Business Notes for Dec. 28, 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.

New hires

Mariah Mains, ARNP, has joined Mercy’s Plumb Heart Center team as a nurse practitioner.

Appointments

The Cedar Rapids Parks Foundation announced the appointment of Janessa Hollmaier as its new executive director. The 2026 executive board is as follows: Dina Haveric, president; Melanie Harms, vice president; Joseph Worden, second vice president; Andrea Shanahan, secretary; Steven Keane, treasurer; Jenny Skogman, immediate past president; Carrie Mardorf, ex-officio, C.R. Parks & Recreation director.

The Downtown Cedar Rapids Self-Supported Municipal Improvement District announced that Loren Hartelt of CRST has been appointed as the new chair of the Downtown SSMID Commission, effective Jan. 1. Hartelt will succeed James Klein, who has served as chair since 2023.

Other News

Small Business of the Week: U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, has announced Latimer Grocery of Franklin County in north-central Iowa as her small business of the week. Founded in 2008 to ensure that Latimer, Coulter and the surrounding communities would have dependable access to essential groceries, Latimer Grocery has grown from a grassroots effort into a trusted hub for fresh foods. Its locally sourced products and popular deli have made it known for sandwiches, pizzas and harvest season meal deliveries. The store continues to strengthen partnerships with Iowa producers, support local families and bring the community together. 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.