Tagged: business

A conference bringing together entrepreneurs, innovators, and ideas begins today in Omaha.

Omaha-based Silicon Prairie News began Big Omaha in 2009. Now in its fourth year, the conference has grown to a three-day event with more than a dozen speakers.

Dusty Davidson, co-founder of Silicon Prairie News, says the conference is about highlighting entrepreneurial success stories, both in the Omaha area and nationwide. This year’s speakers include business journalist Antonio Neves, the founder of education website www.donorschoose.org, and a co-founder of social networking site Pinterest.

The annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting brought visitors from all over the U.S., and the world, to Omaha.

Berkshire Hathaway hosted a series of events in Omaha for shareholders during the meeting weekend. Saturday’s meeting brought at least 35,000 shareholders to downtown.

Dana Markel, executive director of the Omaha Convention and Visitors Bureau, says hotel occupancy jumps 30 to 40 percent during the Berkshire meeting weekend.  She says no other event in Omaha compares to the shareholders meeting when it comes to national and global exposure.

A survey of supply managers in nine states shows the economy is growing, in spite of continued troubles at the national level.

Creighton University economist Ernie Goss oversees the Mid-America Business Conditions survey. The Business Conditions Index, an overall indicator of economic health, climbed to 60 in April. A number above 50 indicates economic growth.  Goss says healthy agricultural and manufacturing sectors are to credit for the growth.

But Goss says that growth can’t be maintained unless the U.S. economy also grows. He expects slower economic growth the rest of this year.

The Mid-America Business Conditions report includes Iowa and Nebraska.

Russia’s Ambassador to the U.S. says two decades after the Cold War, relations between the two countries remain complex.

Sergey Kislyak discussed international relations during a forum Thursday night at UNO. Kislyak has served as Ambassador since 2008, and says the relationship between the U.S. and Russia has improved steadily over the past few years.

He says both nations are dealing with many of the same issues. “We have in common a lot of the biggest challenges that you face. Security challenges are the same, terrorism, inter-ethnic conflicts, inter-religious intolerance, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, narcotics, and one can continue, it’s a long list of problems.”

A Creighton University finance expert expects Warren Buffett’s cancer diagnosis to be the dominant topic at the upcoming Berkshire Hathaway shareholders’ meeting.

Buffett, the longtime Berkshire CEO, announced Tuesday he has stage one prostate cancer. Berkshire Hathaway Class A and B stock finished down about one and a half percent Tuesday and Wednesday.

Eight present and past outstanding Omaha area business leaders will be inducted into the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce’s Hall of Fame on April 24th.   

Chamber President and CEO David Brown says the honor is meant to recognize the work these business leaders have done in the community. 

He says it is also a nod to the volunteer and philanthropic work these individuals did while they were still running their businesses or, in some cases, continue to do today.

A new Walmart Supercenter in north Omaha is expected to create 275 jobs when it opens next year.

Walmart and city officials announced Monday that the Supercenter will be built at 50th and Ames Streets. Construction is scheduled to begin later this year. Mayor Jim Suttle says the project is important to north Omaha’s quality of life, as it'll provide a place for residents to buy household items, fresh fruit and vegetables, and other goods.

Suttle says he’s encouraged by the growth along the Ames corridor in the past year from 30th to 72nd Streets.

The new Walmart Supercenter will be built at the site of a former Bakers Supermarket.

A new study shows Omaha’s Midtown Crossing generated more than $26 million dollars in tax revenue for the city and state over the past five years, with an overall economic impact of $729 million during that time.

Midtown Crossing is a mixed-use development, with restaurants, shopping, housing, and a theater. Midtown Crossing hired Creighton economist Ernie Goss to study the development’s economic impact on Omaha and Douglas County. The study found Midtown Crossing provided an average of 806 jobs between 2006 and 2011, and boosted property valuations by 12 percent within a block of the area.

North Omaha is the new home of a national distribution company’s new centralized location.

Good 360 opened its distribution and sorting center on North 16th Street Friday. The organization gets donations of new surplus or out of season products from corporations. They repackage and donate the products to nonprofits, who distribute the items to people in need.

Omaha Mayor Jim Suttle says those types of businesses go a long way toward reducing North Omaha’s estimated 20 percent unemployment rate. He says new employment opportunities on the city’s north side will also reduce crime rates.

Good 360 consolidated 12 operations from around the country in to the Omaha location. The new warehouse is expected to reduce the company’s transportation costs.