbent riders in a field of 11,000 bikers. In Nebraska’s own statewide ride, BRAN, he was the only recumbent rider in

the whole field.

Absolutely crazy, he argues. Because a well-built, well-equipped recumbent like his Rans V2 is “light years ahead” of normal bikes in terms of comfort.

“I always had pain on upright bikes,” he says. “Other guys said the pain was just part of riding. Well, honestly, it isn’t. It’s crazy that more people don’t ride these babies.”

Gibbons is the godfather of the Omaha recumbent bike culture—to the extent such a thing exists. He knows of about 30 other riders. Every month, he maps out a ride for his loose association of riders, the County

B2B Omaha Magazine • Summer 2014

OmahaMagazine.com

LOW RIDER

18

by robert nelson • photography by bill sitzmann

low rider

how i roll

Cruisers. About a dozen of “the hardcores” join in for those rides.

Gibbons, 70, is retired, but, from the mid1980s to 2005, he may have been the only Omahan to regularly ride a recumbent bike to work. For about 20 years, he often road the 13 miles to Offutt Air Force Base from his home in Dundee.

So, he was a rarity. And, he always has been, he says.

“Recumbents got a little bit popular for awhile, but then they faded again,” he says. “I honestly don’t understand it. If people would just try them, they’d be hooked for life.” B2B BestOfOmaha.com

Summer 2014 • B2B Omaha Magazine 19

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ON-SCREEN AND IN THE AIR URN ON THE TV, open a magazine or get online and chances are you’re going to

see advertisements inviting you to visit Kansas City, Des Moines, and South Dakota this summer. A common question from Omaha residents is, “Why don’t we see any Omaha commercials?” The answer is: “If you lived in any of those other places you would.” In fact, you’d be seeing and hearing more about Omaha than ever before.

Typically Omaha commercials inviting people to visit run during the summer travel season.

This year families in Kansas City, Des Moines, and Sioux Falls will be seeing ads during the spring, summer, fall, and winter. The nine-month-long, multi-media campaign will expose people to the Omaha invitation a total of 138 million times.

And those millions of invitations take many different forms. There are Omaha regional television advertisements on more than two dozen broadcast and cable networks, radio ads on 10 stations, and online ads on hundreds of websites such as People.com, ABCNews.com, AOL.com, and HGTV.com, just to name a few.

The Omaha Convention and Visitors Bureau is collaborating with Southwest Airlines to advertise on its new Wi-Fi portal to complement four months of print ads in Southwest’s inflight magazine. This means that when Southwest flyers (more than three million a month) log-on to the Internet mid-air they will see Omaha, and when they open the magazine they will see Omaha. (Gotta love a captive audience!)

The Omaha CVB is also partnering with both Orbitz and Expedia to promote special hotel offers. Last year, a three-month campaign on Orbitz increased Omaha hotel bookings through the site by 44 percent. This spring the Omaha CVB invited radio personalities from different regional cities to experience the city with their families.

Those same radio folks are now on-the-air talking about their trip and encouraging others to visit.

The expanded advertising campaign allows Omaha to extend the invitation to more and more people, millions and millions of times. B2B Questions or comments? E-mail us at info@visitomaha.com.

Dana Markel, Executive Director Omaha Convention & Visitors Bureau BestOfOmaha.com

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Summer 2014 • B2B Omaha Magazine 21

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project SEARCH participant amy making her rounds

PROGRAM DESIGNED TO HELP

special-needs youth learn valuable job skills has had some unexpected results. In some cases, the students involved with Project SEARCH at two area Embassy Suites have become the teachers.

According to Embassy Suites La Vista director of sales, David Scott, one program participant is even teaching a fellow hotel employee—who is a political refugee from Sudan—how to speak English.

“Brian is teaching Cleo English and Cleo is teaching Brian housekeeping skills,” Scott says.

“You just get out of the way and let it happen.”

In March, Embassy Suites Old Market won the Make a Difference Endowment Award issued by Hilton Worldwide. Embassy Suites La Vista won the same award last year.

Both were honored for their Project SEARCH initiatives, an intensive program that pairs hotel

staff with area high school students and others age 18 to 21 with special needs, teaching them job-ready skills.

“The goal is to find meaningful employment for these individuals,” Scott says.

Starting in August, students work an average of five hours a day during three 10-week rotations in different departments. They begin with classes related to the work they’ll be doing and then engage in hands-on experience in areas including housekeeping, banquet kitchen, banquet set-up, and restaurant areas. The program continues until graduation in May. Scott is getting some top-notch job recruits in the process. He points to Kelly, who had such an infectious smile and attitude that he asked her to greet guests in the complimentary breakfast area. “I thought it would be great for guests and I thought it would be great for her,” Scott says.

B2B Omaha Magazine • Summer 2014

OmahaMagazine.com

PROJECT SEARCH BUILDS BRIDGES TO THE WORKING WORLD

22

by anthony flott • photography by bill sitzmann

project search

biz+giving

But, she passed—for now—saying she wanted to stay in housekeeping because she liked cleaning so much.

Then there’s Connor. One day, food had arrived by truck and it was all-hands-on-deck so staff could get the food into the freezer. They couldn’t find Connor—he was already at working putting it away on his own.

Since being developed at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Project SEARCH has expanded to 275 sites across the country and overseas, including hospitals, retirement centers, banks, zoos and universities. For now, the two Embassy Suites locations are the only Project SEARCH sites in the Omaha area.

The collaboration began in 2012 at the suggestion of the Papillion-La Vista School District. The district provides a special needs teacher and job coaches. Embassy Suites Old Market partners with Omaha Public Schools.

