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
Design Engineers of Cedar Rapids has hired Ahmed Bilal to join its mechanical engineering team.
Cedar Rapids-based law firm Simmons Perrine Moyer Bergman has hired four summer associates: Noah Chaplin, Joann Mulholland and Adel Raymer, from the University of Iowa College of Law; and Payton Rochford, from Drake University Law School.
Cedar Rapids-based GreatAmerica Financial Services has announced the following new hires: Lucas Kroll, financial analyst intern; Payton Roth, sales support, development; Ben Schemmel, sales support specialist; Riley Granaman, sales support specialist; Lauren Dufoe, operations support, development; Riley Pankey, credit analyst; Tyler Kulhanek, credit analyst; Olivia Zach, account support adviser; Nate Mead, portfolio manager; and Carsen Kisner, portfolio manager.
Kudos
Ben Hoover of Cedar Rapids is a new shareholder at the Holmes Murphy insurance brokerage firm after completing the company’s leadership program.
Simmons Perrine Moyer Bergman attorneys Roger W. Stone and Eric W. Lam have made the “Top 10: 2024 Iowa Super Lawyers” list, making it the only firm in Iowa with two attorneys on the prestigious, peer-voted list.
UnityPoint Health-Cedar Rapids president Casey Greene has been named to the 2024 Becker’s Hospital Review’s “160 Community Hospital CEOs to Know” list. Leaders were evaluated on workforce culture, planning for the future, hospital offerings and the financial wellness of their hospitals.
Other news
Great America employees award $250K: Cedar Rapids-based GreatAmerica Financial Services Corp., the largest, family-owned national commercial equipment finance company in the U.S., has awarded $250,000 from its Employee Advised Fund to 15 nonprofits.
Employees voted to award grants of $5,000 to $25,000 to the nonprofits: Big Brothers Big Sisters of Cedar Rapids & East Central Iowa, Catherine McAuley Center, Cedar Valley Habitat for Humanity, Central Furniture Rescue, Foundation 2 Crisis Services, Freedom Foundation, Friends of the Marion Public Library, HACAP with Meals from the Heartland, Indian Creek Nature Center, Kids First Law Center, Tanager, The Arc of East Central Iowa, Trees Forever, Willis Dady Homeless Services and Young Parents Network.
This is the third round of giving for the GreatAmerica Employee Advised Fund, which started in 2022. The next grant cycle will open for applications in September and can be accessed at https://www.greatamerica.com/giving.
Additionally, GreatAmerica awarded $602,500 from its Donor Advised Fund in the spring 2024 giving cycle, for a total of $852,500 benefiting Cedar Rapids and surrounding communities.
Empowerment Symposium: The Empowerment Symposium, which aims to inspire and uplift Black and Brown professionals, will be Sept. 19 to 20 in Iowa City at The Graduate Hotel on the Pedestrian Mall. Symposium topics include education, leadership, marketing and branding, banking/financial wealth, workforce and economic development. Speakers include Randy Moore of Davenport, president of American Water, and Carla Anderson, chair of the Dubuque Human Rights Commission. For information and to register, visit empowersym.com.
Adventureland cited: Adventureland Resort in Altoona has been named one of the top five theme parks in the United States by HomeToGo. The annual index ranks parks across the country based on attractions and affordability.
Small business of the week: U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, last week named L&J Industries of Floyd County as her small business of the week. James B. Garden, after serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, founded L&J Welding in Charles City in 1965, which later became L&J Industries. His son and daughter-in-law, Chris and Lisa Garden, became the company’s owners in 2003. The third generation, including Brady and Jacie, have been involved since 2022. 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.
Business notes for June 30, 2024
Ahmed Bilal, Design Engineers
Noah Chaplin, Simmons Perrine Moyer Bergman
Lauren Dufoe, GreatAmerica
Riley Granaman, GreatAmerica
Casey Greene, UnityPoint Health-C.R.
Ben Hoover, Holmes Murphy
Carsen Kisner, GreatAmerica
Lucas Kroll, GreatAmerica
Tyler Kulhanek, GreatAmerica
Eric W. Lam, Simmons Perrine Moyer Bergman
Nate Mead, GreatAmerica
Joann Mulholland, Simmons Perrine Moyer Bergman
Riley Pankey, GreatAmerica
Adel Raymer, Simmons Perrine Moyer Bergman
Payton Rochford, Simmons Perrine Moyer Bergman
Payton Roth, GreatAmerica
Ben Schemmel, GreatAmerica
Roger Stone, Simmons Perrine Moyer Bergman
Olivia Zach, GreatAmerica
