“The companies and the agents that are thriving today realize that the buyers and sellers bring information to us, but they still need guidance to know how to apply it,” said Chris Skogman, president of Skogman Realty in Cedar Rapids. “They need someone to boil down the information into the bits and pieces that will help them accomplish their goals. I don’t think the role of a real estate agent has changed as much as people think it has.”

Before the emergence of the Internet, Skogman said Realtors provided information to buyers as a first step and helped them understand the context and importance of the information. He said information found on the Internet regarding condominium or house listings often can be misleading, particularly for those living outside the community or in another state.

“In some cases, you have someone sitting in front of a computer using some sort of algorithm that supposedly derives the value of a home, even though they’ve never set foot in the state, much less the house they are seeing on their computer screen,” Skogman said. “In that case, more information actually makes our job much harder because people will make the information fit what they want to believe.

“What’s next door to the house that you don’t see in the picture? Are you able to determine whether the neighboring properties have been maintained?”

John Marshall, president of the Iowa City Area Association of Realtors, said the organization makes a portion of the Multiple Listing Service for the area available to the public. Marshall said when a real estate agent posts a listing on the Iowa City-Coralville MLS, that information is typically picked up by at least 52 Internet websites.

“As agents representing our clients, it’s our job to make that information available to as many people as possible to view it,” Marshall said. “Those sites typically do not do a very good job of keeping the listings current.

“I’ve had people call me over the years about a listing they saw on Realtor.com or another site that has changed in price or is no longer available because it has been sold. The only up-to-date information is found on our Multiple Listing Service.”

While Eastern Iowa house and condominium listings are available on many websites, Corridor real estate agents still get contacted by potential buyers in other states looking for assistance.

Kelly Bemus, a Realtor with Skogman Realty who has sold residential real estate for 25 years, recently received a call from someone who has not lived in Cedar Rapids for 25 years.

Kelly Bemus (from right) of Skogman Realty talks about various options as she shows an unfinished unit to Dennis Mochal and Barb Mochal of Olatha, Kansas at Bottleworks Loft Condominiums in Cedar Rapids. (Stephen Mally/Freelance)

“They were just astounded as to how much the community has changed since they grew up here and graduated from high school in Cedar Rapids,” Bemus said. “They want my guidance to help them find a condominium close to where they will be going to work. They can’t imagine how it has grown up because many areas used to be cornfields.”

While her laptop computer has replaced a thick “book” of paper real estate listings that sometimes were out of date by the time they were released each week to agents, Bemus said the basic business of showing properties and representing buyers and sellers has not changed.

“We still play a major role in helping a buyer or seller negotiate the sale,” she said. “That’s the part of my job that I still enjoy.

“This is a very stressful process for the agent as well as the buyers and sellers. Many times I feel that I’m a part time counselor because this is probably the biggest purchase that many people will ever make and they want someone with experience in the market to advise them before they make their decision.”

Marshall, an agent with Re/Max Affiliates in Coralville, is a retired school administrator who feels he is still involved in education.

“I think most Realtors today don’t look at themselves as sales people,” Marshall said. “We look at ourselves as service providers with knowledge to share so that things go well for our clients.”

While there has been a lot of press about the practice of homeowners selling their property without engaging the services of a Realtor, the success rate of a “for sale by owner (FSBO)” transacton is very low. Over 80 percent  of all FSBO’s end up listing with a real estate agent, usually due to the wrong price or lack of visibility to potential buyers.

Many times people want more money for their homes because they have done some type of recent improvement. Unfortunately many projects for the home do not have a high return.

If you replace a roof, remodel a bathroom or add a patio, national statistics show that you shouldn’t expect to see much payback on the money you invested.

In response, home staging professionals have started to pop up in the Corridor, raising a basic question for home sellers and real estate agents: When is it OK to stage the home for sale yourself, and when should you call a pro?

Here are some insights offered by professional stagers and real estate agents.

Example No. 1 — When a home is far from being market-ready, but the owner seems to think it is.

Not all homeowners keep up with interior decorating and design trends. So their home’s outdated finishes and decor might not seem important to them.

Jodie Fredericks of Coldwell Banker Real Estate Professionals in Iowa City offers staging as part of her basic service. She’s heard other agents talk about homes that could really use a third-party’s advice because the seller wouldn’t be amenable to their own suggestions.

“I can definitely see merit in using an outside stager,” Fredericks said.

Discussions about a home’s staging needs with the seller definitely require sensitivity, Fredericks said. It’s important to emphasize that the requirements of marketing a home are entirely different from those for living in a home, and aren’t a reflection on the owner’s tastes.

Before staging (Courtesy Stage 'N Style)

Example No. 2 — When the homeowner thinks they can do it themselves, and the real estate agent lacks a staging background. Sort of like that saying about someone on trial choosing himself to be his own layer.

“When a homeowner decides to stage it themselves, I have never seen it go well,” said real estate agent Amy Starr of Skogman Realty, who does a lot of home staging for her clients.

That’s because homeowners are much too close to the situation and can’t view their house through the eyes of a potential buyer.

And the same living room, after staging. (Courtesy Stage 'N Style)

Example No. 3 — When time is of the essence.

One of the big benefits of staging is that it sells homes faster.
This can be key for homeowners who cannot afford to continue paying the expenses of the home, perhaps because they have already moved into a new house.

“The house sells faster, for more money,” said Berta Semaan, who is a Skogman Realty agent in addition to having her own staging business, which she started about a year ago.

Shirley Jost, an Iowa Realty real estate agent in Cedar Rapids who started her Stage ’N Style in 2007, recalls a $469,000 home that she staged after it had been listed for 11 months. It sold within two weeks, Jost said.

The changes were accomplished inexpensively by moving some leather furniture from the home’s basement to replace the existing living room furniture, Jost said.

Example No. 4 — When the material resources to stage a house are not available to the owner or the real estate agent.

Some stagers keep a ready supply of tasteful furniture that have been selected to be current with decorating trends.

“If you do it yourself, you’re going to have to rent or buy it,” Semaan said.

The owners would end up paying more out of pocket than they would have to pay to have it staged, she added.

When rooms are in need of painting, it’s not uncommon to find a homeowner willing to undertake the task to reduce the expense of hiring a contractor.

That may be OK if the homeowner is an experienced and detail-oriented painter, Jost says, but she usually feels better about bringing in a professional painter with whom she’s worked.
That’s because a paint job that is sloppy or amateurish can leave a room looking even less compelling than before it was painted.

Semaan said her service typically takes a full day, and costs about $200 to $400 for that day, depending on what’s involved.

Jost noted a major job can run $1,700.

Some of the big-cost variables include whether the house needs professional cleaning or painting.

Cleaning, a top priority, can often be undertaken by the homeowner, Jost and Semaan agreed.

The best time to stage a house is typically before the home is listed for sale, according to Fredericks, of Coldwell Banker Real Estate Professionals. That’s because staging efforts can be directed at enhancing the look of the home in the listing photographs.

In staging homes, Fredericks noticed that the staged rooms can look completely different in photographic images than in person. She tries to design the staging initially to present the house best in photos — it can be modified later for in-person viewing.

While decluttering the house is often one of the big challenges in staging, vacant homes don’t show well, either, Semaan said. Prospective buyers can’t easily visualize themselves living in an empty house.

That said, Jost does not recommend staging every room in a house, even though the entire house should be decluttered. She said staging should focus on the main areas of interest to buyers — the vestibule, kitchen, master bedroom and family room or living room.

One way homeowners may evaluate stagers is by their professional certifications. Jost has a HSR staging certification from Home Staging Resource of Encinitas, Calif., while Semaan is accredited through the International Association of Home Staging Professionals.

Elements of staging

1. Decluttering: Removing clutter and extra furniture that detract from the appearance of a home.
2. Depersonalizing: Removing personal effects such as collections, photographs and trophies that could make the home feel foreign to a prospective buyer.
3. Neutralizing: Toning down unusual decorating tastes such as bold wall colors that don’t have broad appeal.
4. Arranging: Designing and laying out furniture and home accessories to show how the home’s space can be used and display it attractively.
5. Cleaning: Removing stains, dirt and odors to make the house more appealing.