Seven students participated at Embassy Suites La Vista last year and 10 participated this year. The Old Market location had six students its first year. Both hotels expect 10 students in their 2014-15 classes.

“The students are totally involved, totally experiencing the new job field as opposed to isolation on a campus or school, or even coming in for a day and going back,” Scott says. “They live and breathe the organization. They learn side-by-side as interns doing the job on the job.”

Staff members teach classes and assist as job aides. They also are paired with students as one-on-one mentors. Scott estimates Embassy Suites staff have put more than 4,000 hours into Project SEARCH. The program works. Four interns at Embassy Suites La Vista found jobs last year and up to seven are expected to this year. That’s typical with Project SEARCH. Employment for special needs students averages 15 percent nationally, Scott says. The national rate for those who complete a Project SEARCH program is 60 percent.

For those completing a Project SEARCH program in Nebraska it’s 86 percent.

And success sometimes goes beyond finding gainful employment. Scott points to Bruce, a student from the first class who now is planning to move into his own apartment. At the informational meeting for the 2014 class, Scott recalls a parent saying it was the first time she’d felt a sense of future for her son. That he would become a contributor to his community rather than a “burden to the system.”

“I’m elated with these kids,” Scott says. “I see these kids as inspiring.” B2B BestOfOmaha.com

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Summer 2014 • B2B Omaha Magazine 23

in the office

24

by doug meigs • photography by scottdrickey.com

B2B Omaha Magazine • Summer 2014

OmahaMagazine.com

TD Ameritrade GREEN: MORE THAN JUST THE COMPANY’S COLOR

M

IKE BURNS CYCLES T WO MILES EVERY morning to his

corporate job off the Papio Trail.

The 51-year-old e-commerce director arrives by 8:15 a.m. (weather permitting). Then, he tucks his bike into an employee locker and heads upstairs. >

BestOfOmaha.com

Summer 2014 • B2B Omaha Magazine 25

mini-wind turbines on top of light poles throughout the parking lot mike burns dwarfed by the building’s ticker tape façade in the background green spaces are used as connectors throughout the campus rooftop access to solar gardens and plant gardens

26

B2B Omaha Magazine • Summer 2014

OmahaMagazine.com

TD Ameritrade

in the office

< Thirteen hundred employees at TD Ameritrade’s new headquarters are trickling into the building. Anyone driving a low-emission vehicle can park at preferential spots. Other employees with electric cars charge their batteries for free.

TD Ameritrade’s turquoise-green façade looms over the Dodge Street/I-680 interchange.

The building’s design features random dark squares, resembling the old-fashioned stock ticker tapes once sent by telegraph, a tribute to the leading online brokerage’s forbearers.

Green splashes the company logo. Its website claims that green is “not just our company color.” A variety of eco-friendly amenities are helping the headquarters achieve the U.S. Green Building Council’s highest level of certification, LEED Platinum. LEED stands for “Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.”

The 12-story, 530,000-square-foot Omaha facility broke ground in July of 2010. Three years later, TD Ameritrade began relocating employees from five offices scattered across Omaha.

“We were looking for an opportunity to bring all of our Omaha employees into one location,” says spokeswoman Kim Hillyer, a healthylooking communications executive dressed in green tones. > BestOfOmaha.com

Summer 2014 • B2B Omaha Magazine 27

28

B2B Omaha Magazine • Summer 2014

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< Concentrating workers allowed the company to offer perks—a basketball court, sand volleyball court, gym, and cafeteria—and to experiment with design.

Architectural firm HOK designed the headquarters, TD Ameritrade’s first custombuild despite locations across the country.

Sunlight pours from enormous southward windows. The entire building was oriented to maximize natural sunlight and cut energy consumption by 45-46 percent.

Hillyer begins a campus tour from the cavernous lobby. A “smart” elevator without buttons takes guests down to the garage (generating electricity en route).

“When we first moved in, two staffers drove electric cars; now we have 10,” she says, standing beside one of five charging stations in the car park.

Up the tower, employees are typing from low cubicles facing a wall of windows. Fritted glass controls light and heat exchange. A shelf above the window helps reflect light to the back, where a slanted white ceiling and white walls reflects it across workers.

Meeting rooms occupy the back of each floor.

Electronic sensors detect movement to activate/ deactivate lights. Bamboo wood and linoleum from linseed oil were common construction materials, due to their rapidly renewable nature.

A rooftop garden pavilion hosts a team meeting in the sun, and nearby solar devices generate heat for the building. Meanwhile, rooftop drains gather rainwater for toilet flushing. Lawn drains also collect runoff to irrigate an expansive field of drought-resistant native vegetation, buffalo grass, and junipers.

“Part of the LEED requirement is education,” Hillyer says, pointing at the information labels posted throughout the facility. Public tours are available once every quarter.

Four wind turbines twirl on poles above the parking lot. They only generate a kilowatt per day. But there’s room for 20 more turbines. The management is thinking green, Hillyer insists, for the long-term. B2B

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Summer 2014 • B2B Omaha Magazine 29

ethics

by beverly kracher, ph.d.

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30

FROM A JAPANESE PROVERB

I

T HAS BEEN SAID that the nail that sticks up will get hammered down.

This proverb about conformity was revealed to me many times when I recently visited Tokyo and one of Omaha’s sister cities, Shizuoka, Japan.

Memories of the massive number of people in offices, on the streets, and in the subways reinforce this ancient proverb. No one spoke loudly in subway cars. People formed precise lines at stores and on escalators. Business professionals seemed to have the same uniform—both men and women wore the same black suits and white or cream shirts and blouses. I was also told a story about a young mother who had dyed her hair to dark brown for a short time but changed it back to black in order to present her child for her first day at school.

