The September 11th Weekly Market Report

Nicole Buntgen, Contributing Writer

Red Door Woodfired Grill, a Kansas City-based restaurant, will open near 192nd & Highway 370 in Gretna, west of Hy-Vee between Citizens Bank and Culver’s. The “upscale neighborhood joint” has six Kansas City locations and is known for its scratch-made food and signature smoky pecan, oak and hickory blend.

Aroi Asian Cuisine will soon open at 2701 23rd Avenue inside Horseshoe Casino in Council Bluffs. The Asian-fusion restaurant combines Thai and Cajun flavors with menu items like papaya salad, shrimp spring rolls and pho with a Cajun twist.

Masa Luna Tamaleria has opened in the former Muchacho’s space at 1258 South 13th Street in Little Bohemia. Masa Luna is limited to customers age 21 and over. The menu includes handmade masa for tamales and al pastor tacos from the trompo. Masa Luna also offers “a progressive bar program based on additive free, sustainable agave-based spirits.” The primary owners are Carlos Cuevas and Gillian Cromwell Cuevas. Co-owners are Noah and Katie Mock, who also own Nite Owl and Fizzy’s Fountain & Liquors.

Marrow officially opened September 2nd at 17870 Oakmont Drive in Gretna, just south of Tiburon Golf Club. The casual fine-dining restaurant offers lunch, dinner and weekend brunch and is under the same ownership as Timber Wood Fire Bistro, Railcar Modern American Kitchen and Pasta Amore.

Good Evans, a breakfast-and-lunch restaurant, opened its third Omaha store last week in the former Old Chicago space on the northeast corner of 144th & West Center Road. Good Evans started in Kearney, Neb., in 2019 and currently has locations 74th & Pacific Street and 204th & West Maple Road as well as one each in Kearney and Lincoln.

There are plans for a new restaurant at 645 North 114th Street in the Miracle Hills Square retail center. According to a building permit, the 1,500 sq. ft. retail bay will be remodeled for a restaurant called Bloom & Board. While not confirmed, it appears to be a charcuterie board restaurant.

Hawaiian Bros opened its second Omaha restaurant this earlier week at 704 North 114th Street in Miracle Hills. The local Hawaiian Bros franchises are owned by Dean Hodges of DKPM Investment Corp. Kansas City-based Hawaiian Bros is known for its island-inspired plate lunch, which offers chicken or pork, macaroni salad, a bed of steamed rice or vegetables and Dole Soft Serve for dessert.

Nothing Bundt Cakes has opened at 3701 Metro Drive near Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse in Council Bluffs’ Metro Crossing center. The franchise bakery has existing metro locations at 10347 Pacific Street in One Pacific Place and 2921 South 168th Street in Omaha.

The Leavenworth business district will be welcoming a new bar on the southwest corner of 35th & Leavenworth Street, according to a building permit to renovate an existing building. The 2,200 sq. ft. space will undergo $80,000 in renovations including upgraded plumbing, electrical, flooring and paint. The business will be called, The Knowhere Bar.

As of September 10, Porky Butts BBQ is serving Porky Platters, Family Platters, catering orders and bulk meat orders for two pounds minimum for pick-up at its catering office at 15475 Ruggles Street between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. The restaurant remains temporarily closed for repairs and clean-up after extensive flooding damage that occurred at the beginning of August.

Supermercado Nuestra Familia, a grocery store specializing in Hispanic food and produce, plans to open in a former Walgreens building at 2323 L Street in South Omaha, according to a City of Omaha building permit. Supermercado has four existing Omaha locations plus one coming soon to Topeka, Kan. The company’s stores are commonly 40,000 sq. ft., but the South Omaha store will be much smaller at 15,000 sq. ft.

Ariat will hold a grand opening celebration this Saturday – September 13th – for its new store at Nebraska Crossing in Gretna. The 8,800 sq. ft. store opened for business last month between YETI and Athleta. Based in San Leandro, Calif., Ariat is an apparel, footwear and accessories retailer that focuses on equestrian, outdoor and work styles.

NeighborGood Pantry will hold a ribbon cutting ceremony Tuesday, September 16 from 4 to 5:30 p.m. for its location at 1712 Charleston Drive in Papillion. The non-profit organization serves greater Sarpy County and the Ralston community by providing food, hygiene/paper products and pet supplies.

