MAY 2017 - Kirkwood · career path? I like construction, and I wanted to do something that is...

of the Creative Corridorof the Creative Corridor

Meet Makenzie Kimm and other ALL STARS who are making an impact in the region’s business sectors.

MAY 2017

2 ALL STARS of the Creative Corridor

HIGHWAY EQUIPMENT

800-363-1771 • www.highwayequipment.com • © 2017 Highway Equipment Company. All rights reserved.

Passion runs Deep.

Congrats to our regional manager dave baker for being

named as a creative corridor all-star honorable mention!

Highway equipment company is proud of dave,

and all our team members who have the passion to

build the best today for a better tomorrow.

3MAY 2017

Iowa’s Creative Corridor is a great place to live and work. Many dif-ferent communities, businesses, organizations and people all come together like pieces of a puzzle

to make a greater whole. One integral piece holding it all together is the area workforce. It’s central to everything that happens here in our seven-county area of Benton, Cedar, Iowa, Johnson, Jones, Linn and Washington counties.

For 50 years, Kirkwood Community College has understood the important connection between a talented workforce, employers, education and training, and the Corridor as a whole. Those four compo-nents form a relationship where each af-fects the other. That’s why Kirkwood works with local business and industry to develop relevant curriculum that puts our gradu-ates in a position to succeed. When they thrive, employers flourish and so does the Corridor. When workers need retraining, Kirkwood supports area employers to make sure their employees have the knowledge and skills to take the organization, and their own careers, to the next level.

Because the future of the Corridor is directly related to the success of this rela-tionship, every single person has a vested

interest in cultivating the area workforce and growing it to its potential. One way to encourage success is by celebrating those among us that are truly standing out in their field.

In this magazine, you’ll be intro-duced to some of the promising Corridor employees making a huge impact today. It’s a glimpse of the younger workforce who will very soon become the movers and shakers of the future. These stories are inspiring. The best part is, they can encourage the next wave of talent whose time is fast approaching.

These Creative Corridor All-Stars are proof that if you put in the time, and you work hard, you can accomplish any goal. I would encourage those inspired by these examples to take control of their future. When anyone is ready for the next step – whatever that may be – Kirkwood is ready to help them get there. Whether it’s career exploration and opportunities for our youth, or training for our more experi-enced workforce, Kirkwood is a one-stop shop for everyone in the Corridor when it comes to career development.

Let the stories within these pages be an inspiration to motivate us as we move to-ward the bright future of our community. l

Mick StarcevichPresidentKirkwood Community College

A print product of the Corridor Business JournalMay 2017

Shuva Rahim, Writer and PhotographerJulia Druckmiller, DesignerRhonda Roskos, Media Consultant

Main Campus, 6301 Kirkwood Boulevard Southwest, Cedar Rapids, IA 52404

(319) 398-5411 • www.kirkwood.edu

of the Creative Corridor

ARCHITECTURE, CONSTRUCTION, ENGINEERING

Brandon Minnick . . . . . . . . . . .4Besnik Mucogllava . . . . . . . . . .6

ADVANCED MANUFACTURING

Cassie Ellis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Amber Westemeier . . . . . . . 12

FINANCIAL SERVICE, INSURANCE,CUSTOMER SERVICE

Amanda Wendling. . . . . . . . 14Natasha Leiran . . . . . . . . . . . 16

HEALTHCARE

April Golwitzer . . . . . . . . . . . 18Sara Wattnem. . . . . . . . . . . . 20

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Matt Lapka . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Samantha Dalhby. . . . . . . . . 24

TRANSPORTATION, LOGISTICS

Phil Reges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Makenzie Kimm . . . . . . . . . . 28

INTERNSHIPS

Trent Brandenburg. . . . . . . . 30

INFORMATIONAND RESOURCESPathway to an All Star Career . . . . . . . . .11

How Can I Be an All Star? . . . . . . . . .15

About Sector Boards . . .23

All Star Honorable Mentions . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

ALL STAR SECTORS

CONTENTS


What does your company do?Modern Piping is a full-service mechanical contractor. We do plumbing, piping, sheet metal, controls and also compressed air. We also have a service division we handle. We basically call it a “one-stop shop.”

What are your job duties?I lead and manage the Virtual Design team within the day-to-day operations. We have five locations. I oversee 15 employees at three different locations, including Cedar Rapids, Blaine, Minnesota and Oklahoma City. Modern supports the company from pre-construction all the way to final completion of a proj-ect. The projects we work on are typically commercial. We also do a very large amount of industrial projects. We just recently completed the Children’s Hospital project, along with the U of I Hancher Auditorium and the U of I Art Building replacement.

What is most interesting about your job?The most interesting thing is the day-to-day challenges we have, specifically in the technology we use. The different software and hardware we utilize to complete a project – a robotic total sta-tion, 3-D scanner and software – is pretty neat.

ARCHITECTURE, CONSTRUCTION, ENGINEERING SECTOR

What is the most rewarding part of your job?The most rewarding part of the job would be the comple-tion of a project, to be able to go home at night and tell your wife or your kids, ‘I helped build that building or I helped be part of the design team on that building.’

How did you decide on this career path?I decided on this career path based on my childhood. My stepfather was a CAD designer in the Quad Cities. Really just watching him do it interested me and took me to the next level of wanting to do it myself. I went to Morrison Institute of Technology, a two-year tech school. I did CAD Design and Drafting with Engineering Technology. I also worked for another mechanical contractor before I got hired on at Modern Piping. I worked there for five years, and day to day kept learning and taking on more responsibility.

What do most people not realize you do in your job?One thing people don’t realize would be juggling a lot of tasks, having many responsibilities and really keeping them all in motion at the same time. I’m doing a lot of other things with managing 15 employees, and working with the day-to-day operations within the company be-tween the fab shop, the project management team, the IT department and within my own department. l

ONLINE: Watch Brandon discuss working at Modern Piping.Go to http://bit.ly/CCAllStars

Brandon

DIRECTOR OF VIRTUAL DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION

Brandon MinnickModern Piping, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

5MAY 2017

Design - BuildWith our 69,000 s.q./ft., state-of-the-art fabrication facility in Cedar Rapids, IA we’re able to offer many plumbing, piping and duct fabrication benefits to our customers that are not provided by other mechanical contractors.