They said the mother didn’t want to appear rebellious.

We can learn a lot from travel. I like to use travel experiences to examine my values and beliefs, and our city’s culture. A question has been rolling over and over in my mind as I write this cruising at 36,000 feet somewhere over the Pacific.

“What do we gain and lose with conformity, specifically when it comes to business ethics?”

One the one hand, conformity is a strength. Our businesses can be highly effective because employees conform to organizational ethics. When a retail store values honesty and its employees provide customer service with respect and truth, trust is established between the business and its customers. And the store has a stronger chance of sustainability. Our city is better because of conformity. For example, when new executives come to town and they conform to one of our Omaha core values, community responsibility, it means they show up for civic events and help their organizations continue to give back to our people, all of which makes Omaha a better place to live, work, and play.

On the other hand, conformity can be a vice. I have recently been studying behavioral ethics.

This is a body of knowledge that helps us understand the psychological tendencies that blind us to right decision and right action. One of the psychological blind spots that all of us has is called conformity bias. Because we have a natural tendency to fit in with a group and what it is thinking, we often do so without considering what we are doing and whether the conformity is appropriate, right, or good. Before we know it, we are following the crowd and behaving in ways we wouldn’t if we stopped to consider our own values. We succumb to groupthink.

Conformity bias can lead to bad consequences for our businesses and our city. When executives succumb to groupthink, “Enrons” occur. When members of our city council or corporate governing boards follow tradition or their group without asking questions, then vibrancy can be lost and innovation squashed, which takes Omaha out of the running for new, exciting opportunities.

The reflection on my travel to Japan has taken me back to what my parents told me as a kid, and what reading Aristotle taught me in college. Conformity is not in and of itself good or bad.

It’s who we conform to and what we do with it that matters. Sometimes it is good for the whole to be a nail pounded down into the wood. But there are other times that, as a nail, we must work our way out of the hole, even when pounded down again and again.

By sticking up and loosening the structure, we help morph it into a new or more noble design. B2B Beverly Kracher, Ph.D. Executive Director, Business Ethics Alliance Daugherty Chair in Business Ethics & Society Creighton University

B2B Omaha Magazine • Summer 2014

OmahaMagazine.com

BestOfOmaha.com

Summer 2014 • B2B Omaha Magazine 31

cover feature

by chris wolfgang • photography by bill sitzmann

Riding into the Sunset?

MIKE JOHANNS IS RETIRING FROM THE U.S. SENATE. BUT THIS

I

N FEBRUARY 2013, U.S. Sen. Mike Johanns announced he would not seek reelec-

tion for his senate seat this November. But don’t ask him if he’s looking forward to his retirement.

“Well, retirement is always (discussed) in these circumstances when you’ve decided not to seek reelection,” Johanns says. “I honestly don’t plan on retiring as such. I’m not exactly certain what will be next, but no, it won’t be retirement.”

Due to senate ethics rules, Johanns isn’t able to officially accept offers for employment until after the November elections, “but you can answer a call or a letter, and it looks like there’s a lot of interesting things out there,” he says. >

LIKELY WON’T BE HIS LAST RODEO.

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B2B Omaha Magazine • Summer 2014

OmahaMagazine.com

BestOfOmaha.com

Summer 2014 • B2B Omaha Magazine 33

cover feature

< Of course, if he was to retire, who could blame him? His political career is coming to a close after 32 years of public service across a variety of offices. During those 32 years, Johanns was either running for something, or his wife Stephanie was running for something, or he was serving, or Stephanie was serving. For her part, Stephanie has worked as both a county commissioner and a Nebraska state senator.

So, it’s hard not to speculate in an information vacuum. The most natural move, considering his past, might be some form of return to his agricultural roots. After all, Johanns is a farmboy at heart. And, in his life outside of city and county government, agriculture has been a major focus of his life.

In fact, early on, he considered a life on the farm he grew up on in Iowa. “You know, I gave it a lot of thought. My parents put a tremendous amount of value in education. And they would

34

u.s. senator mike johanns

always say, ‘Get an education, then come and talk to us about farming.’ I think they knew that once we left the farm and got a college degree, I think they were fully aware of the fact that we probably weren’t going to end up farming.”

He did end up back on the farm for one summer after receiving his bachelor’s at St. Mary’s University. “I loved farming,” he says.

“And I was good at it. I was good with livestock and good with equipment.” But, his great passion was the law. So, after undergraduate work in Minnesota, he attended Creighton Law School.

With law degree in hand, Johanns began to consider running for political office. But that young Johanns is not the politician we know now. Consider: He had grown up in a devoutly Catholic family with pictures of the Pope and John F. Kennedy on the wall. “I think as a very young man, I kind of thought, gosh, what a great calling. I must admit, (Kennedy) probably sparked

the interest as much as anything.”

In 1981, Johanns ran for county commissioner in Lancaster County as a Democrat. He was elected to the position in 1983.

Before Johanns won his seat with the Lincoln City Council, he found himself inspired by another charismatic president: Ronald Reagan. His view of the role of government shifted. In time, he says, “I just felt the conservative philosophy matched my judgments better.”

Johanns was elected mayor of Lincoln in 1991 and served for eight years. Immediately after, he became Nebraska’s governor. He was reelected for a second term in 2002, becoming the first Republican to do so since the ’50s.

As governor, Johanns traveled frequently, often to Asian countries to facilitate the sale of Nebraska agricultural products to a growing middle class. Johanns’ background in agriculture didn’t escape the attention of Washington,

B2B Omaha Magazine • Summer 2014

OmahaMagazine.com

u.s. senator mike johanns

cover feature

D.C. George W. Bush appointed Johanns as his Secretary of Agriculture in 2004.

