Quilters are known to drive hours out of their way to visit stores offering different quilting fabric, patterns and supplies. That kind of devotion has fueled sales for The Cottage Rose, an 11-year-old quilt store at 1048 Seventh Ave. in Marion.

“Eastern Iowa probably has the highest density of quilt shops of any area of the country,” said Deb Eggars, who owns The Cottage Rose with her husband, Ray. “In some states, quilt shops are five or six hours apart. We have a large number of quilt shops within an hour’s drive of Marion.

“Quilters will search out certain colors and fabrics. They prefer to feel the texture of the fabric, something they can’t do with a one-dimensional photo on a web site.”

Eggars, who opened The Cottage Rose in 2001, said her clientele ranges from preteens just learning how to quilt to older quilters with years of experience. Although the store has a web site (www.cottagerosequiltshop.com), Eggars said most of her customers are local or regional residents.

“We have a huge quilt guild in this area,” she said. “I also have people come up from Iowa City, down from Waterloo and over from the Quad Cities and western Illinois. In the spring and summer, we get a lot of visitors to Marion who are driving through while they’re on vacation.

“We’ve had people from California and New York who have found our web site and decide to stop while they’re in the state.”

In addition to quilting fabric, patterns and supplies, The Cottage Rose also a longarm quilting machine used to finish quilts.

“When people get through piecing their quilts, they bring them in and we are able to quilt the layers together,” Eggars said. “With the variety of stitches offered on today’s machines and the brighter fabrics that have been introduced for younger quilters, it really opens up the creative process for a lot of people.”

Eggars, who began designing quilt patterns about five years ago, received international recognition in November.  Quilt Mania, a quilting magazine published in France, featured Faded Stars, designed and pieced by Eggars and machine quilted by Joan Dutton Quilting.

“I’ve sent a kit to a lady in Washington state so she can make it the way I did,” Eggars said. “I also recently sent a kit to a quilter in South Bend, Ind.

“It’s a lot of fun to see someone else take my design and make it with another fabric in a different color.”

While Eggars’ customers are usually the end users of her products and services, Alex and Laura Taykor have a different clientele for their Coralville business.

Woofables Gourmet Dog Bakery, 1801 Second St., creates and sells handmade gourmet dog biscuits. When the Taylors bought Woofables from its founders just over a year ago, 99 percent of  its customers were local or Corridor residents who visited the store – often accompanied by their four-legged companions.

Woofables Gourmet Dog Bakery "Alpha Dog" Jo Ann Manderscheid decorates Doggie Doughnuts at the store in Coralville. Woofables has been able to grow its online and wholesale business to where that now makes up 50 percent of sales. (Brian Ray/The Gazette)

“Today, about 50 percent of our customers come into the store,” said Laura Taylor, the “Top Dog” at Woofables. “The other 50 percent are wholesale customers in about 20 states and online customers who order our products over the Internet (www.woofablesbakery.com).

“We private label products for our wholesale customers. While some stores in the Des Moines area willingly tell customers that their dog biscuits are baked at Woofables in Coralville, others show on their packaging in small print where they are made.”

Laura Taylor said the need to expand Woofables’ online and wholesale presence was evident before the couple bought the business.

“The previous owners told us that they could see a lot of opportunities beyond the store,” she said. “This was more like a hobby to them, so they really struggled trying to figure out how to put the pieces together to make opportunities happen.”

Alex Taylor, assistant director of the Executive MBA program at the University of Iowa Tippie College of Business, said Woofables allows he and Laura, who does contract marketing for local companies, to practice what they have been teaching other business owners for many years.

“It’s very scary, but rewarding,” Alex Taylor said. “While we will need to establish a separate bakery to keep up with demand, we will always keep the store because it’s our ‘petri dish’ to test new products and marketing ideas.”

When the demand for private label packaging grew too great, the Taylors turned to Goodwill of the Heartland’s Contract Services division. In the production area at Goodwill’s Iowa City center, workers package the individual Woofables dog biscuits and affix special labels for the customers.

“Working with Goodwill has allowed us to remain focused on baking the biscuits, not packaging the product,” Laura Taylor said. “With the larger orders, we need workers who are interested in completing ongoing consistent, repetitive work.”

Two years after Goodwill opened its Reboot store at 1410 S. First Ave. in the spring of 2009, the brick-and-mortar business selling refurbished desktop and laptop computers and peripherals needed more space. Goodwill Reboot moved late last year to the former Brenneman Seed and Pet Center building at 1500 S. First Ave.

Goodwill of the Heartland operates an online auction web site (shopgoodwill.com), but computers and peripherals are primarily sold to customers visiting the Reboot store. It accepts donations of computers and peripherals at all of its retail stores.

Jason Toms, vice president of retail at Goodwill of the Heartland, said the new location offered expanded store space to showcase computers, accessories and related gear for sale.

“The store features everything from laptops to printers, ink cartridges, power cords and all kinds of games and accessories,” Toms said. “You never know what you might find.”

Goodwill Reboot has become a key revenue source for Goodwill of the Heartland as well as a community recycler and client employer. The organization recycled almost 1.2 million pounds of computers in 2009, a 41 percent increase over the previous year.

As their name implies, the temporary shops pop up in vacant storefront or mall spaces without substantial renovations or redevelopment. They usually locate in urban areas with heavy foot traffic.

Luxury retailers, too, have developed more exotic pop-ups in unusual urban spaces in New York City, Boston, Los Angeles and other major cities.

December was the pop-up brainchild of Catherine Champion, the owner of Catherine’s Boutique. The store, at 30 S. Clinton St. in downtown Iowa City, took advantage of a vacancy in the venue that had long housed Gilda Imports, a gift store.

Champion contacted Bill Nusser and Jann Weissmiller, owners at two other landmark downtown retailers — Hands Jewelers and Prairie Lights Books, respectively. They agreed to help with lease and utility costs for the store, as well as inventory.

Champion also lined up local craft people and artists to contribute their merchandise, eventually bringing in dozens.

Sarah Taft, puts on the first coat of paint in Valentine, the latest pop-up store to strike Iowa City, on Wednesday, February 1, 2012. Valentine will open from February 2nd until the 15th. (Nikole Hanna/SourceMedia Group News)

The result was a somewhat random mix of interesting and ever-changing inventory.

“I didn’t make the assortment,” Champion said. “That’s the best thing. The community did. I didn’t turn anyone away.”

Weissmiller said Champion’s own store, Catherine’s, and Prairie Lights also received a benefit from capturing a different group of potential customers than the pedestrian traffic that usually passes by their stores on nearby Dubuque Street.

“Clinton Street has a totally different clientele,” she said.

After the holiday season, Champion decided to open a second pop-up store with a sort of perennial concept in a vacant storefront at 105 S. Dubuqe St.

Valentine opened Thursday, the first of a rotating assortment of seasonal pop-ups planned for that location.

Champion envisions a changing parade of seasonal concepts that could include Mother’s Day and Halloween.

“I like the beginning and the end, and I don’t like what happens in the middle,” Champion said. “That’s why pop-up is perfect for me.”

Champion said she combs websites such as TrendHunter.com to search for interesting concepts to weave into retailing.

Champion eventually would like the Iowa City store to morph into a “community store,” that would offer only locally made merchandise. It’s part of her personal answer to what can otherwise become the drudgery of a retail existence.

“Whatever, I’m still coming to work every day,” Champion said. “ Why not do these things differently? I choose to create my life.”

To Weissmiller, one of the pleasures of stocking the December store was finding great books that might otherwise be lost in the collection of new releases and blockbusters at Prairie Lights.

“Some of the books are just fun and eclectic,” she said shortly before the store wrapped up its season. “We get a listing every day of what sold over there, and I go over there and restock.”

Weissmiller said Hands Jewelers featured dishware and gift items that might ordinarily be overlooked on its upper retail level, or by customers who don’t shop the jewelry-oriented store because they think it’s outside their price range.

Lindale Mall Senior Marketing Manager Lisa Rowe said temporary stores are an important part of the mall’s offerings every day of the year, although it tends to peak at Christmas.

Calendar Club, Go Games, Hickory Farms and Treasure Chest have been some of Lindale Mall’s recent seasonal retailers, along with Kozy Blankets and Willustrations. A common theme among the seasonal kiosks has been the ability to personalize a wide merchandise assortment of colors and styles in a narrow category, Rowe said.

She added that a big benefit of leasing a kiosk or a temporary store space is that it can give the merchant a sort of test drive of the mall market with less risk than signing a long-term lease.

In most malls, Norins said, the temporary stores sign a license agreement rather than a lease. She said the agreements allow the merchant to operate in the space, but frequently can require that they move out on short notice if the mall needs the space for a long-term tenant.

Flexibility is key

Temporary stores had become an established element in retailing long before the term pop-up went mainstream a few years ago, according to Patricia Norins, publisher of Specialty Retail, a temporary store industry publication.

Temporary stores seem to boom during economic downturns, Norins said, and the surge in temporary stores of the past three years has echoed a similar recession-related temporary store boom in the 1980s.

Norins told Business380 that year-around stores that change names and themes with the season have become more common in the past couple years.