“QR” means quick response — as in when the codes are scanned, they instantly provide information about a product or service.

This information could be in the form of a URL for a Web page or website, a video clip, text, picture, etc. Another way to use technology to provide marketing information to the potential customer.

The QR code is a funny looking object, usually a 1-by-1-inch square that contains codes to direct smartphones to information of various kinds. When the QR code is scanned using a scanner app, the information is downloaded immediately to the phone — that “quick response” thing.

Mike McKay

QR codes are two dimensional, which means that they contain much more information than can be presented in a one-dimensional bar code. They were originally used in the auto industry to track parts. (As with so many other consumer technologies, they were used first, and now extensively, in Asia.)

As a bar code is limited to 20 digits and a QR code can contain up to 7089 characters, the QR code obviously has much more flexibility for displaying a message.

For a total business perspective, let’s look at a big player that recently adopted QR codes for all its stores based on good business reasons: Best Buy.

If you have shopped at Best Buy, you are familiar with their product cards that give you basic information about the product on display as well as the current price. These cards were changed up to twice per month because of price changes.

This resulted in printing more than one-half billion cards per year across its stores. The cost of the store labor alone was more than $300 million per year.
By using a QR code for the product, and centrally managing the price, the cards do not need to be replaced because of price changes. Scan the QR code and you will get the most recent price.

In addition, you will get far more information about the displayed products than would ever be printed on its cards.
Another example is the use of QR codes by real estate agents. A QR code can be used on printed literature for a listing, giving detailed information on the house and the most current selling price.

If the price changes, you don’t have to change the literature — just change the landing page. Of course, stickers can be used on the yard signs in the same way.

The QR codes also can be used to present a video clip giving a visual tour of the house.

Other commercial uses are to put QR codes on signs in store windows offering special deals, coupons or other promotions.
Codes used on fliers and the backs of T-shirts also have been successful, especially for promotions targeted at young people.
My first reaction to all this was, “Yeah, but not everybody uses smartphones.”

Best Buy found, however, that a majority of consumers already use their phones while shopping. They are familiar with bar code scanners to help them.

I personally have used bar code scanners frequently to check local prices. QR codes can just be thought of as a bar code on steroids — you can now instantly find out about product features while standing in front of the display.

You will still have to use a separate app for price comparisons.

Another commercial use is printing your QR code on fliers, business cards, banners, etc. Whatever medium you choose, it is important to ask a few important questions, and those questions must go back to your marketing plan.

•  Is the use of QR codes consistent with your marketing plan?
•  What do you want your target audience to do? Call to action? Inform?
•  Will the message related to your QR code display properly on most phones? If not, then what?
•  Are you prepared to react to inquiries? How? Who? When?

There are many technical questions that need to be answered as well as the marketing ones. If you are interested in this “new” marketing tool, I strongly suggest you find an experienced professional who will walk you through the decisions that need to be made.

Don’t succumb to the temptation to use a free online QR code generator and do it yourself. Chances are good that you will make mistakes and damage your marketing campaign.

This is a paramount component in my worldview in regard to residential real estate. Up until last winter, when my wife and I moved here to Eastern Iowa, where we lived was defined by the length of our driveway.

By which I mean how much snow had to be moved from it, some way or another, each winter.

Michael Chevy Castranova, with snow (Lisa Williams)

For some 14 years we lived less than a half-hour from the eastern shore of Lake Michigan. The significance of the Big Lake’s proximity cannot be understated.

When cold air moves across that huge, relatively warmer surface area of water — more or less the size of West Virginia — it creates what is innocently called Lake Effect snow.

And that, my friends, is what I’m talking about. On average, Lake Effect snow can generate 74 to 80 inches of snow a year in southwest Michigan.

When it really puts its mind to it, during a particularly punishing winter it can push nearer to 90 inches.

And when these storms come, they make their presence known, dumping snow for hours, seemingly days. I recall many times shoveling in the morning before leaving for work, going home at midday to shovel again so the snow wouldn’t be so high in the evening when — you guessed it — I’d need to get out there once more.

One other key element to snowfall near the lakefront is that it can be heavy. Not that cute, fluffy stuff you see on the “Peanuts” animated cartoon Christmas special, but back-wrenchingly dense.

This snow also brings on your white-outs, your blizzards, your mass business and school closings and your spectacular traffic pileups, as well as the at-least-twice annual frantic warnings and/or threats from the Highway Patrol for every sane person to “stay indoors and, for heaven’s sake, don’t go out unless you have to. What’s wrong with you people, anyway?”

Many a Thanksgiving and Christmas get-together became an iffy proposition, with its buildup devoted to frequent ominous phone calls (“Well, we’d like to come, but only if Al can get that old snowblower started, and his heart holds out”), monitoring the Weather Channel and straining to hear the distant rumble-thump-grind of approaching city snow plows.

I think it was our first winter in the giant, drafty old house we’d purchased when I tugged open the garage door to discover glistening white snow stacked up to my thighs.

At the time, we owned one flimsy snow shovel.

Getting the driveway and accompanying sidewalks even remotely passable that day took the better part of the daylight hours. Lisa gamely pitched in for a while, deploying a light blue kitchen dust pan — with practice, she was able to fling snow in clumps of, say, 6-by-8 inches per pan-full.

Over time — as hardware stores began to restock after the predictable run on snow-removal merchandise — we accumulated more snow shovels. We eventually possessed one shovel for each expected type of snow:

•  A red standard dig-and-lift shovel
•  A green scoop-shaped shovel for pushing less-heavy snow off to the side (no actual lifting involved)
•  A pointy-edged yellow shovel for smacking along the sidewalk, in desperate hopes of chipping the ice
•  A black ergonomic shovel that — I assume jokingly — claims to help the shoveler’s lower back. (Ha.)

I also bought a roof rake, an amazing device that’s essentially a series of endless connectible poles attached to a small metal wedge with rollers. From the ground, you angle the wedge end up onto your roof, then gently pull the snow down. (Yes, just as much of the snow thumps down on top of you as onto the ground.)

It was not until July of that year that the big-box retailers began to display snowblowers on their sales floors. (Yes, July — remember where we’re talking about.)

I bought one on first sight. Not the biggest available, but not the smallest, either.

On good winter days, that snowblower would do the trick, zipping down our driveway and along the sidewalk, cheerfully spewing smoke and noise with abandon. (I tried to block out of my mind all the environmental issues this threw up and all my readings of Rachel Carson: It was the snow or me.)

But on remarkably heavy days — and there were plenty — and as the machine itself aged, the chore got tougher. Many a time, that big-hearted device would get clogged with fat, wet snow, and I’d have to shut it off, then jam a stick — oh, all right, I admit it: my hand — down the chute to punch and gouge out the cold stuff.

Or it would simply gasp and stall, the task too deep for it to surmount.

Only days before the moving van arrived to carry our stuff from Michigan to Cedar Rapids that poor snowblower breathed its last breath.

I was using it to clear the drive for the movers when suddenly there was a small boof!, a burst of flames, then billowing black smoke. Then silence ….

It died, as they say, in harness.

But, you know, better it than me.

“We ask what their dream and vision are, look at the big picture. Then we help develop a plan and hold them accountable to doing it,” said Drewelow, head coach and franchise owner of the USA Heartland Team of ActionCOACH in Cedar Rapids.

By using business and executive coaches, company leaders can hone their skills for running and growing a business as well as enhance their leadership skills.

“But just as a basketball coach never goes on the court, we won’t do the work for you. We’ll help identify the goals,” Drewelow said.

“A lot of people do a great job of planning but not in carrying out the plan. We’ll make you take action and get it done.”

Ginny Wilson-Peters, president of Integrity Integrated Inc., said her favorite quote about coaching comes from former Dallas Cowboys coach Tom Landry: “A coach is someone who tells you what you don’t want to hear so you can see what you don’t want to see, so you can be the best you can be.”