ModeModern Piping, Inc. is ISO 9001:2008 certified, which is a third-party validation of our extensive quality control and continuous improvement processes used in our fabrication and VDC operations.

VDC CapabilitiesOur robust Virtual Design and Construction Department (VDC) is the largest of any mechanical contractor in the region. Our in-house engineers work closely with our VDC staff, estimators, fabricators, installers, and outside engineers to deliver the best designed and installed system for the customer’s budget.

Our Our Timble TX5 3D Scanner and Trimble Robotic Total Work Stations fully integrate with our 3D VDC software to provide extremely precise measurements, improve accuracy, and accelerate design and construction schedules.

Stay In Touch

15

3Dvirtual

designers on staff

scanning capabilities

modernpiping.com

(319) 841-1111

moderncompaniesinc.com

Brandon


What does your company do?My company does general contracting and design-build services for commercial, corpo-rate office and health care industries.

What are your job duties?As superintendent my job duties are to plan, schedule and coordinate with other trades and also delegate work to our em-ployees and subcontractors.

What is the most interesting thing about your job?The most interesting things about my job are learning new things and ideas, and the con-tinued improvement of ways things are built.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?The most rewarding part of my job is the finishes toward the end of the project. For instance, now I’m running a project at the University of Iowa Children’s Hospital, and we’re at the finish part right now and it’s very exciting to get stuff done. It’s a rewarding part that you see how things are finished.

ARCHITECTURE, CONSTRUCTION, ENGINEERING SECTOR

ONLINE: Watch Besnik discuss his work at Woodruff Construction.Go to http://bit.ly/CCAllStars

Besnik

SUPERINTENDENT

Besnik MucogllavaWoodruff ConstructionTiffin, Iowa

“Due to the

experience

I had in

the past I

progressed

very fast.”

How did you decide on this career path?I like construction, and I wanted to do something that is field-related but with more office responsibility. So superin-tendent gives me the opportunity to have both.

I came to the U.S. in 2009 from Greece. I did construction in Greece for almost 10 years. When I started with Woodruff, the construction was slightly different compared to Europe. So I started as a laborer even though I had experience. But due to the experience I had in the past I progressed very fast. Also, I have a degree in construction management. I graduated in 2014 from Kirkwood Com-munity College. I’m currently at UNI pur-suing a bachelor’s degree, to graduate next spring in technology management.

What do most people not realize you do in your job?I’d say coordination between the other trades is easy for people not to notice, especially on this latest project (the UI Children’s Hospital). It’s very time-con-suming. I personally don’t even know where my time goes. l

7MAY 2017


EMSI occupation employment data are based on final EMSI industry data and final EMSI staffing patterns. Wage estimates are based on Occupational Employment Statistics (QCEW and Non-QCEW Employees classes of worker) and the American Community Survey (Self-Employed and Extended Proprietors). Occupational wage estimates also affected by county-level EMSI earnings by industry.

Quick Facts about All Stars Industries

Architecture, Construction, Engineering (ACE)

Median hourly earnings in the ACE Sector in the Creative Corridor: $27.52

In Iowa, Construction occupations are projected to grow by 24% from 2015 – 2025 (EMSI)

Architects, Except Landscape and Naval

Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers

Architectural and Civil Drafters

+10% +10% +26% +12% +36% +9%

Careers with growth expected by 2020 in Iowa’s Creative Corridor (EMSI)

+21%

Surveyors

Construction Laborers

Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installers

Construction and Building Inspectors

Don Hummer Trucking Salutes the

2017 CBJ ALL STARS

888-323-6115 donhummertrucking.com

Don Hummer Trucking is proud to help Eastern Iowa develop a sustainable workforce by offering great career opportunities. We

thank the CBJ All Stars for their commitment to do the same—together, we can develop and foster local talent to make our region

more competitive, successful, and a better place to work.

9MAY 2017

“Earn and Learn” in a Registered Apprenticeship for Union Construction careers. Apprenticeships provide a unique combination of on-the-job training working with Union professionals and structured learning from certified instructors. And the rewards are tremendous:

A Paycheck with Benefits. From day one, you are on the payroll with guaranteed increases as you master your craft. Benefits include healthcare and much more.

Hands-On Career Training. Apprentices receive practical on-the-job experience and regularly scheduled training and instruction in their Union Apprenticeship Training Centers.

A Long-Term Career. Once you complete your apprenticeship, you’re well on your way to a truly rewarding and successful career with competitive salary, benefits and no student loans to pay off.

Build your foundation for success with

Benefit with a Building Trades Union Registered Apprenticeship for a professional career in the Commercial Construction Industry

www.builtbypros.com

www.cricbt.org

> Earn while you learn > Acquire no student debt > Receive regular pay raises

Must be 18 years of age with a high school diploma or equivalent. Must have good attendance, a great work ethic and willingness to work in all conditions.

BUILDING TRADES

APPRENTICESHIPS


What does your company do?For Frontier, we bottle quality, natural and organic spices and seasonings. We also have a plant in Urbana that does essential oils and distributes them as well. Our products are distributed to natural grocery stores that sell organic products, such as Sprouts Farmers Market, 365, New Pioneer Co-op and Hy-Vees.

What are your job duties?I operate the equipment. We have several differ-ent bottling and packaging lines. On any given day I can be on any of them. I’m in charge of setting

up the capper, the sifter, the labeler. We get the spices in as raw material, and then we put

it in bottles, have all our QA checks and balances, and send it out the door for our customers. Each run is a different quantity. In eight hours, on any given line, we can get 10,000 bottles out. I’ve been here going on six years. I come a little bit early to drop my kids off at daycare. Our shift starts at 7:30 a.m. We wear special coats, hairnets, earplugs, and special shoes, wash our hands coming in and

Cassie

ONLINE: Watch Cassie discuss her job at Frontier Co-op.Go to http://bit.ly/CCAllStars

OPERATOR

Cassie EllisFrontier Co-op, Norway, Iowa

ADVANCED MANUFACTURING SECTOR

“The most rewarding part of the job is learning something new every single day.“

going out for food safety. Other than that, you’re on line throughout the whole day.

