Carmen Tapio, the founder, and chief executive officer of North End Teleservices, LLC (NET) in Omaha, has seen her industry evolve and adapt to economic changes. Now she looks forward to sharing her business insight and community development expertise as a member of the Omaha Branch Board of Directors.

NET was established in 2015, providing a wide range of contact center services to commercial and government entities. Its mission is to create jobs and change lives.

“That can be anything from phone, chat, email, text, social media, back-office and administrative support services,” Tapio said. “The sector that we’re in was born from what used to be direct marketing, direct response, and telemarketing. The industry has evolved a lot. Where we are today is, on an outsource basis, providing contact center services typically managed in-house. And the work can range from simple transactions to highly complex interactions.”

NET has received several honors, including “Small Business of the Year” and “Business Excellence in Innovation” recognitions from the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce. The company also received “Best Corporate Culture” recognition from the Urban League of Nebraska Young Professionals. In 2020, North End Teleservices was No. 677 on the Inc. 5000 list of the country’s fastest-growing privately-owned companies, and it is the largest African-American-owned business in Nebraska.

Carmen Tapio of the Kansas City Fed's Omaha Branch Board of Directors standing in front of a piece of art.

Tapio said her interaction with the Kansas City Fed grew from her involvement with the Chamber of Commerce and membership on several boards that align with her interests in diversity, inclusion, and economic development through job creation and community revitalization. Tapio is council chair of the Chamber’s advisory Council for Opportunity, Diversity, and Equity (CODE). She was chair of the Leadership, Diversity, and Inclusion Council for the statewide Blueprint Nebraska strategy and is a member of the Nebraska Department of Economic Development’s Get Nebraska Growing Taskforce, the state Economic Inclusion Task Force, and the Werner Enterprises board of directors.

“One of the things that I’m most passionate about is economic development and the opportunity that economic development can bring in elevating people and their ability to make life choices and participate in our economy,” Tapio said.

Tapio participated in outreach discussions that the Omaha Branch facilitated with local business leaders. That level of engagement was important, she said, because “My industry had not been typically represented. I was usually one of the smaller businesses on the outreach calls. The leadership at the Omaha Branch has done a good job of cultivating relationships to gain broad perspectives.” Tapio said those relationships include North Omaha, an area with a significant African American population.

When invited to become a Branch director, she was ready to serve—and gain knowledge.

“I see the opportunity to serve as a director not just as one of providing input, but I consider it continuing education as well,” she said. “As a business owner, you don’t always have an opportunity to learn on another level. We don’t always invest in ourselves, and this is a tremendous learning opportunity for me. It’s also a tremendous opportunity to participate in something so important that is related to everything about our economy.”

Learn more about Ms. Tapio here.