“A really key element of our industry is retailers have flexibility to change product lines from season to season,” she said.

Pop-up stores not only provide a new retail experience for shoppers seeking something fresh, but create a sense of urgency, Norins said. Customers know the store could be gone next month.

Top 5 categoires of pop-up stores:

1. Apparel: 14.5%
2. Cellular and accessories: 13.2%
3. Personal Care and Health: 7.8%
4. Food: 6.2%
5. Bath, Body and Fragrance: 6.1%

Source: Specialty Retail Pulse Quarterly Market Research Report for 2011

Or maybe it was responsible for a friend’s new interior design. Or maybe you’re a marketer who’s heard all of this and is wondering — how does Pinterest work?

Why does it matter for brands, and how do you know if it’s a good fit for your business?

Nick Westergaard

Simply put, Pinterest is a visually engaging social bookmarking system. Users, called “pinners,” create “boards” based on topics to which they “pin” things of interest. (Pins + interest — get it?)

Social bookmarking is not a new thing by any stretch. Services such as Digg, Del.icio.us and Reddit have been at it for years.

But Pinterest has reinvented this medium by making it appealing and approachable for those outside the digerati.

These appealing efforts have paid off, as comScore reports that Pinterest currently has 4 million users and is growing rapidly. In December 2011, it entered the top 10 social networks, according to Hitwise data, with a total of 11 million visits per week — 40 times the amount in the comparable 6-month period before.

The approachability factor is evident in the user demographics with over 58 percent female (down from 70 percent prior) with a majority being between the ages of 25 and 44 years old. Also of note, users in the Midwest are up to 102 percent more likely to visit Pinterest than elsewhere.

This stands in stark contrast to other networks, which are usually adopted on the coasts and work their way in.

Why Pinterest Matters

When you take a step back and look, it’s clear that Pinterest is answering a critical need in our digital lives.

There’s too much information online. Last year Google’s Eric Schmidt revealed that every two days we create as much information as we did from the dawn of civilization up until 2003.

In short, we need help getting through it all. That’s where Pinterest serves as a socially curated map to things we discover, like and share online.

But solving this information overload in a graphically pleasing way is only part of the Pinterest equation. Behind all of those pins lies a rich warehouse filled with links and metadata.

These may look like photos, videos and links, but amassed they become valuable customer insights.

This socially reinforced content joins Google+ in jarring the world of traditional search and altering how companies gain visibility online.

How Are Brands Using It?

Given this potential, it’s no surprise that many brands already have colonized on Pinterest, utilizing the network in various ways.

“The Today Show” ends in the morning but pins all day, mixing lifestyle references from on-air features (fitness, travel, etc.) with actual news (Gabrielle Giffords stepping down). The Weather Channel pins storm photos.

Real Simple and Martha Stewart have boards aligned with their editorial calendars and product categories. Whole Foods shares a mix of savory meals along with topics that highlight their customers’ ethos such as gardening.

Nordstrom uses Pinterest to learn about customers and gain insights into trends and style. Greek yogurt Chobani finds a balance of content that celebrates their product and explores off-topic areas of interest.

Is Pinterest Right for Your Brand?

Most brands that find a good fit on Pinterest either have an obvious visual appeal that can be showcased or a strong ethos and culture that allow them to pin symbolic pictures that evoke key components of the brand’s DNA. Examples include:

•  Lifestyle — Food, travel, sports, pets
•  Design focused — Architecture, interior and industrial design, technology
•  Event driven — Weddings, entertaining, seasonal/holidays
•  Apparel — Men’s, women’s, children’s; high fashion to sportswear; accessories
•  Media/publishing — TV shows, magazines, websites.

For the right brands, the results can be impressive. Real Simple magazine — an ideal fit based on both visual appeal and audience demographics — has seen more recent website referrals from Pinterest than Facebook, according to AdAge.

Before Your Brand Starts Pinning

If you think Pinterest might be a good fit for your brand, there are a few things of which you should be aware:

•  Pins can be photos (the most popular type), videos, discussions or gifts. Of note, “gifts” can be assigned a price.
•  You can tag other users with the @ symbol as in Twitter, Facebook and Google+.
•  Remember to include keywords in your pin descriptions for better SEO.
•  While there are no rules about only following those who follow you, like Google+, you should experiment with Pinterest as an opt-in platform and only follow others once they follow your business.
•  As with all networks, watch your signal-to-noise ratio to ensure that you’re sharing more than you’re self-promoting.
•  Encourage pinning by adding the easy-to-install buttons that Pinterest provides on your product pages or blog content. As with all networks, your results are greatly diminished if you don’t promote them.
•  Pictures are literally worth more than words in a visual medium such as Pinterest. As such, you should create pin-ready photos that are nice and big.

To Pin or Not to Pin

Pinterest, Instagram, Google+ — oh, my! As new social networks continue to crop up, many are feeling overwhelmed.

As our online media becomes even more fractured, defining your social media strategy for each platform is key.

Pinterest is certainly seeing exceptional growth, especially in demographics not prone to early adoption. And if you’ve spent any time on the network you may have noted that once you start pining, it can be addictive.

However, the brand applications for Pinterest are a little narrower. It’s not clear what b2b brands can do here, or traditional sectors such as manufacturing and health care.

In short, you need to take a look at the network, play around a bit, follow others in your space and determine if Pinterest is a good fit for your brand.

“It’s dark, it’s foggy, it’s icy … it takes forever to get anywhere because of road conditions. But we do what we have to do when it comes to restoring power after a storm.”

With 61 employees, Linn County REC buys and distributes power that’s generated and transmitted from CIPCO, the Central Iowa Power Cooperative. Incorporated in 1939, Linn County REC’s 25,000 members are located in rural and suburban areas of Linn and Johnson counties, with line extensions into Jones, Cedar, Iowa, and Benton counties.

To deal with extreme weather situations, the cooperative designs its systems to handle certain wind and ice loads specified in national codes, said Kevin Stucker, technology manager at Linn County REC. Because these standards change over time, the cooperative also has a workplan in place to update older parts of their system.

“Every seven years, an independent company tests our poles,” Tanner explained. “They give us a list of what they find.

“From that list, we do maintenance and replace the poles we need to.”

MidAmerican Energy’s power plant at its Coralville generating station. (Buzz Orr)

Those pole test results often play into the workplan already in place for updating system components. If the list indicates that a pole needs to be replaced, Linn County REC investigates to see if it’s in an area where there are other older poles.

“It might make sense to replace that entire stretch at one time,” Tanner noted.

To maintain a high level of reliability, utilities and cooperatives work year-round to prepare for storms and outages.

“We do lots of maintenance, especially when it comes to tree trimming,” noted Kim Colberg, Linn County REC’s general manager. “We spend about $350,000 per year in tree trimming.”

Linn County REC also has a three-day storm stock on hand at all times. Tanner has agreements with neighboring co-ops that use the same materials in case he needs to rely on them during a storm.

He also has storm stock in North Liberty.

“A tornado isn’t as widespread as an ice storm, so if a tornado goes through northern Cedar Rapids, I can use storm stock in North Liberty,” Tanner said.

At MidAmerican Energy, spokeswoman Tina Potthoff explained, a dedicated planning and reliability group is responsible for:

• Monitoring voltage levels on transmission and distribution lines
• Reviewing daily outage reports to identify system deficiencies
• Evaluating aging equipment like wires, cables, insulators, cross arms, and poles
• Determining reliability improvements — including installation of lightning arresters and animal guards — and walking, climbing, and/or taking aerial photos of transmission systems.

The utility provides electric service to 729,000 customers and natural gas to 709,000 homes in Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska and South Dakota. Established in 1995, it has 3,425 full-time employees and 60 part-time employees.

To make sure staff members can follow emergency protocols, communicate effectively and execute resource deployment plans, MidAmerican conducts regular practice drills, Potthoff said. It also invested in National Incident Management System training and certification for 150 employees last year.

When it comes to gas supply, Potthoff said MidAmerican anticipates energy demands before the heating season.

“By mid-October 2011, through the use of storage and financial hedging, we secured the price on approximately 65 percent of the natural gas that customers are anticipated to need for this heating season.”

Doing this also protects customers from extreme price spikes.
“We take advantage of our state association’s resources during big storms,” Linn County REC’s Colberg said. “It has what’s called an emergency plan arrangement.

“If we get in a bind and it’s going to take days to restore power, we call them. They link us with some of the state’s other RECs.”

The state association also reaches out to adjacent states and their resources during extreme weather events that affect the entire state. During the ice storm in 2007, for example, Missouri crews came to Iowa to help.

While all utilities have emergency management procedures in place, sometimes the best laid plans go awry. After a storm, Colberg says that Linn County REC takes to the sky to conduct visual inspections of line and system damage. During the ice storm of 2007, weather prevented that from happening.

Instead, engineers and line workers — people who knew the systems — drove each system, taking someone with them to take notes according to what damage they saw.

Communications plans, too, have been reworked during extreme weather.

“We lost our Internet connection, so I couldn’t provide updates people were looking for on our website,” said Carrie Langridge, Linn County REC communications coordinator. After that experience, the utility decided to connect directly into the data center with fiber optics for a more reliable connection.