Learn more about Anderson Convenience market at www.Anderson1952.com

At Vietnamese Restaurant, a Simple Name Delivers Bold Flavors

By Chris Corey

There’s something coming out of the kitchen in the humble Vietnamese Restaurant in La Vista that’s starting to take hold nationwide. You take a bánh mì sandwich and dip it into a steaming bowl of phở, just like a French dip. It’s an idea that makes sense, because the bánh mì is a sandwich created during the French colonial period in the mid-19th century when the baguette first entered Vietnamese culture. Vietnamese cooks made it their own, giving rise to both the famous sandwich and street-side baguettes filled with pâté, grilled pork, pickled veggies and herbs.

It’s called the phở mì dip, and it came about when co-owner K.C. Jones decided to dunk his bánh mì into a bowl of phở on a whim. He liked it so much that he began telling other customers to try it and it quickly caught on.

“I just dipped it, and I was like, man, that’s pretty good,” K.C. said. “So I told a couple of people, ‘Hey, try this.’ Next thing I knew, everybody was doing it.”

You’d think it would earn its spot on the menu right away, but his wife Evie, the restaurant chef, wasn’t convinced. For six years, she kept it off, equal parts amused and playfully irritated at her husband’s campaign to make dunking a thing.

“Bánh mì is bánh mì. Phở is phở,” she said. “I tell him, you eat it your way, but stop telling the customers! But they kept dipping, dipping, dipping…okay, I give up. Fine, put it on the menu because everybody’s already doing it.”

It’s the kind of playful banter, resistance to change and eventual fusion that makes both their marriage and their restaurant work so well.

Evie first opened Vietnamese Restaurant with her mother in 2010. Evie wasn’t the chef at the time—she was out front serving, while her mom worked the kitchen, cooking traditional recipes she carried here from Vietnam. But her mom began teaching Evie how to cook the dishes over time. When her mom retired, Evie took over.

K.C. had been working construction when Vietnamese Restaurant first opened. When a serious back injury forced him to rethink his career, he started helping out wherever he could in the restaurant. Over time, he became the face out front—talking with customers, managing the dining room and coming up with the occasional menu twist.

He sums it up this way: Evie runs the back of the house, and he runs the front, and together, they’re the engine that drives the restaurant.

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Westroads Mall Prepares for Dillard’s & Another, Yet-to-Be-Announced Retailer

Brookfield Properties, the owner of Omaha’s Westroads Mall, has officially sold the former Younker’s building to Dillard’s. The sale closed September 5th.

Dillard’s plans to completely gut the long-vacant anchor space on the mall’s west end and build a 32,000 sq. ft. addition. After the expansion and renovation, the 2-story department store will total 207,800 sq. ft. A new entry will be included as part of the addition.

Because the construction project will be so extensive, the Westroads Dillard’s won’t open until 2027. Dillard’s plans to relocate its Oak View Mall department store into the Westroads space. Dillard’s has a history of using closed stores as clearance centers, but no public announcement has yet been made.

As part of the project, the former Granite City Food & Brewery building will likely be demolished to make way for additional parking.

“Dillard’s coming in is a game-changer for our mall,” said Ryan Conlon, general manager at Westroads. “They’re a very successful department store – one of only two that are still publicly traded.”

Construction is expected to begin right away, and some equipment is already on site. Little Rock, Arkansas-based Dillard’s, which operates 278 stores in 30 states, will use its own in-house construction company to build the Westroads store.

“Dillard’s will significantly modify our merchandising plan,” Conlon said. “We’re expecting more merchants to follow.”

In fact, Conlon hopes to make another new store announcement in the next couple weeks, one that “will create a lot of excitement before the holidays.”

The yet-to-be-announced retailer is taking over the former Forever 21 store, a 2-level space near the mall’s center court. At 30,796 sq. ft., it’s the largest non-anchor space in the mall. The lease is going through final execution at this time. The retailer is a “family-friendly, recognizable brand” that plans to open in time for this year’s Christmas shopping season – no later than Black Friday.

Once that lease is finalized, Westroads will be 98 percent occupied.

One of the few remaining vacant spaces is a former Panera restaurant space near Von Maur. Conlon said the Westroads leasing team is actively looking for just the right restaurant or retail concept for the 4,500 sq. ft. space.

