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UNO Alumni Find Recipes for Success in Food Industry

Susan Ogborn graduated from UNO in 1977

Susan Ogborn ('77) is President and CEO of the Food Bank for the Heartland

The following is a story written by Lori Rice that was previously published in the Fall 2012 issue of the UNO Magazine.

Among its graduate body, UNO is known for populating the ranks of many professions. Every other Omaha police officer, it seems, is a UNO grad, and there are more Maverick teachers in the classroom than hail from any other institute of higher learning. UNO is known for its accountants, IT pros, business execs, media pros and more.

But chefs? Bakers? Restaurateurs? UNO is no culinary institute, after all. Yet finding multiple graduate “foodies” proved easy as … pie. No matter what they might have majored in, many UNO graduates can’t resist the call of food, turning, often in mid-life, to a culinary career. And they’re not just in the kitchen. Here are four stories of foodies with UNO degrees:

Keep on Truckin'
 Name: David Burr, Patrick Favara
Degree: Burr, 2011 — BSBA, Business Administration; Favara, 2010 — BA, Journalism
Occupation: Co-owners, Localmotive and Lorri's Lunchbox

It’s not every chef who has to worry about his restaurant’s brakes failing or generator going kaput. Or when it’s time for his diner to get an oil change. But these are things to consider when you’re a foodie on wheels.

Recent UNO graduates David Burr and Patrick Favara have been offering such since March with Localmotive, a mobile food truck serving upscale fare, most to Omaha’s downtown nightlife denizens. The two left secure jobs in their rearview mirrors — Burr as a line cook for midtown Omaha’s Dario's Brasserie, Favara as a marketer with Husker Media Corp. — and nothing but long hours ahead.

The duo combines for 180 hours a week. Until recently, Burr was logging up to 130 hours a week himself and he hasn’t had a day off since December.

“It's a lot of hard work,” Favara says. “It's not for everyone.” Adds Burr: “I used to hear entrepreneurs say all the time, ‘You just have to do it, just go for it.’ I didn't really get that until this.”

One thing Burr did get, though, was food. He’d held jobs in the food industry since he was 16. But not until he became a meat cutter for Wohlner's grocery in 2005 did Burr discover food was more than just a paycheck. It was a passion.

“I love the creative aspect, I love working with my hands, I love the actual rush of being a line cook,” Burr says. “You just kind of get in a zone and get focused.”

His market-savvy buddy, Favara, saw an opportunity to put Burr's culinary skills to use as a way to fill the late-night food void in Omaha. They’re joined by a third partner, David Scott. Treating their mobile kitchen as more of a restaurant than an events truck — Localmotive is best known for its signature item, the Rounder, a sourdough stuffed dumpling — the trio’s idea was to cater to the late night crowds and industry people of downtown Omaha. Seven nights a week from 10 p.m. until 2:30 or 3 a.m. the truck can be found at 12th and Jackson Streets.

A majority of their clientele consists of cooks, bartenders and servers whose shifts are just ending as Localmotive gets started. In addition to its overnight operations, the truck spends several days a week at 14th and Jackson for lunch and works private events and some corporate outings. They’ll serve at least 1,000 people each week, 200 on a Friday or Saturday night.

The trio also has purchased Lorri's Lunchbox, which provides cold caterings, box lunches and vending machine foods. They've brought growth to the company every month since, recently securing a 90-day trial run with a large account.

“It's an entirely different beast,” says Favara, noting it's on the other end of the food industry spectrum. “Sometimes it's a little tough to step back and see how far we've come,” Burr says. “But it's very rewarding to see people so responsive to what we are doing.”

It’s a business … on the move.


The Family that Bakes Together …
Names: Lou Rotella Jr.; Jim Rotella; Dean Jacobsen
Degrees: Lou, 1972 — BS, Business Management; Jim, 1975 — BS, Education; Jacobsen, 1974 — BS, Business
Occupations: Management, Rotella's Bakery

If your last name is Rotella, chances are folks in Omaha will ask you about bread. And no wonder — Rotella’s Bakery has become one of the city’s best known brands since Alessandro Rotella founded the company in 1921. Today, a third generation of Rotellas — including a trio of UNO graduates — is keeping the company … “rolling.”