“That means coaching provides clients with a combination of support as well as direct conversation and challenges,” Wilson-Peters said.

Kim Wilkerson, president of Wilkerson Consulting Group, the company she started in 1990, agrees: “There’s a diagnostic element and a prescriptive element in coaching. We create a road map and a game plan.

“My role is to observe, to provide candid feedback and guidance, and to help the client calibrate based on expected outcomes, results and objectives. I can create a developmental plan to address areas for improvement while at the same time, validating the client’s strengths.”

That being said, Wilkerson added you shouldn’t expect the same approach from each coach or for each client.

And because coaching is about process, not about industry-related content, she said, a coach doesn’t need to be an industry expert — one way a business coach is set apart from a consultant.

She spelled out some of the competencies she addresses:
Leadership effectiveness

•  Decision-making
•  Communications and interpersonal skills
•  Strategic effort
•  Prioritization
•  Implementation
•  Managing change

“These process-driven competencies are universal for any executive, manager and leader regardless of industry or vertical market,” said Wilkerson, who has worked with for-profits and not-for-profits as well as for family-owned and start-up businesses.

Another notion coaches would like to change is that they’re of value to only struggling executives.

“Coaching is often thought to be primarily a remedial function — helping someone who is struggling or ineffective in a specific area,” Wilkerson said. “Coaching is also a great resource for the successful person who is growing, adapting and/or fine tuning.

“The most successful executives use coaches, even at the pinnacle of their success.”

A pure coaching engagement can be anywhere from three to 12 months.

“But upon successful completion of the client’s objectives, frequently the coaching client will renew the engagement with new objectives,” Wilkerson said. “Sometimes the engagement is longer term and evolves into more of a retainer and/or mentor relationship.”

The actual means of measuring success in business coaching, however, are client-driven.

“Before we decide to work together, I ask the client three questions: what are your objectives for the coaching engagement, how will we know we’ve succeeded and what is the value in meeting or exceeding those objectives?” Wilkerson explained. “These parameters, definitions and criteria are what paint the ultimate picture of success for that client.”

“Success is measured by their ability to achieve the goals that they set for themselves,” said Wilson-Peters, who started her coaching company 13 years ago and has clients she’s worked with for five years. “For me, coaching and leadership development is successful when people experience sustainable positive change in their work and lives.”

In the long term, business coaches can provide a sounding board for business leaders.

“A coach can become a trusted adviser and be someone to look at your business from an outside perspective,” said Drewelow, whose longest client has been working with him for six years.

“Most people think that coaches have all the answers, when in fact effective coaching is not about having the answers” Wilson-Peters said. “Most clients want that sounding board that helps them determine their own decisions and course of action.”

A SCORE Small Business Roundtable will take place from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., Monday, at the Marion Public Library, 1095 Sixth Ave., Marion. The topic will be “Social Networking to Grow Sales,” presented by Heather Smith Friedman.

“Networking with Confidence” will be held 7:30 to 9 a.m., Wednesday, at the Kirkwood Training and Outreach Center in Marion. The seminar will be led by Rose Slaymaker of Nemec Marketing. Cost: $49. Register at Kirkwood.edu/ce.

“Branding U” will be held the following Wednesday, March 7, also 7:30 to 9 a.m., at the Kirkwood Training and Outreach Center. Slaymaker will discuss cost-effective options to build your brand with logos, business cards and websites. Discussion also will include customer acquisition and retention strategies. Cost: $49. Register at Kirkwood.edu/ce.

A free workshop on job and income inequality will be held 6:30 to 8 p.m., Tuesday, at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 405 Hall, 1211 Wiley Blvd., Cedar Rapids. The workshop will be presented by the University of Iowa Labor Center. For more information, call (319) 396-8461.

Scott Shook, program director of Horizons Consumer Credit Counseling Services, and Jan Beal, financial adviser at Winner Lynk Advisory Group, will present a free workshop to help you handle financial worry, “Master Your Money Mindset.” It will be held 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., Thursday, at the Farm Bureau Conference Center, 1327 Boyson Road, Hiawatha. Register at (319) 730-7526.

“Using LinkedIn,” a free workshop, will be held 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Friday, at the Coralville Public Library, 1401 Fifth St. Mark Hennessey and Margie Peskin will offer tips on using LinkedIn as a networking tool. This is the first of many events of the newly formed Corridor Job Club. Email dwilliamson@iowacityarea.com.

More than 100 Iowa City and Cedar Rapids entrepreneurs, creatives, techies and artists will participate in BarcampICR at 9:30 a.m. Saturday at Vault Coworking & Collaboration Space, 222 Third St. SE, fifth floor, Cedar Rapids.

The fifth-annual EntreFest conference will be March 8 and 9, at the Gateway Hotel and Conference Center, Ames. The sessions will be geared to help grow and manage small businesses. Keynote speaker will be Kelly McDonald, a Texas marketing and advertising expert with more than 20 years of global experience marketing. Register at www.entrefest.com or call Courtney Schwitzer at (319) 273-4328. Cost: $119.

Through the Manchester Regional Education Partnership, Northeast Iowa Community College will host keynote speaker John Graci and his presentation “Motivating Employees Using Common Sense,” 9 to 11 a.m., March 14, at the MREP, 1200 ½ W. Main, Manchester. To register and pay online, go to www.nicc.edu/continuinged or call (563) 557-8271, ext. 380. For more information, contact Debra Kintzle at (563) 822-1016.

Meetings

The Cedar Rapids Chapter of American Business Women’s Association will meet 5:45 to 8 p.m., March 7, at the Best Western Longbranch, 90 Twixt Town Road NE, Cedar Rapids.
“Innovative Ways for Organizations to Raise the Money They Need To Reach Their Goals” will be presented by Libby Slappey. Cost is $15, which includes dinner. RSVP by noon Friday to hospitality@abwacr.org. For more information, visit www.abwacr.org.

The Cedar Rapids Public Relations Associates will meet at 11:30 a.m., March 8, at the Clarion Hotel & Convention Center, Cedar Rapids. Yvette Craddock, founder and managing partner of Click Marketing Solutions, will present “Establishing an Online Media Kit.” Reservations required at www.crpra.com by Friday.

The Society for Technical Communication, Eastern Iowa chapter, will meet at 5:30 p.m., March 13, at the Longbranch Restaurant in Cedar Rapids. Laura Behrens, owner of Red Pen Communications in Cedar Rapids, will speak on “Pivot Point: How to Get Good Information From Interviews and Transform it Into Good Content.” RSVP to Rebecca Beardsley at (319) 743-4548 or via email at rebecca.beardsley@trapezegroup.com by March. 9. More information is available at www.stc-easterniowa.org/.

HR Green Inc. hired Gregory Meyer as senior project manager for the energy business line. Meyer will be located in the Cedar Rapids office.

Taylor Skogman (see photo), director of business services at Skogman Realty, joined the University of Iowa Community Credit Union Linn County advisory board of directors.

Cindy Dietz

Nathaniel Dunn

Kris Gulick

David Hensley

David Hensley (see photo) was named to the board of directors for the Entrepreneurial Development Center Inc. Hensley is executive director and clinical professor with the University of Iowa John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center. Kris Gulick (see photo) also was named to the board for the Entrepreneurial Development Center Inc. Gulick is president of Entrepreneurial Services Group and is on the Cedar Rapids City Council.

Promotions

Stamats Communications promoted Kim Leonard (see photo) to vice president of information services. Leonard has been with Stamats for more than 25 years, most recently as information services director.

F&M Bank announced the following promotions: Deann McDonald (see photo) was promoted to vice president human relations and is based in the Manchester branch. Nathaniel Dunn (see photo) was named vice president and will be in the Cedar Rapids office. Tirzah Wedewer (see photo) was promoted to senior vice president. He has served on the board of directors since February 2009.

Kim Leonard

Deann McDonald

Taylor Skogman

Tirzah Wedewer

Elections

Cindy Dietz (see photo) was elected to the board of directors of Bankers Trust Co. Dietz is director, public relations and employee communications for Rockwell Collins.