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Isaiah Ang, Contributing Writer

The Council Bluffs City Council approved a resolution to provide Tax Increment Financing assistance to a major data center project in east Council Bluffs. The data center campus will be located on vacant land near Iowa Western Community College on the southwest corner of Interstate 80 & Highway 6. The project will be built in two phases by a global company called Edged. Each phase will include a 283,497 sq. ft. data center building. The first phase will also include a 23,200 sq. ft. administrative building.

The developer’s costs are estimated to be $220 million, and the Council Bluffs will offer up to $50 million in TIF. The first phase is expected to be complete no later than 2029 and the second phase no later than 2033. Edged has several U.S. locations including in Des Moines, Iowa, and Kansas City.

Baker’s plans to build a 100,000 sq. ft. grocery store along the West Maple Corridor. A company affiliated with Baker’s purchased a 20-acre lot at 18303 Evans Street last month. Baker’s will occupy 13 of those acres. The seller was Fleet Farm, which had intended to build a store on the site but had a change of plans. No timeline for construction has been determined.

Dillon Real Estate Company, part of Baker’s parent company Kroger, purchased the lot last month for just over $10 million. Fleet Farm had purchased the land in 2021 for $4.84 million. Baker’s has announced another new Omaha store to be built northwest of 204th & Q Street.

Metropolitan Entertainment & Convention Authority today unveiled the new scoreboard, LED displays and ribbon boards inside the CHI Health Center arena. The center-hung scoreboard is the first wraparound board of its quality (2.5MM main video) in the nation. LED displays and video boards were upgraded throughout the arena. The entire project cost $6.5 million.

Two national firms issued high bond ratings for the city of Omaha last week. S&P Global Ratings assigned its AA+ long-term rating after reviewing millions of dollars in city bonds. Moody’s Ratings gave Omaha an Aa2 score. Both called Omaha’s economic outlook “stable,” according to a press release from the City of Omaha Mayor’s Office.

Omaha is hosting the American Association of Bovine Practitioners conference this week at the CHI Health Center. According to Visit Omaha, approximately 1,100 veterinarians and veterinary students are in attendance, with 95 percent of them coming from outside the metro Attendees are expected to book more than 2,600 hotel room nights.

U.S. Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) announced last week that Omaha’s Eppley Airfield has secured a $7 million grant for a federal inspection services facility. That will allow Eppley to offer regularly scheduled international arrivals once the $950 million terminal expansion is completed in 2028.

Up to 30 Metropolitan Community College students will have the opportunity to participate in the ultimate “distance learning project” this fall. Through a partnership with the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education, teams of MCC students will design and propose spaceflight experiments, with one MCC project selected for testing by astronauts on the International Space Station. Registration is open to all MCC students, including high school students participating in MCC dual enrollment programs.

The University of Nebraska at Omaha reported that 14,954 students are enrolled this fall. That’s a decrease of 18 students (or 0.1%) compared to fall 2024, but student credit hour production rose by a half percent. New freshman enrollment jumped 3.9 percent, with first-generation students from that group increasing 7.3 percent year over year. UNO’s College of Education, Health and Human Sciences saw the highest percentage increase in undergraduate enrollment.

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The 3D Print Stop has opened for business at 3503 Samson Way, Suite 115, in Bellevue. The locally owned business offers 3D printing services and 3D Modeling as well as 3D printers, supplies, repair services and setup services.

Mid-States Utility Trailer Sales has moved into 60,000 sq. ft. building southeast of Highway 50 & Interstate 80, according to Darland, which constructed the building. The project features a trailer shop, parts warehouse, a driver’s lounge, administrative offices and more than 11 acres of exterior paving, designed to accommodate large semi-trailers. Mid-States operates four locations across Nebraska, Iowa and South Dakota.

HDR’s global headquarters building in Aksarben Village now procures 100-percent renewable electricity through Omaha Public Power District. HDR is accomplishing this virtually through agreements with the building owner, Noddle Companies, and a program administered by the utility. This change will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions attributed to HDR’s largest office, which contains more than 1,100 employees.

FNTS, an Omaha-based provider of multi-cloud infrastructure solutions and an IBM Platinum Partner, has expanded its Software Advocacy practice with the launch of FNTS Passport-as-a-Service, “an efficient and cost-effective solution for organizations to manage, modernize and optimize their IBM Passport Advantage software portfolio and associated infrastructure.”

