INTRODUCING THE HONOREES
Business Journal
MBJ to present inaugural Golden Circle Awards
Page 10
CELEBRATING 50 YEARS
YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY ACROSS NEBRASKA & BEYOND
MBJ.COM
VOLUME 52 No. 14
$2.00
APRIL 3, 2026
Life by Design PAUL WEST ON TIME PORTFOLIOS AND CIVIC LEADERSHIP BY DAISY HUTZELL-RODMAN Paul West will preside over his first board meeting as president of the Greater Omaha Chamber April 10. It is the latest addition to a portfolio that already includes managing partner at Carson Wealth, co-founder of the Apiary Social Club and board positions with six community organizations. West, however, doesn’t think about his life in terms of titles. He thinks about it in terms of time. It’s the same question he asks business owners that most financial advisers skip: What’s your time portfolio? Not how much money is in stocks versus bonds. Not whether to take the lump sum or the structured payout. The question is answered in how many hours a week one wants to spend traveling, with family, exercising, reading — actually living the life they’re planning to fund. It’s a question born from experience. West owned his own registered investment advisory firm for five years before selling it to join Carson in 2012. He knows what happens when a business owner’s identity becomes inseparable from their business card and what it costs them when it’s time to exit. “A lot of business owners don’t exit because their ego gets in the way and they don’t know how to identify themselves when they go out in public,” he said. West has built a practice around helping people understand who they are beyond what they do and he’s built a life that proves it’s possible. He recently sat down with Midlands Business Journal for a closer look at wealth, Omaha and being social. PAUL WEST ON PAGE 08
12| A QUESTION
OF BALANCE
ARTS CENTER OPENS DOORS
PROFITABILITY IS ONE THING, BUT CASH FLOW IS EVERYTHING
O-PA’S TENASKA CENTER TO HOST COMMUNITY DAY APRIL 11 Omaha Performing Arts (O-pa) is celebrating the grand opening of the Tenaska Center for Arts Engagement with a series of public events at the Dick & Mary Holland Campus, 1115 Dodge St. The organization presents Broadway, jazz, dance, comedy, family programming and live music, with the new center furthering O-pa’s mission to make performing arts accessible to audiences across Nebraska and the region.
ARTS CENTER ON PAGE 06
18| WEALTH IN
TRANSITION
TWO LEGAL SHIFTS RESHAPE NEBRASKA WEALTH PLANNING