Business Notes for Dec. 1, 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/

New hires

Dr. Justina Conrad, DVM, and Dr. Lindsey Leo, DVM, have joined Petersen Pet Hospital in Hiawatha as associate veterinarians.

Jen Parker recently joined Hills Bank as vice president, community engagement, in the Iowa City office.

Appointments

The Cedar Rapids Area Association of Realtors has elected Chris Terukina of Ruhl & Ruhl Realtors as president of the board of directors. Other officers include Jay Whitaker, Skogman Realty, president-elect, and Adam Gibbs, treasurer, GLD Commercial Real Estate Advisors. Other directors include past president Annie Kaestner, Alexandra Braaksma, Jenna Burt, Tamra Garman, Bill Grabe, JJ Johannes, Colleen McMahon, Ann Roushar, Teresa Smalley and Mary Zalesky.

Kudos

The Cedar Rapids Area Association of Realtors named Teresa Smalley, Coldwell Banker Hedges Realty, as Realtor of the Year in acknowledgement of her volunteerism and dedication to association. The association’s Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Bob Hackney, Skogman Realty, for his lifetime of service to members, the real estate industry and its communities.

Other news

Small business of the week: U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, last week named Repaint Studios of Franklin County as her small business of the week

In 2021, Billie Asmus began refinishing furniture full-time and noticed how much paint was wasted in one-use paint trays. She developed, patented and marketed the Repaint Tray. Repaint Studios, based on Hampton in north-central Iowa, won the Lowe’s Global Blue Product Pitch Competition. The Repaint Tray launched in February 2024 and will be in Lowe’s stores nationwide this month. Repaint Studios also was named one of Iowa’s Top 10 Startups at the NewBoCo EntreFEST pitch competition.

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.