“After our connection was restored, we were doing morning, noon and afternoon updates,” Langridge said.

The cooperative also designed a mobile website so that members could view the site easily from their smartphones.
Because the line crew sometimes has to be creative when it comes to temporary solutions to restore power, engineers and field workers gear up after a storm to permanently fix what initially caused the outage.

“When you’re replacing materials, sometimes what you’re doing lasts only 6 or 8 months to a year after a storm,” Tanner explained. “You might put something back in the air safely as a temporary fix.

“After everyone is turned back on, we spend 2 or 3 months taking temporary fixes down and permanently fixing them.”

(Click on the image to enlarge it.)

Many organizations struggle with implementing ERM and identifying how, and at what level, to integrate the system into their business. Managers often indicate they already are aware of the relevant risks for their respective areas of the business.

Bill Vincent

In these situations, what value can ERM provide, and how can it enable any better perspective or management of risks and risk data?

The most impact and recognition of value is often perceived more at the executive and director levels than other layers of management. Five key benefits and values from ERM include:

1. Increased consistency and communication

ERM provides a standard terminology and conceptual framework for all members and departments in the organization. This consistency and commonality provides improved opportunities for communication and coordination among various layers and departments.

In addition, communication regarding risk is often lacking within organizations due to concerns of confidentiality, propriety and job security. As a result, data and information relative to strategic risks — and risks to achievement of corporate objectives and plans — are not shared across department lines.

2. Enhanced reporting implementation

ERM supports better structure, reporting and analysis of risks. Risk “dashboards” — consolidating risks across the entire enterprise — increase the focus of directors and executives, enabling better decisions relative to risk thresholds, risk appetite and risk tolerance.

The reporting, therefore, has better categorization and classification of risk data, allowing various types of reporting — department versus entity-wide, financial versus compliance, high versus low risk, quantitative versus qualitative factors, etc.

Ultimately the greatest overall value from ERM and related reporting is the timeliness, conciseness and flexibility, which facilitate improved decision-making capabilities within the executive and director levels, and in other layers of management.

ERM helps unlock synergies and potential for increased analysis and assessment of risks by aggregating and sharing all corporate risk data and factors, and evaluating them on a consolidated basis.

3. Improved focus and perspective of risk-data use

ERM methodologies and techniques provides a means to further identify and assess key performance indicators regarding risks.
This allows a method to measure and better quantify risk factors and tolerances.

The use of key metrics and measurements of risk further improve the value of reporting and analysis.

ERM models also permit more effective and complete viewpoints of risk. Traditional risk practices focus on risk from a perspective of mitigation, acceptance or avoidance.

However, effective ERM processes will give management a framework in which to evaluate risk as an opportunity to increase competitive positions and exploit certain market, operational and related conditions.

4. More Efficient Coordination of Regulatory and Compliance Matters

Bond rating agencies, financial statement auditors, regulatory examiners and other audit activities — including internal audit — have begun to test and often leverage and use monitoring and reporting data from ERM programs. As ERM data involves identifying and monitoring controls and mitigations relevant to various risks across the organization, this information can provide an effective means for leveraging and reducing the effort and cost of such audits and reviews.

5. Cost Effective Management of Risk

Through all of the items noted above, ERM can enable better cost management and cost effectiveness related to audit activities; better management of market, competitive and economic conditions; and increased leverage and consolidation of disparate risk management functions.

Organizations can use ERM data and reporting to more effectively coordinate with investment custodians, better manage capital/investment decisions and make more timely decisions regarding hedging instruments.

By potentially reducing the overall cost of risk-management processes, reducing audit costs or minimizing resources needed for regulatory responses, and streamlining monitoring and reporting functions, ERM has the capability to reduce the cost of the existing processes and functions for these respective components within the organization.

What is ERM?

ERM is a process that is:

•  Implemented by the entity’s board of directors, management and other personnel.
•  Applied in strategy setting and across the enterprise.
•  Designed to identify potential events that may affect the entity, and manage risk within the risk appetite and/or risk tolerance.
•  Implemented to provide reasonable assurance regarding mitigation, avoidance and management of risk factors and circumstances, as well as promote opportunities to capitalize on risk events and thresholds.

EMC Insurance Companies named AW Welt Ambrisco of Iowa City as one of the highest-performing EMC agencies in the country, placing them in the top 15 percent of its agencies. The annual award is based on retention, profitability, service to clients and growth.

Verhille & Associates/TrueNorth Companies of Cedar Rapids was named a 2011 Agency Building Award Honorable Mention by Kansas City Life Insurance Co.

LL Pelling Co. in North Liberty was a winner of the National Asphalt Pavement Association’s Outstanding website award in the producer member category. LL Pelling worked with Henry Russell Bruce, a Cedar Rapids marketing firm, for its website, www.llpelling.com.

Seminars

The APICS (Association for Operations Management) Cedar Valley chapter will offer “Advanced Project Management Bootcamp” April 10, at the Best Western Longbranch Hotel Restaurant & Convention Center, 90 Twixt Town Rd. NE, Marion. The course will discuss advanced aspects of project management. Registration at www.cedarvalleyapics.org or markburkman@mchsi.com.

The sixth-annual Tribute and Fundraising event to benefit the Academy for Scholastic and Personal Success will be held at 5 p.m., Feb. 23, at the African American Museum of Iowa and Cultural Center of Iowa, 55 12th Ave. SE, Cedar Rapids. Slayton Thompson will be honored with the I Am the Bridge award for his contributions to the Cedar Rapids community. Tickets are $35 each or $280 for a table of 8. RSVP by Feb. 17 at (319) 364-2063 or retwhite@aol.com.

“Financial Strategies for Volatile Times” will be presented, 10 a.m. to noon, Monday, at the Marion Public Library, 1095 Sixth Ave. Jeffrey Johnston, president of Premier Investments of Iowa, will present the program. The event is free. Reservations can be made by calling 800-383-6590 or kimberly.chapman@premieriowa.com.

New location

Catholic Charities’s Cedar Rapids office relocated to the Sister Mary Lawrence Community Center.

After all, no matter how many times my friend Bill and I stopped by the pet section of the S.S. Kresge five-and-dime, the little green reptiles would be piled on top of each other in a heap at a corner of their plastic display. It was as if they were trying to make a break for it, figuring the turtles at the peak would climb over, then drop a rope ladder or something for their fellow prisoners at the bottom of the tank.

We thought we were helping by lifting each turtle off the pile and redistributing them comfortably throughout their tub. But maybe not.

The Kresge turtle display was just one of our many checkpoints at the then-burgeoning Boardman Plaza, erected far enough from the odors and black rain created daily by the miles of then-bustling Youngstown, Ohio, steel mills. My parents had moved to what was then the suburbs to get away from the mills and closer to the promise of less crime and stronger schools.

Our tiny house was literally just behind the plaza, and I was in the stores of that strip mall — at its height of popularity proclaimed to be the largest such shopping center in the world, with 623,000 square feet — every single day. So when I say I pretty much grew up in retail, I’m not only talking about how my father spent his entire professional life managing stores.

Michael Chevy Castranova

On our way home from school each afternoon, Bill and I would drop by the drugstore to see what new comic books had come in — until we figured out the new stuff was delivered only once a week. Later at the hardware store we’d paw among the paperbacks we’d be murdered for bringing home. (Yes, the hardware store sold paperback books, too — I can’t explain it.)

Less religiously we’d go into the various five-and-dimes — Kresge, Grant’s, Woolworth’s — for something to eat or to annoy the clerks by snapping through the record albums we couldn’t afford to buy. And, on a good day, there also was J.C. Penney, Hill’s giant discount store, a handful of groceries, some small clothing shops, a decent bakery and even a bowling alley-pool hall.

We cruised each every day, just in case something had changed.

The plaza also was the default meeting spot. Fights were set for somewhere along the milelong back parking lot.

If we’d run into some girls at the high school football game the evening before, the mating ritual always began with, “You’re going to be at the plaza tomorrow …?” (You already know about the legendary connection between northeast Ohio and Friday night high school football, right? To my surprise, I’ve been told a fair number of folk actually went to watch the games.)

When I visited my parents this past autumn, I drove over to the plaza. It still stands, though many of the storefronts are vacant, and what is occupied are, for the most part, low-rent — they sell cigarettes, scrapbook supplies or remaindered greeting cards.

Crowds back in the mid-1970s shifted a half-mile east uphill to the Southern Park Mall, a 1.1 million-square-foot enclosed shopping center that today boasts the likes of Macy’s, Dillard’s and a movie house.

You go in, get your socks or back-to-school clothes, your hardback book, your greeting card, then leave. Where’s the fun in that?

After moving to Columbus, I got a job at a glossy statewide magazine headquartered downtown. As the state capital, the city center had everything you’d expect — a dominant statehouse, commanding statues, plenty of banks, old-line restaurants, hotels small and large, stuffy lobbyists’ offices and historic theaters for stage productions, ballet and opera, as well as enough newsstands and used-bookstores to keep any budding journalist occupied.

But in 1989, Columbus unveiled a downtown enclosed shopping center — 17 years in the making and costing $200 million to build, as I wrote at the time in a story about its construction.