The United States has 1,135 billionaires, according to the Wall Street Journal. Together, they own more than 3,000 properties and are worth a combined $5.7 trillion. Five of those billionaires live in Nebraska.

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Reformation at the Crossroads, an Omaha-based nonprofit dedicated to helping women heal from trauma through faith-based mentorship, announced that executive director Kristine Bockerman will be the featured speaker at the Women’s Discipleship Group hosted by The Gathering Place Church on Wednesday, September 17. Reformation at the Crossroads also announced that its Annual Yard Sale will return on Saturday, September 20. Proceeds will directly support Reformation at the Crossroads’ mentorship and discipleship programs for women in Omaha.

On Sunday, September 21st, the Center for Immigrant and Refugee Advancement’s Omaha office is hosting Welcome Fest, a vibrant celebration of culture, community and connection. The event is part of national Welcoming Week 2025, which brings together neighbors of all backgrounds to celebrate and affirm the importance of welcoming everyone in our communities.

It’s All About Employment, a local nonprofit, announced it shut down due to a lack of funds. The organization’s remaining funds will be distributed to organizations with similar missions.

Yesterday, Kicks for a Cure, a local nonprofit which raises money for cancer research and promotes active, healthy lifestyles, hosted its Fall Tailgate fundraiser during the Creighton and UNO men’s and women’s back-to-back soccer matches.

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The most impactful night in Omaha sporting history will take place this Saturday. Terence Crawford, Omaha’s own world champion boxer, will take on Canelo Alvarez in a historic super fight at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev. Alvarez (63-2-2, 39 KOs) is widely regarded as the face of boxing and is a two-time undisputed super middleweight champion. Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) will jump up three divisions to Canelo’s super middleweight class (168 pounds), despite fighting the bulk of his fights at super lightweight (140 pounds) and welterweight (147 pounds). Terence Crawford is no stranger to moving weight classes – he has won title fights at four different weights and was the first boxer in history to unify all four major belts in multiple weight classes.

Crawford can cement himself as one of boxing’s all-time greats with a win on Saturday, and he can do it as the world watches. The super fight will be streamed live on Netflix as opposed to a traditional pay-per-view format, a first in major boxing. The six-fight preliminary card will begin at 4:30 p.m. on Netflix’s website. The main card begins at 8 p.m. on Netflix, with the main event walkouts expected around 10 p.m.

Omaha Volleyball was held winless at the Flo Hyman Classic in Houston last weekend. The Mavericks were swept by LSU and Houston on Thursday and Friday before falling to San Diego State, three sets to one. This weekend, Omaha will play in the Cyclone Invitational in Ames, Iowa. They will face Saint Louis on Saturday at 4 p.m. and Iowa State on Sunday at 2 p.m.

Creighton Volleyball went 2-1 this weekend in the Trojan Invitational but failed to pick up the win in the most important match against No. 22 USC. This weekend, the No. 18 Bluejays will play host. The Bluejay Invitational at D.J. Sokol Arena begins Friday, and Creighton will face a major test right away against No. 4 Louisville at 8 p.m. That match will be a powder blue stripe out. Even numbered sections, courtside, general admission and the student section should wear white, while odd numbered sections should wear powder blue. On Saturday, Creighton will play Rice at 4 p.m. and then close the invitational against Northern Iowa at 3:30 p.m.

Coming in at No. 18 in this week’s AVCA rankings, Creighton has set a program record with 65 straight weeks ranked. The Bluejays have earned their ranking for the past five seasons and will have to continue to do so playing against the nation’s best. Next Tuesday, the Bluejays have a marquee matchup with No. 1 Nebraska. First serve is at 6:30 p.m. The match will be broadcast on Fox Sports 1.

Union Omaha extended its win streak to three games on Saturday, defeating Texoma FC 5-0. Three games is the longest winning streak of the season for the Owls, who now sit eighth in USL League One standings with eight wins, ten losses and three draws. Union Omaha travels to New York for a match against Westchester SC on Saturday at 6 p.m. All USL League One matches can be streamed on ESPN+.

