As creative director and co-owner of Delinea Design in Downtown Omaha, Chad Eacker has made it his mission to pay attention to the details, whether that means working on his clients’ advertising campaigns or finding new ways to motivate Omaha’s future leaders.
In addition to overseeing his creative agency, which offers branding, graphic design, advertising, and web development services, Eacker also serves on the board of Omaha Young Professionals, a catalyst organization within the Greater Omaha Chamber whose primary goal is to retain and attract young professionals to Omaha. But how, you ask? By providing “a dynamic, inclusive, and integrated community where diverse young professionals want to live, work, and play.”
Originally from Lincoln, Neb., Eacker attended Southeast High before heading to University of Nebraska-Lincoln to study English. His original plan was to apply to law school, but as his interest in graphic design grew, his desire for law school faded. Graduating from UNL in 2007, he moved to Omaha on graduation day to embark on his business venture with fellow co-owner Matt Bross; however, it wasn’t part of his initial plan.r
"I like being my own boss. I didn’t intend on starting my own business. It just kind of happened despite my better judgment."
r“It really took off, and I really enjoyed it,” Eacker says. “I didn’t expect it to. I was working retail, and it was a lot better than that. I like being my own boss. I didn’t intend on starting my own business. It just kind of happened despite my better judgment. At the beginning, I was kind of wide-eyed and stupid. There was no pressure. I was still living in my parents’ basement.”
Five years later, Delinea Design has grown, and Eacker has taken on more responsibility in the community he now calls home. This year, serving as YP’s communications chair, he played a vital role in the planning of the Young Professionals Summit, held Feb. 28 at CenturyLink Center Omaha. The YP Summit featured prominent singer and keynote speaker John Legend.
“The thing about the Young Professionals Summit…it’s broken up into so many committees. My part was really early on in the summit,” he explains. “It had been determined that the past ones had gotten kind of stale. We were asked to liven up the CenturyLink Center. Working with them, they had certain limitations for what we could and could not do. I was in charge of reimagining it. We wanted it to feel less staunch and corporate.”
With Eacker’s assistance, the 2013 YPS was a big success, and next year’s event will most likely be just as intriguing. In the meantime, Eacker can be found making coffee, enjoying premium whiskey, sporting colorful footwear, and working hard on Delinea Design’s inevitably bright future.
