[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 41 (Thursday, March 7, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H1007-H1008]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        RECOGNIZING CARMEN TAPIO

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Nebraska (Mr. Bacon) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BACON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize a leader from our 
district who has created jobs and changed lives, all while growing the 
largest African-American-owned business in the State of Nebraska and 
the largest private mixed-use development investment in North Omaha.
  Carmen Tapio is currently the CEO of North End Teleservices, which 
has soared to the Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing companies for the 
last 4 years, injecting over $306 million into Nebraska's economy.
  She established Forever North Real Estate to help reimagine North 
Omaha and set it on a promising path where a community can work, live, 
and play. Her leadership is helping to reduce poverty, unemployment, 
and is changing the trajectory of families for generations to come.
  Through developing the only Department of Labor registered 
apprenticeship in her industry, micro credentialing, and bringing 
people up through the organization, she is growing her own workforce 
and leadership.
  Wanting to empower Black women across the State, Carmen ignited the 
formation of Nebraska Black Women United with a few phone calls, her 
own humble take on its formation. Today, over 800 women belong to the 
purpose-driven organization and continue to fan the flames of growth 
and support for Black women.

[[Page H1008]]

  In addition, she founded the NET Work Spot, a premier coworking space 
nestled in the heart of the North Omaha community. The NET Work Spot 
exists for collaboration and to nurture the ingenuity of brilliant 
entrepreneurial minds.
  Tapio lends her expertise by serving on various for-profit and 
nonprofit boards. She serves as the chair of the Greater Omaha Chamber 
of Commerce Board of Directors, the Omaha Zoological Society Board of 
Directors, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's Omaha Branch Board 
of Directors, and the Werner Enterprises Board of Directors as chair of 
the ESG Committee. She is a Peter Kiewit Foundation trustee and serves 
on the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation Board of Trustees, the 
University of Nebraska Trustee Foundation, and the Nebraska Medicine 
Board's Finance Committee, just to name a few.
  This Women's History Month, she was recognized by the Governor of 
Nebraska and the Nebraskaland Foundation as the 2024 Distinguished 
Nebraskalander. She is the 2023 Inspire Awards Woman of the Year, 2022 
Inspire Woman of the Year for Large Business, and the 2022 USA Today 
Nebraska Woman of the Year. She is a 2022 Omaha Business Hall of Fame 
Inductee, received the 2022 Black Women Legacy Award, and a 2022 Better 
Business Bureau Torch Award. She was recognized in the Forbes 2021 Next 
1000 and the 2021 Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce Excellence in 
Leadership Awards.

  She is incredible.
  Carmen's parents instilled in her and each of her five sisters that 
they could do anything they set their minds to. She says that 
foundation cultivated her strong belief in the human spirit and that 
anything is possible. This is what she endeavors to teach people as she 
and her organization work to help people create a vision for their 
lives to advance their economic independence and career path.
  Carmen and her husband, Bob, live with their dog, Bella, and enjoy 
traveling and gardening together.

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