Business Notes for June 15, 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

GreatAmerica Financial Services has announced the following new team members: Alex Bunte, documentation specialist; Christine Calef, cash applications specialist; Lauryn Christensen, account support adviser; Becca Bunce, asset management team leader; Sky Heintz, service desk analyst; Maggie Owens, talent acquisition specialist; Greg Mich, senior software engineer — integrations; Jack Hanke, sales support specialist; Jeremiah Avery, credit analyst; Liliya Ward, documentation specialist; Luke Heying, credit analyst; Nathan Kramer, credit analyst; Parker Stout, account support adviser; and Will Bickel, credit analyst.

Promotions

At the Linn County Sheriff’s Office, Dave Beuter was promoted to second deputy-major and will serve as the jail administrator in the Linn County Correctional Center; Casey Meyer was promoted to lieutenant and will serve as a commander in the Linn County Correctional Center; and Ian Hessing, Cole Burns and Marty Tope were promoted to sergeants and will serve as supervisors in the Linn County Correctional Center.

Amy McKelvy has been promoted to director of brand & revenue initiatives at The Gazette. In this role McKelvy will continue to oversee the sales and sales support teams along with the events team, community partnerships and brand promotion.

Appointments

Cedar Rapid-based Eternal Fan has appointed Mark Payne as its new chief revenue officer.

At Horizons, Aaron Tarchinski has been announced as director of community health and nutrition; Josh Maddox as neighborhood transportation services manager; and Cynthia Nodland as executive assistant to the CEO.

Kudos

TrueNorth Companies has earned the 2025 USA TODAY Top Workplaces award and is a 2025 Top Workplaces Culture Excellence winner in four distinct categories. The Top Workplaces accolade honors organizations with 150 or more employees that have created exceptional, people-first cultures. This year, more than 42,000 organizations were invited to participate. Winners are chosen based on employee feedback collected through a confidential survey by Energage, the HR research and technology company behind the Top Workplaces program since 2006. In addition to the national recognition, Energage awards Top Workplaces Culture Excellence honors to organizations that excel in specific areas of workplace culture. This year, TrueNorth earned distinction in Innovation, Work-Life Flexibility, Leadership, and Purpose & Values.

Other news

Giveback initiative: Informatics Inc., has announced the launch of its Starfish Initiative, a program dedicated to providing free and reduced digital services to deserving not-for-profits in the Corridor. This initiative is being piloted with Informatics’ team members, who can champion a specific not-for-profit and nominate them for credits good for strategic recommendations, training sessions, and dedicated help with marketing, web, and other digital services, all tailored to their mission and goals. The ideal participant is a young or growing not-for-profit that needs digital services but lacks the funding to hire help; organizations supporting the region’s health and human services, education, arts, and environmental needs are all eligible. This year, Informatics expects to contribute more than $25,000 in marketing, web, and digital strategy services to local nonprofits, spread across eight organizations. The goal is to open it up to community nominations in 2026, and give a total of $250,000 of in-kind services to the community by 2030. More information is available at informaticsinc.com/introducing-starfish-initiative.

Small Business of the Week: U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, has announced Northwood Foods of Worth County in northern Iowa as her small business of the week. In 1998, Brian Burkard founded Northwood Foods with a vision to provide high-quality, tailored services for processing pork. The business expanded quickly, and in two years, it began to serve clients both domestically and internationally. Northwood Foods had two major plant expansions in 2001 and 2006 and now operates a 40,000-square-foot facility that processes more than 600,000 pounds of fresh pork daily and produces a broad selection of cuts. In February, Northwood Foods celebrated its 27th anniversary. 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.