The Rev. Kathy Gerking of Iowa City was elected to the Mosaic Foundation board of directors. The Mosaic Foundation Board is entrusted by the Mosaic Board to carry out the fiduciary areas of mission advancement.

The women’s clothing drive begins on March 4th, 2012 and continues through March 11th, 2012. Customers can drop off their donations any time during store hours, which are Mon-Sat: 10-9 Sun: 12-6. Items needed include gently used women’s clothing.

For each donation, people will receive a coupon for 20 percent off any one regular-priced maurices item.

Maurices offers clothing and accessories for fashion-savvy young women in sizes 1 to 24.

“While we participate in a number of maurices-sponsored benefits throughout the year, we are especially proud when we have the opportunity to support causes right here at home,” store Manager Shannon O’Hern, said in prepared remarks.

“

The Prometheus Awards are the technology industry’s premier celebration of extraordinary achievements among high-tech businesses and individuals. Leann Jacobsen, president of the Technology Association of Iowa, said a record number of nominations were submitted for this year’s awards.

“These nominations included one of the most highly competitive pools to date and include many new names from across Iowa,” Jacobsen said. “I think people will be excited about the companies and the technologies that have made it to the finalist stage.”

Corridor finalists by category are:

Software Company of the Year (small/medium): Cyber-Anatomy Corp., Iowa City;

IT Service Provider of the Year: Involta LLC, Marion, and Ovation Networks Inc., Cedar Rapids;

Clean Technology Company of the Year: Ovation Networks Inc.;

Best User of Technology:  ActiveGrade LLC, Iowa City, and Ovation Networks;

Innovation in Teaching: Cyber-Anatomy;

CEO of the Year: Dawn Ainger, Genova Technologies, Cedar Rapids; Tim Guenther, Clickstop, Urbana; Matt Miller, MobileDemand, Hiawatha;

Top Growth Company of the Year: Clickstop and Genova Technologies;

Outstanding Startup Company of the Year: Cyber-Anatomy;

Life Sciences Company of the Year: Terpenoid Therapeutics Inc., Coralville;

Technology Company of the Year (small/medium): Cyber-Anatomy and Ovation Networks;

Technology Company of the Year (large/enterprise): Clickstop and MobileDemand.

This year’s Prometheus Award winners will be announced April 11 during an evening event at Veterans Memorial Community Choice Credit Union Auditorium in Des Moines. The annual ceremony, which is attended by hundreds of industry leaders, is sponsored by the Technology Association of Iowa, the Entrepreneurial Development Center, Cedar Rapids; LWBJ Financial, West Des Moines; Merit Resources, Urbandale; and Applied Art and Technology, Des Moines.

The decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit means Cedar Rapids-based CRST cannot collect $4.4 million in legal and other expenses awarded by the lower court until the case is resolved. It also requires Chief United States District Judge Linda Reade, who dismissed the EEOC’s claims in 2009, to reconsider claims by two of the drivers.

Dave Rusch, president and CEO of CRST Expedited’s parent company, said CRST Expedited was pleased by the ruling. He said the appeals court “upheld 99 percent of the federal court’s ruling.”

Although mostly supportive of CRST, the ruling included a strong partial dissent from one member of the three-judge panel.

CRST Expedited is a specialized division of CRST International. It uses two-driver teams to move freight quickly over long distances.

As required by federal law, the company hires both female and male drivers to work on the teams. Most of them are tested and evaluated during about one month of on-the-road experience by a “lead driver,” usually an experienced male driver.

The EEOC began investigating CRST more than five years ago after one of the female trainees, Monika Starke, filed a complaint of sexual harassment. The allegations of Starke, who is married, were serious. They included explict remarks about her female anatomy by one lead driver, and claims that she was required to have unwanted sex on multiple occasions with another in order to get a passing grade.

The investigation ultimately led to claims involving at least 270 women who had worked for CRST. They included claims of fondling, rape, and vulgar sexual displays while the male and female drivers were isolated on long road trips.

CRST countered that its driver manual contained specific instructions for reporting such conduct, and that women who complained about their lead drivers were separated from them.

Judge Reade ruled the EEOC failed to follow required processes to pursue the cases, including failure to investigate the specific allegations of 67 drivers until after filing a complaint, and failure to try to conciliate the disputes of the 67 drivers with the company before suing.

A variety of business groups filed briefs backing CRST against the government’s appeal, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Federation of Independent Business.

The appeals court upheld the dismissals on all but two of the claims, by Monika Starke and Tillie Jones, another driver.

Starke’s claims had been dismissed because she had failed to disclose her potential future income from the lawsuit when she and her husband filed for bankruptcy in Texas. The appeals court ruled, however, that the EEOC could not be blocked from suit on Reade’s behalf just because of Starke’s independent conduct.

The EEOC also produced enough evidence in Jones’ case to create a genuine issue of fact regarding the severity of harassment to which she was exposed, the appeals court ruled.

In a lengthy dissent, Judge Diana E. Murphy disagreed with the two-judge majority’s opinion that the lead drivers were co-workers, not supervisors. She said the majority opinion imposed a new requirement on the EEOC to separately investigate and conciliate each alleged victim of discrimination.

The requirement is inconsistent with the purpose of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, she wrote.

CRST Expedited won its largest victory in the case when the District Court rejected its claim that CRST engaged in a “pattern and practice” of tolerating sexual harassment, Rusch said, and the EEOC did not appeal that ruling.

Rusch said CRST Expedited operates 2,000 trucks, each a separate workplace, and it does not have 2,000 supervisors to assign to them.

“We have a very intricate procedure on notification if there is any kind of misconduct in a truck,” Rusch said. “We are very passionate about that.”

The EEOC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“

Among other new skills being added to their resumes — staging. They, and other companies that have popped up in the Corridor, guide clients in adding those touches that might make buyers inclined to say yes.

Also this Sunday, Mike McKay discusses the value of QR codes for your marketing strategy, and business editor Michael Chevy Castranova talks about houses and snow — big snow.

The Cedar Rapids Airport Commission on Monday is expected to approve a resolution authorizing Airport Director Tim Bradshaw to advertise for bids and setting a March 26 public hearing on the plans, specifications, form of contract and estimated costs for the runway project.

A consulting engineer’s estimate of the probable cost of reconstructing the southern half of the runway and taxiway C is between $6 million and $7.5 million. Sealed bids will be accepted until 2 p.m. on March 16, when they will be opened.

The commission will receive a report on the bids at its March 26 meeting and could authorize the airport staff to award a contract for the project. The bid documents specify that the work will need to be completed within 140 days of the date the contractor is authorized to start work.

The project involves reconstructing the portion of the secondary runway south of its intersection with the primary runway. The federal government is expected to cover the majority of the cost and the airport’s share will be eligible for passenger facility charge funding.

The contract is contingent on the airport receiving funding from the Federal Aviation Administration’s Airport Improvement Program.

The latter funding was in doubt before Congress early this month approved an FAA reauthorization bill. The legislation, signed into law on Feb. 14 by President Obama, provides a four-year, $63.4 billion package that includes funding for airport infrastructure improvements.

The $4.2 million reconstruction of the rest of the secondary runway north of the intersection with the primary runway is scheduled for fiscal 2014. It also will be primarily covered by federal funding, with the local share funded by the passenger facility charge paid by each passenger.

Reconstruction of the primary runway and its intersection with the secondary runway was completed in the summer of 2010. The project, which began in 2006 with the transformation of a taxiway into a temporary runway, cost $46.8 million with 87 percent paid by the FAA.

Currently, Civco Medical Solutions has three Iowa locations in Kalona, Coralville, and Orange City. It also has a location in The Netherlands. Civco is part of Roper Industries, which has helped to fund some of Civco’s expansion and strategic acquisitions. Civco also contracts for some work in Indiana, Wisconsin and Colorado.

There are 130 employees at the Kalona location, and over 50 that have been transferred to the new Coralville location.

