INNOVATIVE STATE
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
9:30 a.m. – Registration
10:00 a.m. - Welcome & Introduction – Ted Carter, President, University of Nebraska, and Bryan Slone, President, NE Chamber
Auditorium
10:15 – 11 a.m. - “The Imperative for Much Greater R&D/Technology Investments in Nebraska’s Core Economic Sectors”
Auditorium
Panel Discussion:
11:00 – 11:15 a.m. – Break
11:15 – noon - “The University’s Vision for Leveraging Research & Technology in Building Nebraska”
Cathy Lang, JD, NBDC Executive Director, Assistant Dean, UNO College of Business Administration
Auditorium
Noon – 12:30 – Lunch
Banquet Room
12:30 p.m. – 1:15 p.m. - Keynote: "Demystifying the Internet: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at Where the Internet Lives"
Joe Kava, Google Vice President - Data Centers
Banquet Room
1:15 – 1:30 p.m. – Special Announcement
1:30 – 2:15 p.m. – “How We Accelerate Growth in Nebraska’s Technology & Innovation Ecosystem”
Auditorium
Stakeholder Panel Discussion – Moderated by: Heath Mello
2:15 – 3:00 p.m. – “Building a Technology Company in Nebraska”
Jessica Kolterman, External Affairs Director, Lincoln Premium Poultry
Auditorium
3:00 – 3:15 p.m. – Break
3:15 – 4:00 p.m. - Breakouts:
First Floor
Public Policy Breakouts & tour of Makers Space
Agriculture (Room A1) –James Nygren, Legislative Affairs Officer, Farm Credit Services of America
Manufacturing (Room A2) – Scott Volk, Vice President & COO, MetalQuest Unlimited, Inc.
Financial Services (Room A3) – Stacy Watson, Tax & Consulting Shareholder, Lutz
Healthcare (Room D) –Jeremiah Blake, Government Affairs Associate, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska
Nebraska Innovation Studio Tour – David Martin, Director
4:00 p.m. – Networking Cocktail Reception
10:00 a.m. - Welcome & Introduction – Ted Carter, President, University of Nebraska, and Bryan Slone, President, NE Chamber
Auditorium
10:15 – 11 a.m. - “The Imperative for Much Greater R&D/Technology Investments in Nebraska’s Core Economic Sectors”
Auditorium
Panel Discussion:
- Agriculture – Mark McHargue, President Nebraska Farm Bureau
- Manufacturing – Kyle Nixon, Director of Supply Chain for the Americas, Novozymes
- Financial Services – Mark Hesser, Pinnacle Bankcorp, Inc.
- Healthcare – Russ Gronewold, President & CEO Bryan Health
11:00 – 11:15 a.m. – Break
11:15 – noon - “The University’s Vision for Leveraging Research & Technology in Building Nebraska”
Cathy Lang, JD, NBDC Executive Director, Assistant Dean, UNO College of Business Administration
Auditorium
Noon – 12:30 – Lunch
Banquet Room
12:30 p.m. – 1:15 p.m. - Keynote: "Demystifying the Internet: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at Where the Internet Lives"
Joe Kava, Google Vice President - Data Centers
Banquet Room
1:15 – 1:30 p.m. – Special Announcement
1:30 – 2:15 p.m. – “How We Accelerate Growth in Nebraska’s Technology & Innovation Ecosystem”
Auditorium
Stakeholder Panel Discussion – Moderated by: Heath Mello
- Dan Hoffman, CEO, Invest Nebraska
- Kenneth Moreano, President, Scott Data Center
- Chafik Barbar, Founder & CEO Marble Technologies
2:15 – 3:00 p.m. – “Building a Technology Company in Nebraska”
Jessica Kolterman, External Affairs Director, Lincoln Premium Poultry
Auditorium
3:00 – 3:15 p.m. – Break
3:15 – 4:00 p.m. - Breakouts:
First Floor
Public Policy Breakouts & tour of Makers Space
Agriculture (Room A1) –James Nygren, Legislative Affairs Officer, Farm Credit Services of America
Manufacturing (Room A2) – Scott Volk, Vice President & COO, MetalQuest Unlimited, Inc.
Financial Services (Room A3) – Stacy Watson, Tax & Consulting Shareholder, Lutz
Healthcare (Room D) –Jeremiah Blake, Government Affairs Associate, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska
Nebraska Innovation Studio Tour – David Martin, Director
4:00 p.m. – Networking Cocktail Reception
Speaker Bios
Mark McHargue, President, Nebraska Farm Bureau
Mark McHargue is a fourth-generation farmer from Central City with his wife, Judi. They have a diversified farming operation raising irrigated corn, popcorn, and soybeans utilizing and organic and conventional cropping methods, along with running a nursery and finishing hog operation. Mark and his son also own and operate McHargue Builders. He was elected President of Nebraska Farm Bureau in December 2020 and elected to the American Farm Bureau Board of Directors in January 2021.