“I had the background in agriculture, I came from a big ag state. This was a natural,” Johanns says.

After a few years in a cabinet position, he was ready for something else. So, he ran for the U.S. Senate. “It was just a great opportunity to take that ag background, a background as mayor and governor, and put that to work.”

As Johanns prepares to leave his seat in the Senate this November, he can look back on a career that’s fairly controversy-free. Indeed, the few controversies in which he’s been embroiled where more a consequence of party politics, not his own maneuvers. Take, for example, the explosive issue of the government shutdown last October. His natural inclination was to negotiate and diffuse. “I said before the shutdown, I wasn’t sent to Washington to shut down the government.”

He reflects that each office he has held had its own challenges. If closing government was a nightmare at the federal level, trying to open a new jail (as any city or county officials would likely agree) was a nightmare in Lancaster County. “As county commissioner, we built a new jail. And nothing is more controversial than a new jail. No one wants to spend money on jails.”

Perhaps public life was more contentious at the most local level. When he was on the Lincoln City Council, there were budget issues.

Throughout eight years as mayor of Lincoln, controversy was everywhere from budgets to planning.

While Johanns says he has no plans for retirement, it is clear he has plans for a more leisurely pace in life. When describing his idea of the perfect future—halcyon days spent with his wife and grandchildren—he does sound a bit like a man targeting semi-retirement.

“A life that would let us focus on our faith— faith is very important,” he says. “We have grandkids, and I have two children by my first marriage, and then five grandchildren. Stephanie and I want to spend more time with family.”

It also sounds like Johanns hopes to spend more time in the couple’s home in the Old Market enjoying his wife’s company.

“Stephanie wakes up every day believing that it’s this day that’s the best day of her life.

And that attitude just…if you met her, you would say how does she do that? But she lives her life that way. The two of us have just had the most amazing time.” B2B BestOfOmaha.com

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SOON THIS AD WILL BE REPLACED

BY SOMETHING FAR MORE INTERESTING.

Insights from top Omaha CPAs and bankers. Breakthrough wisdom from financial advisors. Legal tips from attorneys and hotlists on the local business brokerage scene. It’s all the business brainpower we could fit into a magazine supplement. And it’s all appearing right here inside the next issue of B2B Magazine. So keep reading. And if you’re an opportunist looking to advertise your business in what’s to come, contact todd@omahapublications.com.

COMING TO B2B MAGAZINE FALL 2014

feature

story by robert nelson • photography by bill sitzmann

charles jones, executive director of the plattsmouth main street association

Rising from the Ashes THE REBIRTH OF PLATTSMOUTH’S MAIN STREET GOES ON DESPITE INFERNO.

BestOfOmaha.com

F

OR SEVER AL DECADES, PLATTSMOUTH’S downtown oozed

a distinctly river-rat vibe. The city’s main street, once Victorian glorious thanks to vibrant river and railroad trade, was faded, mostly abandoned, adorned with kitsch and mismatched storefronts, and, at times, just plain scary due to the cavalcade of 18-wheelers on old U.S. Highway 34. >

Summer 2014 • B2B Omaha Magazine 37

feature

rising from the ashes

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< If you haven’t been to Plattsmouth’s main street in a few years, the transformation here will likely astound. Simply put: You’ll feel like you’re somewhere else: a lively, interesting, historic retreat with good food and, on some summer evenings, good music and fun.

The transformation of this Omaha bedroom community comes thanks to an aggressive push

by Plattsmouth businesses and more than $10 million in public and private dollars. Main Street was torn up as part of a major project to improve the city’s infrastructure, and then rebuilt with businesses access and pedestrians in mind.

Charming Victorian street lamps were installed.

Music is now piped continuously into the streets thanks to more than 60 speakers suspended along four blocks.

There is even a new outdoor plaza where, for the last two years, numerous events have been held, including a summer concert series.

Then, disaster. On a recent day, charred bricks

38

B2B Omaha Magazine • Summer 2014

OmahaMagazine.com

rising from the ashes

feature a park will likely replace the doomed waterman opera house

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“It’s heartbreaking, of course, it’s a roadblock, to be sure. But it’s not an end by any means.”

CHARLES JONES

BestOfOmaha.com

littered the plaza. Park benches sat buckled under the weight of fallen rubble. Chain link fencing surrounded the area, protecting pedestrians from a two-story wall rendered precarious by a massive fire last winter.

The roofless shell of the 132-year-old Waterman Opera House, which housed three businesses, will have to be demolished.

“It’s heartbreaking, of course,” says Charles Jones, executive director of the Plattsmouth Main Street Association and a longtime businessman in town. “It’s a roadblock, to be sure. But it’s not an end by any means.”

Plattsmouth has more than 40 structures on the National Register of Historic Places still standing. The city still has the substantial 19th century architecture and ambience that goes with it. But the razing of the building has been slowed by the technicalities of legally removing a historic building, leaving the broad eyesore of the condemned site and useless plaza in the >

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feature

rising from the ashes

“We’ve been pleasantly surprised by the number of customers, and that’s been through some weather that’s not great. We have high hopes for the future here.”

JIT KUNKEL

< center of the still-emerging business district.

“Business is down for those around the (Opera House) site,” Jones says, pointing toward several storefronts on the street. “It does impact things. For one: I’m going to have to figure out how to keep some of the concerts going. It’s sad because you don’t want to lose any of the energy we’ve built.”