What is most interesting about your job?One of the most interesting things about my job is seeing all the different types of natural and organic products that come through. Some of them I’ve never ever heard of before.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?The most rewarding part of the job is learning something new every single day. Frontier also is very good about giving back to the community. They’re active in the Honor Flight, Breast Cancer Walks, Junior Diabetes Walks, Heart Walk and Feeding Iowa First. So that’s very rewarding because they give us volunteer time to help serve our community.

How did you decide on this career path?This job is a very family-friendly environment, and they have an on-site daycare. So it was a definite plus for me when I knew I wanted to start a family. It’s nice because you can just walk right down there, see your kid and go back to work. After high school, I went to the Army National Guard. When I decided to start a family, the environment is what attracted me here. I started as a production worker for Frontier. Everything I’ve learned has been hands-on. l

11MAY 2017

Visit our website

www.frontiercoop.com3021 78th StreetNorway, IA 52318

At Frontier Co-op, we are all about openness, teamwork, and honest communication. With a positive and supportive work environment, our employees thrive personally and professionally. Our growing organization provides a wealth of opportunities that allow you to decide what balance of work and life is best for you.

Frontier is a growing provider of organic herbs and spices, and aromatherapy products, and we offer easy access to high-quality choices that are earth-friendly.

BALANCE

CAREER ACADEMIES: An option for High School Juniors and Seniors, Career Academies offer an opportunity for young adults to explore careers as part of their high school experience. In cooperation with area school districts, high school students land in hands-on technical programs and arts and sciences classes while earning both high school and Kirkwood Com-munity College credit. Whether your interest is in Advanced Manufacturing, Engineering, Patient Care, Graphics Design, Business or in any of the other academies, Kirkwood Commu-nity College Career Academies are an excellent opportunity to move forward in your career exploration and development.

For more information on Kirkwood’s Career Academies, visit: www.kirkwood.edu/careeredge and select your local Kirkwood County or Regional Center.

KPACE: The KPACE program (Kirkwood Pathways to Career Education and Employment) is designed to provide a training opportunity for individuals that may need additional supportin their journey through training and toward employment. Kirkwood Community College has developed four complete training pathways in health care, business and manufacturingso you can build skills for a new career. Whatever your personal situation, you can stop and start anywhere along the pathway. We’ll help you find funding, and provide the guidance, support and encouragement you need along your pathway to success.

For more information on Kirkwood’s KPACE program, visit: www.kirkwood.edu/kpace

An All Star Career does not have to be difficult. Through the many resources at Kirkwood Community College, it is possible to start a future in any of the industries represented in the Creative Corridor All Star magazine in several different ways.

KIRKWOOD COMMUNITY COLLEGE CONTINUING EDUCATIONKirkwood’s Continuing Education Division offers short-term training options in all of the industries represented in this Creative Corridor All Stars magazine. Through strong employer relationships, Continuing Education creates the certificates and programs that employers want and need. This provides the education and connections students need as they move forward toward their All Stars future. From Certified Nurse Aid, to Class A Truck Driving, to CNC Machining, to Customer Service Professional, Kirkwood Continuing Education meets the needs of employers and individuals looking to start their next step in getting the skills needed to jumpstart their careers.

For more information on the trainings offered through Kirkwood Continuing Education, please visit: www.kirkwood.edu/ce

KIRKWOOD COMMUNITY COLLEGE CREDIT PROGRAMSStudents that start with a Career Academy, the KPACE program or Kirkwood Continuing Education often consider taking the next step in their education by considering a Kirkwood Com-munity College Associates degree. For over 50 years, Kirkwood Community College has been serving the Creative Corridor through quality education that meets the needs of the region. More than 70,000 futures have started at Kirkwood Community College, yours can be one of them!

To take your next step in exploring a possible Kirkwood Community College degree, visit: www.kirkwood.edu/academics

FINDING THE ROADMAP TO YOUR FUTURE

Pathway to an All Star Career


What does your company do?My company produces organic lip balms, body lo-tions, soaps and hand sanitizers.

What are your job duties?I basically do quality checks to make sure the cor-rect ingredients got into batch, that we’re following all procedures – whether they are safety or FDA requirements. I also deal a lot with our pro-duction floor – getting the paperwork out to them, making sure the lines are organized, calendars are correct. I’ve worked a lot with our production plan-ner to learn how to run MRP (Material Requirement Planning), which gives me the opportu-nity to help ensure we get the product out in time.

What is the most interesting thing about your job?The most interesting thing about my job is get-ting to see the whole process of how everything is made. I get to see when the raw materials come in, when they actually go into the product, seeing it get filled and then labeled and sometimes even seeing it go straight out the door.

What is most rewarding about your job?The rewarding part is knowing the quality checks I do on the paperwork side is ensuring what goes out to our customer is excellent. I am one of the people who sees the paperwork and can say, ‘OK, we put too much of one ingredient in the batch, let’s see what we can do to correct the issue.’ It’s being able to know everything that passes my desk is quality and done correctly. There’s definitely a big sense of pride on that, especially when you get to see the product out in the real world.

How did you decide on this career path?My path leading up to this is actually just high school. I graduated in May 2014. I got onto Twitter one day, saw the ad and applied as a machine operator. I really wanted to broaden my knowledge of manufacturing, so I started doing different classes through Raining Rose University, a leadership program that helps employees learn how to deal with difficult situations in a manufacturing setting and how to be a proactive leader to your peers. In the future, I plan on attending Kirkwood for Business Management/Human Resource Management in hopes of becoming more knowledgeable of the safety processes/rules manufacturing facilities must abide by.