Civco’s Mike McVey leads a tour for Rep. Dave Loebsack

Several local officials also attended the Civco tour and later discussed area policy issues, including federal flood plain mapping, with Rep. Loebsack. Kalona City Administrator, Ryan Schlabaugh; Kalona Mayor, Ken Herrington; WEDG Director, Ed Raber; and Washington County Supervisors, Wes Rich and Adam Mangold.

The Cedar Rapids Airport Commission on Monday is expected to approve an agreement with the Iowa Department of Transportation for funding from its Air Service Development program toward a $248,826 incentive package for Frontier to provide four flights a week.

The state will provide 60 percent of the incentive package up to a maximum of $100,000. The airport will match that with as much as $75,000 for marketing and up to $73,826 in waived rental, loading bridge and landing fees.

Under the agreement with IDOT, the airport will market the new Frontier service for up to a year through advertising in newspapers and on television, the Internet and radio stations. The Frontier flights are expected to improve the level of service to the community and exert pressure on competitors to lower fares to Denver as well as connecting western destinations.

If the Iowa General Assembly does not appropriate funding for the IDOT Air Service Development program or the agency does not have sufficient funds to make the payment, it does not have to honor the agreement.

The Cedar Rapids Airport Commission has historically provided an incentive package to new airlines serving the market that involves marketing funds. It has not subsidized service or provided revenue guarantees to attract new airlines to the market.

Frontier Airlines, which is known as a low fare carrier, will launch nonstop service between Cedar Rapids and its Denver hub  on May 17 on 99-seat jet aircraft. Introductory fares will begin at $60 each way, plus the usual fees and taxes.

Airport Director Tim Bradshaw said Frontier will provide a lower-cost alternative for passengers traveling to Denver and western destinations such as Los Angeles, Seattle, San Diego and beyond.

The Frontier flights are scheduled for Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, departing from Denver at 3:10 p.m., and arriving in Cedar Rapids at 5:59 p.m.; and departing from Cedar Rapids at 6:35 p.m. and arriving in Denver at 7:43 p.m. With the new flights, Eastern Iowa Airport passengers will have 27 nonstop flights to Denver each week.

The introductory fares are available at FrontierAirlines.com through Feb. 29, for travel through mid- to late June, depending on the market.

In 2000-01, an average of 76.9 percent of Iowans under the age of 65 had employer-sponsored insurance (ESI), or about 1.89 million Iowans. By 2009-10, that figure had fallen to 66.9 percent, a decrease of 142,829.

While a greater share of Iowans receive employer-sponsored coverage than in most states, the decline follows the national trend illustrated in a report released Thursday by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI).

The recent recession likely accelerated a decade-long decline driven by insurance costs rising much more rapidly than wages.

“We’ve gone from three-fourths of Iowans covered by insurance through their jobs, to two-thirds being covered. That’s a bad trend that shows we need to count on more than job-based coverage to resolve the mounting problem of escalating insurance costs,” said Colin Gordon, senior research consultant for the nonpartisan Iowa Policy Project (IPP) in Iowa City.

EPI found that the share of Americans under 65 covered by ESI plans fell from 59.4 percent in 2009 to 58.6 percent in 2010.

“As EPI points out, that would be a bigger problem if not for public health coverage and other components of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, which kept children and young adults, especially, from becoming uninsured,” said Andrew Cannon, research associate for IPP.

The overall rapid decrease in job-based coverage in Iowa appears to be driven by a decrease in coverage rates among children, dropping 14.6 percentage points from 2000-01 to 2009-10 (from 78.2 to 63.6), or 110,940 children.

Iowa’s drop in ESI coverage among children outpaced the national trend, where children covered on such plans dropped 10.5 percentage points.

Gordon said that as the out-of-pocket costs of job-based insurance skyrockets, many working parents have dropped family coverage, electing to cover themselves on the employer’s plan while finding coverage for their children on hawk-i and a Medicaid expansion for children (both funded by the federal/state Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP).

“For this reason, the decrease in ESI coverage for Iowa workers has been much slower than the overall decrease,” said Gordon, noting the worker coverage had fallen by 6 percentage points, from 79.1 percent in 2000-01 to 73.1 in 2009-10.

“If there is a silver lining, it’s that at the same time that ESI coverage for kids was falling off a cliff, Iowa has enacted policies to increase children’s health coverage through Medicaid and hawk-i,” Cannon said.

In 2006, Cannon said, 200,150 Iowa kids were enrolled in either Medicaid or hawk-i. In 2011, partly as a result of improved eligibility standards and partly as a result of declining private insurance rates, nearly 300,000 Iowa kids were covered through one of these public programs (see DHS hawk-i Annual Reports).

EPI reported the drop in employment-based insurance from 2009 to 2010 was accompanied by an increase in the unemployment rate, from 9.3 percent in 2009 to 9.6 percent in 2010. With only slow improvement in the labor market, EPI predicts losses in employer-sponsored coverage likely will rise.“As the labor market continued to deteriorate, fewer American families were able to obtain health insurance through the workplace, which caused many to fall through the cracks,” said Elise Gould, Director of Health Policy Research at EPI and author of the report.

“A robust labor market and strong safety net are critical in ensuring the economic security and overall well-being of families across the country.”

Public health insurance, primarily in the form of Medicaid and CHIP, was responsible for preventing millions from becoming uninsured. Public health insurance covered 22.5 million more people under age 65 in 2010 than it did in 2000.

In fact, although children saw larger declines in ESI than adults over the 2000s, they experienced an increase in total coverage rates due to public insurance.

Through provisions in the Affordable Care Act, young adults up to age 26 were able to secure health insurance coverage through their parents’ health insurance policies. As a result of these provisions, the uninsured rate for 18- to 24-year-olds fell between 2009 and 2010.

This age group was the only one that experienced statistically significant increases in overall coverage.

New Hampshire had the highest rate of ESI coverage among the under-65 population, at 73.0 percent in 2009/10. It was followed by Connecticut (70.8 percent), Massachusetts (70.2 percent), Utah (69.3 percent) and Maryland (68.8 percent).

In contrast, less than half of both New Mexico’s and Mississippi’s non-elderly population had ESI in 2009/10, at 48.6 percent and 48.4 percent, respectively.

The Iowa Policy Project is a nonpartisan, nonprofit public policy research organization based in Iowa City. IPP reports are online at www.iowapolicyproject.org, and IPP staff perspectives may be found at www.iowapolicypoints.org.

Chicago-based General Growth announced on Thursday that it has reached an agreement with Sears Holdings to acquire 11 Sears “anchor pads” in its retail centers for $270 million.

Sears offered no indication that it plans to continue operating any of the stores.

“The stores will continue to operate as Sears locations into 2013 with final closing dates to be determined and announced later this year,” the company said in a statement.

General Growth indicated its looking to find tenants for the Sears spaces.

“I can tell you that we are in talks with a number of retailers that have expressed interest as replacement tenants for these locations, including Coral Ridge; but we’re not in the position at this time to share with you these names,” wrote David Keating, vice president of communications for General Growth, in an e-mail.

The announcement came as Sears was announcing a big loss for 2011.

Sears Holdings’ ajusted loss per diluted share from continuing operations expanded from $1.97 in 2010 to $4.52 in 2011.

Sales declined 4.1 percent in the fourth quarter and 3 percent for the full years at Sears stores in the United States. Sales at the company’s Kmart stores fell 2.7 percent in the fourth quarter and 1.4 percent for the year.

Sears Holdings’ stock traded sharply higher after the announcement, however as investors were encouraged by two newly announced moves to raise cash . One was the sale of stores to General Growth and the other was a plan to sell the company’s Hometown and Outlet stores.

General Growth said the Sears store acquisition is expected to be complete in the quarter ending June 30, 2012.

The Sears store at Coral Ridge dates back to the opening of the 1.2 million square foot regional mall in 1998. The 98,596-square-foot store has a net assessed value of $5.7 million, according to the Johnson County Assessor’s office web site, and had a 2011 tax bill of about $213,890.

