Business Notes for Oct. 27, 2024

The Gazette’s Business Notes is a compendium of the week’s promotions, new hires, certifications, added business lines and business events, among other items, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa City and the rest of the Corridor. Information and photos can be submitted at https://www.thegazette.com/business-notes/submit/

Appointments

Point Builders announces the appointment of Nick Ruden as director of operations for the Cedar Rapids and Davenport offices.

Jessica Drees has become a shareholder in the Dahm, Knapp & Associates accounting firm in Hiawatha.

Kudos

Mercy bariatric cited: Mercy Cedar Rapids has again won accreditation from the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program, the only program in Cedar Rapids with that accreditation. The accreditation is designed to ensure the safety and effectiveness of surgeries aimed at weight loss and the treatment of obesity-related conditions.

Tony Bedard, the CEO of Frontier Co-op of Norway, Iowa, was inducted into the Cooperative Development Foundation’s Hall of Fame on Oct. 3, one of five co-op leaders to be inducted during ceremonies at the Hamilton Hotel in Washington, D.C. The foundation recognized Bedard for championing the idea that doing good in the world and growing a financially successful business are not mutually exclusive. Under Bedard’s leadership, Frontier Co-op grew from $36.5 million in net sales to $235.9 million in 2023 and donated more than $10 million to philanthropy worldwide.

Other news

FBB Biomed wins IEDA loan: The Iowa Economic Development Authority this month awarded a $250,000 Innovation acceleration loan to FBB Biomed of Coralville. The company, located in the Univesisty of Iowa Bioventure Center, is researching and developing one blood test that, using genome sequences, supercomputers and AI, could detect biomarkers for neurological diseases. Howard Urnovitz, the company’s co-founder, received the UI’s Innovator of the Year award in 2023.

Kepros PT ribbon-cutting: Kepros Physical Therapy & Performance celebrated its expansion with a Thursday ribbon-cutting at 905 29th Ave. in Marion. Ted Kepros opened his private practice in 2014 in downtown Cedar Rapids and now also has office in Marion and North Liberty.

Expansion/acquisition: Urbandale-based Blue Stone Therapy, which has been providing therapy services for older adults in Cedar Rapids since 2015, has acquired Goodcare, Goodcare AtHome Rehab, of SIoux Falls, S.D., and Alpine Therapy. Blue Stone Therapy now provides contract rehabilitation services and outpatient therapy in six states and employs more than 900 therapists.

Small business of the week: U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, last week named the Kaleidoscope Factory of Pocahontas County as her small business of the week.

In 1997, Leonard Olson received his first kaleidoscope as a gift, sparking a lifelong passion for woodworking. He began making them on his own and opened the Kaleidoscope Factory in Pomeroy in 2004, moving the business to downtown Pocahontas in northwest Iowa In 2014. After Olson died in 2019, his sisters, Lois Hessenius and Margaret Egli, kept the business running while family and friends crafted a variety of wood products like toy trains, and puzzles.

Ernst, the ranking member on the Senate’s Small Business Committee, is naming one exceptional small business of the week in each of Iowa’s counties during this congressional session.