High expectations were rooted in the 100-store Columbus City Center, as the mall was named. It was “always the great hope,” one city planner told me at the time. “It’s going to realize a dream, one greater than anybody ever thought it might be,” a well-established Columbus architect added.

Whew.

At first, the two-story retail-and-office complex was packed with downtown office workers, attendees at events at the huge convention center a few blocks north, and suburbanites in for a meal and a tour of the up-ticket clothing stores.

But over time, those expensive brand names gave way to lower-end shops — the high-toned establishments couldn’t draw enough shoppers — and gangs replaced couples with strollers. Harpists and wine-tastings were supplanted by teenagers with empty wallets and outbursts of violence.

In 2010, while I was in town for a conference at Ohio State, I drove by the Columbus City Center, just to see how it fared.

It was gone. Flattened.

From South High Street I could see straight across to Third Street. Where 19 years earlier had stood the great hope of the city was now an empty lot.

It didn’t live up to its dreams. Today the downtown is vibrant with baseball and National Hockey League stadiums, but shoppers moved on, many to the far northern suburbs where Les Wexner, head of Limited Brands — at one time or other parent to The Limited, Lane Bryant, Abercrombie & Fitch, Henri Bendel and Victoria’s Secret, among others — had built Easton Town Center.

Easton — which Wexner erected with various partners, including Arnold Schwarzenegger (he’s a story for another day) — presented each store as free-standing. Together, they created a mini-Georgian-themed village of shops and restaurants surrounded, moat-like, by a parking lot circle.

So the wheel of retail turns, from outdoor strip centers to enclosed malls to big box behemoths to retail towns inspired by 18th and 19th century English monarchs. And we keep an eye on the many dark windows in Westdale Mall in Cedar Rapids and the ongoing developments at Iowa River Landing in Coralville.

Shopping preferences change. Retail trends follow and developers try for something new. Sometimes.

Though, if it were me, I’d try adding turtles.

Professional Foot & Ankle added Dr. Brad Bussewitz (see photo), a foot and ankle surgeon, to the practice. Bussewitz is on staff at Mercy Iowa City.

Brad Bussewitz

Scott Cornish

Brenda Krogh-Duree

Marshall Petersen

Steve Bauer joined Frew Nations Group as vice president of construction management. Bauer was most recently development partner and director of operations with the Kinetic Companies, an Arizona real estate development and investment group.

William Penn University named Brenda Krogh-Duree (see photo) director of nursing for the University’s RN-BSN degree program. Duree comes to William Penn with a background in nursing, education and academic administration.

Engineering Consultants Inc. appointed Jack Weiland and Dusty Weiland to vice presidents of operations. Susan Hart was named to the board of directors of Engineering Consultants Inc.

Sandy Rohr

Kyle Skogman

Wilford Stone

Dan Toale

Elections

Three new members to the board of directors at Jan. 24 meeting of the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library were Kyle Skogman (see photo), president of

Ted Townsend

Skogman Homes Inc.; Wilford Stone (see photo), an attorney with Lynch Dallas; and Ted Townsend (see photo), president and CEO of St. Luke’s Hospital. All are of Cedar Rapids.

The Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Stores of Iowa elected new members to its board of directors: Scott Cornish (see photo), Petroleum Services Co., Coralville; Dan Toale (see photo), Consolidated Energy Co., Jesup, vice chairman; and Marshall Petersen (see photo), Hawkeye Oil Co., Cedar Rapids, secretary-treasurer.

Sandy Rohr (see photo) was elected president elect of the Iowa Affiliate Wound Ostomy Continence Nurses.

The American Institute of Architects’s Iowa chapter elected Joseph Tursi to serve on the 2012 AIA Iowa board of directors as treasurer. Tursi is an architect at OPN Architects Inc., Cedar Rapids.

At least three new businesses announced they are filling vacant area in the district. A book store, coffee shop, and photography studio will be in the CSPS building. “It’s going to blossom in the spring and it’s going to be in full bloom during the summer because there is going to be much more things to do to be able to park your car and walk from place to place with the nice weather,” said Mel Andringa, Producing Director at Legion Arts. Andringa said a new restaurant, second-hand store, and a possible brew pub will also call the NewBo neighborhood home. “Business owners are choosing, and that’s just it. When you are coming down to an area like this, business owners are choosing to come back here,” said Julie Palmer, with the NewBo City Market.

NewBo leaders think the variety of will help bring in more business. They are also hopeful that the location of the New Federal Courthouse, just a few blocks north, will do the same. “We expect there to be 250 people there every day, all around the neighborhood, new businesses and residents are entering the neighborhood and we hope that it will make it a lively urban center,” said Andringa.

Construction will start on April 1st for their year-round public market. A project that recently became a closer reality with a 35 thousand dollar grant from Linn County. “Right now we have raised 2.3 of the 3 million dollars,” said Palmer. Though the NewBo City Market won’t be 100% complete by July, leaders still expect to have something great to show off to Ragbrai riders. “We feel very much that there is a forward surge of energy, nothing like the epic surge of 2008 but we are really, really excited,” said Andringa. “The biggest thing is, it will bring people here to say look, see how far we have come,” said Palmer.

Barry Boyer, chairman, C.R. Metro Economic Alliance

CEDAR RAPIDS — The Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance on Friday announced the election of its initial policy board of directors and officers.

Barry Boyer of Van Meter Inc. was elected chairman and Lon Olejniczak of Transamerica was elected vice chairman. Others elected to the board are Lydia Brown, Skywalk Group; Steve Gray, Gray Venture Partners; Nancy Kasparek, U.S. Bank; Jeanine Penticoff, Alliant Energy; Chuck Peters, SourceMedia Group; John Schnipkoweit, RecBob and formerly with Ovation Networks, and Ted Townsend, St. Luke’s Hospital.

The board reflects the spirit of the new corporate structure of the Metro Economic Alliance, with representatives of interstate commerce, central business districts, small business and locally-owned businesses. The Metro Economic Alliance was formed by the Jan. 1 merger of the Cedar Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce, Priority One and the Cedar Rapids Downtown District.

In addition to the election of the policy board, four innovation councils were created to help connect customers to the organization and ensure broad involvement in the shaping of the strategic focus of the Metro Economic Alliance. Each council also will appoint members of the policy board.

For more information on the innovation boards, go to www.cedarrapids.org and click on the Chamber logo.

The Cedar Rapids based aerospace electronics company Friday held its tenth annual meeting since being spun out from Rockwell International, the manufacturing automation company that had been its parent since 1973.

Rockwell Collins straddles both defense and commercial markets, with its Government Systems business unit generating about 55 percent of sales and its Commercial Systems unit generating 45 percent of sales.

“We had high confidence when we spun out that we could grow and grow profitably, and that’s what we’ve done,” Rockwell Collins chairman, president and CEO Clay Jones said in a post-meeting interview. “However we never expected the ten years of volatility we’ve experienced.”

“We’ve gone through two recessions, two wars, an epidemic, a national disaster and a credit crisis,” Jones continued. “Those are things you never expect.”

Jones said the diversity of the company’s markets and its efficient use of shared services between the business units has allowed it to weather such storms.

The next crisis facing Rockwell Collins is federal defense cuts. The way Congress approaches them — or doesn’t — will have a strong bearing on the company.

“We’re concerned about almost everything that’s happening out of the Defense Department now,” Jones said.

“We’ve had about five programs canceled within about the past 6 months that have affected us significantly and we’ve spelled those out in our disclosures,” Jones said. “My guess is we’re likely to have a couple more canceled when the budget is released in February. We believe we can accommodate those. we’ve factored those into our guidance and forecast.”

The thing that concerns Rockwell Collins most is that Congress will fail to selectively make defense cuts, and will settle for the “sequestration” or across-the-board cutting approach that became the default option after the Congressional “Super Committee” failed to agree on a system of cuts.

“I believe that would be devastating to national defense, devastating to the national security, and would certainly be detrimental to Rockwell Collins and our ability to stabilize government systems and grow it in the future,” Jones said.

“My hope is that sanity will prevail, congress will do the right thing, and make these cuts in a responsible way rather than this kind of peanut butter cop-out approach that sequestration represents.”

At the meeting, Jones said Rockwell Collins has generated a
a 163 percent total return to shareholders since the June 2001 spinout from Rockwell International, compared to a “relatively flat” growth in the Standard & Poors 500 index over that time.

In 2011, the company’s earnings per share grew to $4.06 from 2010s $3.82, and sales were up 4 percent.

As defense cuts take effect, Jones said sales are expected to balance out to about 50/50 between the business segments in two years.

One way Rockwell Collins expects to offset federal defense cuts is to have strong positions in international markets.

“Our focus is to make sure that we’re well positioned internationally in countries that are actually growing their military capability,” Jones said.

Countries like Brazil, India, Turkey, and some Middle East nations “live in pretty tough neighborhoods” with serious threats, Jones said.

Jones added that “I think there’s an anxiety whether the united States is going to be able to support them through whatever threats they might face in the future.”

The company is seeing signs of a strong resurgence in the business jet market and production for Boeing’s new 787 jetliner have generated strong demand for spare parts for the 59 airlines that have ordered it.