Omaha men’s basketball released its 2025-26 schedule on Monday. The Mavericks’ first game of the season will come on November 3 against the Murray State Racers and former Creighton assistant coach Ryan Miller. On November 21, Omaha will head to Baton Rouge to face LSU and 2024-25 Summit League Player of the Year, former Maverick Marquel Sutton. The final nonconference game on the schedule features a trip to Eugene, Ore., where coach Chris Crutchfield will take on his former team (2021-22) and Dana Altman.

Creighton senior Grant Feldman was named Big East Golfer of the Week by the conference on Wednesday. For the second year in a row, Feldman finished in second place at the Wildcat Invitational, the season-opening tournament hosted by Kansas State. This marks the second time in Feldman’s career that he was named Big East Golfer of the Week. He shared the award with teammate Charlie Zielinski in 2023.

Creighton Volleyball will be playing on a brand-new court when it makes its 2025 home debut against Louisville on Friday night. Like Creighton men’s basketball’s new home court that debuted last season, the court features feather patterns with more than a dozen “Easter eggs” hidden within. Detailed photos of the new court can be found on the Creighton athletics website and Creighton Volleyball social media accounts.

The “Dodge Street Derby”, a doubleheader between Creighton and Omaha’s men’s and women’s soccer teams, was held last night. The women began the event, and Creighton edged out a 3-2 victory over the Mavericks. Directly after, the Creighton men gave the fans in attendance a dose of déjà vu, also taking down the Mavericks 3-2. The event benefited Kicks for a Cure, a local nonprofit that raises funds and awareness for local cancer research at Creighton University’s Lynch Cancer Research Center and the Fred and Pamela Buffett Cancer Center.

The Omaha Storm Chasers are hosting the Charlotte Knights this week at Werner Park. After being swept last week at Iowa, the Chasers broke their losing streak in game one of this week’s series, downing Charlotte 7-1. Tonight is $3 Thursday – get tickets, Busch Light and select concessions for $3 each. First pitch is at 6:35 p.m.

Upcoming Games

• Omaha Storm Chasers vs. Charlotte | Sept. 9 – 14 | 6:35 p.m. Thursday
• #18 Creighton Volleyball vs. #4 Louisville | Saturday, Sept. 12 | 8 p.m.
• Omaha men’s soccer at Bradley | Saturday, Sept. 13 | 2 p.m.
• Omaha Volleyball vs. Saint Louis | Saturday, Sept. 13 | 4 p.m.
• #18 Creighton Volleyball vs. Rice | Saturday, Sept. 13 | 4 p.m.
• Creighton men’s soccer vs. Oral Roberts | Saturday, Sept. 13 | 7 p.m.
• Terence Crawford vs. Canelo Alvarez | Saturday, Sept. 14 | 8 p.m.
• #18 Creighton Volleyball vs. Northern Iowa | Sunday, Sept. 14 | 3:30 p.m.
• Union Omaha at Westchester SC | Saturday, Sept. 13 | 6 p.m.
• Creighton women’s soccer vs. South Dakota | Sunday, Sept. 14 | 12:30 p.m.
• Omaha women’s soccer at Western Illinois | Sunday, Sept. 14 | 1 p.m.
• Omaha Volleyball at Iowa State | Sunday, Sept. 14 | 2 p.m.
• Omaha men’s soccer at Notre Dame | Tuesday, Sept. 16 | 6 p.m.
• #18 Creighton Volleyball vs. #1 Nebraska | Tuesday, Sept. 16 | 6:30 p.m.

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The Union For Contemporary Art has announced its “Glow Up at The Union” event, happening Friday, October 3rd, 6 to 10 p.m. Join for a one-night only neighborhood dance party celebrating a new chapter for The Union. Tickets are $10 OR purchase an exclusive VIP pass for $50 for extra special perks and a goody bag.

Omaha Conservatory of Music’s fall classes are now open. Are you looking forward to making music with other cool students like you? Good news! Fall class registration is now open! From Rock Lab to Suzuki rep, there’s a wide variety of classes for you to choose from.

The Council Bluffs Parks and Recreation Department presents the sixth annual Comedy Night at River’s Edge, scheduled for Friday, September 19, 2025, from 7 to 9 p.m. on the patio outside River’s Edge Pavilion (4250 River’s Edge Parkway). This free event features stand-up comedy from four comedians with The Backline Comedy Theatre in Omaha.

