Business Notes for Aug. 11, 2024

The Gazette’s Business Notes is a compendium of the week’s promotions, new hires, certifications, added business lines and business events, among other items, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa City and the rest of the Corridor.

Information and photos can be submitted to Business Notes by email to businessnotes@thegazette.com, or on our site at thegazette.com/businessnotes.

New hires

Chandler DeWees has joined Cedar Rapids contractor Rinderknecht Associates as business development manager and Ross Snitker has joined as a project manager.

Kristi Columbus has joined the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation as vice president of development.

At Horizons Family Services, Paula Land will be project lead for the nonprofit’s planned senior center. Jim Miller has joined the agency as director of development; and Sandy Weger has joined as director of community transportation.

Appointments

Matt Heinricy, chief financial officer at Foundation 2 Crisis Services, has been named to the Horizons board of directors for a three-year term.

Dr. Dustin Arnold, chief medical officer at UnityPoint Health-St. Luke’s Hospital in Cedar Rapids, has transitioned from president to past president and treasurer for the Iowa Osteopathic Medical Association.

Kenyon Murray, CEO of Murray Legacy Management, where he manages his sons’ Kris and Keegan basketball careers, has joined Covenant Workplace Solutions as a certified life coach. The Cedar Rapids-based mental health and wellness organization, specializing in Employee Assistance Programs, said its life coaches help individuals achieve personal and professional goals. Kenyon Murray, after success as a University of Iowa basketball player, worked in the medical sales industry and impacted hundreds of young adults through his coaching. “This next journey,” he said in a news release, “is all about mentoring those in need … and how my family and I can share the blessings that have been placed upon us.”

Promotions

Hills Bank recently promoted Coleman Reilly to first vice president, information services security manager, in the Hills office.

Kudos

TrueNorth awards: TrueNorth Companies of Cedar Rapids recently was honored with three awards. Jason Smith, TrueNorth’s CEO, was named “best business leader,” as voted by readers of the Corridor Business Journal. Also, Grateful Giving, in its 2024 statewide report, named TrueNorth as one of Iowa’s top philanthropic employers in three categories — financial giving, number of nonprofits supported and volunteer hours. And Energage again recognized TrueNorth as a top workplace in the financial services industry.

St. Luke’s cited: UnityPoint Health-St. Luke’s Hospital’s heart programs recently were cited by three professional organizations.

Becker’s Hospital Review named the Cedar Rapids hospital to its list of 100 Hospitals with Great Heart Programs for 2024. St. Luke’s is the only Iowa hospital on the list.

For the fourth consecutive years, St. Luke’s received the American Heart Association’s Stroke GoldPlus achievement award for its use of the latest guidelines in treating stroke patients. It also receivedthe association’s Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll for care delivered to diabetes patients after a stroke. The hospital also received the Platinum Performance Achievement Award for 2024 from the American College of Cardiology’s NCDR Chest Pain Registry.

Other news

Board leadership program: Greater Iowa City Inc., the Community Foundation of Johnson County, and United Way of Johnson & Washington Counties have partnered to create a board leadership program to prepare community members to serve on a nonprofit board. The six-month program will prepare cover such topics as board governance, nonprofit finance, fundraising, advocacy, equity and inclusion and strategic planning. Applications, open through Aug. 30, are on the Greater Iowa City website, greateriowacity.com/board-leadership-program. Tuition is $250. Questions can be directed to Mackenzie DeRoo at mackenzie@greateriowacity.com.

Small business of the week: U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, last week named Brown’s Shoe Fit Co. of Henry County as her small business of the week. Brown’s opened in Mount Pleasant in 1952, and Kurt Moon expanded the store in 2000. Moon passed leadership to his daughter, Tara Mullin, who became a managing partner in 2020. Brown’s is part of the Brown’s Shoe Fit Co., founded in 1911 in Shenandoah and now in 13 Midwestern states. Ernst, the ranking member on the Senate’s Small Business Committee, is naming one exceptional small business of the week in each of Iowa’s counties during this congressional session.