The 11 Sears anchor pads acquired by General Growth also included one other Iowa location, at Mall of the Bluffs in Council Bluffs.

Sears Holdings added 15 store closings to its previously announced list of Kmart, Sears and Grand/Essentials store closings on its web site Thursday.

The list indicated the stores slated for sale to General Growth, but did not indicate closing dates.

Sears operated a store at Sycamore Mall in Iowa City before it moved to Coral Ridge Mall in 1998. A Sears Hometown store, which offers most of Sears’ merchandise other than apparel lines, has since opened at Sycamore.

Motorcycle enthusiasts look over machines competing in various categories at the 2011 Vintage Rally in Anamosa. The National Motorcycle Museum will host the annual event June 1-3 that is expected to draw hundreds of cyclists. (National Motorcycle Museum)

ANAMOSA — John Parham, founder of J&P Cycles and president of the National Motorcycle Museum board of directors, recently received industry recognition.

Separately, the second annual Vintage Rally 2012 at the Anamosa museum has been set for June 1-3.

Parham received the Don J. Brown Lifetime Achievement Award on Friday, Feb. 17, at the 2012 Dealer Expo and American V-Twin Dealer Show in Indianapolis. The award is given each year to an individual in the motorcycle retailing community who furthers the sport, the business, and the industry over the course of their career.

Parham, a life-long motorcycle enthusiast, founded J&P Cycles with his wife, Jill, in 1979. What began as a small Harley-Davidson motorcycle repair shop in a dirt-floor garage on the outskirts of Anamosa has grown into the world’s largest catalog retailer of aftermarket motorcycle parts and accessories.

John Parham, National Motorcycle Museum

J&P Cycles annually hosts an open house that draws more than 10,000 customers as well as equipment suppliers to the company’s headquarters off Highway 151. The company produces one of the largest mail-order catalogs in the industry that lists more than 40,000 motorcycle parts and accessories.

Parham, in addition to being recognized for his business achievements, also received the award for his lifetime dedication to the motorcycle industry. A restorer of vintage motorcycles since his youth, Parham in 2001 relocated the National Motorcycle Museum from Sturgis, S. D., to Anamosa.

The National Motorcycle Museum at 102 Chamber Dr. displays more than 320 motorcycles from around the world as well as pieces of artwork and memorabilia in a 36,000-square-foot facility. It will host the Vintage Rally the first weekend of June, featuring hundreds of motorcycles on display, a swap meet and artifacts from the television show “Then Came Bronson” that aired from 1969 to 1970.

In 2001, Parham was instrumental in moving the museum from Sturgis, S.D., to Anamosa.

“Vintage motorcycles have always been a tremendous passion of mine, which led to the labor of love that is the National Motorcycle Museum,” Parham said in his award acceptance speech. “Since Jill and I retired from running the company last fall, the museum has become my true day-to-day passion.”

Parham’s son, Zach, assumed leadership of J & P Cycles in 2011.

Net income declined 41.5 percent, to $77.8 million, from $133 million in 2010.

The decline was influenced by losses on derivatives and hedging activities and a decline in advance interest income, in part.

The wholesale cooperative bank provides low-cost funding and community lending to more than 1,200 commercial banks, savings institutions, credit unions and community development institutions.

When a member decides to prepay an advance, the bank is required to charge a prepayment fee to offset the financial impact. Advance payment fee income decreased $163.3 million from 2010 to 2011 as a result of fewer advance prepayments.

As a result of market volatility, the bank recorded net losses of $110.8 million on its derivatives and hedging activities compared to net losses of $52.6 million in 2010.

Bank assets decreased to $48.7 million as of Dec. 31, 2011, from $55.6 billion on Dec. 31, 2010., due mainly to principal paydowns on mortgage-backed securities and a reduction in short-term investments.

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines serves Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri and the Dakotas.

The Iowa franchisee of Mattress Firm, a national bedding retailer, recently opened a second Cedar Rapids store at 2300 Edgewood Rod. SW in the Edgewood Station shopping center. The 6,000-square-foot store is slightly larger than a Mattress Firm store at 4701 First Ave. SE that opened in late October. (George C. Ford/SourceMedia Group News)

CEDAR RAPIDS — The Iowa franchisee of Mattress Firm, a Texas-based bedding and accessories retailer, has opened a second store in Cedar Rapids.

Dave Eisenbraun, co-owner and managing partner of eight Mattress Firm stores in Iowa, said the most recent store opened Saturday in Edgewood Station, 2300 Edgewood Rd. SW.  The 6,000-square-foot store on the perimeter of Westdale Mall is slightly larger than a Mattress Firm store that opened in late October at 4701 First Ave. SE.

Mattress Firm of Houston, Texas, sells mattresses, box springs, bed frames and accessories. The retailer does not sell bedroom furniture.

Eisenbraun said the newest Cedar Rapids Mattress Firm store will sell the Sealy Posterpedic, Serta iComfort, Temper-Pedic and Hampton & Rhodes brands of bedding.

“We are considered a mattress specialty shop,” Eisenbraun said. “We also sell pillows and protective mattress covers, but primarily we sell mattresses and foundations.

“We have stores in Ankeny, Des Moines, Urbandale and West Des Moines. We’re always looking for good locations in other parts of the state, but it will primarily depend on the availability and cost of real estate, which were factors when we chose Edgewood Station.”

Eisenbraun, who moved his family back to Iowa after working in Texas, said each store employs about two people. He said delivery is handled out of Des Moines, including pickup, setup and disposal of a customer’s old mattrerss.

“Our goal at Mattress Firm is to continue growing as a national brand and become the first border to border mattress and foundation retailer,” Eisenbraun said.

Mattress Firm operates over 800 locations — including about 250 franchise stores — across 26 states with plans to continue to grow. The publicly-traded company began in 1986 and by 2002 owned and operated approximately 250 locations across the United States.

Mattress Firm is expecting 2011 net revenue to be in the range from $690 million to $695 million, compared with net revenue of $494 million for fiscal 2010 that ended Feb. 1, 2011. The company previouslyprojected net revenue ranging from $685 million to $690 million for fiscal 2011.

Mattress Firm said its improved guidance reflects stronger-than-anticipated net revenue for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011.

Elderkin & Pirnie PLC plans to move in mid to late July from its present location at 115 First Ave. SE to a 13,500-square-foot ground floor space in the Town Centre building, managing partner Dan Childers said. The space housed Clancy’s Ltd. menswear store before it closed in 2005.

The lease leaves only about 8,000 square feet of leasable space remaining, Town Centre owner Steve Emerson said.

Nearly 100 years old, Elderkin & Pirnie PLC employs about 30, including 16 attorneys.

One of the main motivations for the move was easier access to parking, Childers said. The Town Centre building has an attached parking garage.

Moving out of downtown was not an option, even though the ground floor space is arguably more vulnerable to flooding than the second-floor space that Elderkin & Pirnie had to vacate for four months after the flood.

“We’re a firm believer that if we’re lawyers in Cedar Rapids, we should be downtown and supporting that part of the economy,” Childers said. He said the firm doesn’t consider the likelihood of a repeat flood to be high, and has a strategy for protecting its client files and information if a flood occurs.

Because the space was gutted after the flood, Childers said the law firm will have the ability to work with building owner Steve Emerson, an architect, configure it to suit its needs. The firm will have four conference rooms of varying sizes, along with office and reception space.

The 195,000-square-foot Town Centre building in the 200 block of Third Ave. SE was acquired by Emerson in late 2009. It had not been rehabilitated from the June 2008 flood because the owner was part of Lehman Brothers, the Wall Street giant that had unraveled in bankruptcy.

Elderkin & Pirnie specializes in litigation, Childers said, and hopes to use to move to increase its use of technology to become more efficient.

Among the major tenants of the Town Centre building are Bankers Trust, Shive Hattery and Rockwell Collins.

A prospective tenant is in talks for the remaining 8,000 square feet of available space at 324 2nd St. SE, according to Tiffany Earl of Skogman Realty Commercial.

