1% More Pledge / Mayor’s Economic Taskforce

1% More Pledge / Mayor’s Economic Taskforce
Feb 19, 2021
Angie Muhleisen and Ava Thomas, Co-Chairs
1% More Pledge / Mayor’s Economic Taskforce
Topic: Lincoln South Rotary Club Meeting 2021_0119
Time: Feb 19, 2021 12:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
Meeting ID: 898 6470 2773
 
ANGIE MUHLEISEN BIO:
Angie serves as President and CEO of Union Bank and Trust Company. She is responsible for the company’s growth, financial performance, bank-wide succession planning and bank culture. Union Bank is a privately-owned Nebraska bank that offers complete banking, lending, investment and trust services.  The bank has thirty-eight full service and loan production offices in Nebraska and Kansas. In addition to Lincoln and Omaha, branches are located in twenty-one Nebraska communities and in the Kansas City metro area.  The combined bank and trust assets are $33 billion.
 
A native Nebraskan, Angie earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Avila University in Kansas City, MO.  Muhleisen serves on many charitable and civic boards including Assurity Life Insurance Company, Compensation and Investment/Finance Committee, Bryan College of Health Sciences Board, Lied Center Advisory Board and the University of Nebraska Foundation Board. 
 
AVA THOMAS BIO:
Ava Thomas is the President and Publisher of the Lincoln Journal Star and has over 25 years of experience in the industry. Ms. Thomas began her career with the Journal Star in 1995, while attending the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Over the next 20 years, she worked her way up from a classified ad-taker to the president of the company. Along with her duties in Lincoln, Thomas is also a regional group publisher for Lee Enterprises, the Journal Star’s parent company.  She oversees 11 other newspapers and websites in Nebraska as well as Agricultural publications and sites in 12 other States.  
 
Thomas is a founder of the Inspire Women’s Leadership Awards and 100’s of Women Who Care Lincoln.  She is also co-chair of the Mayor’s Economic Recovery Task Force and a member of the board of directors for RISE, the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce, Lincoln Partnership for Economic Development, United Way of Lincoln and Lancaster County and the Lincoln Community Foundation.
 
EXCERPTS FROM THE LINCOLN JOURNAL STAR MAY 27, 2021:
Lincoln Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird announced the creation of a task force to help guide the city's economic rebound from the pandemic.
 
While the city has focused on addressing the immediate public health crisis and economic challenges, the task force will help guide a public-private effort to forge
Lincoln's economic recovery, Gaylor Baird said. 
 
To lead this effort, Gaylor Baird appointed Union Bank and Trust President and CEO Angie Muhleisen and Journal Star President and Publisher Ava Thomas to spearhead the group, which she's calling the Mayor's Economic Recovery Task Force.
 
The task force will develop strategies that are intentional, based on data and locally informed, she said. 
 
For example, the task force may examine the best retraining strategies for workers who are laid off, Muhleisen said. 
 
In its work, the task force will also keep in mind the disparate effects of the pandemic on the community's minority and elderly populations and find ways to increase the city's resiliency, Thomas said. 
 
Recommendations could include ways to help residents better access mental health services or help employers expand telecommuting capabilities, Thomas said.