Business Notes: May 22, 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

Sashi Solomon joined Iowa Women’s Health Center as a nurse practitioner.

Althea Cole has started with The Gazette as Insight pages content editor. Daniel Tribble is now event support specialist with newspaper.

Promotions

Pancheros Mexican Grill, headquartered in Coralville, named Bill Adams as vice president of operations.

Scott Donohoe was promoted to fire captain with the Cedar Rapids Fire Department. Donohoe previously was a firefighter.

UnityPoint Health-St. Luke’s Hospital promoted Celsey Huber, inpatient rehabilitation nurse manager, and Heather Hindman, 4 West nurse manager.

New Location

Thompson Truck and Trailer of Cedar Rapids broke ground at its new Dubuque dealership.

Buff City Soap, a retail franchise that sells plant-based soap and body products made in-store, opened another location in Cedar Rapids at 1005 Blairs Ferry Rd.

Kudos

The League of Women Voters Linn County named former Linn County Supervisor Linda Langston the 2022 Jean Oxley Contribution award recipient. Langston was a supervisor for almost 14 years.

UnityPoint Health won nine awards from the 39th Annual Healthcare Advertising Awards. Five awards recognized UnityPoint Health’s “Not So Late Show with Austin” marketing campaign.

Frontier Co-op in Norway was named the winner of the 2022 Silver Halo Award in the social service initiative category by Engage for Good, for helping provide employees and community members access to child care, transportation, second-chance hiring practices and an apprenticeship program.

Jan Aiels, an educator at Indian Creek Nature Center in Cedar Rapids, won the national Garden Club of America’s Elizabeth Abernathy Hull Award for her efforts with children in environmental education.

Meeting

Monthly in-person networking breakfasts sponsored by SCORE are held at Scott's Family Restaurant in Cedar Rapids at 7:30 a.m. on the fourth Thursday of each month through October. The next event will be Thursday. Visit scorecr.org for more information.

More

Applications for the 2022 Elevate Leadership Program from Women Lead Change are due May 31. The development program is designed for current and emerging leaders to gain leadership insight, skills and experiences. Applications are at https://www.wlcglobal.org/programs/elevate. Send completed applications to info@wlcglobal.org. The 2022 Elevate group will be announced June 7.

Applications are now 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. The competition is sponsored by the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance and funded by the Downtown Self-Supported Municipal Improvement District. Applications are available at raceforthespacecr.org and will close June 30. For more information, email jthoeming@cedarrapids.org or nwilcox@cedarrapids.org.

Workshop

The next Intentional Insights will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. June 16 at Matthew 25, 201 Third Ave. SW, Cedar Rapids. The quarterly topic will be: "How Am I Getting in my Own Way?” Go to the-restorationproject.com/events to register.

Insights

The next Gazette Business Breakfast panel discussion is set for 9 a.m. June 21. “What’s Next: The Future of Downtown Cedar Rapids” panelists will talk about lessons learned over the past two years, what’s in the works for downtown and development as inflation and the economy continue to throw curves. Participants will be 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. The event will be free, but you must register at thegazette.com/business-breakfast. It will be sponsored by BerganKDV.

The next installment of the “Gazette Spotlight on …” series of video interviews will debut on The Gazette site, https://business.thegazette.com, also on June 21. They will recognize businesses and organizations for their focus on community commitment. Interviewed will 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.