What do most people not realize you do in your job?I’m highly involved in the safety committee. I’m a first responder here and I’ve worked very closely with our safety coordinator making sure everyone’s doing his or her job safely every day. We have a daily safety check I actually worked on which produced a guideline that everyone needs to follow throughout the shift. Safety is my No. 1 priority. I treat everyone here like family and make every effort possible to ensure they have a safe shift while producing a high-quality product. l

Amber

OPERATIONS ASSISTANT

Amber WestemeierRaining Rose, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

ONLINE: See Amber talk about her work at Raining Rose.Go to http://bit.ly/CCAllStars

ADVANCED MANUFACTURING SECTOR

13MAY 2017



Advanced Manufacturing

Industrial Machinery Mechanics

+19%

Maintenance Workers,

Machinery

+16%

Maintenance and Repair Workers, General

+9%Millwrights

+13%

Welders, Cutters,

Solderers, and Brazers

+8%

First-Line Supervisors

of Mechanics, Installers, and

Repairers

+6%

Median Hourly Earnings in Advanced Manufacturing in the Creative Corridor: $18.06/hour (EMSI)



What does your company do?BerganKDV is a financial services firm. We have CPA services, wealth man-agement and then a division we call our outsourced services, anything an organization would outsource – pay-roll, technology, accounting services.

What are your job duties?I’m charged with building our brand – this ranges from graphic design to marketing planning – across all six of our markets. We’re in Cedar Rapids, Des Moines, Coralville/Iowa City, Wa-terloo/Cedar Falls, and in Minnesota in Bloomington and St. Cloud. So I work with all of our different divisions on how they can grow their service areas.

What is the most interesting thing about the job?Day-to-day it’s never boring. We, the marketing team, get involved in pretty much all aspects of the business, and that means I work with our operations

director a lot. I work with our talent team on recruiting and creative ways to do that, and each of our different di-visions. We also assist with our merger and acquisition teams, which has been a pretty active opportunity within our firm the last few years.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?I like to see the work I do have an impact on our clients and our people. It’s cool to see how marketing contributes to that growth and offers opportunities for our people. As the marketing director, I ob-viously love when I tell someone where I work and they know what it is, they have good connotations about what Ber-ganKDV is and they’re excited.

How did you decide on this career path?I knew in high school I wanted to go into advertising or marketing. I liked

the idea of psychology and under-standing how people think, but I also really liked writing. So I have a journal-ism degree in advertising. I worked at a couple different design firms early in my career, found my way to insur-ance, and actually BerganPaulsen (now BerganKDV) found me.

What do most people not realize you do in your job?We really get involved with the busi-ness in ways you don’t think a market-ing department would. I work heavily with our merger and acquisitions team. So I manage our merger and acquisi-tion opportunities. With this, we get our talent director and myself involved to look at the culture and people, which is key for us. l

Amanda

MARKETINGDIRECTOR

Amanda WendlingBerganKDV, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

ONLINE: Watch Amanda discuss her work at BerganKDV.Go to http://bit.ly/CCAllStars

FINANCIAL SERVICE, INSURANCE, CUSTOMER SERVICE SECTOR

15MAY 2017

WE ARE BERGANKDV

bergankdv.com

Congratulations, Amanda Wendling!

Thank you for all you do to live BerganKDV.



Financial Service, Insurance, Customer Service

In Iowa, Finance and Insurance occupations are

projected to grow by

18% from 2015-2025

(EMSI)

Careers with growth expected by 2020 in Iowa’s Creative Corridor (EMSI) >

Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators

+30%

Credit Analysts

+22%

Financial Examiners

+12%

Loan Officers:

+11%

Insurance Sales Agents

+11%Bill and Account Collectors

+32%

Insurance Claims and Policy Processing Clerks

+21%

How Can I Be An All Star?

All Stars represent outstanding employees who are between the ages of 18-35 and have great stories to tell about their achievements. All Star and Honorable Mention winners represent careers within one of these industries:

• Architecture, Construction, Engineering (ACE)• Advanced Manufacturing• Financial Service, Insurance, Customer Service• Healthcare• Information Technology• Transportation, Logistics

All Stars can represent any career area within the six identified industries and are nominated by Creative Corridor employers and partners.

Want to be a future All Star? Learn firsthand from the All Stars about their training and career paths by exploring videos of the All Star award winners on the online version of this publication, http://bit.ly/CCAllStars


What does your company do?GreatAmerica is a finance company, providing financing for various types of equipment. We have multiple busi-ness units, so anywhere from office equipment to telecommunications and health care systems. We have different value-add services we provide as well, such as HR consulting, remote desktop support and portfolio servicing.

What are your job duties?My main job duty is to provide our GreatAmerica experience to all of our customers. That means provid-ing exceptional customer service when communicating with the end users, who are the people using the financed equipment. I’m answering any questions they would have on their invoices, agreements or end-of-term information.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?I’m always learning something new ev-ery day, especially while sitting with new business units or different teams. I’m able to find more process improvements just by listening to other people talk.

How did you decide on this career path?I graduated from Coe College with a degree in business administration. I knew that I wanted to work with people, whether it be over the phone or face-to face. I enjoy talking to people every day, and so that was something I wanted in a career. But I also wanted to be working somewhere where I really enjoyed what I was doing, the people I was working with and what the company stood for. Touching on that, GreatAmerica strives to provide the best customer experi-

ence to all of our customers – vendors and end users – so that they’re going to come back and tell people about GreatAmerica. But they also believe highly in helping their employees grow wherever they have passion. I feel really lucky I got in early because I never want to leave GreatAmerica. I said that from the day I started.

What do most people not realize you do in your job?Most people would think we are a call center. We do answer the end user’s phone call, but we work with them from the moment they call in, are fol-lowing through and making sure they don’t need any other information. If they do find they need more, we’re the ones providing that directly. We get to do that and that’s really something that’s different. l

FINANCIAL SERVICE, INSURANCE, CUSTOMER SERVICE SECTOR

ONLINE: See Natasha discuss her work at GreatAmerica Financial Services.Go to http://bit.ly/CCAllStars

Natasha

ACCOUNT SUPPORT ADVISER

Natasha LeiranGreatAmerica Financial Services, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

17MAY 2017

When GEICO opened its doors in Coralville in 1997, its mission was to do more than provide quality insurance and superior customer service. GEICO made it a priority to bring meaningful job opportunities to Iowans interest-ed in building rewarding careers.

Now 20 years later, GEICO remains true to that commit-ment. For the past three years, GEICO’s Coralville regional of-fice has been named a Top Work-place by the Des Moines Regis-ter. Based solely on employee feedback, GEICO was selected for its unique culture that creates an atmosphere where associates can enjoy coming to work, have a healthy work/life balance, and, most importantly, feel valued and supported.