Erv Portis, the city administrator behind much of the downtown push, shares the concern about the effect of any pause of the city’s progress. But, like Jones, he believes the redevelopment is far too large to be upended by the death of one building. A plaza expansion with a permanent stage is already planned for the soon-to-be empty lot.

Many of the second floors of downtown buildings are being converted to loft space.

“This was a very tired street and now . . . well, it still amazes me seeing it,” Portis says. “It’s just the beginning. The potential is all there.”

The impact of the Opera House fire doesn’t worry the owner of the newest business in town, Sisters Café. On a recent day, Sisters, which, interestingly, serves both German and Thai food, was full of customers enjoying a surprisingly upscale but affordable lunch.

“We’ve been pleasantly surprised by the number of customers, and that’s been through some weather that’s not great,” says co-owner Jit Kunkel. “We have high hopes for the future here.”

“We’re kind of at a ‘too-big-to-fail’ point here,” Jones says as he looks over the charred Opera House. “This is very sad. No doubt. But Plattsmouth will beat this.” B2B

40

B2B Omaha Magazine • Summer 2014

OmahaMagazine.com

by stefanie monge • photography by bill sitzmann

feature

Talking PASSION, PUBLIC RELATIONS, PURPOSE

F

ROM WORKING ON HER parents’

farm to raising a young family while building a business, Linda Lovgren, President and CEO of Lovgren Marketing Group, is no stranger to hard work. Lovgren started her career as a copywriter and producer at Omaha radio station KRCB before moving to a small advertising agency.

Several years later, with a new baby, the support of several clients, and a Creighton University intern, Lovgren decided to go into business for herself. >

BestOfOmaha.com

Summer 2014 • B2B Omaha Magazine 41

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B2B Omaha Magazine • Summer 2014

linda lovgren

< “My mom and dad always said go after whatever it is that you want to do,” says Lovgren. “And I think to some extent that attitude permeated a lot of my thinking in terms of if you don’t try it, you’ll never know if you could’ve done it, number one.

And, number two, it would be better to be making tracks on the trail than to be following tracks on the trail. I think it was that seed they planted that made me feel like I could try everything. If it didn’t work or I failed, that was okay too. What did I learn from it? How would I change things?

That philosophy has definitely influenced me as a business owner.”

“We kind of laugh about it, but Linda always looks at the glass half full,” says Lovgren Advertising Business Accounting Manager Donna Maxey. “Even if there’s a bump in the road—let’s say something is happening with a client—she doesn’t look at the negative side. She’s always looking for the bright spot and somehow pulls it off. She’s very energetic,” Maxey smiles. “She just goes for it.”

Lovgren likes that her work keeps her life exciting. “I really enjoy having a challenge, and finding a solution to that challenge,” she says. “I enjoy getting up every day because no two days are ever the same. And generally by 10 o’clock, the day I had planned isn’t the same. I enjoy that flexibility.”

OmahaMagazine.com

linda lovgren

feature

That knack for flexibility and desire to explore new opportunities has served Lovgren well. She’s found great success and satisfaction carving out a niche working on government affairs and election campaigns.

Lovgren says she’s especially proud of the work she did on the bond issue for the Omaha convention center and arena, now the CenturyLink Center Omaha. “I think it made a very big difference in Omaha on a lot of levels. It provided more entertainment and economic development,” she explains. “I’m passionate about the idea that what we can do to help our clients will help the bigger community be a great place to work and raise a family. And to grow a business.”

Lovgren also played a role in helping to bring the National Space Symposium to Omaha in 2003.

It was among the first major international meetings held here, she says. Lovgren’s career was flying high. That same year she was elected as the first chairwoman of the Omaha Chamber Board of Directors. “That was a very exciting year to learn the inner workings of the city and the many, many things that go on to make this city great.”

Another highlight came in 2012 when Lovgren was named to the Omaha Business Hall of Fame.

She attributes a central part of her success to surrounding herself with the right people. “I think the best advice I’ve gotten over the years > BestOfOmaha.com

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< is to do what I do best and surround myself with people who complement those skills. No one can know how to do everything,” Lovgren says. “I learned that lesson extremely early on, and I’m glad I did.”

Networking has been an important factor, too. “It’s a really vital part of growing,” Lovgren explains. “You have to find the business. It doesn’t come to you just because you have a name on the door. All of the networking and the decisions you make about how you want to spend your time are really important in determining how that business will grow.”

Her attention to relationships doesn’t go unnoticed, says Ann Pederson, Director of Public Relations at Lovgren Marketing Group.

“Linda works very hard to build and then maintain excellent relationships in developing strong, long-lasting friendships,” Pederson says. “That speaks very highly of her as an individual.”

Outside of her office, Lovgren has a long history of involvement in professional and civic organizations. She was appointed to the Nebraska State Fair board when the event moved from Lincoln to Grand Island. She’s been heavily involved in education-related causes and currently serves on the Partnership for Kids board.

Lovgren also started a non-profit that combines her passion for making a difference with one of her favorite hobbies—fly fishing.

She founded the Nebraska chapter of Casting for Recovery in 2011. The organization takes

“If you’re passionate and you love doing it, it will make you happy.”

LINDA LOVGREN

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breast cancer survivors on an all-expensespaid fly-fishing trip on the Snake River outside of Valentine, Neb. “It really makes everything worthwhile to know that you’ve made a difference.”