President Lou Rotella Jr., a 1972 grad, recalls helping his namesake father as early as age 7, climbing onto a wooden milk carton so he could reach over the counter and help shape the handmade rolls and twists. Lou’s cousin and 1975 UNO grad Jim Rotella, sales director, remembers first jobs when he would “clean floors, make bread crumbs … and lift flour sacks.”

Funny thing, though — despite the family heritage, neither Jim nor Lou thought they would end up in the family biz. Lou expected to pursue a career in real estate or management after graduating with his degree; Jim planned to coach after earning his bachelor's degree in education. But both were drawn back into the Rotella family tradition, where they continue the company's longstanding commitment to quality and service. Other family members remain on staff, including Lou's brother-in-law and 1974 UNO alum Dean Jacobsen, company controller.

"We all work together," Lou says. "What I really like about this place is seeing it grow from where it was to where it is today and the potential that is still there.”


An Education in Popcorn
 Name: Vic Larson
Degree: 1969 — MS, Secondary Education
Occupation: Founder and owner, Vic's Corn Popper

Vic Larson’s daughter was on a privately chartered Caribbean cruise in the mid-1990s when she saw it on one of the island villages — a Vic’s Popcorn display. Not bad for what Larson says began as “a little hole-in-the-wall” business.

Larson and his wife, Ruth, began Vic’s Popcorn in 1980 at Omaha's 50th & Leavenworth Streets. There were no grandiose plans, no long-term business goals.

“My wife just wanted a part-time job and I always wanted to start a business, and I like popcorn,” Larson says. “So that's what we did.”

Larson’s vocation actually is in the classroom — he spent more than 30 years as a teacher and administrator for Omaha Public Schools. His parents and grandmother, all teachers, also taught for OPS. Larson earned a master’s degree from UNO in 1969 and later a Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

“Education, in my opinion, is a great profession where the people involved in it care about other people,” Larson says. Drawing upon his experiences from teaching, Larson says, he utilized many of the same philosophies in running his business. “Being straightforward and honest, that to me is the basis of being successful in anything you do,” he says.

Successful he was. The Larsons, in 1984, sold the corporation, but today still own four Omaha stores, where Vic continues to put in about 20 hours a week.

“It's been a wonderful experience so far,” Larson says. “And I'm not ready to give it up.” Vic's Popcorn, meanwhile, can be found in all 50 states — and on the occasional island.


Banking It
Name: Susan Ogborn
Degree: 1977 – MS, Counseling
Occupation: President and CEO, Food Bank for the Heartland

As a young child, Susan Ogborn watched her father donate free medical care to those in need and decided early on she, too, wanted to serve others.

“All my folks ever cared about was, whatever you do, make sure it makes the world a better place,” Ogborn says.

For the last three years she's tried to meet that ideal as president and CEO of Food Bank for the Heartland. As such she strives to bring attention to an issue many people don't realize exists in what is the breadbasket of the nation.

“What we know is that people who are hungry don't wear t-shirts that say 'I'm hungry'" Ogborn says. "It tends to be a hidden problem.”

Ogborn directs a paid staff of 35 and some 5,500 volunteers in any given year. Food Bank for the Heartland is based in Omaha but extends its efforts in 93 counties throughout Nebraska and Western Iowa. Founded in 1981, it's headquartered in a 76,320-square-foot warehouse from which it delivers 9 million pounds of food each year to more than 325 food pantries, emergency shelters, after-school programs, senior housing sites and rehabilitation centers. Ogborn enjoys watching her hard work come full circle.

“The biggest reward has been seeing people I have worked with … go on to become community leaders, too.”


For more "foodie" stories, visit the UNO Magazine website at unoalumni.org/unomag.