Today, GEICO’s Coralville of-fice has grown to employ more than 400 sales and customer ser-vice professionals. As GEICO’s policyholder base continues to expand, so does its team of tal-ented associates. This year alone, GEICO’s Coralville team plans to hire 100 new associates to help keep up with the increasing ser-vices GEICO provides customers.

GEICO’s Coralville associ-ates demonstrate an ongoing commitment to not only serving policyholders, but also investing in the well-being and develop-ment of the local economy and community. As active corporate citizens, associates provide many volunteer hours to support such organizations as Habitat for Hu-manity, United Way of Johnson County, Iowa City Special Olym-

pics, March of Dimes and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, to name a few.

“Here at GEICO, we under-stand the core strength of our

organization is in our associ-ates,” said Pete Rizzo, director of GEICO’s Coralville regional office. “We value the hard work and dedication our associates de-vote to serving our policyholders and the local community. We recognize that GEICO’s success is due in large part to our more than 36,000 associates across the country. I’m especially grateful for the team here in Coralville that supports our operations each and every day.”

GEICO offers competitive starting salaries and a compre-hensive benefits package. Many associates also participate in GEICO’s tuition reimbursement program, which is offered to en-courage continuing education, personal development and ca-reer growth.

GEICO is excited to continue to grow in Coralville and add new talent to the team.

Geico continues to bringmeaningful jobs to Corridor

ADVERTISEMENT

For job opportunities and information, visit https://www.geico.com/careers/office-locations/iowa-coralville

GEICO’s Coralville office has grown to employ more than 400 sales and customer service professionals.


What does your company do?We are here to serve the community and take great care of patients.

What are your job duties?The first thing I do is I am a leader to the float pool staff. That means I man-age and help lead 35 team members, a combination of IV therapy and critical care nurses, medical surgical nurses and patient care techs. Aside from that, I am the lead for pain manage-ment at St. Luke’s. I also assist with advanced practice work, so I help with education for the patient care techs and nurses who work our front lines on the units. I oversee the telecenter system, which is a video monitor-ing system. Finally, I attend commit-tees and councils, and support three specific units within the hospital with quality-control metrics and education-based topics.

What is the most interesting thing about your job?The most interesting would be the

variety of things I actually get to do. I get to see a lot of patients, but I also do a lot of chart auditing. So I get to see both sides of the spectrum. I like to be able to identify on both sides of ‘What is the front-line nurse needing?’ and then ‘What type of education can I and my colleagues help provide to be able to reach that goal or outcome that they’re working on?’

What is the most rewarding part of your job?The most rewarding is when I’m able to see one of my team members succeed, or a team member from another unit I have coached or worked with on the side in regards to a skill succeed. I see everything click in their minds and then I watch them achieve what they wanted to. When I see the pride on their faces, their inner confidence starting to build – that’s most rewarding.

How did you choose this career path?I had a grandmother in a nursing home

and a grandfather who was in critical care and then went through hospice – I saw nurses at the bedside who did exceptional care, and I saw nurses who did not quite deliver on that family, patient-centered care. I wanted to fig-ure out how I could make a difference. So I went to Mount Mercy College, and graduated with my bachelor’s. I worked in the hospital setting. Then I wanted to go back for my master’s. I completed my master’s in Leadership and Management at Allen College in Waterloo in December 2016.

What do people not know about your job?I do a lot of data collection. I think when people think of a nurse or a nurse educator, they don’t always understand we link ourselves to data as well. We like to see specific metrics improving because we put in this qual-ity initiative on this specific unit. We are very data driven. I do a lot of chart audits. I pull a lot of data to be able to support the work I’m doing. l

April

NURSE

April GolwitzerSt. Luke’s Hospital, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

ONLINE: See April discuss her work at St. Luke’s Hospital. Go to http://bit.ly/CCAllStars

HEALTHCARE SECTOR

19MAY 2017

Come for a job, stay for a career.

unitypoint.org/career

All Stars Ad.indd 1 3/2/2017 9:35:37 AM

Why choose a career with UnityPoint Health - Cedar Rapids?

Our team members strive to work as one through four key values:

1. Foster Unity– We use the skills and abilities of each

person to enable great teams.– We collaborate across departments,

facilities business units and regions.– We seek to understand and are open to

diverse thoughts and perspectives.

2. Own the Moment– We connect with each person treating

them with courtesy, compassion, empathy and respect.

– We enthusiastically engage in our work.– We are accountable for our individual

actions and our team performance.

3. Champion Excellence– We commit to the best outcomes and the

highest quality.– We have a relentless focus on exceeding

expectations.– We believe in sharing our results,

learning from our mistakes and celebrating our successes.

– We take responsibility for solving problems regardless of origin.

4. Seize Opportunity– We embrace and promote innovation

and transformation.– We create partnerships that improve care

delivery in our communities.– We have the courage to challenge the

status quo.

ADVERTISEMENT

Career OpportunitiesOur award-winning providers, specialists and care teams contribute to our communities, support patient’s family members in time of need and make a differ-ence in the lives of our patients every day. And they wouldn’t have it any other way because that is why they are in this busi-ness in the first place – to care for others. To us, everything begins and ends with delivering an unparalleled health care experi-ence for our patients. That begins with a culture that leverages our most powerful resource – our team members – who make a dif-ference on a grand scale across our organization, regardless of the role:

Clinical OpportunitiesRegistered Nurse Certified Medical AssistantHome Care CoordinationHospice and Palliative CareMy UnityPoint Nurse Call CenterPediatricsPharmacyLaboratoryAdvanced PracticeTherapy/Behavioral HealthAnd More!

Non-ClinicalAdministration/ClericalBilling OfficeEnvironmental ServiceFinance and AccountingHome Medical EquipmentHuman ResourcesInformation TechnologyPatient RegistrationProcurement, Supply, DistributionAnd More!UnityPoint Health team members come for a job, but stay for a career.

When will you begin yours?

As a team member, regardless of your po-sition, you will have the opportunity to change lives on a daily basis, delivering on our vision of Best Outcome for Every Patient Every Time. That privilege drives employees’ passion for making a difference in the lives of our patients, helping them create health-ier, more rewarding lives. UnityPoint Health sets high expectations for team members in order to establish a trusted team capable of taking on the toughest of challenges.