Jones said 2011 was the “year of the tanker” for the Government Systems business. It won major contracts on the KC-10, KC-46 and Brazilian KC390 aerial refueling tanker programs.

The new brand name and double helix logo were unveiled Friday morning at Kirkwood Community College.

John Lohman, a member of the Corridor Business Alliance task force that spearheaded the rebranding initiative, said Iowa’s Creative Corridor was selected to more accurately convey the region’s blend of art, science and technology.

Lohman, publisher of the Corridor Business Journal, said the “Corridor” also is formally defined as the seven-county region along Interstate 380 served by Kirkwood.

Kirkwood serves Benton, Cedar, Iowa, Johnson, Jones, Linn and Washington counties. The 4,400-square-mile Iowa’s Creative Corridor  is home to more than 445,000 residents,  more than two dozen municipalities, multiple higher education facilities, dozens of arts organizations, the internationally-known Iowa Writers Workshop, and nearly 30 Fortune 500 companies.

Chuck Peters, who also served on the CBA task force, said “creative” work goes well beyond the arts, science and technology.

“The word creative comes from the root word ‘creator’ and we are all creators whether you’re a farmer planting your field, someone designing or building avionics, or whatever you do,” said Peters, president and chief executive officer of SourceMedia Group. “That is the value-added activity in the world. Many things are becoming commodities, but to actually create and implement something new is valuable.”

Nancy Quellhorst, president and CEO of the Iowa City Area Chamber of Commerce, said the strong relationships that have developed among public and private members of the CBA. which was formed in December 2008, will help area businesses grow, prosper and create additional employment.

“We will start to think of each other when we embark on new business initiatives,” Quellhorst said. “We will know what each of us is working on and maybe we can work through this together. There are many other public-private initiatives that can take place now that we have developed these close relationships.”

Curt Nelson, president of the Entrepreneurial Development Center in Cedar Rapids, said the CBA’s Regional Economic Development Roadmap is unusual because it was developed jointly by representatives of public entities and private businesses and organizations. The plan details specific steps to implement economic, community and transportation development in the seven-county region.

“Doug Elliott, executive director of the East Central Iowa Council of Governments. would say that’s the first time it has ever happened in Iowa and maybe one of the first times it has happened on a national basis,” Nelson said. “That’s really of huge value to this region as it moves forward.”

Dee Baird, president and CEO of the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance, said the next critical step will be implementing the numerous strategies contained in the Regional Economic Development Roadmap through alliances and partnerships.

“We need to figure out how we take all of this work that we’ve done over the last two years and allow all of these organizations and individuals to understand the story, understand the narrative, and take it to make it their own,” Baird said.

The CBA hired North Star Destinations Strategies, a Nashville, Tenn., branding firm, to assist it with the regional branding process. Research conducted by North Star found most people in Iowa’s Creative Corridor were unfamiliar with the extent of the region’s accomplishments and what the seven-county area has to offer.

Lohman said a video has been created to show what the region has accomplished in various fields as well as what the seven counties have to offer existing and new residents and businesses.

The CBA is an affiliation of 13 area economic development organizations, businesses, educational institutions and governmental entities committed to regional economic development.

CBA members include Alliant Energy, Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance, Entrepreneurial Development Center, Iowa City Area Chamber of Commerce, Iowa City Area Development Group, Kirkwood Community College, MidAmerican Energy, Kirkwood’s Small Business Development Center, The John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center at the University of Iowa, University of Iowa Research Foundation, University of Iowa Small Business Development Center and East Central Iowa Council of Governments.

Pop-up stores take a new turn in Iowa City. And for some retailers, a bricks-and-mortar storefront is still the bedrock.

“IPPA works hard to offer educational sessions that can assist producers in their day-to-day decision making,” said Tyler Bettin, IPPA producer education director. “We encourage anyone with a genuine interest in pork production to attend these conferences.”

All sessions are hosted from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Conference dates and locations are as follows:

• Tuesday, March 6 – Carroll, Carroll County Extension Office
•  Wednesday, March 7 – Sheldon, Northwest Iowa Community College, Building A, room 119
• Thursday, March 8 – Nashua, Borlaug Learning Center
• Friday, March 9 – Iowa City, Johnson County Extension Office

Conferences are free for those who pre-register or $5 at the door. Individuals can pre-register by calling IPPA at (800) 372-7675 or sending an e-mail to schristensen@iowapork.org.

With the regulatory realm for agriculture constantly changing, it is critical for pork producers to stay well informed of compliance issues.

Eldon McAfee, attorney for IPPA, will discuss practical aspects of compliance with state and federal regulations, provide an update of resent livestock nuisance cases and preface current regulatory rumblings at the state and federal level.

It is critical for all in pork production to have a good understanding of contracts and liens to provide protection of their business. McAfee also will review contract terms, focusing on practical implication for both feeders and hog owners.

He will discuss recent and pending court decisions and the implications these decisions pose for feed dealers, lenders, veterinarians and pork producers.

Finally, he will explain the federal livestock contract requirements and what is required for compliance to prevent penalties against hog owners for failing to have required disclosures in contracts with contract feeders. If you missed Eldon’s highly rated sessions at the 2012 Iowa Pork Congress, then this is your chance to catch up.

Swine dysentery is an expensive and damaging disease that has re-emerged in the Midwest. Dr. Eric Burrough and Dr. Rodger Main will split duties at this year’s regional conferences to talk about the history and impact of the disease.

They will provide information to help producers identify signs of dysentery and highlight strategies for prevention and elimination.

Detailed production records are increasingly important in today’s pork industry to benchmark performance, improve efficiencies and modify practices. ISU Extension swine specialists will review how to keep adequate wean-to-finish records, show where errors typically occur and provide actual examples of good records, gone bad.

ISU swine specialists also will offer free PQA Plus training prior to each conference. Training will be hosted from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at each conference location. Contact Tyler Bettin at (800) 372-7675 or tbettin@iowapork.org for more information or to pre-register.

Specifically, SGI and IDT will work together to construct custom, synthetic, double-stranded nucleic acids up to 5 kb.

Read the full story at www.icadgroup.com/news (click the story headline).

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In addition to the third annual Luncheon Series, Diversity Focus introduces the inaugural SHIFT Lecture Series with director Jordan Thierry and the Iowa premier of his film, The Black Fatherhood Project, in Mt Vernon (February 15), Iowa City, (February 17,) and Cedar Rapids (February 18).

All SHIFT Luncheon Speaker Series events are from 11:30 am – 1:00 pm, includes lunch, at $50 per attendee. Registration is required and can be made at www.diversityfocus.org/shift. All SHIFT Lecture Series events are free and open to the public, and do not require registration. You can also find more information at www.diversityfocus.org/shift.

The SHIFT Lecture Series begins in February, with a screening of The Black Fatherhood Project, a film directed by Jordan Thierry, describing the family dynamics and roles of the African-American male as a father figure. Diversity Focus has partnered with Cornell College’s Office of Cultural Affairs, University of Iowa’s Center for Diversity & Enrichment and The Hubbard Group, the African-American Museum of Iowa, and In the Company of Men for this event.

The SHIFT Lecture Series events are at the following locations: February 15, 2012, 6:00 p.m. at Cornell College, Mount Vernon, Iowa; February 17, 2012, 7:00 p.m at the University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa; and February 18, 2012, 11:00 a.m. at the African American Museum of Iowa, Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

The SHIFT Luncheon Speaker Series starts on April 18, 2012 at the Coralville Marriott with John Quinones, ABC News correspondent and Primetime host. Mr. Quinones is also the host of ABC’s What Would You Do?, a series of reports that test human nature through hidden camera scenarios. In his career, he has covered various topics including the Chilean Miners disaster, following a young man to Colombia in search of his birth mother, a polygamous religious sect, and homeless children.

The next SHIFT Luncheon Speaker will be held on August 7, 2012 at the Kirkwood Hotel with Geoffrey Canada, president and CEO of the Harlem Children’s Zone. Canada has been featured in the 2010 documentary Waiting for Superman, showcasing the downturn of the public school system in America.

Mr. Canada has 20-plus years experience in education and has been nationally recognized for his work helping children and families stay on track throughout their personal and professional lives.

The final SHIFT Luncheon Speaker will be held on September 13, 2012, at the Kirkwood Hotel with Michael Soon Lee, retail sales and marketing diversity expert. Lee is the president of Ethoconnect, a consulting and training company specializing in selling to the multicultural market in America.

He has spoken around the world on topics of marketing and selling to the diverse marketplace and understanding how different cultures buy products. His clients include Coca-Cola, National Association of Music Merchants, Alticor and many others.

“We will continue to bring world-class speakers to the region and challenge our attendees to “SHIFT” the way they think about diversity. Diversity Focus plans to create an environment of action,” says Chad Simmons, Interim Executive Director. “We have expanded the “SHIFT” brand, so we can reach more people and develop more opportunities for the community, to explore solutions to making the Corridor a better place to live and work.”