The Omaha Symphony is taking the music of the Rocket Man to new heights!
In the first Holland Center concert of its 2025/26 Season, the Omaha Symphony will perform Elton John’s hit music with Michael Cavanaugh, the charismatic and brilliant musician Billy Joel picked to play himself on Broadway.

Performance Details:
“The Music of Elton John Starring Michael Cavanaugh”
Friday, September 19 at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, September 20 at 7:30 p.m.
Holland Performing Arts Center

Opera Omaha is accepting submissions for the 2025/26 Poetry & Music Project, which connects K-12 student poets with composers to create original music and explore the connections between poetry and music. From the submitted poems, nationally renowned professional composers will select poems that move them. The composers then create original music inspired by the poem and share their work with the poet in collaborative workshops to ensure that the essence of the piece has been captured. The program then culminates in public performance of the selected poems, now songs, with the poets, their families, and community members in attendance so they can see the fruits of their labor that come from this season-long project.
Learn more and submit your poem here.

Omaha Performing Arts has added three new events to the performance calendar:

• A Live Conversation with Chevy Chase following a screening of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation comes to the Holland Center on Monday, Dec. 1 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets start at $85 and go on sale Friday, Sept. 5 at 10 a.m. through ticketomaha.com.
• Date Change: Grand Funk Railroad brings The American Band Tour 2025 to Steelhouse Omaha on Sunday, March 1 at 8 p.m. Tickets start at $53.95 and are on sale now through steelhouseomaha.com. This event was previously scheduled for Friday, Aug. 29.
• Alter Bridge brings the What Lies Within Tour to Steelhouse Omaha on Saturday, May 2 at 7 p.m. Tickets start at $53.94 and go on sale Friday, Sept. 5 at 10 a.m. through steelhouseomaha.com.

Did you know Boys Town admitted its first group of girls in 1979, the first five of whom graduated in 1983?

Did you know the University of Nebraska Medical Center and its hospital partner, Nebraska Medicine, have an annual economic impact of $5.9 billion?

Did you know that CHI Health Center Omaha has hosted four USA Swimming summer Olympic trials?

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GO BIG RED Tailgate happening September 13th: Fans can relive the Memorial Stadium atmosphere as Nebraska takes on Houston Christian at the Granary Green. The game will be shown on a massive, 27-foot LED screen with stadium-quality sound and live DJ hype moments. Guests can enjoy tailgate grilling, unbeatable drink specials, yard games and pre-game entertainment. With concessions, touchdown shots and a high-energy crowd, it’s the next best thing to being at the game.

Pumpkin Prowl happening September 13th: Pumpkin Bowl, presented by Bloc Fitness, happening at participating Midtown Crossing locations! Visit as many stops as you’d like, in any order, and vote for your favorite establishment of the day. Full food and drink menus will also be available to complement the pumpkin favorites. The best part? All of the stops are within walking distance of each other!

Bridal & Wedding Expo happening on September 14th: The Bridal & Wedding Expo features an amazing selection of wedding professionals ready to help you find the perfect gown, reception venue, invitations, photographer, music, menu, honeymoon destination and much more! Free passes available online or pay $10 at the door.

Lunch & Learn happening September 16th: Join others on September 16th for an insightful Lunch & Learn with experts Tanner Lytle and Devon Seacrest from CodeBuddy, where they’ll educate you on the process of building software, explore the tools available, highlight common pitfalls and share practical advice to help you succeed on your journey. Lunch is covered — spots are limited. Reserve yours today!

La Calavera Catrina recurring daily through November 8th: Discover the rich history and iconography of La Catrina, one of the most recognizable figures of Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), through eight larger-than-life skeleton sculptures by Los Angeles artist Ricardo Soltero. An elegant female skeleton and an icon of Mexican heritage, La Catrina approaches death not through sadness, but as a colorful celebration of life. See these colorful and joyful works, with accompanying signage in both English and Spanish!

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Mutual of Omaha has appointed Jen Cunningham as vice president of solution management in Workplace Solutions. Before joining Mutual of Omaha, Cunningham held leadership roles at Lincoln Financial Group and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Creighton University.