The Iowa City Area Association of Realtors reported 110 houses or condominiums were sold last month, compared with 65 sales in January 2011. The average sale price was $165,606 in January, down from $176,795 in January 2011.

The number of pending sales was virtually unchanged from January 2011.

A total of 175 homes or condominiums were sold last month in Cedar Rapids, according to the Cedar Rapids Area Association of Realtors, down from 189 sales in January 2011. The average sale price was $140,494 last month, up from $133,697 in January 2011.

The Cedar Rapids Area Association of Realtors does not report pending sales.

Statewide, home sales rose in January and 4,172 new active residential listings came on the market from the end of December, according to the Iowa Association of Realtors.

A total of 1,618 homes were sold in January, up 9.3 percent from 1,481 sold in the same month last year. The median sale price in January was down just 0.9 percent to $109,000 from $110,000 in January 2011.

Twenty-three of Iowa’s 44 local boards of Realtors reported increases in number of sales last month, and 24 boards recorded an increase in the median sale price from last January.

Dale Gross, president of the Iowa Association of Realtors, said January sales continue a trend that may portend a recovering housing market in Iowa.

“January was the seventh month in a row that we’ve seen an increase in the number of homes sold,” Gross said in a statement announcing the statewide sales statistics.

“The upturn started in July 2011. Since then, we have seen varying levels of increased sales activity each month, when comparing each month to the same month in the previous year.”

The Cedar Rapids, Iowa City Realtor associations and the Iowa Association of Realtors do not break out existing and new home sales.

Nationally, existing home sales rose in January, marking three gains in the past four months, according to a report Wednesday from the National Association of Realtors.

Existing home sales increased 4.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.57 million in January, up  0.7 percent from 4.54 million in January 2011. Existing home sales include single-family homes, town homes, condominiums and co-ops.

Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, said the January results are indicative of improving conditions in the housing market.

“The uptrend in home sales is in line with all of the underlying fundamentals — pent-up household formation, record-low mortgage interest rates, bargain home prices, sustained job creation and rising rents,” Yun said in the NAR report. He said foreclosure sales are moving swiftly with ready home buyers and investors competing in nearly all markets.

“A government proposal to turn bank-owned properties into rentals on a large scale does not appear to be needed at this time,” Yun added.

CEDAR RAPIDS — Norah Hammond didn’t have a real interest in science when she was growing up.

“I never felt a connection or experienced a spark of excitement when it came to topics like science or math,” she said. “That is why I think what we do here at the Science Center — the informal side of learning, offering hands on fun — is so important.”

As executive director of the Cedar Rapids Science Center (formerly called the Science Station), Hammond said her hope is to provide meaningful, memorable and fun science experiences for children.

“When people ask what we do or why we are here, I tell them it is about inspiring a lifelong appreciation and passion for science- , technology- , engineering- and math-based topics. It is about learning and fun through the programs and experiences we offer, whether you visit us, or if we reach you through activities and events out in the community.

“At the end of the day, it is about investing in the future, through kids, family and community building.”

Having said that, she admits her work days are usually a blur.

“There is so much variety in what I do, which is what I like the most. But it makes the day go by pretty fast.”

Norah Hammond is framed through the teeth of a replica of the Peck's Rex Tyrannosaurus Rex skull at the Science Center in Cedar Rapids. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Her work days may start with a high-level meeting, but usually end with tidying up the gallery for the next day’s visitors.

“The dig box chips and Legos are everywhere, always. And right now there are paper airplanes and rockets everywhere, too,” she confessed.

Hammond, a Mount Mercy graduate, worked for a trade organization that provided professional development for adults before coming to the Science Center about a year and a half ago. She oversees a staff of five at the Science Center, located at Lindale Mall in Cedar Rapids.

“Since we have a small staff, all of us wear many hats,” she explained. They also depend on a network of volunteers and contract educators who support major programs, such as the center’s summer camps.

Hammond feels strongly about the potential the camps and other programs hold.

“The time these kids spend with us might put them on a path that offers a cure for a disease, a space discovery, or an engineering marvel. You just never know,” she said.

Know a manager or business owner whose company has been around for at least a year who should be considered for “My Biz”? Contact business editor Michael Chevy Castranova, michael.castranova@sourcemedia.net.

The four positions amounted to less than 1 percent of the work force. Another 15 Cedar Rapids employees accepted early retirement incentives, said David Weintraub, an ADM spokesman.

Plans to streamline ADM’s organization to improve productivity and match costs to business and growth needs were announced in January.

Meetings with employees whose positions were eliminated began this week, Weintraub said, after a process that included work to redesign processes, flatten ADM’s organizational structure, prioritize work and consolidate work.

Weintraub said the company is offering affected employees a severance package, career counseling and life transition counseling.

ADM operates corn milling operations in Cedar Rapids that produce a variety of food ingredients. The plant also produces ethanol.

In response to a growing demand from both clients and workforce, the Iowa City Area Development (ICAD) Group is launching the Corridor Job Club.  This club will provide members the opportunity to expand networks and connect to a hidden job market in Iowa’s Creative Corridor.

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

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The board voted last week to accept the resignation of Jeff Nock, who assumed leadership of the nonprofit organization in May 2008.

Nock, previously assistant vice president, marketing and product development for ACT In Iowa City, succeeded John Watson, who retired after guiding Goodwill of the Heartland for 29 years. At the time he joined Goodwill, Nock also served on the boards of directors of Shelter House and the Iowa City Community School District Foundation.

Terri Davis, chairman of the organization’s board of directors and an attorney with Shuttleworth & Ingersoll law firm in Cedar Rapids, confirmed Nock’s resignation.

Jeff Nock, former CEO, Goodwill of the Heartland

“It was a mutual decision based on timing,” Davis said. “I think he accomplished a lot of what he wanted to accomplish with Goodwill of the Heartland and he’s looking for other opportunities. The board respects that and wishes him the best.”

Nock received a salary of $137,459 in 2010 and an additional $29,066 in other compensation, according to a Goodwill’s Form 990 for 2010, the most recent available.

Goodwill of the Heartland serves 16 counties in southeast Iowa and three counties in western Illinois. The agency served more than 5,200 individuals and families with barriers to independence in 2010, with 341 people placed in community jobs and 931 clients on the Goodwill of the Heartland payroll.

Davis said the board of directors will be working with Goodwill International to bring a retired Goodwill CEO to Iowa City to serve on an interim basis.

“I’m anticipating that it will take four to six months to get a new president and CEO in place just because a national search takes that long,” Davis said. “We have a senior leadership team in place that has been with us for a long time. I think they can keep us moving smoothly, coupled with an interim CEO to have that oversight.”

Within the last year, the Iowa City-based organization expanded its Goodwill Reboot computer recycling operation with the purchase of the former Brenneman Seed and Pet Center location at 1500 S. First Ave.

Davis said Goodwill Reboot has become a key revenue source for Goodwill of the Heartland as well as a community recycler and client employer.

Alliant Energy terminated plans to build a $1.5 billion coal-burning power plant in Marshalltown in January 2010. The project had been approved by the Iowa Utilities Board, but with some big strings attached, including requirements for major investments in renewable energy.

The Cedar Rapids-based utility division of Alliant Energy has indicated its unlikely to renew its agreement to purchase much of its power from the Duane Arnold Energy Center, a nuclear plant near Palo, when a power purchase agreement with NextEra Energy expires in February 2014.

Interstate Power and Light is conducting due diligence and planning a 600-megawatt power plant, Chairman William Harvey told analysts earlier this month. The due diligence process includes analysis of potential sites.

The plant would “be a sister” to the 550-megawatt Emery Generating Station Alliant built near Mason City in 2004, Interstate Power and Light spokesman Ryan Stensland said.

“It’s a model we know,” Stensland said. “We know how it’s built, how it’s designed and engineered, and it’s proven on the market to be reliable and efficient.”

Combined cycle squeezes more electricity out of each unit of natural gas than conventional single-cycle gas turbines by recapturing much of the heat from steam that has already gone through the turbine.

