Honoring the Past and the Future

2022 Nebraska Business Hall of Fame Inductees:

Mike McCarthy

McCarthy Capital 
Omaha

Mike McCarthy is the founder of McCarthy Capital, a private equity firm headquartered in Omaha since its founding in 1986. 

After graduating from St. John’s University (Minnesota) in 1973, Mike returned to his hometown in western Iowa to start a small construction firm, eventually expanding into developing real estate and investing in operating businesses. 

After moving to Omaha with his wife, Nancy, and four children Mike and his co-founder, Rich Jarvis, opened an investment bank focused on funding small businesses. 

Mike also began a long career of community involvement, serving on the boards of the Omaha Chamber of Commerce, the Omaha Community Foundation, United Way of the Midlands, the Omaha Zoological Society, Creighton University and other not-for-profit organizations.  He currently serves as a board member of Lasting Hope Recovery Center and is chair of the Heritage Services board of directors.  Mike also continues as an active Chairman of Bridges Trust while serving on the boards of Peter Kiewit Sons’, Inc., Union Pacific Corporation, Election Systems & Software and McCarthy Group, LLC. 

​Mike and Nancy were honored as United Way Citizens of the Year in 2012 and Mike was earlier inducted into the Omaha Business Hall of Fame in 2006.

John Sampson
​
Sampson Construction 
Lincoln

John Sampson was born in Hastings, Nebraska and moved to Lincoln with his parents and five siblings at an early age. John is a graduate of Lincoln High School and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. After graduation, he married his high school sweetheart, April Crossgrove and began working in the family business with his parents and brothers.  At that time, Sampson Construction was building custom homes, a few small commercial projects, and business was conducted on the dining room table of the Sampson home.
 
John became president of the business in 1995. The company began to grow rapidly under John’s leadership, which was a result of the risk he took on larger, more complicated projects. John has incorporated many innovative technologies and practices to grow and provide leading edge services to clients while preserving the Nebraska value instilled on him by his parent’s, that “business is done with a handshake and a promise.” In John’s time as president, Sampson Construction’s portfolio of work has been comprised of large commercial projects such as hospitals, schools, retail stores, worship spaces, manufacturing facilities, sporting venues, and commercial office buildings. Today, Sampson Construction has five offices in Nebraska, Wyoming, and Colorado, projects in 16 states, and proudly employs more than 350 full time employees.  
 
John is the recipient of the Burnham Yates Citizenship Award from the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce in 2013. John has given generously to higher education and healthcare organizations, among many others. He donated labor and materials to the city of Lincoln in 2010 to modernize Sherman Field to ensure kids across the city could have top-tier facilities in which to play baseball and softball. John also donated more than 28 acres of land to Bryan Health to build the April Sampson Cancer Center, a world-class cancer treatment center.
 
As Sampson Construction celebrates 70 years of business, John remains a visionary leader and mentor to his family’s business and an avid champion and supporter of his employees. John has long been a big proponent of family first - Sampson Construction has employed numerous families and their relatives under his leadership.  He and his late wife have one daughter, Cori Vokoun, and her husband Dan Vokoun. John and his wife Toni Thorson live in Lincoln.

Gloria Thesenvitz

Nova-Tech, Inc.
Grand Island

Gloria Thesenvitz is Founder and Chairman of the Board of Nova-Tech, Inc., a nationally recognized company providing custom aseptic fill manufacturing services and private label IV fluids to the animal health industry throughout the United States and Canada. 
 
Grounded in her rural Nebraska roots and following her graduation from Wood River High School, Gloria achieved her dream of being a wife, mother, and farmer. Throughout the next 18 years she farmed and was privileged to spend those early formative years with her 4 children. When that relationship and career choice dissolved, she utilized her knowledge of growing and marketing cattle to examine alternative agriculture crops. 
 
Utilizing tenacity and entrepreneurship Gloria founded Nova-Tech in 1988. The first product line - animal serums - are nutritional elements for the growth of cells invitro. Applying a pragmatic philosophy, she surrounded herself with knowledgeable people. Maintaining Nova-Tech CGMP Compliance in the manufacture of injectable fluid therapy products has provided Nova-Tech the pathway to be where it is today. Under her leadership the company focuses on staying current with technological advancements and marketplace trends, which sets the stage for Nova-Tech to be an integrated asset to their customer. 
 
In 2011 the site transfer of manufacturing into a new plant located in the Platte Valley Industrial Tract in Grand Island laid the foundation for three additions, bringing significant growth through increasing production and technical capabilities. Nova-Tech has a national reputation as a trusted source with a willingness to respond to changing industry needs. 
 
Gloria’s honors have included an invitation to present at the Pharmaceutical Technical Exchange Association Semi Annual meeting in Kansas City and being named the recipient of the Governor’s Bio Science Award and the Grand Island Independent Woman of the Year.
 
A strong advocate for education, quality jobs, women entrepreneurs and rural Nebraska, Gloria has reinvested her talents, time and resources serving on multiple community and state boards.  Currently she is a Governor’s appointee to the EPSCoR/IDeA Committee whose mission is to build the state's research capacity and competitiveness, invest in workforce development, and foster public-private partnerships in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

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 Each year, nominations for the Nebraska Business Hall of Fame are solicited from the general business community, statewide associations, and from academia. The Nebraska Chamber is proud to salute the accomplishment of the individuals that have been chosen by their peers to be included in this prestigious hall of fame.
     View past honorees as they are inducted into the Nebraska Business Hall of Fame here.
     ​The Nebraska Chamber celebrates Nebraska's business leaders each year with newly honored inductees. The Nebraska Chamber is also proud to honor those deserving young adults that will be the business leaders of the future. Each year, students who meet the established criteria will be awarded scholarship assistance.

For other videos, please visit the Nebraska Business Hall of Fame web page.