McHargue has been in leadership capacities for more than 20 years in Nebraska Farm Bureau. McHargue is the Vice President of the Farm Bureau Financial Services Property & Casualty Board and Chair of the NFB-Foundation Board. Mark serves on several appointed positions including the University of Nebraska Presidents Advisory Council, University of Nebraska Medical Center Rural Health Advisory Committee, and the Hydrogen Hub Working Group. He has a passion for agriculture policy and advocacy. Mark’s hope is that the next generation of farmers and ranchers will have the same opportunity to pursue their dreams as agriculturalists as he was given. McHargue attended Grace University in Omaha. He is involved in his community and has served on various boards including Chairman of Nebraska Christian Schools and Chairman of Heartland Evangelical Free Church. Mark and Judi are members of the National Angelman Syndrome Foundation, which advocates on behalf of those who have no speech, such as their daughter Charis, who has been diagnosed with Angelman syndrome. The McHargues’ have four children and eight grandchildren. |
Kyle Nixon, Director of Supply Chain for the Americas, Novozymes
Kyle has been with Novozymes since March of 2011. He has held positions as the Logistics Manager, Operations Manager, General Manager for the site in Blair Nebraska as well as his most recent position as Director of Supply Chain for North and South America with Novozymes. Kyle was directly involved in opening the Novozymes plant in Blair in 2012. Prior to Novozymes Kyle was with UPS for almost 20 years holding positions as package car and tractor/trailer driver, Supervisor, Manager and Division Manager with over 13 facilities in Nebraska. Kyle attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
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Mark Hesser, President, Pinnacle Bancorp, Inc.
Mark Hesser is President of Pinnacle Bancorp. Founded in 1938, Pinnacle Bancorp is a family-owned, 18 billion financial holding company operating 161 community banks in eight states including 65 in Nebraska.
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Russ Gronewold, President & CEO, Bryan Health
Russ Gronewold earned his Bachelor’s degree from Midland University and his MBA from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. He started his career as a CPA with Arthur Andersen in the health care division, and has over 30 years in the health care industry. This includes senior management positions with four different health systems working in the areas of business development, operations, innovation, finance, physician practice management, and managed care. After 10 years as Bryan Health’s Chief Financial Officer, Russ became Bryan’s CEO in 2020. Russ serves as Chair of Regional Policy Board 6 for the American Hospital Association (AHA), is on the Board of the AHA, and has been a recent Chair of the Nebraska Hospital Association.
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Cathy Lang, JD, NBDC Executive Director, Assistant Dean, UNO College of Business Administration
Catherine Lang is the Executive Director of the Nebraska Business Development Center (NBDC) at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Lang leads the statewide outreach for NBDC to build collaborative efforts across all four campuses of the University of Nebraska supporting the University’s economic development mission to help grow the economy of Nebraska.
Lang also serves as Senior Advisor to the President of the University for Economic Development and the President of the University Technology Development Corporation (UTDC). Lang advises the University President and leads efforts to expand economic opportunity and prosperity in Nebraska through talent development, the deployment of innovative research and technology, community engagement, and place-making strategies. Ms. Lang served the State of Nebraska for almost 33 years as the Director of Nebraska Department of Economic Development, the Commissioner of Labor, the Nebraska Property Tax Administrator and the Deputy Tax Commissioner. Catherine received her Juris Doctor from the College of Law, University of Nebraska in 1983 and her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1974. |
Mr. Joe Kava, Google Vice President – Data Centers
Joe Kava is Vice President of Data Centers at Google. His current responsibilities include engineering, construction management and delivery, critical facility operations, environmental health and safety, and sustainability for Google’s global fleet of data centers. Joe joined Google in 2008 from RagingWire Data Centers, a privately held colocation provider in Sacramento, California. While at RagingWire, Joe served as the company’s chief operating officer, where his responsibilities included design, construction, facility operations, managed services, business planning, and development.
Prior to joining the data center industry, Joe spent 17 years in the semiconductor industry, working at LSI Logic and Applied Materials in various technical and executive roles, such as process and product development, new product introductions, engineering operations, business development, general management, and IT operations. He holds four US patents for his work in reactive ion and plasma etch technology while at Applied Materials. Joe has a Bachelor of Science degree in Materials Engineering from the California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. During his tenure at Google, Joe has been a staunch advocate for building sustainable data centers and implementing Google’s cloud computing strategy. He is passionate about educating the global data center industry so that others can benefit from the efficiency best-practices pioneered by Google. Joe was also the recipient of the 2019 iMasons Sustainability Champion Award. |
Dan Hoffman, CEO, Invest Nebraska Corporation
Dan Hoffman has been employed with Invest Nebraska since 2008 and currently serves as CEO. He earned a M.A. in Economics and a B.S. in Finance from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Dan also is an adjunct faculty member at the UNL College of Business teaching economics and entrepreneurship.