The plant would be slightly higher in output than utility’s Emery Generating Station in Cerro Gordo County, at about 600 megawatts.

Stensland said Interstate Power and Light still hasn’t decided whether to seek regulatory approval for the plant, because it is awaiting the outcome of a recent call for proposals from outside companies to supply equivalent power generation needs.
Proposals could include offers to sell an existing power plant or to supply the utility with power from an existing power plant.

A Cedar Rapids energy consultant who was supportive of the utility’s plans for a new coal plant isn’t as happy with the natural gas proposal, but is not dismissive of it.

Natural gas prices have collapsed in recent years, consultant Bob Latham said, and could remain low for some time because of new natural gas discoveries and new fracking technology for extracting more natural gas from older fields.

“It’s simply following the logic of what the market will do,” Latham said. “It’s about as safe as you can get.”

One advantage of a natural gas power plant is that power production can be ramped up quickly when operating it beomes more economical than buying power off the grid, and tapered off when natural gas costs or other factors make its output more expensive than grid power.

Latham said his main concern is that natural gas prices can rise and fall sharply. If the United States remains in a prolonged period of low natural gas prices, he said distributors will produce facilities to liquefy the natural gas and ship it to overseas markets where prices are higher.

“I hate to put everything into that basket of natural gas,” Latham said.

Stensland said the utility already gets about 50 percent of its electricity from coal-fired power plants, and “in a carbon-constrained economy, we’d be better positioned with natural gas than coal.”

Stensland declined to specify potential locations for the plant. He said the site would have to be close to one or preferably two natural gas pipelines, a source of water for steam, and the high-voltage transmission grid. Some existing Interstate Power and Light plants are possible sites, Stensland said.

Wisconsin Power and Light, the Wisconsin-based sister utility of Interstate Power and Light, has asked Wisconsin utility regulators for permission to buy an existing 600-megawatt natural gas combined cycle power plant in that state.

It’s unlikely Interstate Power and Light ratepayers would begin getting higher bills to pay for a new natural gas plant until early 2014. That’s when a three-year rate freeze agreement with the Iowa Utilities Board ends. The sister company is also expected to end its nuclear power purchases from Dominion Resources.

Interstate Power and Light expects to make a decision whether to pursue the new plant in May or June. If the decision is to go ahead, it would file for regulatory approval in August or September.

United Fire Group, corporate parent of United Fire & Casualty and United Life Insurance, on Tuesday reported net income of $11,000 for 2011, down significantly from $47.5 million, or $1.80 per share, in 2010. The company’s revenues rose 19.3 percent to $705 million in 2011 from $591.1 million in 2010.

United Fire Group incurred $80.8 million of pretax catastrophic losses in 2011, including $21.1 million from the company’s assumed reinsurance business, which experienced significant losses from natural disasters in New Zealand and Japan. The company posted a $4.2 million, or 16 cents per share, operating loss in 2011, compared with an operating profit of $42 million, or $1.60 per share, in the previous year.

Randy Ramlo, United Fire Group

United Fire Group recorded a fourth-quarter profit of $16.9 million, or 66 cents per share, up 46.3 percent from $11.5 million, or 44 cents per share, in the final three months of 2010. Revenues rose 27.7 percent to $191.6 million in the three months that ended Dec. 31 from $150 million in the fourth quarter of 2010.

United Fire Group incurred a pretax catastrophic loss of $9.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2011, compared with a pretax catastrophic loss of $4.3 million in the same period of 2010.

Randy Ramlo, United Fire Group president and CEO, said 2011 will be remembered in the property and casualty insurance industry for its devastating catastrophes, both domestic and abroad.

“According to various reports, it was the costliest catastrophe year on record for the property and casualty insurance industry globally,” Ramlo said. “The fourth quarter results showed great improvement, and we posted solid results with increases in net premiums earned and operating income.

“We’ve been encouraged by rate increases across all lines, as well as by some positive signs in the overall economy. Additionally, we’ve taken steps to improve and tighten our underwriting based on our catastrophe experiences of the past year.”

Ramlo said the integration of Mercer Insurance Group is progressing, noting that United Life Insurance has received approval to operate in New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. He said that will continue to leverage the Mercer Insurance Group acquisition by expanding the company’s geographical footprint.

United Fire Group’s common stock rose 93 cents , or 4.8 percent, to close at $20.32 per share Tuesday on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

DeLayne Williamson, ICAD Group

IOWA CITY — Professionals typically find that “It’s not what you know, but who you know” when you are searching for employment.

With that in mind, the Iowa City Area Development Group is launching a Corridor Job Club that will promote personal and Internet social networking as a path to securing mid- or upper-level positions in what some have described as a “hidden job market.”

DaLayne Williamson, ICAD Group’s workforce business services director, said many talented workers are sidelined for almost a year before they find the right position that fits their skills and talents.

“National figures estimate professionals take up to nine to 10 months to find a job,” Williamson said.  “We’re trying to connect job seekers to each other for support and brainstorming to help them with their job search. We also will try to connect them with employers that are seeking higher level people to fill the jobs they have open.”

Williamson said the Corridor Job Club will be launched with a workshop, ”Using LinkedIn as a Networking Tool,” from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. March 2 at the Coralville Public Library, 1401 Fifth St.

The free workshop will be presented by Mark Hennessy from Vangent and Margie Peskin from Search Forward, who will share tips on how to expand networks using LinkedIn as well as creating an effective profile on the business networking website.

“There are new strategies and theories about what should be on your resume,” Williamson said. “We will have a local person who will work with people on their resumes and doing some coaching as far as interviews — what to say and how to say it.

“We also will have a suggested reading list that we will share with job seekers. We want people to share employment opportunities that are not necessarily right for them, but would be a better fit for someone else.”

Williamson said LinkedIn will provide ongoing information on the Corridor Job Club as well as providing an opportunity for professionals to post their resumes as well as skills and experience. She said about 25 members have signed up for the Corridor Job Club’s LinkedIn site and more are expected to sign up after the March 2 workshop.

Williamson said the first meeting of the Corridor Job Club will be held from 9 to 10:30 a.m. March 6 at ICAD Group’s office, 325 E. Washington St., Suite 101, in Iowa City. She said the location of future meeting could change if those attending are traveling from other areas of the Corridor.

“While we have 25 people signed up for our LinkedIn site, we really don’t know how many will attend the first meeting of the Corridor Job Club,” she said. “Hopefully, as more professionals are able to secure jobs in the Corridor, we will be able to develop mentors who can share their experiences and strategies with those who are seeking employment.”

Joe Hearn, Dupaco Community Credit Union

Dupaco Community Credit Union, Iowa’s third-largest credit union by assets, has named Joe Hearn president and chief executive officer of the Dubuque-based financial services provider.

Hearn succeeds Robert Hoefer, who in October announced his intention to retire after more than 47 years of service.  Hoefer will continue to serve Dupaco as a consultant to the credit union’s board of directors.

Hearn, a  25-year employee of Dupaco, was previously chief operating officer. He joined the credit union in 1986 as director of marketing.

Hearn is active at the state and national credit union levels, serving in his second term as chairman of the Iowa Credit Union League board of directors.  He also is a member of the board of directors of Affiliates Management Co., a wholly-owned holding company of the Iowa Credit Union League.

Hearn earned a master of business administration degree from the University of Dubuque, and is graduate of Loras College, with degrees in marketing and management.

Matthew Dodds, senior vice president of consumer lending, has been promoted to chief operating officer. Dodds, who joined Dupaco in 2003 with nine years of consumer lending experience in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Denver, Colo., will be responsible for consumer, mortgage, and business lending; branch operations and member services.

Dodds, also an active participant in regional and national credit union organizations, holds a bachelor of arts degree in finance, with a minor in accounting from Minnesota State University, Mankato.

Dupaco had assets of $965.4 million on Sept. 30, according to the most recent data available. The credit union has locations in southeast and southwest Cedar Rapids as well as Asbury, Dubuque, Dyersville, Manchester, Galena, Ill., and Platteville, Wis.