Business Notes for March 26, 2023

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

Brittany Hannah is joining Via Sofia’s Italian Kitchen as chief operating officer.

Patricia O'Connell, Kiah Wood and Andrew Wood have joined Skogman Realty as Realtors.

Appointments

Farmers State Bank has appointed a new marketing team, including Cassandra A. Kotek, vice president of marketing, Hunter J. Collachia, digital marketing specialist and Mackenzie A. Carpe, event and marketing coordinator.

Terri Pizzuto, former chief financial officer of Hub Group, a multimodal transportation company, has joined the board of directors for CRST and will serve on the board’s audit committee.

Promotions

Tracey Krousie has been promoted to vice president of operations at Nations Financial Group Inc.

Kudos

CPA HONOR: Honkamp has been named a 2023 Top 10 Midwest CPA firm in Accounting Today’s annual ranking of CPA firms. Honkamp is a CPA and business advisory group with 260 employees headquartered in Dubuque, with seven other locations, including Hiawatha.

Events

AG CELEBRATION: The 35th annual Celebration of Agriculture will be Monday at the DoubleTree by Hilton Convention Center in downtown Cedar Rapids. To buy tickets and to register, go to cedarrapids.org/economic-alliance-events/celebration-of-agriculture/.

BUSINESS BREAKFAST: Registration is now open for the next Gazette Business Breakfast on May 9, with a panel discussion planned on “Regional Collaboration Strategies.”

Johnson County entities collaborated to address quality-of-life issues and work on economic development during the pandemic. The north end of the Corridor also has evolving collaboration. How are we poised to work as a region toward economic growth, while still addressing individual needs?

Panelists will be Cady Gerlach, executive director of Better Together 2030; Tiffany O'Donnell, mayor of Cedar Rapids; Doug Neumann, executive director of the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance; and Ryan Waller, city manager of Marion. Gazette Executive Editor Zack Kucharski will serve as panel moderator.

The breakfast and networking opportunity will run 7:30 to 9 a.m. May 9 at Geonetric, 415 12th Ave. SE, Cedar Rapids. To register and buy a $5 ticket, go to thegazette.com/special-events.

The Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance is the presenting sponsor of The Gazette breakfast series, with community partner NewBoCo.