Business Notes for March 9, 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

Shuttleworth & Ingersoll, P.L.C. welcomes Abbe Stensland, who focuses on banking and finance, bankruptcy, creditor’s rights, and general corporate law.

Marla Johnson recently joined Hills Bank as financial planning and analysis analyst, officer, in their Hills office.

Promotions

Shuttleworth & Ingersoll, PLC has announced several new partner promotions among its attorneys: new vice presidents, Sarah Barr, Rachel Laborde, Elizabeth Souer and Weijing Wu; and new senior vice presidents, Megan Merritt and Teresa Morio.

Kudos

Don Woodruff, president of Woodruff Construction, has been awarded the distinguished Build Iowa Award, at the Master Builders of Iowa Winter Conference. The award recognizes Woodruff’s contributions to the construction industry, and celebrates his decades-long dedication to innovation, safety, workforce development, and community service. Woodruff followed in the footsteps of his father, Leonard Woodruff, who co-founded Woodruff Construction in 1956. Over the past 35 years, Don Woodruff has played a pivotal role in expanding the company beyond its Fort Dodge home office to four additional regions across Iowa, including Iowa City.

Other news

Small Business of the Week: U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, has announced Plantpeddler of Howard County in northeast Iowa as her small business of the week. After graduating from Iowa State University with degrees in horticulture, Mike and Rachel Gooder purchased Cresco Greenhouse in 1980. The couple modernized the infrastructure and production methods, and diversified the variety of plants grown, eventually renaming their business to Plantpeddler. In 1984, Plantpeddler established a wholesale division, providing independent and middle-market retailers with premium crops and plants. In 2001, they created a Young Plants division, becoming a major propagator of vegetative genetics in the floriculture industry. In 2014, John Gooder, Mike and Rachel’s son, joined the company. John pushed for advancements in automation and genetic research, ultimately becoming part-owner in 2024. Plantpeddler ships more than 15 million plants a year, and in June will celebrate its 45th 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.