Business Notes for June 23, 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 to Business Notes by email to businessnotes@thegazette.com, or on our site at thegazette.com/businessnotes.

New hires

Jessica Fergesen has joined Four Oaks as a senior fund development director.

Stacie Eastman has joined Eastern Iowa Health Center in Cedar Rapids as director of development and community outreach.

Pam Funke has joined Hills Bank as vice president, facilities administration, in the Hills office.

Design Engineers has hired Zarius Buharivala as a mechanical engineer in its Cedar Rapids office.

Cedar Rapids-based GreatAmerica Financial Services has announced the hiring of the following interns: Lily Wiese and Marin Tadrus, marketing interns; Sam Funke and Brady Ketchum, sales professional interns; Ellie Sigler and Mac Buckley, sales support specialist interns; Cameron Lay and Collin Swant, credit analyst interns; and Bailey Grover, Jack Howard, Carson Recker and Aiden Dunne, account support advisor interns.

Appointments

Ben Hoover of Cedar Rapids is a new shareholder at the Holmes Murphy insurance brokerage firm after completing the leadership program.

Certifications

Meg El Haoud, manager of clinic operations at Mercy Bariatric Surgery Clinic, in Cedar Rapids, and Barb Cooper, Mercy Bariatric Surgery program coordinator, have achieved their Bariatric Nurse Certification through The American College of Surgeons.

Kudos

The Mercy Bariatric Surgery Program was recently recognized by the American College of Surgeons as a Surgical Quality Partner, one of the highest awards for patient safety and outcomes. The program has been a Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery and Quality Improvement Program Center of Excellence since 2021.

CRST has been named a 2024 Carrier of the Year by global logistics provider C.H. Robinson. The award recognizes the top 24 contract carriers demonstrating operational excellence, including the adoption of technology to enhance service, and growth in the volume of freight hauled with C.H. Robinson.

Other news

Puddle Jumpers ribbon-cutting: Puddle Jumpers recently celebrated five years in business under owner Tiffani Sattler with a ribbon-cutting at the children’s consignment store, 260 Seventh Ave. in Marion. For more information, visit puddlejumpersmarion.com or call (319) 373-5525.

Business workshops: SCORE in-person workshops for networking and business skills will be held Thursday, June 27, in Cedar Rapids. The workshops will be presented from 7:30 to 9 a.m. at Scott’s Family Restaurant, 1906 Blairs Ferry Rd. NE, and from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Chrome Horse, 1201 Third St. SE. The workshop also will be offered in Waterloo on Tuesday, June 25, from 8:30 to 10 a.m.at Cabin Coffee Co., 2040 Kimball Ave. For more information or to learn about volunteering opportunities, email mark.hermann@scorevolunteer.org.

Winners in “pitch” contest: Act Write Here, a virtual playhouse for actors and writers founded by Laney Kraus-Taddeo, won first place and $15,000 at the “pitch” contest June 13 during EntreFEST at The Olympic Southside Theater in Cedar Rapids.

A total of $37,000 in prize money was awarded to 10 teams.

Second place and $9,000 went to Tumbleweed, a company founded by Paul Richardson that provides a comprehensive platform for legacy planning. AgriNet Bin Bladder, a company founded by Caleb Renner that provides a safe alternative to grain bin sweeps for farmers, earned third place and $6,000.

Two finalists — EHS Support Source (Linden Terpstra) and Site Sidekick (Tom Altman) — and five semifinalists received $1,000 each. The semifinalists were Invasive Removal (Mark Vande Haar), Ossarocco (Osarodion Aigbogun), Roster (Steve Wittmer), Steer Clear Mirrors (Courtney McClellan) and The LEGG Buddy (Gary Goodlett).

Act Write Here participated in the Des Moines Venture School, Tumbleweed is from the Des Moines cohort, and AgriNet Bin Bladder is from Mason City Venture School. Venture School is affiliated with the University of Iowa John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center. The statewide training program focuses on real-world experimentation, customer discovery and Lean LaunchPad methodologies.

Small business of the week: U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, last week named Raymon Enterprises of Marshall County as her small business of the week.

Raymon Enterprises was founded in 1973 by Don Martin under the name Donco Industries. In 1985, Larry Raymon and his wife, Joynell, bought the company and moved it to Albion, renaming it Raymon Enterprises in 2006. In 2022, Larry’s son, Chad, became president of the company that employs more than 80 people and operates out of a 65,000-square-foot facility in Albion, a city of 500 northwest of Marshalltown.

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.