That drive to make a difference is the key to Lovgren’s success, she says. “If you’re passionate and you love doing it, it will make you happy,” she says. “And if it makes you happy, you will be even better at it. I think that’s so true. When your whole heart is in it, you can overcome a lot of adversity and a lot of challenges.” B2B BestOfOmaha.com

Summer 2014 • B2B Omaha Magazine 45

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better business equipment company • daron smith

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Better Business Equipment Company DARON SMITH

BestOfOmaha.com

ETTER BUSINESS EQUIPMENT COMPANY is a

family-owned business that has 46 years serving the Metro area. They specialize in helping organizations identify, reduce and control their print-related expenses. “We provide the most advanced technology solutions and back it up with the best service and support in the Midwest,” says owner Daron Smith.

Better Business Equipment was the only company in Nebraska to receive the “Pros Elite 100” award, an honor given to companies that have reached a superior level of consistent service excellence.

“Our dealership was selected because we possessed all of the initial criteria of an Independent dealer and at the same time, allowed PROs, the Industry benchmarking experts, to assess our performance against the elite servicing benchmarks,” Smith says.

Better Business Equipment has been in business since 1968, when Smith’s father, Coyner Smith, set up shop in a small house at 45th and Leavenworth streets. The company has evolved from providing liquid-toner mechanical equipment to providing high-tech digital print devices that function with software similar to that used in smart phones. This cutting-edge technology allows the company to customize print solutions specifically to customer’s needs.

In order to provide the most efficient service call process, Better Business Equipment uses other state-of-the-art systems, including the DirectLINK center. “Frequently, our DirectLINK center is able to resolve service needs in minutes rather than hours by utilizing remote software tools to directly link into a multifunctional system or printing device.” These services are proven to dramatically increase uptime and improve their clients’ overall productivity.

Another example is the implementation of HID card reader systems. This process with the use of HID cards provides MFP access that is controlled. This technology can assist in the reduction of output cost, improve security and workflow efficiencies based on card credentials, and provide accountability through cost tracking at the individual user’s level.

“In our industry, all equipment requires service,” Smith says.

“Our goal is to minimize the impact to our customer.”

BETTER BUSINESS EQUIPMENT COMPANY 7929 W. CENTER RD. OMAHA, NE 68124 402-393-6666 BBEOMAHA.COM

Summer 2014 • B2B Omaha Magazine 47

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universal experts • dale abramson

UCKED AWAY IN A little office on the corner of 107th

& Pacific is a company you’ve probably never heard of.

For just over 15 years, Dale Abramson and his team of business strategists have been working behind the scenes, saving, growing and helping to launch businesses in Omaha and around the country.

Generally speaking, small-business owners are experts in their chosen field, whether it is rebuilding an engine, resurfacing a floor or serving a great steak. They’re in business because they believe they can do it better than anyone else. While clients do what they do well, Universal Experts handles the business end of things such as legal compliance, vendor relations, training and management, and, in particular, customer acquisition and retention.

Abramson’s company works with entrepreneurs just starting out, businesses trying to avoid bankruptcy or companies just trying to get to the next level.

Business owners are usually surprised to find out how affordable the company’s services are, Abramson says.

“Most of our services are profit-driven so our clients end up paying us just a small fraction of what we help them make,” he says.

From time to time, Abramson says, the company takes on special projects. Last year, the company launched a division called “Entrepreneur Jr.,” a program in which young people are set up with micro-businesses.

“The results have been absolutely amazing,” he says.

One of the young entrepreneurs started a business to help the local chapter of Special Olympics. The 13-year-old now has an opportunity to take his business nationally this summer.

Also, Universal Experts has launched the Omaha Business Club, a networking organization strictly for business owners.

“The fundamental principle of the Omaha Business Club is this: Every business owner has two things in common—they have something they need to buy and something they need to sell,” Abramson says.

UNIVERSAL EXPERTS 10730 PACIFIC ST. #107 OMAHA, NE 68114 402-301-2625 BUSINESSSTRATEGYFIRM.COM OMAHABUSINESSCLUB.COM

Universal Experts DALE ABRAMSON

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safari cigars & lounge • jeff doll

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OMFORT. CAMARADERIE. CONVERSATION. THIS

alliterative trio of descriptors sets the mood for any visit to Safari Cigars & Lounge.

“No great conversation ever began over a salad,” quips owner Jeff Doll in tweaking an old adage. “There’s something about a good cigar that lubricates any social setting.”

Featuring almost 700 selections from over 200 cigar labels in the area’s largest humidor, the city’s newest cigar hot spot is more than just the proverbial smoke-filled room, especially because an array of air systems are always silently working away. The bar is already gaining notice for their signature drink, the Manhattan, a complement to the lounge’s focus on a collection of rich scotches and smooth bourbons. The assortment of craft beers on tap, many of which are Nebraska exclusives, changes weekly.

The always-knowledgeable staff is often augmented by manufacturer representatives in a series of sip-n-smoke events aimed at a fun, interactive, and relaxing evening that pairs the best in hand-rolled cigars with the finest libations.

“The customer is king here at the Safari Cigars and Lounge,” Doll adds, “and refining palates is an important part of what we do. How do I find a cigar that’s right for me? What cigars go with what drinks? From the novice to the seasoned aficionado—including an ever-increasing number of women—there are always new and fascinating things to learn here.”

The lush teak and mahogany appointments may evoke images of a classic gentleman’s’ club straight out of Downton Abbey, but the friendly atmosphere is more akin to that of Cheers, Doll says, “where everybody knows your name.” He also recognizes that at least a few cigars in this town are destined to be smoked elsewhere, so Safari’s offers a broad selection of beautifully designed humidors, travel cases, lighters, and accessories—great gift ideas all.

Sink into one of the overstuffed leather chairs at Safari Cigars & Lounge and your troubles will go up in smoke. “A cigar is more than just a cigar,” Doll adds. “This is a place to unwind. It’s a place to escape from the world a few puffs at a time.”

