Ryan Companies nabs 3 historic preservation awards

NEW HIRES

Ruhl & Ruhl Realtors hired Michelle Lochner (see photo) as a licensed Realtor and Mike Havlik (see photo) as her licensed PA in its Cedar Rapids office.

Acumen brought on Ashley Grobstich (see photo) as account coordinator. She previously worked in the pharmacy and health care industry.

GreatAmerica Financial Services hired Adam Louvar (see photo) as systems support administrator. It also brought on Scott Monroe (see photo) as programmer analyst.

Mark Groth (see photo) now works as safety director for Paulson Electric Co.

Katie Lueken (see photo) is now with Community Savings Bank in Robins as retail sales manager. She was previously with City State Bank.

The Acterra Group hired Mark Luker (see photo) as account manager in the petroleum equipment division, based in the Marion office.

The city of Marion hired Terrell Hunter (see photo) as IT division manager. He was previously worked at the University of Iowa.

Becky Vardaman (see photo) is now with Converge Consulting as senior digital strategist.

Hills Bank and Trust Co. hired Shaun Barry (see photo) as commercial deposits officer in its Cedar Rapids branch at 3610 Williams Blvd. SW.

PROMOTIONS

Hills Bank and Trust Co. promoted Brandon Keese (see photo) from commercial banking trainee to commercial banking officer in its Iowa City South Gilbert Street office.

APPOINTMENTS

Kim Johnson (see photo), Kirkwood Community College, was elected regional director for the five-state Region 5 of the National Council for Workforce Education.

Eugene L. Nassif Jr. (see photo) has been appointed to the National Legislative Committee of the American Podiatric Medical Association.

HONORS AND AWARDS

Jo Dixon of Plato's Closet in Cedar Rapids received a Sales Excellence Award at the company's annual conference.

A promotional video, “This is Marion, Iowa,” created by the Marion Economic Development Co. and Marion Chamber of Commerce and produced by MVP Video Productions, won the Award of Excellence in corporate and community marketing, graphic art direction and editing-short form at the Iowa Motion Picture Association Awards.

The Luxe Zone, Coralville, was named to the 2013 50 Retail Stars list by Home Accents Today trade publication.

Cedar Memorial Funeral Homes of Cedar Rapids received the Award of Excellence in funeral service at the 133rd Annual Iowa Funeral Directors Association in Ames.

Raining Rose was selected 50th in the 2013 Inner City 100, a list of the fastest-growing inner city companies in the country, by Initiative for a Competitive Inner City and Fortune.

Ryan Companies US Inc.'s Cedar Rapids office received three historic preservation awards: Excellence in Adaptive Re-Use for Hose Company No. 4, 111 Third St. SE; Project Excellence for the Paramount Theatre, 123 Third Ave. SE; and Excellence in Adaptive Re-Use for the Cedar Rapids City Hall, 101 First St. SE. The City Hall project also has been selected as one of American Public Works Association's Public Works Projects of the Year. A fourth historic project, CSPS Hall, is featured in the National Park Service's report celebrating the 35th anniversary of the federal historic tax credit program.

SEMINARS AND CONFERENCES

Writer and poet Glenn Freeman (see photo), Cornell College, will open the spring 2013 Artist in Residence Program at Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.