Business Notes for Nov. 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

Diane Buxton has joined Hills Bank as vice president, financial accountant, in the Hills office.

Marc Gladson has joined Cedar Rapids Bank & Trust as vice president, commercial banking.

Appointments

Courtney Ball has been named executive director of Matthew 25 by its board of directors. Ball previously had been interim executive director.

Juliet Abdel, president and chief executive officer of the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance, has joined the Common Sense Institute board of directors. CSI is a nonpartisan research organization dedicated to the protection and promotion of Iowa’s economy. Using rigorous analysis and dynamic economic modeling, CSI evaluates the fiscal and economic impacts of policies, initiatives, and proposed laws to ensure Iowans are educated and informed on the issues shaping the state’s future.

Kudos

Farmers State Bank has been awarded first-ever Marion Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Award. The award, given on Oct. 22, recognizes a member business demonstrating measurable growth, innovation, and a commitment to community impact.

Other news

Small Business of the Week: U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, has announced Iron Horse Aviation of Jasper County in central Iowa as her small business of the week. Founded in 2016 by U.S. Army veteran Colt Zesch and his wife Emily, Iron Horse Aviation is a family-owned aviation company headquartered in Newton. What began as a small operation has grown into a provider of specialized aerial services across the Midwest and beyond. Colt Zesch, a fifth-generation Iowa farmer and former member of the 82nd Airborne Infantry Division, brings decades of military and operational experience to the business. The Zeschs also founded the Iron Horse Guardians Foundation, a nonprofit that maintains a ready helicopter fleet for lifesaving humanitarian missions such as search and rescue efforts, disaster relief and supply delivery. 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.