Business Notes for Sept. 1, 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 emailed to businessnotes@thegazette.com.

New hires

Avery Campbell has joined Gutschmidt Properties in Cedar Rapids as a leasing agent and grant consultant, and Eli Nesmith has joined as property manager.

Promotions

Theisen’s has promoted J.R. Bellamy to director of purchasing.

Appointments

GreenState Credit Union has appointed Heather Stumpf its new chief financial officer.

Other news

Hibu acquisition: Hibu has acquired RevLocal, a digital marketing company in Columbus, Ohio. Hibu, with offices in Cedar Rapids and King of Prussia, Pa., said the acquisition serves “as a significant strategic expansion” of its presence in the small- and medium-sized business digital marketing sector, where it now serves more than 70,000 businesses.

Collins Aerospace expands in Spokane: Collins Aerospace, an RTX business, last week broke ground on a $200 million expansion of its carbon brake production facility in Spokane, Wash. The site adds 70,000 square feet of manufacturing space, increasing the site’s production capacity by 50 percent and its employment by 80.

Pappajohn venture award: Repaint Studios, a participant in the University of Iowa John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center Venture School, won first place and $40,000 at the Pappajohn Iowa Entrepreneurial Venture Competition on Aug. 22 in Ames. Repaint Studios is a woman-owned startup focused on reducing the environmental impact of home improvements with reusable, recyclable and eco-friendly painting supplies.

Ten teams presented five-minute pitches at the Pappajohn Iowa Entrepreneurial Venture Competition. NeuroPred, which participated in the UI’s NSF I-Corps program, was awarded honorable mention and $10,000. It develops software aiding clinical workflow in health care, with an initial focus on medical imaging for stroke patients.

GreatAmerica fund: GreatAmerica Financial Services has announced that its Employee Advised Fund fall application period opens after the Labor Day weekend to nonprofits in the Eastern Iowa area. Applications will be accepted through 4:30 p.m. Sept. 30.

The Employee Advised Fund, launched in 2022, and the GreatAmerica Donor Advised Fund, established in 2001, donate more than $1.1 million to nonprofit projects in the Corridor each year. For more information, or to apply, visit http://www.greatamerica.com/giving.

Small business of the week: U.S. Sen, Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, last week named Podium Ink of Ringgold County as her small business of the week.

Brad Elliot and Burton Murphy started the business in Mount Ayr in southwest Iowa to create vehicle wraps and apparel for community groups in 2006. They created materials for NASCAR star Kevin Harvick, a camouflage-wrapped limousine for “Duck Dynasty” and a zebra print cargo van for Blake Shelton’s Rescue Ranch.

The Iowa Farm Bureau recognized Podium Ink with the Renew Rural Iowa Entrepreneur Award in 2020. 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.