Business Notes for Oct. 26, 2025

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

Chelsea Herber has joined The Hall-Perrine Foundation as program officer.

Kelli Artley has joined BankIowa as relationship banker.

At Cedar Rapids Bank & Trust, Kelly Novak has joined as senior marketing specialist; and Olivia Brown has joined as downtown main bank branch manager.

Appointments

Amanda Brade has transitioned to branch manager at Cedar Rapids Bank & Trust’s F Avenue location.

Kudos

Simmons Perrine PLC attorney Paul Gamez has been inducted as a Fellow into the American College of Trial Lawyers. Fellowship is extended only by invitation. Membership can never be more than 1 percent of the total lawyer population of any state or province.

Other news

Small Business of the Week: U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, has announced By the Hearth Bookshop & Coffeehouse of Davis County in southern Iowa as her small business of the week. After moving to Iowa, husband and wife duo Joshua and Kerry Williams founded By the Hearth Bookshop & Coffeehouse in 2024. The shop offers a curated selection of books, stationery, gifts and more, alongside a cozy coffeehouse serving handcrafted drinks, sandwiches and pizzas. The shop hosts weekly children’s story times, book clubs and tutoring sessions, while its adjoining event center plays host to weddings, baby showers and local gatherings. Ernst, chair of 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.