Safari Cigars & Lounge JEFF DOLL

SAFARI CIGARS & LOUNGE 13110 BIRCH DR. #108 OMAHA, NE 68164 402-965-1460 SAFARICIGARSANDLOUNGE.COM BestOfOmaha.com

Summer 2014 • B2B Omaha Magazine 49

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wedeliveromaha • skyler camacho

F YOU’RE AN IKEA addict, you’ve surely dreamed of a

store opening up just down the road. Honestly, though, not gonna happen. Kansas City is likely the closest you ever get to a neighborhood Scandinavian Superstore.

Saving the day is Skyler Camacho and his new company, WeDeliverOmaha. Can’t get to IKEA? Or, don’t have the means to lug stuff home from your last IKEA journey? No worries. Camacho will do the heavy lifting—and long hauling—for you. And he’ll bring it right to your door.

“Others will get what you request and drop it at a location in your area, so you still need to go and pick it up, he says. “We feel that defeats the purpose, so we provide home or office delivery for no additional charge.”

There have been a few mom-and-pop companies in this area that have gone down this IKEA-delivery road before. The business model idea is to offer Omahans greatly reduced shipping costs compared to those demanded by the store iteself. But, besides bringing the products directly to your home, WeDeliverOmaha provides other levels of customer service that, Camacho says, distances his company from any others.

“There isn’t much competition out there and if there is, they don’t provide the level of customer service we do,” Camacho says.

“From the time you get to our webpage to the time of delivery...we communicate every step of the way.”

And there’s much more. “Shortly after our delivery service became full every trip, we felt the need to expand our service portfolio to include design, delivery, assembly and installation,” he says. “WeDeliverOmaha provides kitchen or bathroom remodeling; entertainment centers that are a modern take on the traditional square look from other home furnishing suppliers; closet solutions and standalone wardrobes; and solutions for any bedroom or dining space as well as living spaces.

“We are your solution for it all.”

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elite glass services • darrel piatt

S

TARTING FROM HUMBLE BEGINNINGS in 2001,

Elite Glass Services has grown to an 11-employee operation in La Vista that is widely considered one of the top custom glass shops in the metro area. Indeed, in 2013, Elite Glass Services installed glass in five of the seven houses spotlighted in the annual Street of Dreams.

The company specializes in providing both residential and commercial glass solutions. As such, the company’s glass experts are ready to handle custom designs for a wide variety of applications, including (but certainly not limited to) mirrors, shower doors and cabinet glass.

Elite supplies glass to a wide variety of customers, including builders, remodelers, designers and retail customers. Elite’s broad line of products can be viewed at the company’s showroom in La Vista, which was opened in 2012.

“We built a new shop and showroom to grow our business,” says Ben Alba, who co-owns Elite Glass Services with partner Darrel Piatt. “The showroom allows us to educate our clients with new and innovative ideas for interior and exterior glass applications. Our new showroom showcases all of our products. The showroom allows customers and clients to make selections from exact examples.”

Elite Glass Services is Nebraska’s exclusive distributor of the innovative “Beyond” series for designer backsplashes, custom glass counter tops and more. “Beyond” is an innovative product designed to make bars and kitchens into one-of-a-kind spaces.

This unique new technology is as versatile as granite. “Beyond” is easy to clean and has a less porous surface than granite, making it very low maintenance.

Also setting Elite apart from other companies: All the people involved in the process work in-house, meaning there will be none of the problems that can arise when outside contractors are used.

Elite Glass specialists are particularly well known in the Omaha area for their love of a challenge. Elite is known for tackling custom glass jobs that other companies are afraid of.

“Our company stands out in the Omaha market by challenging ourselves with different jobs that a lot of other companies wouldn’t attempt,” Alba says.

ELITE GLASS SERVICES 10327 CHANDLER CIR. #100 LA VISTA, NE 68128 402-630-3436 ELITEGLASSSERVICES.COM BestOfOmaha.com

Elite Glass DARREL PIATT

Summer 2014 • B2B Omaha Magazine 51

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westwood services • andrew foxhoven

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Westwood Services ANDREW FOXHOVEN

AVE YOU EVER SEEN a super-magnified photo of

dust mites? Yeah. We know. Pretty scary. Those creepycrawlers that thrive in your air ducts look like something straight of out of a horror flick. And don’t even get us started on what microscopic menaces lurk in your carpets. These and other unwanted guests are more than just nightmarish bug-a-boos—they are potentially dangerous, allergy-inducing pests.

Are you ready to experience clean?

Ridding your home of such pests is just one of the specialties of Westwood Services, the pros who offer full-service carpet, tile, and air duct cleaning. With over 15 years of serving their friends and neighbors in Omaha, and with an experienced, knowledgeable staff whose disdain for dirt is taken to new heights, it’s no surprise that Westwood Services carries an A Rating on Angie’s List.

At Westwood Services cleaning is their business.

“Do you remember how exciting it was to move into your place when it was new, fresh, and clean?” asks owner Andrew Foxhoven.

“Let’s see if we can help you reinvigorate that feeling. A clean home is a happy one and a clean office is a productive one.”

Execution is critical, Foxhoven explains, but the key to the company’s success—and the key to exceeding your expectations—is the consultative approach taken with every new client. “Just like with any business,” he continues, “this is more than about providing a service. It’s about us getting to know every square inch of your home if need be. It’s about building relationships. We want to be part of the routine that makes your life better, healthier, and cleaner.”

Westwood Services takes great satisfaction in every job they tackle—big or small—but Foxhoven also likes to point to a different source of pride.

