Business Notes for Nov. 24, 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 at https://www.thegazette.com/business-notes/submit/

Promotions

Mary Hatfield recently was promoted to first vice president, budget and operations analyst, in the Hills office of Hills Bank.

Appointments

Local lawyers recently elected to leadership positions of the Iowa Association for Justice, the statewide association representing trial attorneys, are Emily Anderson, Cedar Rapids, second vice president; Darin Luneckas, Cedar Rapids, board of governors, Judicial District 6; Steven Ballard and Michael Biderman, both of Iowa City, and Ben Long and Tony Olson, both of Cedar Rapids, board of governors, at-large; Eric Tindal and Dean Keegan, both of Iowa City, board of governors, standing members; and Tom Wertz and Tim Semelroth of Cedar Rapids, president and secretary/treasurer, respectively, of the association’s public education and community service arm.

Other news

Dubuque casino’s Island Social venue to open: Island Social, a new entertainment venue at the Q Casino + Resort in Dubuque, will open to the public at 11 a.m. Wednesday.

Located on the casino’s upper level, the venue has more than 75 high-end arcade games, six lanes of duckpin bowling, six bays of digital axe throwing and two private party rooms. The Island Social Kitchen + Bar, which opened earlier this year, features large TVs and video walls.

The opening represents completion of Phase 3 of a five-phase, $83 million renovation and expansion of the property that began in September 2023. The project, which should be completed in late 2025, includes the Key Hotel with a rooftop restaurant and bar, as well as an outdoor amphitheater and a PinSeekers golf facility.

Small business of the week: U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, last week named Shivvers Manufacturing of Wayne County as her small business of the week.

Charles Shivvers founded the company in 1968 to improve grain drying technology, beginning with his invention of the tapered auger system. The business grew from a home garage operation into a large-scale operation Shivvers opened in Corydon in south-central Iowa. The company expanded its product line to include innovations such as the Country Clipper ZTR and CompuDry systems.

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.

Pappajohn Center “pitch” awards: The University of Iowa John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center awarded $11,300 in prize money this month in its Iowa City Venture School “pitch” event. Placing first were Musa’s Lemonade (Ahmed Musa) of Des Moine; Ampersand Legal (Mackensie Graham) of Iowa City/Cedar Rapids; and CaptuRE Recycling (Shaden Tweeten) of Mason City. Other winners were Spicika Malaz Elgemiabby (Karim Dousa), Auracle Board (Erica Miller) and Best MVP Dripple (Victor Kariuki).