Welcome to BHMI's Corporate Blog!

The PMI Heartland Chapter is the Omaha chapter of the Project Management Institute (PMI).  PMI is one of the world’s largest professional membership associations, with half a million members and credential holders in more than 185 countries. It is a not-for-profit organization that advances the project management profession through globally recognized standards and certifications, collaborative communities, an extensive research program, and professional development opportunities.

This is Cheryl Fizgarrald’s second year on the Board of Directors as Vice President of Membership.  Cheryl is a Senior Project Manager at BHMI.  She believes the annual  Professional Development Day is one of the Heartland chapter’s greatest educational opportunities.

This year, the event will be held on Monday, September 17th at the Embassy Suites LaVista Conference Center and is open to Heartland Chapter members as well as non-members.  The event is suitable for a wide spectrum of individuals involved with project management, from those who would like to determine if a career in project management is right for them or are new to the field to those with decades of experience in project management.

It will be a day of networking, opportunities in professional / leadership development, and refinement of project management knowledge and techniques.

For this year’s event, the chapter is bringing in three high-profile keynote speakers:

1. Tom Osborne, Athletic Director at the University of Nebraska
2. Bill Rancic, Original Apprentice Winner, Entrepreneur, and Author
3. Barb Stennes, President and CEO of Resources Unlimited, the #1 worldwide distributor of the Edward de Bono Thinking Systems

Click here for more information or to register.

Cheryl Fitzgarrald is also hosting a book discussion group.  The group met in early April to discuss The Lazy Project Manager by Peter Taylor.  The next discussion will be held on Tuesday, July 10^th.  The chapter is currently soliciting suggestions for books (through May 20th), voting between May 21st – June 3rd, and announcing the book to be read on June 4th.  To vote, please visit the PMI Heartland (NE) Chapter group on Linked In at:  http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2793105&trk=hb_side_g

The mission of Union Pacific’s Women in Technology (WIT) is to be nationally and globally recognized as highly technical women who strive to make a positive impact in technology by leading innovative efforts in programming, infrastructure and operational support strategies.

WIT holds various events to discuss topics of interest to women in technology.  This year, a panel event was held on March 29th at Union Pacific headquarters in Omaha, NE.  Lynne Baldwin, President of BHMI, was invited to be a part of a panel discussion among three women in technology about their careers in the technology industry.  The panelists each shared their stories of how they had advanced in the industry to the positions they hold today and answered questions from the 100 WIT members in attendance about opportunities, what the future holds, and more.

ATEFI is the Latin American Association of Service Operators for Electronic Funds Transfer and Information. 

Omaha, NE – May 9, 2012 – Baldwin Hackett & Meeks, Inc. (BHMI), a leading supplier of high-volume transaction processing solutions, will be showcasing its Concourse Financial Software Suite™, a proven back-office processing solution for electronic payments transactions, at the ATEFI Annual Meeting of Members.  This event is being held in Ciudad Antigua de Guatemala, Guatemala from May 16 to 19, 2012.

During this event, BHMI, along with partners Alaric Systems (www.alaric.com) and Stratus Mexico (www.stratus.com.mx), will be marketing a powerful and integrated end-to-end payments processing solution for electronic transactions such as ATM, POS, Debit, Credit, Prepaid, and Mobile.  Event attendees will learn how they can leverage the strengths of the most powerful payments solutions in the market to process any type of electronic payment transaction quickly, reliably, and cost effectively.

Click here to read the full press release.

Since 1998, Baldwin Hackett & Meeks, Inc. (BHMI), a leading software solutions provider, has had a very active technical internship program running three separate sessions each year – Spring, Summer, and Fall.

Interns are recruited from several local colleges and universities including the following:

Bellevue University     Creighton University 

Doane College     Midland Lutheran College  

Nebraska Wesleyan     Peter Kiewit Institute

UNK    UNL    UNO 

When choosing intern candidates, BHMI looks for Junior or Senior level students with an average GPA of 3.6 or higher who excel in their course work.

The success of BHMI’s internship program in evident from the number of applicants the company receives prior to each session as well as the number of interns that choose to stay on with BHMI for multiple sessions.  All four of BHMI’s Fall 2011 interns decided to extend their internship through the 2012 Spring session.  In addition to the four, BHMI hired two interns for the Spring session.

When Lucy Horpedahl from UNO, one of the new Spring interns, was asked what she values most about her internship with BHMI, she said, “This is the first time I have worked a computer-related job and have had the opportunity to apply what I am learning in class.”  She went on to say, “I have found that my class curriculum doesn’t always coincide with how things are done at work, so I value the exposure I am gaining to the real world.”

Later this month, BHMI will start looking for local interns for its Summer session that begins in June. If you know of an outstanding computer science student looking for a summer internship, please have them check with their university career center for more information regarding BHMI’s internship posting.  Feel free to download information about BHMI’s internship program.

BHMI was a proud sponsor of the PMI (Project Management Institute) Fall 2011 Region 2 Conference held at the LaVista Conference Center in Omaha, NE on November 10^th – 12th. 

