When Denny Walker was 30, he was aboard a private jet flight from Omaha to Dallas. Thinking he'd like to own a plane one day, the dream was realized in 1999 when he purchased a Beechjet 400A.

The Walker Enterprises executive quickly realized he had bitten off more than he could chew in terms of maintenance and storage costs. Then, a light bulb went off: If he had these issues, surely others did too.

In the hours after federal immigration officers descended on Glenn Valley Foods, company officials and elected leaders made one point clear: Glenn Valley had worked to avoid the exact situation it found itself in.

As proof, they pointed to the Omaha meatpacking plant’s use of E-Verify, a federal system meant to help employers confirm a person’s ability to work legally in the U.S.

In the first months of Donald Trump’s second term as president, his policies – from sweeping tariffs and aggressive immigration enforcement to attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion – have thrown U.S. businesses into turmoil, leading to a 26-point decline in CEO confidence.

Yet despite this volatility, many American corporations have remained notably restrained in their public responses.