The Lincoln
AUGUST 2019
BUSINESS
Journal
Vol. 22 No. 8 $2.00
Reaanddit
Banking .......................Pages 4-6 Employee Benefits ......Pages 8-9
livation focuses on behavioral health takes a collaborative approach. Page 2
Wax Buffalo carves out niche in
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Lincoln Business Journal — inside AUGUST 16, 2019
THE BUSINESS NEWSPAPER OF GREATER OMAHA, LINCOLN AND COUNCIL BLUFFS
$2.00
VOL. 45 NO. 33
Omaha National Insurance leverages workers’ comp for expansion plan
THIS WEEK 'S ISSUE:
by Richard D. Brown
The 712 Initiative looks toward single family housing in next phase. – Page 2
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Squires helps bring Omaha Performing Arts into all corners of the community. – Page 3
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Venue selection greatly contributes to overall spirit for holiday office parties. – Page 28
The six partners who formed Omaha National Insurance — a provider of workers’ compensation insurance for small to mid-size business — is now planning on adding Illinois and Pennsylvania to its coverage area. The partners began by marketing in California two years ago and last month started underwriting incidental exposure coverage in Nevada and Arizona. Sales in Nebraska could begin by the end of this year. “This will more than double our premiums written this year over what we did in 2018,” said President/CEO Reagan Pufall. Pufall, a North Dakota native and University of North Dakota Law School graduate who brought his career specialty in workers’ compensation insurance to Omaha in 2000, presides over an 83-employee firm that is doubling its initial 12,000-squarefoot space in the Metropolitan Business Center in southwest Omaha. The company has added Continued on page 9.
President and CEO Reagan Pufall … Aiming to greatly build number of premiums written with expansion plan.
DLR Group extends global reach and doubles number of offices by Becky McCarville
In the past four years, DLR Group, an architecture, interior design, engineering and building optimization firm founded in Omaha in 1966, has increased its operations from 710 employees in 15 offices to 1,200 design professionals in 30 locations worldwide. “This growth has added new geographies, markets and a greater depth of design specialization
to our employee-owned firm,” said Principal and Central Region Leader Curtis Johnson, which includes the Omaha, Lincoln and DesMoines locations. Some of DLR Group’s national offices in the 80- to 120-employee range include Omaha, Minneapolis, Phoenix, Los Angeles and Cleveland. The smaller offices can have 12 to 20 to 30 employees. The firm’s sports, Continued on page 9.
From left, partners Mike Battershell, David Gilinsky and Kevin Gilinsky … Acquisitions and collaboration position longstanding promotional products company to withstand economic ups and downs, industry challenges.
Bergman Incentives diversifies, grows with Kansas City, Lincoln acquisitions by Michelle Leach
Principal and Central Region Leader Curtis Johnson … Increasing global footprint by adding offices nationally and around the world.
Nebraska was barely 20 years old when Bergman Incentives got its start in Omaha, and its leadership is positioning the branding and promotional products business for growth with the recent acquisition of likeminded Lincoln and Kansas City organizations. These acquisitions pave the way for an enhanced regional footprint and diversify the company to
resist inevitable ups and downs. “The world is rapidly changing, and many owners are getting older and doing business succession plans, so there is a huge transfer of wealth,” said David Gilinsky, fifth-generation family leadership. “We understand we don’t need to grow for growth’s sake. We want to grow for sales associates, and our strategy is to diversify our Continued on page 8.