Alumnus Brent Pohlman to speak at Concordia Nebraska’s annual Leadership & Ethics Symposium

On Tuesday, October 8, Concordia University, Nebraska will present its annual Leadership & Ethics Symposium at 7 p.m. in Dunklau Lecture Hall. The keynote speaker is Brent Pohlman ’88, CEO of Midwest Labs in Omaha, Nebraska. His presentation is titled "Leaders Look Within: Shining the light of God through my work."   The event is free and open to the public. 

Pohlman believes strongly than in order to lead, a leader must look inside him- or herself and understand who they are and what they value most. He further examines this concept and encourages leadership from the heart in his book Leaders Look Within, which was published in May 2023. 

The Leadership & Ethics Symposium is presented by the university’s Institute for Ethical Leadership (IEL), which provides Concordia Nebraska students with a hands-on and Christ-centered academic experience that is centered around ethical leadership while helping them build a path to become leaders of organizations after graduation. 

“Through leadership classes, hands-on experiences and opportunities to lead, students learn to serve the church and their communities and become influential difference makers in their work and world,” said Dr. Curt Beck, professor of business administration. 

Faith in God has helped open my heart to a whole new world of opportunities at work and personally to help me see how God can be the center of everything I do to shine the light of God in a world of uncertainty. It is the best way to live.

Current IEL opportunities include the symposium, Women in Business Luncheon, Collegiate Leadership Competition team, 10:31 Coffee Shop, Business as a Mission-Cambodia project, Business Club and partnerships with local, ethical organizations such as the People’s City Mission of Lincoln, Nebraska. 

Pohlman has a bachelor of arts in business administration and a bachelor of science in secondary education with emphasis in math and business from Concordia Nebraska. He also has an MBA from University of Nebraska – Omaha. 

He began his career teaching at Lutheran High North in Mt. Clemens, Michigan, teaching math and business and coaching wrestling. After two years, he wanted to pursue an MBA. After that, he thrived in the corporate world, serving at Mutual of Omaha, Arthur Andersen, HDR and Midwest Laboratories. During this time, he also taught classes as an adjunct instructor at Concordia Nebraska and Nebraska Wesleyan. 

He said the Christ-focused community at Concordia Nebraska is simply remarkable. 

“[I enjoyed] being on campus in a Christian environment, he said. “I had never been in a private school setting until college. Professors Langewisch and Obermueller were very supportive of my intentions to teach and later pursue my master’s degree. We kept in contact through my professional career, and I am grateful for their support as a student and during my professional career.” 

He said that his time at the university definitely prepared him for his current service, and that every day that Christ-focused mentality is vitally important. 

“Faith is the key. Living it daily is the goal, and pursuing dreams and leading a business through growth is the best way to live,” he said.   “Being a part of a faith Community has always been a goal of mine, and being able to continue to grow in faith is the key. And I do believe my career progression was led by God”  

Following his time at Lutheran North High in Mt. Clemens, Michigan, and Daniel J. Gross Catholic in Omaha, Nebraska, and obtaining his MBA, he had his first business opportunity at Mutual of Omaha working as a systems analyst in the accounting department. He was part of an ERP system implementation of PeopleSoft (now Oracle) and he learned the financial side of things as well as Microsoft Windows and started training other employees. At Arthur Andersen, he began his consulting career and implemented PeopleSoft at companies like Alegent Health, Inacom, General Motors and the   Chicago Tribune. From there, he worked at HDR implementing PeopleSoft Human Resources and learned the Human Resources side of the business. In 2005, he came back to Midwest Laboratories as marketing director and held this position until 2016 when he took over with his father as president. In 2020, his father retired, and he became a second-generation owner and CEO of Midwest Laboratories. 

“I lead a great team of people who oversee testing in the following industries human health, animal health and agriculture/environmental,” he explained. “Our company continues to grow at a double-digit rate, and we are in the process of moving to a brand new company campus on 27 acres in Papillion, Nebraska.” 

His business philosophy is simple: people come first. 

“People are first. Take care of your employees, clients and guests,” he said. “I am a person of faith who coaches people up and leads from the heart.” 

Pohlman is married to his wife Michele of almost 30 years. They have five adult children and three grandchildren.  

“Faith in God has helped open my heart to a whole new world of opportunities at work and personally to help me see how God can be the center of everything I do to shine the light of God in a world of uncertainty,” he said. “It is the best way to live.” 

The Institute for Ethical Leadership is one of several institutes at Concordia Nebraska. As a mission-focused institution, Concordia University, Nebraska serves the church and communities through multiple programs and institutes. Each institute operates independently. However, Concordia’s institutes must align with the overall mission of the university, serve an audience beyond campus, engage Concordia students in some part of its work and maintain a model for independent financial viability. Concordia’s institutes are designed to reflect God’s light through the service they provide.