Diversity Focus was established in 2005 as a non-profit organization devoted to enhancing the diversity of the Cedar Rapids – Iowa City corridor.
Diversity Focus Vision:
Diversity is the crucial link to economic, cultural, academic, and technological success. Diversity Focus’ vision is that the Corridor community be the model of inclusion that values, nurtures, attracts, and retains people of diverse backgrounds, cultures and beliefs.
For more information about Diversity Focus, please visit www.diversityfocus.org.

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“We believe food safety is not proprietary,” says Kristine Knobloch, training and development supervisor for West Liberty Foods (WLF). “West Liberty Foods’ commitment to food safety benefits all consumers and companies in the industry.”

Founded in 1996 by the Iowa Turkey Growers Cooperative, the company began its comprehensive food safety training effort in 2002. West Liberty Foods had just opened a second plant in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, and wanted to develop a mandatory food safety training course for the employees.

Read the full story at www.icadgroup.com/news.  Just click on the news headline.

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Deputy U.S. Secretary of Labor Seth Harris talks about a wind turbine hub during a tour of the solar and wind energy training center at Kirkwoood Community College in Cedar Rapids on Thursday, February 2, 2012. (Cliff Jette/SourceMedia Group)

CEDAR RAPIDS — A U.S. Department of Labor official on Thursday said the advanced manufacturing and renewable energy training programs at Kirkwood Community College are a model for retraining America’s workers.

Deputy U.S. Secretary of Labor Seth Harris gave his assessment after touring the college’s energy training center with its Clipper wind turbine components and the advanced manufacturing training facilities with state-of-the-art equipment.

“President Obama in his recent State of the Union address talked about the need to retrain 2 million American workers for sustainable jobs paying middle class salaries,” Harris said. “What I’ve seen today here at Kirkwood is exactly what will be needed to accomplish the president’s goals.

“President Obama is pushing the kind of public-private partnerships that Kirkwood has with area employers like Clipper Windpower and Acciona Energy. We see community colleges as a critical component of preparing the skilled workers that American businesses need to be competitive.”

Harris said community colleges need to engage in ongoing dialogues with employers to know what skills will be needed in the future. He said America also needs to remove the stigma of a technical education.

Seth Harris, Deputy U.S. Secretary of Labor

“We need both technically-trained and college-trained young people,” Harris said. “This is very sophisticated equipment that people need to learn how to use.

“The students graduating with two-year associate degrees from these programs at Kirkwood are able to get jobs that pay $40,000 to $60,000 a year, which can put a roof over their children’s heads and maybe set aside some money for their retirement.”"

Harris met with students who are completing courses in Kirkwood’s energy production and distribution technologies training program. Joe Hood of Ely, who sustained an injury that left him unable to return to his former line of work, is on track to graduate in May with certifications in wind turbine operation and maintenance.

“I like to do things that some people just won’t do,” Hood said. “i think this will be very beneficial as the renewable energy market grows in the future, I just wish I had been able to do this 20 years ago.”

Harris was asked to support Congressional bills to extend the production tax credit, which is critical to the future nation’s wind energy industry.

Joe Baker, chief executive officer of Acciona Windpower in West Branch, told Harris that unless the production tax credit is extended beyond its expiration of Dec. 31, the wind turbine business in the United States will “crater” in 2013.

“The White House is positioned well on this issue and Iowa is positioned well,” Baker said. ”There’s almost a bipartisan belief nationwide that this should get done, whether it’s after unemployment compensation or the tax cuts being extended.

“You’re talking 70,000 jobs in the United States related to wind energy that will probably go to 30,000 or 40,000 jobs in the next year. That also will cascade to having an impact on the students who are in training here at Kirkwood.”

Harris said the Labor Department is not directly involved with energy issues such as the production tax credit extension, but he will convey the concerns expressed by Iowa wind turbine manufacturers to the Obama Administration, which supports extension of the production tax credit.

For an interview with Deputy U.S. Secretary of Labor Seth Harris, click below.

The commitment is a five-year escalating pledge to support ICAD Group’s Vision 2030 campaign.

MidWestOne President and CEO Charlie Funk, one of four-campaign co-chairs, praised the work of ICAD President Joe Raso and the group’s board to bringing and keeping jobs in the area. Chmura Economics and Analytics has calculated that each dollar invested in ICAD during its past capital campaign returned $69 in payroll benefits to the community.

Specialized Transportation Inc., acquired by CRST in 2011, offers transportation services for loads requiring special handling and equipment. Hadland will work closely with Ian Nicolson, who will retire from STI in the coming year, serving as chief operating officer and reporting to Nicolson until Nicolson’s retirement.

Hadland has more than 14 years of experience in transportation and logistics, most recently as senior vice president and general manager for Exel’s $700-million Managed Transportation business. He received a master of business administration degree from Imperial College, London.

Mike Schulte (right) of The SeQuels plays drums as Bruce Day sings at The Piano Lounge in downtown Cedar Rapids on May 26, 2011,. Scott Webster and Dave Schowalter have purchased the entertainment venue and renamed it The Vault. (Jim Slosiarek/SourceMedia Group News)

CEDAR RAPIDS — A popular downtown night spot has been sold, with the new owners changing its name and planning to add food service.

Scott Webster and Dave Schowalter have purchased The Piano Lounge at 208 Second Ave. SE. They have renamed the entertainment venue The Vault, owing to its location under the U.S Bank building.

Webster and his brother, Chris Webster, have been involved with similar businesses in the Quad Cities and will be bringing a taste of well-known food fare to The Vault.

“We plan to serve Sluggers Pizza, which is an off-breed of Harris Pizaa and pretty popular in the Quad Cities,” Scott Webster said. “We wanted to bring something to Cedar Rapids that is different from the pizza that everyone is used to eating.

“We originally tried to get a Cedar Rapids area pizza place to supply it, but they didn’t want it to attract people away from their business, which we can understand.”

The Vault will open at 1 p.m. Sunday before the Super Bowl, according to Scott Webster. He said Sluggers Pizza will be served free on Sunday and the food menu will be expanded over time to include other items.

“Chris has been involved in management before and will be doing a number of things for us,” Scott Webster said. “I brought in Dave Schowalter, who lives in Cedar Rapids, as a partner. He originally looked to buy The Piano Lounge before we did it.”

Penguin’s Comedy Club has shared space with The Piano Lounge since October 201o under a three-year contract. That arrangement will continue, according to Scott Webster, who noted that Loni Love, a regular panelist on E!s hit late night show Chelsea Lately, will bring her “Live, Love, Laugh” comedy tour to Penguin’s at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

While some details have yet to be finalized, Scott Webster said The Vault will open at 4 p.m. and close at 2 a.m. Monday through Saturday. He said Sunday hours likely will depend on upcoming sporting events until the football season resumes in the fall.

Scott Webster said all but a management employee of The Piano Lounge will be retained to operate The Vault. He said the staff will be getting used to a new style of operation and management.

“They will be going from a little energy to a lot of energy,” he said. “They also will be going from a relaxed job to a little more stressful one.”

Scott Webster said he sees a bright future for downtown Cedar Rapids, despite the severe impact of the June 2008 flood.

“I really feel the downtown area will continue to grow as the Paramount Theatre reopens and other projects are completed,” he said. ”The one thing that I’ve already stressed to the politicians is the need to fix parking in the downtown area.

“If they can fix the parking situation, the downtown will continue to thrive.”

The Gilbert Street Piano Lounge in Iowa City, which has separate ownership, will not be affected by the change of ownership at The Vault in Cedar Rapids. 

NextEra Energy’s Duane Arnold Energy Center near Palo is among the nuclear plants in the eastern and central states that will re-evaluate seismic hazards using the new model released Tuesday.

The model was prepared by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Department of Energy and the Electric Power Research Institute in a four-year effort. That effort was accelerated after the disaster last year at Tokyo Electric’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan.

The Duane Arnold Energy Center, along with Exelon Energy’s Dresden Nuclear Power Plant 67 miles southwest of Chicago, are in areas where scientists believe the seismic risk is slightly greater than past data indicated.

Both the Duane Arnold and Dresden nuclear power plants were built with General Electric Mark I boiling water reactors, a design that is receiving increased regulatory scrutiny because it was the type used at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

David Lochbaum, director of the Union of Concerned Scientists’ nuclear safety project, said spent fuel rods at both plants are stored outside and above the reactor containment chamber instead of at ground level, and the systems used to cool the rods were not built to withstand earthquakes. He said the plants were built with the assumption that the spent fuel rods would be shipped off-site for burial, but that didn’t happen after a federal plan to provide long-term storage in Nevada’s Yucca Mountain stalled.

If the storage area or piping to it were to rupture, it might be more difficult to keep the rods covered with water that is required to protect them “because they’re up in the attic,” Lochbaum told the Associated Press.

NextEra spokesman Alan Griffith said the issuance of the lengthy seismic study was expected, but its implications for Duane Arnold Energy Center will take some time to evaluate.

“The report makes it clear that this is a long-term process, and all the nuclear power plants in the east and central United States now have the analysis, and we’re going to apply that to future modeling as we go forward,” Griffith said.

It is premature to say whether any actions will be needed at Duane Arnold Energy Center as a result of the new data, NextEra indicated.

“What’s most important for people to know is that Duane Arnold is designed to withstand the strongest earthquake ever recorded in the region and then some,” Griffith said.