Our Mission: Improving the health and lives of communities and patients we serveOur Vision: Best Outcome Every Patient Every TimeOur Values: At UnityPoint Health, we know our collective actions determine the experience we create.


What does your organization do?We make sick people better and enrich the lives of our long-term care residents. In the hospital and clinics we see different illnesses and disease processes. For our long-term care, we help residents who can no longer live in the community alone. Virginia Gay includes family practice clinics, skilled nursing, operating room, and a long-term care facility attached to the hospital. Virginia Gay also has home health services to which people can get referrals. If a patient needs to see me, their physician will refer them. Patients can see a dietitian for diabetes management, weight management, hypertension, autoimmune disorders, etc.

What are your job duties?I’m responsible for the food service department (planning, organizing, coordinating in accordance with state, federal, and local standards governing the facility to ensure quality nutritional standards are provided daily and the department is maintained in a clean, safe, and sanitary manner). I supervise dietary staff, assess the nutritional needs and plan therapeutic diets to meet patients’ requirements, and provide patient instruction on diet therapy to patients and family members, if needed. Also, I pro-vide outpatient dietary consulting and assessments.

What is the most interesting thing about your job?I always get to do something different. No two patients or diseases or illnesses or nutritional needs for any two people are the same.

Sara

REGISTERED DIETITIAN

Sara WattnemVirginia Gay Hospital Clinics, Nursing & RehabVinton, Iowa

HEALTHCARE SECTOR

What is the most rewarding part of your job?The most rewarding is when I get to see patients or long-term care residents get passionate about their health and their diet, whether it’s getting to plan a meal or how they can make their lives a little better through healthier nutrition.

How did you decide on this career path?I became a dietitian later in life. I started working at a long-term care facility when I was 14. I worked my way up the ranks. When I became the supervisor, I was talk-ing to the dietitian and she said, “Why don’t you just become a dietitian?” So I did. I always liked how food can impact your life. The education and training for a dietitian at a minimum is a bachelor’s degree. I have two: one in nutrition from Kaplan and one in dietetics from Kansas State. Then you complete a 1,200-hour supervised practice internship, and I completed mine at Iowa State.

What do most people not realize you do in your job?Dietitians like junk food, too. People would be sur-prised to see the variety of options learned from dieti-tians. People think dietitians will take away food you like or make them eat rabbit food, and that’s not the case. We want to take your lifestyles and tweak them a little bit to help you with what you want to achieve. l

ONLINE: Watch Sara discuss her work at Virginia Gay Hospital Clinics.Go to http://bit.ly/CCAllStars

“Dietitians like junk food, too.”

21MAY 2017

Sara WattnemVirginia Gay Hospital Clinics, Nursing & RehabVinton, Iowa


Healthcare

Median Hourly Earnings in Healthcare in the Creative Corridor: $23.74/hour (EMSI)

12%2014-2020 (EMSI)


Personal Care Aides +27%Insurance Claims and Policy Processing Clerks +21%Nurse Practitioner +21%Surgical Technologist +17%Home Health Aides +16%Medical Assistants +16%Phlebotomists +15%Occupational Therapy Assistants +13%Medical Records and Health Information Technicians +12%

Careers with growth expected by 2020 in Iowa’s Creative Corridor (EMSI):

Health Sector occupations are projected to grow in Iowa’s Creative

Corridor by


What does your company do?MediRevv is a revenue cycle management company in the health care industry. We partner with hospitals and physician groups all over the United States to help them with their revenue cycle needs, whether that’s working with insurance companies to make sure they’re paying what they’re obligated to or taking phone calls from patients or working in the medical coding division. We help our clients increase their revenue stream.

What are your job duties?I oversee a team of three, including me. I was the only program-mer when I started. It’s pretty exciting. Being in charge of the programming team, I get to set the practices we do. I don’t adhere to rigid standards all the time, because I want to be flex-ible enough to meet client A’s needs as well as client B’s needs. There’s a lot of different facets to our business, and being able to understand the uniqueness of it is very important in knowing how the technology we develop in-house can help the company. Com-ing up with different documentation and different elements a lot of people don’t see gives me quite a bit of creative freedom.

What is the most interesting thing about your job?The most interesting thing about my job is translating the busi-ness needs into technical and programmatic requirements my team then can turn into applications.

Matt

SENIOR DEVELOPMENT OPERATIONS PROGRAMMER

Matt Lapka MediRevv, Coralville, Iowa

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SECTOR

How did you decide on this career path?I was working in retail management and I was work-ing 40-50 hours a week. So I decided I needed to make a change. I’d always been around technology. Both my parents were programmers. But for some reason, I never saw that as a viable career option. I just was thinking one day, and decided ‘hey, I work with computers. Why don’t I do that?’ I decided to try out some online courses through MIT’s Open-CourseWare program, and I absolutely just loved the problem solving. So I went to Kirkwood and got my associate’s in computer software development. While I was finishing my degree I started at MediRevv.

What do most people not realize you do in your job?I don’t think most people realize the planning, design, testing and documentation that actually go into application development and deployment. I don’t just start coding right away and then I’m done. There’s actually a lot of behind-the-scenes work. It’s also really important to help my team grow in their professional and personal lives, so there’s a lot of mentoring that goes on. l

ONLINE: Watch Matt discuss his work at MediRevv.Go to http://bit.ly/CCAllStars

23MAY 2017

Contact us today at vanmeterownup.com/contact

With branches across the Midwest and openings in operations, delivery and more – Van Meter is ready to help you OwnUp.

CHANGE YOUR LIFE. If you’re ready for more than a job, you’re ready to join our team. Everyone here is an employee-owner. That means your ideas are valued, your voice is heard and our success is your success. When we all come together as owners, it suddenly doesn’t feel like work.

ANDREW J.Employee-Owner

OPERATIONS DELIVERY DRIVERSAND MORE

SECTOR BOARDSEmployer members of the Cre-ative Corridor Sector Boards work to collectively develop workforce solutions tailored to an industry sector. Workforce solutions include development and sustaining a com-prehensive regional career pathway system that is targeted to meet the needs of the talent pipeline, em-ployers and workers. Sector Boards use data to forecast labor needs and identify specific jobs and skill needs, develop career and training pathway maps, and develop work-force strategies that address supply and demand.