“It’s important to us that everyone in the business succeeds together,” Foxhoven says. “We’re a family business, but too often employers forget that their employees have families as well.

Managing our business in a way that allows our people to enjoy their families the same way that I do is really important to us.”

WESTWOOD SERVICES 663 N. 132ND ST. #160 OMAHA, 68154 402-690-8307 WESTWOODSERV.COM

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dingman’s collision center • boyd dingman

W

ITH A NAME LIKE Dingman…well, how could you

not go into this business?

For 17 years, the Dingman name has been a leader in Omaha in repairing not only dings, but most any damage to your vehicle from small to seemingly catastrophic. Indeed, in that time, a major focus of the company’s owner, Boyd Dingman, has been to build an operation capable of handling most any challenge on most any type of vehicle. That can be a challenge considering how quickly automobiles are evolving.

“Our niche is being ahead of the curve in the auto body industry,” Dingman says. “We are always training to learn new repair procedures for the ever-changing vehicle.”

Dingman’s employees have made a name for themselves with their work. The company was selected as “Small Business of the Year” by the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce and also has been voted “Best of Omaha” for the past nine years.

Dingman’s Collision Center started out at a single location in midtown Omaha. The company has since grown to four body shops in the Omaha metro area.

Although the company has existed since 1997, Dingman himself has been involved in the collision repair business for much longer.

In fact, he spent his formative years helping out in his father’s shop, Ding’s Body Shop.

“I started in the 1960s working in my dad’s shop after school and on weekends,” Dingman says. “Working with my hands and taking care of customers’ concerns was always what I enjoyed. It was always a dream of mine to own my own shop.”

The family tradition continues. Much of Dingman’s success has come thanks to family members staying involved in the business.

Boyd’s wife, Diana, manages the business offices. His sons, Andy and Travis, and his daughter, Darcie, are also involved.

“We all take pride in our work,” he says. “Our customers are able to trust that we are going to do a proper, safe repair to their vehicle.”

Dingman’s Collision Center BOYD DINGMAN

DINGMAN’S COLLISION CENTER FOUR LOCATIONS IN THE OMAHA AREA DINGMANS.COM BestOfOmaha.com

Summer 2014 • B2B Omaha Magazine 53

the know-it-all

More Thoughts ON ENERGY…

T 402.718.9408

54

Is It A Good Idea For America To Send Oil And Natural Gas To Europe?

HERE IS A STRONG push to remove

the federal prohibition on selling unrefined American oil outside the country.

The latest justification is to help Europe with their dependence on Russian oil and natural gas. In reality, the removal of the prohibition will only serve to make the West Texas Intermediate price the same as the Brent Sea crude oil price. Not a good thing for the American consumer. The WTI price is almost always lower. It would certainly be a good thing, however, for those profiting in the oil business. So the decision has to be made on whether the American consumer or the domestic oil producer should be the priority. Helping Europeans with their dependence on Russia is a smoke screen.

If Europe employed the new drilling technology throughout the continent (yes, the dreaded fracking) they would be able to produce great amounts of natural gas—and a good amount of oil—right there. From the United Kingdom to Poland, huge deposits of natural gas have been located. If they actually cared about freeing themselves from the yoke of Russian gas pricing, they would do something about it, other than cry to America yet again. I’m tired of bailing out Europe when they have a solution staring them in the face.

Sending natural gas to Europe, Asia or anywhere is going to happen because there are no prohibitions on this export. Just like the regulations for exporting liquefied petroleum gas (LP Gas), there are strict safety and environmental approvals necessary for the completion of some 20 new liquefied natural gas (LNG) port facilities on our coast. The export of our natural gas will bolster the price of our domestic gas, but not significantly influence what consumers pay. This is because of the cost of liquefying, transporting and restoring the natural gas to a gas, costs anywhere from $4.50 to $8, on top of the domestic natural gas price. The real influence on our natural gas pricing will be the conversion of power production over to natural gas from coal.

Bottom line for Americans? The prohibition on

B2B Omaha Magazine • Summer 2014

the sale of American crude oil benefits American consumers. The export of LNG won’t have a meaningful effect on consumers. Natural gas prices will continue to rise as the conversion to gas continues. Just like 99 cent gasoline in 1999, our bargain basement natural gas prices are but an anomaly.

Bottom Line for Europeans? Either remain a slave to the ex-KGB Putin, or develop your own energy resources. Americans don’t need to further subsidize your lifestyle. Our commitments to you in the 20th Century should be nothing more than history.

The Continuing Saga Of The Keystone Pipeline

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URRENTLY, THERE ARE A couple

railroads making great profits from the transportation of North Dakotan and Canadian oil in tank cars. Huge profits. Little wonder they would rather not have the Keystone Pipeline constructed. Sadly though, the truth remains that transporting oil this way is dangerous. How many lives have been devastated in recent rail accidents? Too many in both Canada and the United States. Adding one more employee to oil trains won’t change the safety equation.

From a consumer’s perspective, the shipment of crude oil has been a lower spot market price near the sources of production. Yes, consumers in the Midwest have benefited from a discounted crude oil price to local refineries, which translates to lower gas pump prices.

From the oil producer’s perspective, the construction of the Keystone Pipeline would allow the instant sale of the Canadian contribution to the pipeline and to the globe at the world crude price—the Brent Sea price. A huge windfall for Canada. The only benefit to America would be any refining that took place in Houston.

Bottom Line? The Keystone Pipeline is certainly safer for oil transport, less costly for producers, and a windfall for Canadians. But it won’t do much of anything for Americans. B2B Any views and/or opinions expressed in “The Know-It-All” are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of B2B Omaha magazine, or its parent company, and/or its affiliates.

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