Business Notes: June 26, 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

Lexi Poundstone joined Bosch Financial Inc. as new business coordinator.

GreatAmerica Financial hired David Wandrey, Brasal Pruitt, Raesen Matutu, Molly Heckler, Sam Goodman and Nikki Chapman as service desk triage specialists; Marcus Murphy, Mason Grant, Matthew Black and Tim Sellers, documentation specialists; Zoey Mulderig, account support adviser; Dan Gogel, national account manager; Tanner Arnold, sales operations support specialist; Joseph Hempstead, programmer analyst; Geoff Knoop, director, human resources; Ashley Jasunas, scrum master; Brian Duhn, data ops engineer; Nathan Blocker, sales tax specialist; and Glenn Kevitt, technical program manager.

KZIA FM/Z102.9 in Cedar Rapids appointed Brian Davis as program director.

Blake DeVore was hired by Skywalk Group in Cedar Rapids as recruiter.

Kudos

Per Mar Security Services received the Five Diamond Certification from the Monitoring Association.

KT Pacer, a Kentucky Trailer company with a location in Cedar Rapids, received the 2021 Plant Safety Award from the Truck Trailer Manufacturers Association.

Expansions

Urbana-based e-commerce company Clickstop opened its second distribution center, in Simpsonville, S.C., earlier this month.

Build-out assistance

Applications are open for Race for the Space, a program that gives businesses the chance to win $20,000 toward rent and build-out at a selected property in downtown Cedar Rapids. Selected business also will receive a $7,500 credit for architectural design services with Form Function Studio and a course to build more business provided by BerganKDV. Applications are available at raceforthespacecr.org and will close June 30. For more information, email jthoeming@cedarrapids.org or nwilcox@cedarrapids.org.

Insights

The Gazette Business Breakfast panel’s second quarter discussion, “What’s Next: The Future of Downtown Cedar Rapids,” is ready for viewing at thegazette.com/business-breakfast. Participants are Darryl High of High Properties, Cedar Rapids Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell, Cobble Hill and Caucho restaurants co-owner Andy Schumacher, and Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance’s Jesse Thoeming. Viewers can submit questions and comment during the live discussion. It was sponsored by BerganKDV.

The next installment of the “Gazette Spotlight on …” series of video interviews also is ready to view, at https://business.thegazette.com. They will recognize businesses and organizations for their focus on community commitment. Interviewed are Lori Sundberg, president of Kirkwood Community College, for the school’s administering of Last-Dollar Scholarship funds for almost 500 students; James Klein, Cedar Rapids Bank and Trust president, for its extensive community involvement; and Angelica Vannatta, senior manager of Workplace Volunteer Council of United Way, for its work in volunteerism and forging business relationships. The series is sponsored by TrueNorth Cos.