Business Notes for Dec. 8, 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

Ryan Keller has joined the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation as a graphics and multimedia designer. Keller will create the visual and digital aspects of marketing materials, including the website and other media, at the foundation.

Dr. Brendon Honick has joined the Hall-Perrine Cancer Center Surgical Oncology Clinic at Mercy Cedar Rapids. His areas of interest include colon and rectal, liver, gastric and pancreatic cancer cancers; melanoma, and soft tissue sarcomas.

Appointments

Steve Moshier of Marion, a retired software developer, has been elected president of the Cedar Rapids branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People for the 2025-27 term. Other officers are Nancy Humbles, first vice president; Shelby Humbles Jr., treasurer; Deborah Reed, assistant treasurer; Susan Benderson, secretary; and Lyle Kleman, assistant secretary. At-large board members are Darryl English, Denise Bridges, Kenny Reed, Leland Freie, Otis McGowan and Tamara Marcus.

ImOn has announced two additions to its senior management team. Gilbert Nuñez was named director of commercial business services in Dubuque. He has more than 20 years of business-to-business sales and business development experience and owns a construction company, Iowa Corridor Construction. Stephanie Decker was named vice president of network technology and information systems. She will lead ImON’s information technology department and oversee the company’s technology infrastructure, including cybersecurity initiatives.

Kent Jorgensen has joined the board of directors for His Hands Free Clinic in Cedar Rapids.

Other news

Collins wins $95M Army/Marine contract: Collins Aerospace of Cedar Rapids, an RTX company, has received its fourth contract, valued at $95 million, from the U.S. Army and Marine Corps for its MAPS Generation II — Mounted Assured Positioning, Navigation and Timing units. The vehicle-mounted system provides satellite navigation and terrain mapping protection against electronic attack.

"As near peer threats continue to evolve and advance, we're seeing increased demand for resiliency against electronic warfare," Philippe Limondin, Collins vice president and general manager for Resilient Navigation Solutions, said in a news release. "In response, we're partnering closely with the U.S. Army to reduce overall costs so MAPS Gen II can be fielded faster and more readily available across the services to allow mission execution with precision and accuracy."

Veridian CU donates $90,000 to nonprofits: Veridian Credit Union awarded $90,000 in GivingTuesday donations to organizations across Iowa, Nebraska and Minnesota in celebration of its 90th anniversary. Each recipient, nominated by the public, received $5,000 and are located in the credit union’s five market areas.

The three recipients in the Corridor were the Catherine McAuley Center and Together We Achieve, both in Cedar Rapids, and the Iowa City Free Medical & Dental Clinic. Details are available at veridiancu.org/GivingTuesday.

Small business of the week: U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, last week named a three-generation company, Vander Haag’s Inc. of Clay County, as her small business of the week.

In 1939, John C. Vander Haag Sr. founded South Side Junkyard, which operated as a scrap metal business that supported the wartime effort. In 1955, his son, John C. Vander Haag Jr., assumed ownership of the business. In 1969, he renamed it Vander Haag’s Inc. and relocated the company’s headquarters to Spencer in northwest Iowa. Today, John M. Vander Haag, the grandson of the founder, is the company’s president.

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