The seismic study gathered and analyzed an expanded data set, including historical earthquake and geological data for the study region from 1568 through 2008, using a pre-reviewed assessment process, the NRC reported. National and international experts were brought in to develop the model.

The new model was compared to previous models by calculating seismic hazards at seven test sites, including one in central Illinois. The same calculations indicate the largest ground motions could occur in the vicinity of repeated large magnitude quakes, such as those centered in New Madrid, Mo., and Charleston, S.C.

Iowa is considered to be in the lowest earthquake hazard zone for property insurances purposes, but is only a few hundred miles north of the epicenter of New Madrid fault zone earthquakes that have been the most powerful in the Midwest.

Kurt Mann works on attaching the h-frame axle at Kinze Manufacturing's Williamsburg plant. (Nikole Hanna photos/The Gazette (Nikole Hanna/SourceMedia Group News)

A recent spike in demand for new tractors, combines, grain wagons and planters brought about by farmers with more cash to spend has not altered a shift in the way manfacturers supply dealers.

With vivid memories of unsold equipment inventory tying up much-needed cash when the farm economy tanked in the early 1980s, Deere & Co. and other major farm implement manufacturers have shifted to making tractors, combines, planters and other implements on a presold basis.  

Ken Golden, Deere director of global public relations, confirmed that the Moline, Ill.-based farm and landscape manufacturer does not maintain an inventory as it had in the past.

“Most of the equipment we build now has already been ordered by a customer or a dealer,” Golden said. “We have an allocation system to inform dealers how many units they may order in a given year.”

Golden said Deere, like other farm implement manufacturers, is faced with the challenge of meeting customer demand during periods of increased sales. 

“John Deere had a record year in 2011 and we announced in November that we expect another record year in 2012 for net income,” Golden said. “Deere has invested millions of dollars in U.S. factories to expand manufacturing capacity and added a significant number of employees.

“Despite these activities, our lead time for new products is a longer than when sales are at a more average level, but not exceedingly so.”

Kurt Mann works on attaching the H-frame axle at Kinze Manufacturing in Williamsburg. (Nikole Hanna/SourceMedia Group News)

At Kinze Manufacturing in Williamsburg, dealers have seen inventories shrink as demand has increased for the company’s planters and grain carts.

“We are having our best sales year ever. We are nearly sold out and dealer inventory is at an all-time low,” said Susanne Kinzenbaw Veatch, vice president and chief marketing officer. ”Farmers have money to spend and they are out buying equipment.”

Veatch said farmers have become more sophisticated in terms of knowing when they need to equipment and understanding the lead times required to get what they want.

“Farmers are very good businesspersons,” Veatch said. ”Many of them are operating multimillion-dollar businesses and they are planning just like anyone else would in business. They look at the coming year and determine what they need to do in terms of assets and equipment.

“Many of them will plan what equipment they need to buy from a tax standpoint. Farmers have become much more knowledgable about the information they can collect and study before making purchasing decisions.”

While acknowledging that the lead times for ordering and taking delivery of row crop tractors and combines from Deere have increased in the last two to three years, John Sindt of GreenValley Ag & Turf in Hiawatha said dealers understand that the manufacturers determine buying opportunities — not the dealer or customer.

Susanne Veatch, Kinze Manufacturing

“Farmers understand the best time to buy. They also realize it could be as much as six months, nine months or even a year in advance of when they take delivery of a new tractor or combine,” Sindt said. “Sometimes they are making their decision to buy a new combine before they’ve even  had a chance to run the one they have in the field.”

Sindt, former president of Sindt Implement before it merged with Tri County Implement to form Green Valley Ag & Turf, said farmers do not make “impulse” decisions to buy a tractor or combine, so dealers rarely face losing a sale to a competitor if a tractor or combine is not available on their lot.

“We might lose some, but the number is not super significant,” he said. “Having said that, anytime you’re talking about a $250,000 or $300,000 piece of equipment, losing one of those sales is significant. I’m not trying to downplay that, but it’s not like losing 10 or 20 sales, which would be super significant.”

Sindt said Deere competitors can start to gain marketshare if the lead times continue to grow and farmers are not willing to make their buying decision that far in advance.

“The competition would also have to deliver an equivalent product at a better price point in a more timely manner,” Sindt said. “That would definitely provide an opportunity for farmers to jump ship.”

Kinze, which has record high employment of 650, is expecting another strong year in 2013.

“One of the things that we look at is dealer inventory as we try to forecast sales for the coming year,” Veatch said. “With dealer inventory at quite low levels, this year is looking like a strong year as well. It also depends on what happens to corn prices and international markets.

“We’re seeing a lot of optimism, and maybe some pessimism from those who are looking ahead, but we believe next year also will be a strong year.”

The reorganization agreement was approved by United Fire & Casualty’s shareholders at a special meeting on Jan. 24. United Fire Group replaced United Fire & Casualty as the publicly held corporation owning the Cedar Rapids-based property and casualty insurer as well as United Life Insurance Co.

Holders of United Fire & Casualty common stock hold the same number of shares and same ownership percentage of United Fire Group as they held of United Fire & Casualty before the reorganization occurred. Shares of United Fire Group common stock will begin trading Thursday, Feb. 2, on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol “UFCS.”

“With one of the largest unrestricted endowments of any community foundation our size in the country, the GCRCF will invest more than $1 million in both organizations and outcomes this year in capacity building and programmatic activities,” said Karla Twedt-Ball, Vice President of Programs.

“The new grant program framework is a culmination of a process the Community Foundation started in 2008 before the flood,” said Twedt-Ball. “With the help of a grant task force, the committee on grant making, the GCRCF board of directors and dozens of local nonprofits, GCRCF grant awards will continue to benefit both organizations and the community.”

The grant process has been streamlined to provide nonprofits additional flexibility in choosing which of the three application deadlines work best for their planning purposes, a shorter and simplified application, an increase in multi-year and grant renewal opportunities and extending some grant awards for up to three years for organizations with significant longevity and stability.

Key changes to the grant structure includes:

The Program Grant Fund supports new and innovative programs and sustains current and/or ongoing programs with grant awards from $5,000 to $50,000 (grant amounts dependent on age of organization, operating budget and demonstration of outcomes).

The Capacity Grant Fund supports nonprofits’ ability to fulfill their missions through organizational development grant awards and endowment challenge grant awards. Organizations that have been functioning for two years or longer may apply for organizational development grant awards from $2,000 to $15,000 (grant amounts dependent on age of organization and operating budget). These grants support projects that improve organizations’ management, governance, and leadership.

The Endowment Challenge Grant fund will provide up to $25,000 in matching funds to an organization’s endowment. Applications will be accepted in July.

Applications to these discretionary funds may be submitted February 15, July 16 or October 15. Nonprofits are limited to two concurrent grants and/or two applications per year.

“Our intent will always be to invest in organizations and programs that demonstrate significant and lasting outcomes,” said Les Garner, President and CEO of the GCRCF. “We fund innovative ideas that offer promising responses to our communities’ changing circumstances while strengthening the capacity of organizations. We’re also excited about providing leverage to nonprofits so our funds attract other resources.”

In 2011, the GCRCF processed nearly 700 competitive grant applications from 228 local nonprofits that were reviewed by committees of GCRCF board members and local volunteers. The Community Foundation awarded $5.9 million in grants (includes all grant programs, donor-advised and donor-designated funds) and scholarships.

“We have made improvements in our grant application review procedures to keep our administrative costs low, said Twedt-Ball. “We will turn greater attention to site visits and evaluation to learn more about local nonprofits and more accurately track community needs and trends.”

The GCRCF plans to launch an online grant application system in the fall that will offer even greater efficiencies for nonprofits and grantees.

The Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation is a critical resource for Linn County, Iowa, by funding nonprofit activities in four essential areas: Arts and Culture, Community Development and the Environment, Education and Health and Human Services.

With total assets of $110 million as of November 30, 2011, the mission of the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation is to connect donors to the priorities they care about and to the needs of the community, to increase charitable giving and to provide leadership on important community issues. For more information, visit the organization’s Web site at www.gcrcf.org. For good. For ever.

The Iowa Leading Indicators Index was at 104.5 for December, up 0.2 percent from November. The increase was the strongest since April 2011, according to the Iowa Department of Revenue, although the six-month annualized change in the index, at -0.4 percent, remained down for the fourth month.

Recent changes in the index suggest that employment growth will remain weak through winter and into spring, the Iowa Department of Revenue reported.

Positive contributors to the December index include a big jump in the new orders index, from 55.5 to 65.3, and a decline in unemployment insurance claims.

The Iowa stock market index and diesel fuel consumption also increased in December.

Holding the index back were negative contributions from the agricultural sector driven by weak grain prices and high cattle production costs.

Among other indicators, the 12-month moving average for building permits held steady. The interest yield spread narrowed, holding back the index.

The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and the Iowa Farm Bureau annually recognize families who have owned their farm for more than 100 years with a Century Farm plaque. Heritage Farm families who have owned therir farms for more than 150 years also are recognized.

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey is encouraging eligible farm owners to apply for the 2012 Century and Heritage Farm Program. 

