The Columbus Chamber of Commerce awarded its Archway Award to Loup President/CEO Neal Suess at its 2023-24 Annual Celebration on April 25.
The award is given to a businessman who demonstrates excellence in a business or profession; exhibits initiative and creativity while enhancing the efficiency of a business or profession; provides valuable service to a business, profession, or the community; and demonstrates initiative and creativity promoting area economic development.
Suess was born in Highland, Illinois, in 1962 and moved around the Midwest with his parents until they settled in Columbus in 1981, while he was in college at Iowa State University.
He graduated from Iowa State with degree in mechanical engineering in 1984 and moved back to Columbus. He met his wife Jo Suess (Steffen) in 1985 and they were married in 1987. Their daughter, Elizabeth, is married to Collin Gilbert and lives in Norristown, Penn. Their son, Taylor, is married to Dani and lives in Larchwood, Iowa, with their children, Leo, 4, and Bode, 2.
Suess worked for the firm R.W. Beck, Inc., while living in Columbus from 1984–1992. The couple then moved to Edmond, Okla., where he began working for the Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority as a Planning Engineer.
In 1994, Suess became the first Electric Director for the City of Pella, Iowa, where he combined the power plant and
electric distribution groups into one.
In 1996, the family moved back to Columbus where Suess began working for R.W. Beck, Inc., again. He became an owner in 2003. Loup Power District’s Board of Directors selected Suess to become the next President/CEO following the retirement of Robert White 2006.
Suess was a member of the Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors from 2005–2012, serving as the
Chairman in 2010-2011. He also led the Chamber’s recertification effort in 2012 at the national level.
Suess is a member of St. Isidore’s Catholic Church and served on the Parish Council from 2005–2014, acting as Parish Council President from 2010–2014. He served as a Trustee of the Elks Country Club and was a Board member of the Nebraska Energy Federal Credit Union. He was also a Columbus Family YMCA board member from 2008–2019, serving as the Chief Volunteer Officer from 2013–2015.
Suess currently serves on the board of the Columbus Development Corporation, Columbus Community Foundation, and the Columbus Economic Council. He has been a member of the Board of the Nebraska Power Association since 2006, serving as Chairman in 2011 and 2022.
He is a graduate of Leadership Columbus and received the Nebraska Society of Professional Engineers Northeastern Chapter Young Engineer of the Year Award in 1992 and the R.W. Beck Glenn Yee Commitment Award in 2000.