PMI is the world’s leading not-for-profit membership association for the project management profession, with more than half a million members and credential holders in more than 185 countries. Their worldwide advocacy for project management is supported by their globally-recognized standards and credentials, their extensive research program, and their professional development opportunities. 

Casey Scheer, BHMI Director of Sales and Marketing, Cheryl Fitzgarrald, BHMI Senior Project Manager / VP of Membership PMI Heartland Chapter and Michele Francis-Stine, President PMI Heartland Chapter standing in front of the BHMI booth.

The Region 2 Conference was attended by representatives from the following PMI chapters:

• Central Illinois Chapter
• Central Indiana Chapter
• Central Iowa Chapter
• Chicagoland Chapter
• Eastern Iowa Chapter
• Heartland (NE) Chapter
• Madison/So. Central Wisconsin Chapter
• Manitoba Chapter
• Michiana Chapter
• Mid-Nebraska Chapter
• Minnesota Chapter
• North East Wisconsin Chapter
• North Saskatchewan Chapter
• Northeast Indiana Chapter
• Northeast Wisconsin Chapter
• PMI GOC
• Quad Cities Chapter
• Sioux Empire Chapter

The event provided BHMI an opportunity to showcase its custom software solutions, financial software product suite, and messaging middleware application.

Robert Frank, Bill Cain, Bob Brindamour, Scott Boje and Matt Stefan (from left to right)

Baldwin Hackett & Meeks, Inc. recently took third place in its division for the 6th Annual Bike Omaha Commuter Challenge presented by Trek Bicycle Stores of Omaha. 

Omaha cyclists tracked their trips/miles ridden between work and home from May 1 through October 1, 2011.  Five BHMI employees rode a combined total of 2,438 miles to and from BHMI’s corporate headquarters.  The following chart shows the overall rank and total mileage of each BHMI participant. 

RANK             NAME                         TRIPS              MILES             POINTS

84                    Bob Brindamour          35                    1151                1501

86                    Robert Frank                50                    982                1482

385                  Bill Cain                         12                    165                  285

420                  Matt Stefan                  12                    115                  235

617                   Scott Boje                       1                      25                    35

Winter BOCC 2011

BHMI employees are also participating in the first Winter Bicycle Omaha Commuter Challenge that started November 1, 2011.

According to Bob Brindamour, cyclist and BHMI software engineer, bicycling is becoming a more significant part of Omaha’s culture.  Omaha is now one of 11 cities, including St. Paul, Santa Fe, and Reno, that have been awarded bronze designations from the League of American Bicyclists in recognition of the city’s efforts in supporting bikers, including Omaha’s expanding network of dedicated bike lanes and trails that link downtown Omaha to distant parts of the city. 

Bob Brindamour stops for a snapshot during a commute to BHMI.

Omaha Bikes, founded by Bob Brindamour, played a big part in improving Omaha’s biking environment by working with Omaha officials to create a more “bicycle friendly” community.  Bob and other members of the Omaha Bikes team serve on the Mayor’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee to encourage civic policies that benefit cyclists, pedestrians, and public transit users.

BHMI is bicycle friendly as well.  In addition to funding participation for employees and their families in community cycling events, BHMI also provides secure indoor bike parking for BHMI cyclists.  BHMI’s flex time policy also permits BHMI cyclists to adjust their commute times to and from work in order to avoid “bicycle unfriendly” weather conditions.  Additionally, private employee offices make it easy for BHMI cyclists to change between bike attire and work attire.  All in all, BHMI wants to keep its cyclists pedaling. 

Where the rubber meets the road.

To learn more about Omaha’s biking activities, please visit http://OmahaBikes.net/.

The Governor of the State of Nebraska and the state’s chief medical officer, Dave Heineman, recently honored 28 Nebraska employers for implementing workplace wellness programs that are improving people’s health. 

The honored companies include the following SimplyWell clients:

• Box Butte General Hospital, Alliance
• CASSLING, Omaha
• Conductix-Wampfler, Inc., Omaha
• Jefferson Community Health Center, Fairbury
• SilverStone Group, Omaha
• Streck, Inc., Omaha
• The Nebraska Medical Center Wellness Center, Omaha

SimplyWell works to understand the goals of an organization to develop customized programs that suit each client’s unique needs and culture.  They collaborate with employers to design wellness programs that maximize opportunities for employees to enjoy better health.  As a result, SimplyWell’s clients are enjoying the benefits of a healthier, more productive workforce as well as reduced healthcare costs.  For more information, please read SimplyWell’s case studies.  

Working in partnership with Baldwin Hackett & Meeks, Inc. (BHMI), a leading specialist in creating primary software applications, SimplyWell recently rolled out a new state-of-the-art website to its participants.  The new site features a more intuitive medically-based system that empowers participants with individualized information, stressing the importance of preventive care and individual accountability.  For more information about SimplyWell, please visit www.simplywell.com.