The metro area is bracing for an invasion of investors. Tens of thousands of Berkshire Hathaway shareholders will be arriving in Omaha Friday for the annual shareholders meeting, which will be held Saturday morning.
The general manager of TAC Air expects to have a tarmac full of private jets private jets by the time Friday is over. “We expect to see a hundred or more between 100, 120 aircraft parked here overnight on Friday night," Mike Wilwerding tells 6 News. “It definitely has a financial impact on our operation as well. We count on this business each year. We budget for it. It does make a significant difference in our operation.”
The main event will be held at the CHI Health Center in downtown. Barricades have been put in place around the arena to help protect and control the crowds.
“We believe it at least helps protect a little bit with how many pedestrians we expect to line up next to the building, especially on Saturday morning," MECA Communications Director Kristyna Engdahl says. "This provides an extra layer of protection for people standing outside between our building and 10th Street.”
The arena has been set up to handle the large crowd and Engdahl says there will be TV coverage for all the people who don’t fit in the building.
“We can fit tens of thousands of people inside of our arena and we’ll also have spill-over convention seating available in the convention center side and then the Hilton has some additional viewing areas so between all those spaces we are confident that all the folks who show up here Saturday morning are going to have plenty of room to shop and enjoy the presentation.”
According to financial news reports Berkshire’s investment portfolio totals more than $212 billion.