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Advisory Awards Luncheon

THE 38TH ANNUAL

AWARDS CELEBRATION

Program

Introductory Comments
Dr. Kathy Farrell
James Jr. and Susan Stuart Endowed Dean

Welcome
Lisa Smith
Senior Vice President, D.A. Davidson and Company

Lunch

Presentations
Dean Farrell and Lisa Smith

Young Alumni Award
Corporate Leadership Award
Business Leadership Award
Lifetime Achievement Award

Closing Remarks
Dean Farrell

2023 Honorees

Lifetime Achievement

Sid Dinsdale Headshot

Sid Dinsdale, '75

Sid Dinsdale is chairman of Pinnacle Bancorp, Inc., a family-owned business that owns 100% of four bank charters, Pinnacle Bank in Lincoln, Nebraska; Bank of Colorado in Fort Collins; Pinnacle Bank in Fort Worth, Texas; and Pinnacle Bank in Cody, Wyoming.

Dinsdale considers it a privilege to lead Pinnacle and counts the family ownership, outstanding management team and community bank model as keys to its success. A family business needs the commitment of all the family owners to succeed and perpetuate itself. He considers his greatest asset his immediate family as well as his brother, sister, cousins, nieces and nephews. Pinnacle is truly a family affair.

Growing up in Palmer, Nebraska, he learned the value of hard work from an early age in the family feedlot, hay fields and irrigation operation. While at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, he worked in the mail room of FNB – Lincoln, going to work there full time after graduation as a credit analyst.

He joined the family banking company in 1978 and became a bank president in 1985 at Bank of Papillion. Dinsdale became more involved in the entire company in the early 1990s, working alongside his father, Roy. Sid was very involved in changes to the company including ownership structure and technology. These changes were spurred by rule changes and the growth of the company. Pinnacle has been built to grow.

Just in the last 15 years, Pinnacle has more than tripled its assets and is now defined by regulators as a regional banking company, as it has over $18B in assets with 155+ locations in eight states.

Sid is a member of the Omaha Business Hall of Fame and has served on many nonprofit boards. He and his wife, Dawn, have been very involved in many charities. They were named “Aksarben’s Most Honored Citizens” in 2022. Additionally, he was a governor of Aksarben and served on the boards of Midlands Hospital, Children’s Hospital, Humane Society, STRATCOM Consultation Committee and University of Nebraska Foundation, to name a few.

He currently serves on the boards for Methodist Health System and Ameritas Life Insurance, as well as the boards of the banks and holding company. He and his family also have extensive business interests in farming, insurance, manufacturing, storage and real estate.

Sid earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in 1975. He continued his education at the Graduate School of Banking at the University of Colorado and completed the Presidents Program at Harvard University.

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Business Leadership

Anthony Goins Headshot

Anthony L. (Tony) Goins

Anthony Goins directed the Nebraska Department of Economic Development under Governor Jim Pillen as well as former Governor Pete Ricketts. During his appointment, the state of Nebraska saw more than 8 billion dollars in capital investments and multiple millions of dollars in economic development.

A strategic, result-driven executive, Anthony leveraged his background in global financial services to negotiate trade and business deals for the state with a variety of foreign countries, including Germany, Vietnam, Japan, South Korea, Dubai, Jordan, Ireland and the United Kingdom to name a few. Additionally, he traveled across the entire state listening to issues and supporting economic fixes for farmers, ranchers and start-up businesses.

Prior to the Nebraska Department of Economic Development, he served as executive vice president and chief operating officer at Cabela’s World’s Foremost Bank. He also held senior-level positions at JP Morgan Chase, USAA, Ford Motor Credit Company, Key Bank, QVC and American Express.

Anthony is a small business owner and involved in the community. He serves on boards, including Bryan Health, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska, I3 Bank, Nelnet Bank and Inceptia. Additionally, he is a faculty member of the Graduate School of Banking at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an advisory board member of the Center of Excellence in Entrepreneurship and Innovation for North Carolina A&T State University.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in business management at North Carolina A&T State University and served as a sergeant in the United States Marine Corps.

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Young Alumni

Blake Lawrence Headshot

Blake Lawrence, '09 & '11

Blake Lawrence is the co-founder and CEO of Opendorse, the athlete marketplace and NIL company. A leading expert on athlete marketing, Lawrence helped more than 100,000 athletes build and monetize their NIL value for the past decade.  

He and co-founder, Adi Kunalic, ’11, are two-time entrepreneurs having started Hurrdat, a digital marketing agency, in 2010. Prior to his journey as an entrepreneur, Lawrence was a University of Nebraska–Lincoln football player before his career was cut short due to recurring concussions. Following the end of his on-field career, Lawrence finished his bachelor's degree in marketing in 2009 and earned his MBA from Nebraska in 2011. Then, he dove head-first into the business world with the vision of helping every athlete. 

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Corporate Leadership

Carson Group Logo

Carson Group is a one-of-a-kind accelerator for independent, growth-focused advisors. They have an entire ecosystem dedicated to helping advisors better serve clients and grow their firm. One of the largest advisor coaching networks in the country, more than 2,500 advisors use Carson’s strategies to grow their firms.

Founded in 1983, Carson Wealth is dedicated to helping clients pursue their definition of true wealth through holistic financial planning, disciplined investment strategies and proactive personal service. Carson Coaching has grown since 1993 to become one of the largest advisor coaching networks in the country. Established in 2012, Carson Partners helps advisors unleash full potential and plug into an ecosystem of marketing, technology, compliance, investments and mergers and acquisitions support.

Founder Ron Carson began honing his core principles while working from his dorm room at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Today, as one of the most celebrated and respected financial advisors and executives in the industry, he has become a sought-after keynote speaker and visionary for reinventing the standard for financial advice.

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Talent Investment Program

New Program Offers Tuition Reduction for Your Employees, Members

We now offer three-year flexible partnership agreements for companies and organizations so you can offer a 15% tuition reduction for Nebraska's four business master's degrees and nine graduate certificate programs to your employees and members. There is no minimum or maximum number of students required to take advantage of the program.

For more information contact: Aaron Crabtree and Gretchen Holthaus

Past Honorees

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Event Sponsors

Ameritas
Assurity
Bryan Health
Carson
Bykerk Consulting, LLC
Conagra
Cornerstone Bank
Cornhusker Bank
D.A. Davidson and Co.
Deloitte
Forvis
Gallup
Lincoln Industries
Lutz
Nelnet
Pinnacle Bank
Speedway Properties
Union Bank