Iowa City school personnel receive foundation awards

New employees

Syncbak, a media technology company in Marion, has added Brad Carson (see photo), formerly with Yellow Book, as an IT engineer, and Ralph Doehrmann (see photo), formerly with Broadcast Interactive Media, is a senior software engineer.

Frank N. Magid Associates in Marion announced several new employees: Marc Steidler (see photo) and Danielle Suronen (see photo) joined as consulting associates; Tim Seymour (see photo) as a communications consultant; Dan Bot (see photo) as a research analyst; Lindsay Cooper (see photo) as a consulting associate; Christina Espenes (see photo) as a consulting associate; Justin Hess (see photo) as systems support specialist; Gary Spangenberg (see photo) as managing director of Food/CPG Research; and Katie Larson (see photo) as a consultant.

TrueNorth in Cedar Rapids hired Julie Bennis (see photo) as human resource manager; Bart Casey (see photo) as an employee benefits specialist; Mark Gray (see photo) as chief sales officer; and Ashley Ferguson (see photo) as a human resource generalist.

Rachel Herren (see photo) joined the city of Marion as financial clerk. Herren was previously a human resources clerk with Hawkeye Foodservice Distribution in Coralville.

GreatAmerica Leasing of Cedar Rapids announced these staff additions: Amy Grant (see photo) joined as account support adviser; Heather Jenn (see photo) as business unit analyst; and Spencer Sorrell (see photo) as staff accountant.

Premier Investments of Iowa Inc. in Cedar Rapids hired Roger Abel (see photo) as an investment adviser representative.

Rick Seger (see photo) joined Guaranty Bank as senior vice president and senior trust officer. Marc Banks (see photo) joined Guaranty Bank's Guaranty Investment Services as wealth management adviser.

Promotions

William Tirone was named to the newly created position of director of sales and marketing at the DoubleTree by Hilton Cedar Rapids Convention Complex. Tirone most recently was assistant general manager at Hiltons of Branson and the Branson Convention Center, in Branson, Mo.

Awards

RK Dixon, with an office in Cedar Rapids, a provider of IT services, copiers, printers, managed print services and pure drinking water systems, was selected as a 2012 Elite Dealer of the Week in Imaging magazine.

Eric Dalton (see photo), senior director of administrative services at Physicians' Clinic of Iowa, became a Fellow in the American College of Medical Practice Executives.

Charles Dirks, president of CQM Systems in Coralville, received the 2012 Neal Smith Entrepreneur of the Year Award from the Iowa Small Business Development Center.

Holmes Murphy & Associates, with an office in Cedar Rapids, was named a Best Place to Work in Insurance. Holmes Murphy was ranked second in the Best Medium Retail Agents/Brokers category.

Ten Iowa City Community School District teachers, principals and staff members were presented the ICCSD Foundation's Shine Award. October recipients included: Molly Abraham, assistant principal, West High School; Jerry Arganbright, principal, West High School; Mary Bontrager, principal, Mark Twain Elementary School; Carmen Gwenigale, AP Spanish teacher, West High School; Kevin Hoyland, IT staff, Education Services Center; Heidi Lange, secretary, Kirkwood Elementary School; Jennifer McGowan, paraeducator, Kate Wickham Elementary School; Courtney Micheel, district behavior analyst, All Elementary Schools; Kris Quinn, principal, Horace Mann Elementary School; Nancy Ritter, special education teacher, Grant Wood Elementary School; and Dee Sedlacek, paraeducator, Longfellow Elementary School.

Certifications

St. Luke's Hospital has earned the Joint Commission's Gold Seal of Approval in the areas of primary stroke center, palliative care and joint replacement hip and knee.

Seminars

The Cedar Rapids Area Convention and Visitors Bureau invites community members to attend a workshop featuring Peter Kageyama, author of “For the Love of Cities.” During this interactive workshop, Kageyama will discuss tactics for making cities more “lovable.” The workshop will be 8 a.m. to noon, Tuesday, at the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art. Tickets will be $20. Register at www.cedar-rapids.com or call (319) 398-5009.

The Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance, Kirkwood Community College and United Way of East Central Iowa will present a best practices and idea-generation session to build a strong future work force, from 7:30 to 9 a.m., Wednesday, at the Hotel at Kirkwood, 76th Avenue and Kirkwood Boulevard SW, Cedar Rapids. Call (319) 398-5372, ext. 43.

The documentary, “Symphony of the Soil,” with filmmaker Deborah Koons Garcia on hand to answer questions, will be shown at the Iowa Organic Conference, Nov. 18 and 19, at University of Iowa Memorial Union, Iowa City. Register at http://iowaorganicconference.eventbrite.com or contact Kathleen Delate at (515) 294-7069 or kdelate@iastate.edu.

MORE

The American Advertising Federation of Cedar Rapids and Iowa City invites area creative agencies, individuals and students to submit their creative work for consideration for the chapter's 2012 ADDY Award competition. Submissions will be accepted through Nov. 30 in the areas of advertising, graphic design, photography, printing, newspaper, radio, television and web from marketing and communication professionals and students studying in these areas. Entries can be dropped off on Nov. 30, between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m., at The Gazette, 500 Third Ave. SE, Cedar Rapids; left at the front desk of The Gazette the week of Nov. 26 through 30, attention: Audrey Wheeler; or mailed if postmarked before Nov. 26 to The Gazette, Attn: Audrey Wheeler, 500 Third Ave. SE, Cedar Rapids, IA 52401. ADDY Award winners will be announced at a ceremony at the Paramount Theatre Feb. 23, 2013. Visit www.aafcric.com/addy-awards.

Forum

The annual Marion Builder's and Developer's Forum will be held 7:30 to 8:45 a.m., Nov. 8, at Lowe Park Center, 4500 N. 10th St., Marion. MEDCO and city staff and utility representatives will provide updates on their departments. There also will be a question-and-answer session to discuss planning and development issues. RSVP by Nov. 6 at (319) 743-4722 or email joanne@marioncc.org.

Meetings

The American Business Women's Association Cedar Rapids chapter will meet 5:45 to 8 p.m., Nov. 7, at the Longbranch, 90 Twixt Town Rd. NE, Cedar Rapids. Kristin Flood, CEO of Kristin Flood Inspired, will present “Be Wise: Organize and Prioritize.” Cost will be $15 for members, $20 for members without RSVP and guests. The price includes dinner and the program. RSVPs required by noon, Friday, at hospitality@abwacr.org.

The Society for Technical Communication, Eastern Iowa chapter, will meet at 5:30 p.m., Nov. 13, at the Longbranch Restaurant in Cedar Rapids. Angie Toomsen, content strategy director at MedTouch, will be the speaker. RSVP to Ben Leu at (319) 573-7133 or via email at ben.leu@pearson.com by Nov. 9. Visit www.stc-easterniowa.org.