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Ken Moreano, President, Scott Data Center
Ken Moreano joined the Scott Data Center in May 2002. He has led the efforts to develop the 20-acre campus into approximately 250,000 square feet of research, office, data center and incubator facilities. As the President of the 80,000 square foot Scott Data Center, Mr. Moreano was responsible for the 2006 construction which met the requirements of the Department of Defense. After five years, a change in the mission initiated the departure of the Department of Defense and a repurposing effort of the facility. In 2011, Ken oversaw the data center renovation, addition of a 20-megawatt central plant and achievement of the Uptime Institute Tier III certification in both design and construction. In 2021, Ken lead the effort of conducting 60+ customer interviews, developing a catalog of technical services, and validating the opportunity to launch Scott Managed Services in 2022.
In addition to his primary operational responsibilities, in 2010 Mr. Moreano founded, raised the capital and developed the model for the National Innovation Fund, LP - a venture investment fund focused on start-up and early-stage Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grantee companies. In 2014 Mr. Moreano, co-founded Aksarben Discovery Fund I, LP, a seed-stage fund predicated on the Evidence-Based (“Lean Start-up”) approach. In 2019 Mr. Moreano co-founded Aksarben Discovery Capital Management, a seedstage investment partnership relying on evidence-based methodology. During the 20+ years at Scott Technology, He has advised, operated, invested in and/or developed over 40 start-ups. Ken has also participated in innovation summits at MIT, Stanford University and Carnegie Mellon University. As an authorized agent for the Suzanne & Walter Scott Foundation, Ken engages with a wide range of organizations from start-up companies to well established corporations. The Scott Technology Center's mission is to develop and facilitate the commercialization of emerging technologies while adding value to partnerships with industry, government and academia. |
Chafik Barbar, Founder & CEO, Marble Technologies
Chafik Barbar is the founder and CEO of Marble Technologies, a startup company accelerating food system technologies for people and the planet. Chafik has 20 years of experience in ag tech and is a serial entrepreneur who previously built and sold a business. Working where humans and technology intersect, Chafik and the Marble team develop automated systems for food processors to make the jobs at processing facilities easier and the food product safer. Marble’s first product combines the latest advancements in artificial intelligence, computer vision, and robotics to automate the process of identifying, sorting, and boxing cuts of meat. Chafik earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Nebraska and his MBA from MIT.
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Jessica Kolterman, External Affairs Director, Lincoln Premium Poultry
Jessica Kolterman was the first Nebraskan hired to the Lincoln Premium Poultry team, where she serves as the Director of Administration, overseeing human resources, training and development, governmental relations, communications, community engagement, grower support, and company culture. Previously serving as an agriculture lobbyist and campaign consultant, Jessica was brought to Lincoln Premium Poultry by Governor Ricketts through a special assignment in the Nebraska Department of Agriculture before being hired by the company. While at Lincoln Premium Poultry, Jessica has led her team to receive numerous recognitions and awards for their innovation, community engagement and business partnerships.
In her continued service to her communities and the state, Jessica serves as a Seward City Council person representing ward 1, is involved with Seward’s nationally recognized 4th of July Celebration, and with Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital. In Fremont, Jessica serves on the Chamber Board of Directors and the Greater Fremont Development Council Board of Directors. She also serves on the Nebraska Environmental Quality Council. Jessica earned a BA in political science from William Jewell College, Liberty, Missouri, and earned a MA in mass communication from UNL. Jessica enjoys international travel and spending time with her 92 and 95-year-old grandmothers. |
James Nygren, Legislative Affairs Officer, Farm Credit Services of America
James Nygren is the Legislative Affairs Director for Farm Credit Services of America, based in Omaha. Prior to his position with FCSAmerica. He worked for state and federal elected officials covering agriculture, energy, environment, immigration and trade issues. He received his B.S. and J.D. from the University of Nebraska and his M.P.S. at George Washington University.
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Scott Volk, Vice President & COO, MetalQuest Unlimited, Inc.
Scott Volk is the Executive Vice President and COO of MetalQuest Unlimited, an advanced CNC-based manufacturing company located in Nebraska and Idaho. Serving large manufacturing firms throughout the United States, MetalQuest is a recognized manufacturing leader and the recipient of several manufacturing awards. A competitive advantage for MetalQuest is its company-wide use of smart manufacturing and automation, which allows the business to be cost-competitive in the global manufacturing market. Scott oversees the management and operations of the company, leads process and systems development, manages customer and supplier relationships, and has a key role in defining business strategy.
Scott serves as the chair of the NE Chamber Manufacturing Policy Council and Nebraska Manufacturing Advisory Council. He also serves on the steering committee for the NE Manufacturing Alliance. Additionally, he is an advisor to several high school and college manufacturing and automation programs. |
Stacy Watson, Tax & Consulting Shareholder, Lutz
Stacy Watson is a Tax and Consulting Shareholder at Lutz with over 20 years of experience in taxation. She has in-depth experience in providing state and local, income, franchise, sales, use and escheat taxes.
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Jeremiah Blake, Government Affairs Associate, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska
Jeremiah Blake is the Government Affairs Associate for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska. He has two decades of government affairs experience having served as an advisor to both state and federal elected officials, as well as a lobbyist in the telecommunications industry. Jeremiah is married with three children, lives in Lincoln, and is a graduate of Leadership Nebraska (Class X).
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