Business Notes for Nov. 6, 2022

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

New hires at GreatAmerica Financial Services are Megan Arey as a learning and development leader; Coleman Boley, cash applications specialist; Jacob Weigert, service desk triage specialist; Andrew Stover, credit analyst; and Trevor Benson, sales and ops support specialist.

Appointments

Kalpaj Parekh has been named chair and departmental executive officer of the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery with University of Iowa Health Care.

The Optimist Club of Cedar Rapids-Tuesday Noon's 2022-23 board members are Mike Freriks, president; Mike Anderson, treasurer; and Bob Roisum, secretary. Directors are Shane Baker, Kurt Beenen, Mick Erdman, Steve Menzner and Pat O’Connor.

Kudos

Nick Ford, managing partner of Top RANK LLC in Cedar Rapids was recognized by the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Iowa District Office in honor of National Veterans Small Business Week. Ford served 21 years in the Navy.

TrueNorth Cos. has won a Mike Russell Trucking Image Award from the American Trucking Associations. The award is given to organizations and individuals that show commitment to improving the public image of the trucking industry.

Involta has been named to Inc.’s inaugural Power Partner Awards, which recognizes organizations that have proven track records supporting entrepreneurs.

Insights and sessions

NewBoCo will hold its annual meeting 4:15 to 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 15 at the Olympic South Side Theater, 1202 Third St. SE, Cedar Rapids. More information is at newbo.co/annualmeeting.

The Gazette Business Breakfast panel’s third-quarter discussion, “A Small Business’ Tool Kit for 2023: Lessons we’ve learned and challenges — and opportunities — for which we can be prepared,” now is online at https://bit.ly/3eD04Wv. Panelists are Paul Andreasen, founder and owner, Saucy Focaccia; Sydney Rieckhoff, CEO, Almost Famous Popcorn; and Kymberly Stevenson, Targeted Small Business Development Program manager, Iowa Economic Development Authority. The discussion series was sponsored by BerganKDV.

The final 2022 installment of the “Gazette Spotlight on …” series of recorded interviews also is available to view at business.thegazette.com. This group recognizes businesses and organizations for their focus on growth. Interviewed are Luke Bishop of BAE Systems; Matt Swift of Big Grove; Sarah Nelson of Comm-Unity Crisis Service; and Drew Martel of Foundation 2. Also, the Better Business Bureau Cedar Rapids office joined The Gazette in speaking with Marc Meyer of Inteconnex. The series was sponsored by TrueNorth Cos.