The program, sponsored by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and the Iowa Farm Bureau, annually recognizes families that have owned their farm for 100 years in the case of Century Farms and 150 years for Heritage Farms. A ceremony recognizing this year’s Century Farm and Heritage Farm owners will be held Aug. 14 at the Iowa State Fair.

The Century Farm program began in 1976 as part of the nation’s bicentennial celebration and over 17,000 farms across the state have received the recognition.  The Heritage Farm program was started in 2006 and more than 500 farms have been recognized.

“These awards are an opportunity to recognize the hard work and commitment by these families that is necessary to keep a farm in the same family for 100 or 150 years,” Northey said.  “If you consider all the challenges and unexpected obstacles each of them would have had to overcome during their life on the farm, it gives you a greater appreciation of the dedication and perseverance of these families.”

Applications are available at www.IowaAgriculture.gov by clicking on the Century Farm or Heritage Farm link under “Hot Topics.”

Applications also can be requested from Becky Lorenz, coordinator of the Century and Heritage Farm Program, by phone at (515) 281-3645, email at Becky.Lorenz@IowaAgriculture.gov or by writing to Century or Heritage Farms Program, Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Henry A. Wallace Building, 502 E. Ninth St., Des Moines, IA 50319.

 Applications must be submitted to the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship no later than June 1.

CEDAR RAPIDS — As Jill Reicks tells it, “I am a third-generation business owner and I swore I’d never be in business.”

But the former elementary teacher ran a sewing business when her children were young. When it came time to return to teaching, she said she “fell into business.”

That business, Pine Needles Sewing Center, today is home to sewing classes, hundreds of bolts of garment and quilting fabrics and supplies, the Swiss-made Bernina sewing machine line and full tech and service support for all makes of sewing machines.

The store, which originated in Cresco, Iowa, in 1999, opened in Cedar Rapids in 2003, then expanded and moved into its current location on Old Marion Road.

Reicks, whose duties include marketing and instructions, owns the business with her husband Henry. Their daughter, Therese Gansen, manages the day-to-day business operation.

Therese Gansen (left) and Jill Reicks at Pine Needles Sewing Center — it's more than just a quilting center, they say. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

The store employs 20 people — 11 full time and 9 part time — and is open 7 days a week.

“We teach over a hundred classes a month here in this store,” Reicks noted. “Many of them are free or very inexpensive.”
But Pine Needles is not geared solely toward quilters, she said.

The center brings in sewing experts and national speakers, as well as stocking for the fabric and sewing needs of quilters and garment seamstresses alike.

“We carry 10 full lines of fashions fabrics — everything from corduroy to rayon to knits,” Reicks said.

The store also teaches an ABC sewing class — that is, Absolute Beginning Creative Sewing, exaplined Gansen, who came into the family business right out of school.

“We want people to understand that you don’t even have to know how to put one of those little threads in the bobbin,” added Reicks.

“With the ABC class we do aprons, tote bags, home decorating projects, place mats, table runners and the like because not everyone has the time and the money to invest in a quilt,” Gansen added.

“In our industry, the demographic for the quilter is aged 57,” Reicks continued. “But our target market that we’re in now has lowered in age — there has been a great resurgence of interest in people creating and making their own, so we’ve seen the influx of the 20- and 30-somethings come in the door.”

The store owns all 600 quilts on display, and proceeds go to local charities, such as the Catherine McAuley Center for Women in Cedar Rapids. To date the store has raised over $65,000 for the center.

“We are working to launch a new website called Stitches for Hope, but it isn’t done yet,” Reicks added.

Know a manager or owner of a business in operation for at least a year that should be considered for “My Biz”? Contact business editor Michael Chevy Castranova at michael.castranova@sourcemedia.net

The Green@TechWorks Campus will be adjacent to the existing TechWorks Campus. It will involve redevelopment of the TechWorks Tech II building by Financial District Properties.

Project elements planned for the six-story property include a John Deere Northeast Iowa regional employee training center, a 100-room upscale business travel hotel and a fine dining restaurant to be operated by Russell Wasendorf Sr.

Class A showroom and office space in the building will be available for lease.

The building will be powered in part by an integrated renewable energy system, using 900 kilowatts of combined solar and small wind generation.

The Advanced Energy & Ag Tech Center will be on the first floor, providing education about innovation in renewable energy production and energy efficiency technologies.

The other project components include the John Deere Tractor and Engine Museum, which is already under construction for a spring 2013 opening.

Mayor Buck Clark, Deere and Greater Cedar Valley Alliance & Chamber officials announced the project Tuesday morning.

Clark, in prepared remarks, called it a monumental redevelopment project driven by a solid private-public partnership.

The project will be designed to green standards of the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) program.

Tom Aller, Iowa Business Council

DES MOINES — Five measures of Iowa competitiveness with other states show that maintaining the status quo will keep the state from attracting high-paying jobs or regaining  coveted lead status in the education of its youth.

The Iowa Business Council on Monday released its 2012 Iowa Competitiveness Index at the organization’s annual meeting in Des Moines. The 24 members of the nonpartisan, non-profit, self-funded organization are the top executives of the 20 largest businesses in Iowa as well as the three Regent university presidents and the president of the Iowa Bankers Association.

Tom Aller, IBC outgoing chairman, told more than 250 business leaders gathered at the Des Moines Marriott that per capita income and employment have improved since the initial competitiveness “report card” was issued in July, but Iowa still ranks 29th in the nation in “knowledge jobs” that require specific skills and pay higher salaries.

“The value of manufacturing in Iowa as a percentage of gross state product has slipped from 20.8 percent in 2009 to 17.8 percent in 2010. However, Iowa’s sixth-place ranking remains solidly in he top 10 states,” said Aller, president of Interstate Power and Light in Cedar Rapids.

“It’s my belief, as well as the council’s, that the slower manufacturing activity during our recent economic downturn, combined with the current vigor and strength of Iowa’s ag economy, may account for this lower gross state product related to manufacturing.”

With regard to education and workforce readiness, Aller said Iowa continues to hold its No. 2 national ranking for ACT test scores and its No. 7 ranking for 90.6 percent of adults 25 and older who have a high school diploma. He said Iowa needs improvement in the percentage of eighth grade students with proficiency in math and reading skills, and the state ranks in the bottom third of the states with regard to adults with a bachelor’s degree.

In the area of governance and fiscal matters, Aller said only nine other states have more units of government than Iowa.

“Iowa ranks 41st in the nation with 1,954 standalone government authorities within its borders,” Aller said, calling on local governmental entitities to look for ways to improve delivery of services using nontraditional and cost-saving methods.

Aller said the health and well-being index shows the need for sharp improvement in two areas — the percentage of Iowans who continue to smoke and the percentage of Iowans who are overweight or obese,

“Twenty percent of Iowans continue to smoke, including 16.1 percent who are 18 years of age or older,” he said. “While we have dropped from No, 17 to No. 19 since the last survey in July, other states’ smoking cessation efforts have been more successful.

“The percentage of Iowans considered to be obese has jumped from just over 20 percent in 2000 to 30 percent in 2011. For this metric to move in the wrong direction by almost 10 percent in such a short period of time should be troubling to us all.”

Aller said Iowa continues to experience outmigration, with Latin American and Asian residents making up the largest share of immigrants moving into Iowa. He said the IBC will continue to encourage workforce diversity and improving demographics, saying they are essential to attracting and retaining qualified, skilled workers.

Gov. Terry Branstad used his keynote speech to lobby the IBC to support his recently announced education reform initiatives.

“Change is hard and Iowans can be resistive to change,” Branstad said. “There are those who don’t want to change, who remain complacent, believing that we are still a leader in student performance when we are not.

“If we don’t take this opportunity to create our own innovative approach, we may be stuck with a ‘one-size-fits-all’ federal approach like ‘No Child Left Behind.’”

The Triune Building is owned by Sandy Johnson, who plans to rennovate the building. Ms. Johnson is also the Mayor of Washington and a recent retiree hoping to work on a challenging project, which this certainly is.

Triune Building, 210-212 S. Marion Ave., Washington IA

Gov. Terry Bransted, Sen. Tom Harkin, Mayor Sandy Johnson, Amy Vetter, Marge Kline, Don Kline, Craig Swift, Terry Philips

According to Main Street Iowa, 

The Challenge Grant program is funded through an appropriation from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).  Since the first appropriation in 2002, this program has awarded a total of $4.9 million and has leveraged approximately $36.9 million in local investments.

Since Congress has stopped doing special appropriations, this is likely the last HUD Main Street Challenge Grant for the foreseeable future. Senator Tom Harkin has been instrumental in securing these appropriations since 2002.

In its 3-year history, Main Street Washington has received one other HUD Main Street Challenge Grant, which was $50,000 to do facade and building improvements to the BodyWrx Fitness Center on the East side of the Washington town square.

BodyWrx – beforeBodyWrx – after

There were a total of 9 HUD Main Street Challenge Grants awarded for $430,000.  Other projects awarded in The Corridor include:

• Czech Village/New Bohemia (Cedar Rapids) – $50,000 for restoration of buildings at 1113 & 1117 3rd St. SE.
• Main Street West Branch – $30,000 for restoration of a building at 109 W. Main St.