The Builder Foundation announced the hiring of Melissa Glenn as its executive director. In addition to her executive leadership, Melissa is an adjunct instructor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, where she teaches online management courses. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a Marketing minor from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and an Executive MBA from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Farm Credit Services of America stockholders elected four agricultural producers to the Omaha-based financial cooperative’s board of directors: Dana P. Morgan of Corning, Iowa; Kelli Berg of Early, Iowa; Tim Wilson of Omaha; and Jeff Burg of Wessington, S.D. Nick Hunt of Atlantic, Iowa, retired from the board.

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LEADERSHIP & MANAGEMENT

Thirty-two percent of newly hired employees plan to quit soon; that number skyrockets to 48 percent for those who experienced poor onboarding, according to a survey by Software Finder. Sixty-seven percent of employees claim their onboarding was not completely accurate in reflecting their job responsibilities and company culture.

As many as 20 percent of first-time managers are rated as doing a poor job by their direct reports, and 26 percent of first-time managers said they did not feel ready to lead others, according to an article by Harry M. Kraemer in KelloggInsight. Nearly 60 percent of those first-time leaders said they never received any training as they assumed the role of leading others.

Global venture funding in August fell to the lowest monthly amount since 2017, according to Crunchbase. Startup funding last month totaled $17 billion — down 12 percent from a year ago and a massive 44 percent drop month over month.

SALES

Despite being a LinkedIn and social-selling trainer, Daniel Disney wrote in a Sales Gravy article that the telephone remains a powerful prospecting tool. He encourages you to use LinkedIn and telephone prospecting together. LinkedIn is a tremendous resource, and a great way to start potential opportunities, but you have to pick up the phone in order to get things going.

Top producers possess and use a wide range of skills to reach achieve success but the most fundamental are prospecting, handling objections and carrying out an effective discovery process. But if you want to improve your win rates, sales author Anthony Iannarino says you need a lot of conversations with prospects “that create clarity and commitment.”

WISDOM

“Our anxiety does not come from thinking about the future, but from wanting to control it.” – Kahlil Gibran

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Remember when your kids were young and you took them on a road trip? They sat in the back seat and every 10 seconds yelled, “Are we there yet?” The problem was they didn’t know where “there” was. Which brings to mind the old saying, “If you don’t know where you’re going, you might end up somewhere else.”

The same conundrum applies to investors. Hardly a day goes by that I don’t have somebody tell me that their investments are having a great year. When I asked them what does that mean, the most common response is, “I have a bunch more money.” Meaningful investment performance evaluation requires a benchmark.

Golfers evaluate their performance in terms of par. Par is the score a proficient golfer should expect to achieve on a normal day. The term par was used in the stock market before it became a golfing term. Back in the day, when investors felt that a stock’s price did not fully reflect a company’s economic value, they referred to it as a subpar stock. The market equivalent of par is one of the 3 major stock market indexes: The S&P 500, the Dow, or more recently, the Nasdaq.

How are your investments doing? The only way the way to answer that question is to compare them to the market. Most people are too busy to pay close attention to the market’s gyrations; the media focus on the last 60 seconds and do a lousy job of putting things in a broader, longer-term perspective.

To help remedy the media’s shortcomings, consider the following: Since 1900, the average yearly return for the market has been 10.3 percent. For past decade, the market has exceeded the norm and has gained 15.1 percent. This year to date, the S&P 500 has gained 10.6 percent, the Nasdaq 11.5 percent, and the Dow 8.5 percent. These three indexes tend to move in sync with each other – they just move in different magnitudes, with the Dow being the least volatile and the Nasdaq the most volatile.

There are 7,431 mutual funds currently available to the investing public. Of that number, 6,188 are actively managed, while 1,243 of them are index funds that mimic one of the major market indexes. Year to date, the average return on the actively managed funds is 5.4 percent. That means that half of them shoot below par and half of them shoot over par. By definition, all the index funds shoot par.

Investing is not a one-size-fits-all proposition. Some investors are focused on other things and prefer not to be bothered and randomly select actively managed funds with a 50/50 chance of success. Others care deeply about their money and choose index funds with a 100 percent chance of shooting par. Which one are you and are you there yet?

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The Grow Omaha radio show broadcasts live every Saturday morning at 9:00, but now you can watch videos of each episode instead of just listening.

Grow Omaha’s brand-new website features video footage shot inside the radio studio during each week’s show!

Videos include News of the Week, Lightning Round, guest interviews, and “Grow Omaha Uncut,” a behind-the-scenes look at what happens during commercial breaks.

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