These Sector Boards are employer led, and membership comprised of employers as well as economic development, workforce, nonprofit

and community groups. The re-gion’s six Sector Boards include:

• Architecture, Construction, Engineering• Advanced Manufacturing• Financial Service, Insurance, Customer Service• Healthcare• Information Technology• Transportation, Logistics

Through this partnership, the Creative Corridor Sector Boards are able to collectively promote the opportunities for training and employment for the region’s grow-ing industry sectors through various activities and projects, such as the Creative Corridor All Stars. •

If you are interested in learning more about the Creative Corridor Sector Boards, or want to become an employer board member, please contact:

Architecture, Construction, Engineering (ACE)[email protected]

Advanced [email protected]

Financial Service, Insurance, Customer [email protected]

[email protected]

Information Technology (IT)[email protected]

Transportation, [email protected]

Q U E S T I O N S ?

About Creative Corridor


What does your company do?NewBoCo’s mission is to accelerate world-changing ideas from Iowa through many initiatives. I’m part of the Imagi-nation Iowa initiative, which encourages K-12 students to get excited about STEAM (Science Technology Engineer-ing Art & Math) and foster the technical and creative talent for future startup leaders.

What are your job duties?My primary role is with our Code.org partnership. Code.org advocates computer science for every student in ev-ery school, and selects regional partners. Our region is all of Iowa. Through this, we can offer free (no subscription), high-quality teaching training through Code.org’s curricu-lum. We get to help teachers implement it and provide support so they aren’t alone. I also get to work with K-12 students through events. Coder Dojo, which is free for elementary students every first and third Saturday from 1 to 3 p.m., has volunteer-run stations that include Lego Robotics, coding and electronics. I also enjoy our Summer Challenge Camps for second through eighth graders. The focus is STEAM and entrepreneurial experiences. Some unique camps are Young Authors Accelerator, Social Ro-botics and Fashion Business.

Samantha

K-12 EDUCATION COORDINATOR

Samantha DalhbyNewBoCoCedar Rapids, Iowa

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SECTOR

What is the most interesting thing about your job?The variety is interesting to me. I’m teaching programming or basic circuits one day, talking with our state computer-science working group another, or strategizing with other regions on a national level a different day.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?I love seeing when students conquer challenges and actually build things and are excited about it being hard. Also, I like knowing I’m spreading that impact through Iowa by providing teachers the tools, training and support to help them succeed.

What was your career path?My degree is in computer engineering and was an embed-ded software developer with Bluetooth. I loved the tinkering and solving problems. But at the end of my maternity leave, I wanted a bigger purpose to drive me. While home with my daughters, I kept active with software development through doing side projects and our family attending Midwest industry conferences. As our oldest started preschool, I began vol-unteering at Imagination Iowa Coder Dojo events. I realized I wanted to show kids what is possible in STEAM relating to jobs they may not think about.

What do people not know about your job?I work part-time. I do a lot of stuff and I fit it in. It works be-cause as a nonprofit, budget is important and as a parent, I’m easing back into the workforce as our kids get older. So this is a great marriage where I can do something I’m passionate about and still provide the time my family needs. l

ONLINE: Watch Samantha talk about her job at NewBoCo.Go to http://bit.ly/CCAllStars

25MAY 2017

SamanthaEMSI occupation employment data are based on final EMSI industry data and final EMSI staffing patterns. Wage estimates are based on Occupational Employment Statistics (QCEW and Non-QCEW Employees classes of worker) and the American Community Survey (Self-Employed and Extended Proprietors). Occupational wage estimates also affected by county-level EMSI earnings by industry.


Information Technology

Median Hourly Earnings in Information Technology in the Creative Corridor: $37.48/hour

Information Security Analysts

Computer Systems Analysts

+9%

+3%+5%

Computer User Support Specialists


Median Hourly Earnings in the Information Technology Industry (EMSI):Computer and Information Systems Managers $58.72

Computer Systems Analysts $35.96

Network and Computer Systems Administrators $34.36

Web Developers $33.55

Computer User Support Specialists $20.69

In Iowa, there is a projected growth in jobs of 8.3% from 2014-2020 in Information Technology (EMSI)

Supporting and Inspiring

creativecorridor.co www.cedarrapids.orgwww.icadgroup.com

Congratulations 2017

All Stars of the Corridor


What does your company do?Our company provides a service by moving goods for cus-tomers across the country. Cedar Rapids is the headquar-ters for CRST International and CRST Expedited.

What are your job duties?My job is to facilitate the operations for anything outside the normal business hours of Monday through Friday 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. I have four managers who directly report to me. Then, they have each individually underneath them anywhere from 10 to 20 people who report to them for different job duties, such as customer service, load plan-ning or accounts. Between me, the four managers and the people who work for them, we all help to manage all the customers and the 4,000 different drivers working for us at any given time.

What is most interesting about your job?The most interesting thing about the job is no two days are the same. Every day is something different and there’s al-ways a curve ball. So you never know what you’re going to get, but that makes it interesting and fun at the same time.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?The rewarding part is seeing people coming into this indus-try, growing and being successful within their own specific job function, especially in the After Hours. We hire a lot of

Phil

DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS FOR AFTER HOURS

Phil RegesCRST Expedited, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

TRANSPORTATION, LOGISTICS SECTOR

ONLINE: Watch Phil talk about his work at CRST Expedited.Go to http://bit.ly/CCAllStars

college grads and they don’t know anything about the transportation industry. Watching them grow, knowing everything there is to know and progress to their next role is really the most rewarding part for me.

How did you decide on this career path?In college I talked to a recruiter who talked to me about supply chain management. From there, I researched it and started off working at Target as a logistics man-ager. Then I transferred into CRST in 2009, and have been doing it ever since.

