You may not know the Mancuso family personally, but chances are they've enhanced your weekend plans and/or your business over the years. The Mancusos own and operate Mid-America Expositions, Inc., the Greater Omaha Chamber June Small Business of the Month. They are the force behind such Omaha traditions as the Omaha Home & Garden Expo, Omaha Products Show, Taste of Omaha and the Triumph of Agriculture Expo.
"Each event has its own little history or story," said company founder Bob Mancuso, Sr. "We started working with the Home & Garden Show back in the 60s, and it's continued to grow every year. We constantly try to find bigger and better things we can bring to that event. With Taste of Omaha, we looked at an idea that wasn't being done in the Omaha area. Omaha has a great reputation for having fantastic restaurants, and we wanted to put something together to showcase that."
Mid-America Exposition's first event was Queen for a Day in November of 1964, an expo which drew over 50,000 women to the Omaha Civic Auditorium. Since then the company has grown into one of the top event production and trade show businesses in the region, expanding its roster of events and the "family component" of the family business. Mancuso's sons all work for the company now. Mike joined Mid-America Expositions in 1988; Bob Jr. in 2005 and Joe in 2007.
"We try to do a range of events that are very unique. That's part of the excitement," said Mike. "We monitor and talk to people and look at events throughout the country to really get the pulse of what's working and find ideas that would be best to bring to Omaha. The events are fun to put together and to see them grow has been very rewarding."
Mike launched the first Taste of Omaha in 1998. Bob Jr. started the annual Omaha Health, Wellness & Fitness Expo: The Mind, Body & Spirit Fair in 2008. He also directs several other events, including the annual Triumph of Ag Expo - one of the largest indoor short line farm machinery shows in the Midwest -- and the biennial Omaha Products Show for Business & Industry. Joe has helped improve operations and implement new growth of the Mid-America Expo events -- both those that are well-established and those that are relatively new like the Nebraska Balloon & Wine Festival.
In addition to its own creations, Mid-America Expositions produces and/or promotes several civic activities including the National Outland Trophy Award Banquet honoring the best interior lineman in college football each year. The company has also been involved with sporting and special events throughout the Omaha area.
For decades, Mid-America Expositions staged many of its events at and was the largest user of the Civic Auditorium. In 2003, it shifted its Omaha shows to a new venue and became the largest user of Qwest Center Omaha.
" Qwest Center Omaha has allowed us to expand and be more creative," said Bob, Sr. "It's been very pleasing to see the transition we've made. People love the opportunity to see all of the exhibits on one level."
For all of the company's success, Bob, Sr. said it comes to a simple premise.
"People getting together, buyers and sellers being able to meet, see and compare products firsthand, learn and do business together," he said. "The best thing is seeing people's ideas and businesses get in front of others who have an interest. That's the most rewarding part -- the stories we hear about how we've helped people grow their businesses."
As it helps other business achieve success, Mid-America Expositions has, itself, received a boost from its affiliation with the Chamber.
Bob, Sr. said, "The Chamber is a wonderful organization and represents businesses from throughout our area. A number of them have been longtime exhibitors and regularly attend many of the shows."