What do most people not realize you do in your job?We provide a service for everyone, especially with the After Hours. Most people don’t realize all of the things we do and all the things we measure are geared to our service level to our customers. We still have to provide a service to answer the phones for our drivers and an-swer the phones for our customers as well as meet their expectations for on-time delivery. Also, everyone is our customer. We consider ourselves more of a triage cen-ter because we are here to execute from A to B. When something goes wrong – whether a truck breaks down or a driver has an emergency – we figure out a quick fix for it, and output almost the same result as far as execution goes. l

27MAY 2017

Got “Moxie”?mox·ie (mok-see) • n. Slang

Dictionary Definition: 1. The ability to face difficulty with spirit, courage and determination

2. Aggressive energy; pep, initiative, guts or attitude 3. Skill; know-how and expertise

We’re looking for it!If you’ve got moxie, we’d love to hear from you.

Apply today at www.crst.com/careers


What does your company do?My company is a trucking and brokerage company. It was established in 1992, and primarily hauls corrugated products through the Midwest.

What are your job duties?I do accounting and human resource functions. I interact with multiple employees on a daily basis. In our company, we have our brokerage, dispatch, billing and accounting [departments], and I handle all those areas. I also assist the president and owner of JMS with the business‘s day-to-day activities.

What is the most interesting thing about your job?The most interesting thing about my job is in the trucking industry there are new changes every day, so it keeps you on your toes and challenges you on a daily basis. Some examples of new changes in the trucking industry would be new DOT regulations and rules, as well as new employment laws.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?The rewarding part of my job is rewarding employees and giving them recognition for the work they do. We reward employees by compensation or letting them know how good they’re doing.

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGER

Makenzie KimmJMS Trucking, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

TRANSPORTATION, LOGISTICS SECTOR

ONLINE: Watch Makenzie discuss work at JMS Trucking.Go to http://bit.ly/CCAllStars

How did you decide on this career path?I decided on this career path when I went to Mount Mercy College. My degree is in Human Resource Management and Business Management. While I was in college, I worked for a bank. I was in banking for quite some time until I received a call one day from JMS. I didn’t have any background in trucking. It was overwhelming in the beginning. Trucking grows on you. The employees grow on you. The drivers grow on you. We are a family in this industry. We continually problem solve and grow to make our customers happy.

What do most people not realize you do in your job?One thing people do not know I do is I handle IT issues, so any computer issues that come up I try to figure out what‘s going on before I send it out to the outsourcing company that we use. l

“We continually problem solve and grow to make our customers happy.”

Makenzie

29MAY 2017

M A K E N Z I E

Please visit our website at www.jmstransport.com

and “like” us on Facebook @jmstrucking!

Congratulations from

JMS on being named an

All Star! We’re lucky to

have you on our team!

Light Truck or Delivery Services DriversEMSI occupation employment data are based on final EMSI industry data and final EMSI staffing patterns. Wage estimates are based on Occupational Employment Statistics (QCEW and Non-QCEW Employees classes of worker) and the American Community Survey (Self-Employed and Extended Proprietors). Occupational wage estimates also affected by county-level EMSI earnings by industry.


Transportation, Logistics

In the Creative Corridor, the transportation and logistics sector is projected to grow

6.6%

Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers, is projected to grow by 20% with median earnings at $41,454. It is the fastest growing occupation in the Creative Corridor (EMSI)


Transportation, Storageand Distribution Managers

Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators

Cargo and Freight Agents

First-Line Supervisors of Transportation and Material-Moving Machine and Vehicle Operators

+30%

+9%

+13%

+15%

+33% 2014-2020 (EMSI)


What does your company do?They are a civil engineering firm. They specialize in four main areas, which include municipal engineering, landscape architecture, land development and land surveying. So that includes designing things like trails, roadways, sewer systems and parks. Other things that we do include traffic engineering, drainage, site devel-opment plans and erosion control.

What are your job duties?Currently, I’m an intern. I’m at Kirkwood Community College right now, my sophomore year. Some things I do around the office are CAD (Computer-Aided Design) work. Currently I’m mapping several subdivi-sions in the city of Urbana onto CAD. I prepare and deliver plan sets and submittals. During the summers, I’m mainly out with the survey team doing things like pavement staking, finding property boundaries, and creating topographic maps. Some other things I’ve done include traffic studies, inspections, career fairs, and posting signs for rezoning.

What is most interesting about your job?My two favorite parts of this job are working with CAD – getting to know the program, all the ins and

outs and everything – and going with the survey crew. My favorite part’s probably the survey crew because I actually get to go out into the field. It’s a lot of manual labor, but it’s very rewarding because at the end of the day you know you’ve done something to help out your community, which will be there for a very long time.

How did you decide on this career path?Growing up I was always interested in building things out of K’nex and Legos. I always liked building dams out of mud, sticks and rocks. So, I kind of knew I was interested in designing and building things.

What do most people not realize you do in your job?One thing most people don’t realize I do is probably going out in the field and doing lots of manual labor, such as pavement staking. Most of the time during the summers I’ll be out with the survey crew unless it’s really slow or it’s cold and rainy. l

Trent

ENGINEERING INTERN

Trent BrandenburgHall & Hall Engineers Inc.Hiawatha, Iowa

INTERNSHIPS

ONLINE: Watch Trent discuss his internship at Hall & Hall Engineers Inc.Go to http://bit.ly/CCAllStars

31MAY 2017

Leslie Allred, Habitat for HumanitySam Jones, McCreedy Ruth ConstructionKip Opheim, Rapids Foodservice Contract & DesignSpencer Osborn, Shive HatteryKyle Faille, Shive HatteryMayra Barajas, ACH FoamAmanda Russell, Bazooka FarmstarAndrew Witte, CentroCraig Radnich, CentroWendi Kafer, ClickstopBelgica Murillo, EBDArice Lefebvere, Frontier Co-op

Dave Baker, HECOKari Pollard, NISGabriel Glambo Akpalo, Raining RoseBrad Dockendorf, GreatAmerica Financial ServicesCheryl Paradiso, Veridian Credit UnionJenni Kasper, Pleasantview HomeStephanie Brady, Pleasantview HomeRachel Bowers, UnityPoint-St. LukesJessica Bertling, NewBoCoBenjamin Joseph Kreger, Iowa Department of TransportationErin Cowden, CRST

HONORABLE MENTIONSThe following individuals are All Star Honorable Mentions and should be commended for the contributions they make toward their industries:

Congratulations!

MAY 2017 - Kirkwood · career path? I like construction, and I wanted to do something that is...

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