THURSDAY, DEC. 14, 2017  |  IN THIS ISSUE  

Lori Sundberg
It looks like Kirkwood Community College's next president will be a veteran community college president from Illinois with deep academic roots in the field of business.

Media outlets in Galesburg, Illinois, are reporting that Lori Sundberg has tendered her resignation to accept Kirkwood's offer to become president effective Aug. 1. Kirkwood has not identified its selection, but has scheduled an afternoon event today to introduce the next president.

Ms. Sundberg has been the president of Carl Sandburg College since July 2010, and rose through the ranks of the college's administration over a period of about 15 years after joining the institution as adjunct professor of economics in 1995.

"Dr. Sundberg has been an incredible asset for Carl Sandburg College and our community for many years," Carl Sandburg College Board of Trustees Chairperson Lee Johnson stated in a news release from the western Illinois college, which has an enrollment of about 2,000. "It will be difficult to see her leave, but we are excited for this opportunity for her and wish her nothing but the best at Kirkwood."
 
Ms. Sundberg was among four finalists who had been identified by Kirkwood officials to succeed Mick Starcevich as president. Mr. Starcevich has led Kirkwood, one of Iowa's largest community colleges, for 14 years. He announced his plans to retire at mid-year back in January.  
 
Ms. Sundberg is expected to begin her new role at Kirkwood on June 30, according to the Carl Sandburg College announcement. Although a native of Galesburg, she's spent time in Iowa. After receiving a bachelor's degree in economics and history from Knox College in Galesburg, she earned a master's degree at Western Illinois University and a Ph.D. in business administration from St. Ambrose University in Davenport.

ITC Midwest President Krista Tanner, speaking at yesterday's anniversary celebration. 
ITC Midwest has invested $2.5 billion to improve Iowa's power grid since taking over the former Alliant Energy transmission system a decade ago, leaders said during an anniversary celebration on Wednesday.

Outages are down 50 percent because of improved system reliability, ITC Midwest President Krista Tanner said, and Iowans have saved millions in energy costs through improved transmission access to energy sources.
 
While some of the investment is going to rebuild outdated infrastructure, much of the investment has connected new wind farms in remote areas of the state to the power grid. ITC completed 27 new generator interconnects, bringing more than 3,450 megawatts of new electricity generation to consumers.  
 
More than 80 percent of the generation connected by ITC has been wind energy, which makes up 41 percent of the nameplate generating capacity on the ITC Midwest system.

"We feel really good about the impact we've made from the high voltage projects enhancing the impact of wind [power]," Ms. Tanner told the CBJ.

ITC has also been converting 34.5 kilovolt transmission lines to 69 kilovolt transmission lines in order to enhance efficiency and improve lightning protection.
 
 
Community leaders and ITC Midwest employees gathered at the Eastbank event center in downtown Cedar Rapids to hear more about ITC Midwest's accomplishments and philanthropic efforts during its first decade.
Story4This week's CBJ: EBD rebuilds with a little help from its staff 

Belgica Murillo, a production assistant with EBD, poses for a photo in the company's Washington facility. PHOTO EMERY STYRON 
Agricultural and single-family home construction drove demand for Engi­neered Building Design's roof and floor trusses from Day 1 in 1995 until 2007, when the housing market collapsed, said co-owner Dave Mitchell. That's when the Washington-based manufac­turer hired an estimator and began fo­cusing on the multifamily housing and commercial construction markets.
 
The move paid off. EBD now supplies panelized roof, floor and wall compo­nents for many high-profile projects in the Corridor, as well as select developments in Chicago and St. Louis. The 7 million board feet of lumber EBD used last year - enough to load more than 60 railcars - represented a 260 percent increase in vol­ume from the depths of the recession.
 
"We couldn't have done it without our people," said Mr. Mitchell, who carries psy­chic scars from the darkest days. "When Lehman Brothers went down, we had or­ders cancelled and none coming in."
 
Sales fell by half in 2009-10, and Mr. Mitchell had the grim task of laying off much of his workforce.
 
Thanks to better times and the pivot to commercial work, EBD has bounced back. It now employs 82, including 10 workers from temp agencies. In many cases, temp employees turn into full-time company employees, he said. Another workforce bright spot is the increasing number of women applying for and landing jobs on the production floor.
 
"Women are an untapped resource" for EBD and many other construction-related industries, Mr. Mitchell said.
 
Read the full members-first story in this week's print or digital editions of the CBJ.
 
Tom Miller 
Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller is along 18 state attorneys general asking the Federal Communications Commission to delay its vote on net neutrality, news partner CBS2/FOX 28 reports. 
 
The call for the delay comes as the validity of comments in support of the repeal of net neutrality are questioned. According to New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, a preliminary analysis shows that as many as two million comments misused the identities of real Americans, including more than 100,000 comments per state from New York, Florida, Texas and California.
 
The attorneys general questioned the validity of the integrity of the public comment process in a letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai.
 
The FCC is proposing of repealing the Obama-era regulation, which required internet service providers to treat all websites equally. Critics of the proposed repeal fear that ISPs will be able to offer faster online speeds for preferred websites, while slowing down others.

Per Mar Security Services has been honored with the 2017 Honeywell Community Service Award, the company announced today. 

This award recognizes authorized Honeywell dealers who are committed to community service. Per Mar received the award for its efforts in supporting Hand-in-Hand, a nonprofit organization that provides life skills, social development, child care and memorable activities for special needs children and young adults.

Davenport-based Per Mar has been a longtime supporter of Hand-in-Hand and a sponsor of its largest fundraiser, the Hand-in-Hand Chili Cook-Off. Per Mar employees, led by team leaders Ronda Meyer, Susan Richards and Lori Ryden, raised money for the cook-off by hosting pot lucks, bingo, taco bars, employee jeans days, bake sales and raffles. The Per Mar Charity Fund matched the money raised dollar for dollar.  

Per Mar Vice president and Controller Ronda Meyer serves on the Hand-in-Hand board of directors. She grew up with a sister and a niece with special needs, and saw firsthand how important organizations like Hand-in-Hand can be to the child and their family.

"I am immensely proud that Per Mar and our employees support this organization," Ms Meyer stated in a press release. "It is definitely a great feeling watching your co-workers come together to do something amazing for the community."

Per Mar Security Services is the largest, family-owned, full-service security company in the Midwest with more than 2,400 team members, operating in 23 branch locations and 18 satellite locations. It has twice been named the Corridor's Best Security Company by CBJ readers as part of the annual Best of the Corridor voting. 
EventHeadlinesShort-Term Event Planner
 
Dec. 14
Ribbon Cutting: CarePro Home Medical ,  by Iowa City Area Chamber of Commerce, 4 p.m.,
474 First Ave., Coralville. Join the Chamber Ambassadors for  this ribbon-cutting. Fre e.
 
Dec. 15
Innovation Ecosystem Tour , by NewBoCo, 3-4 p.m., Geonetric, 415 12th Ave. SE, Cedar
Rapids. NewBoCo representatives will offer a public tour of t he Geonetric building and some of
the innovative things occurring inside, including Vault Coworkin g, the Iowa Startup Accelerator
and Iowa BIG. Free and open to the public. For more information  or to register, visit  bit.ly/2wy4Auq .
 
Dec. 16
Code 101 , by DeltaV Code School and NewBoCo, 8 a.m.-7 p.m., MERGE, 136 S.  Dubuque St.,
Iowa City. Start learning how to code with DeltaV 101. This sessi on is ideal for career switchers,
college students and anyone looking to find out if a career i n code is right for them. Cost: $99,
includes light meals. For more information and to registe r, visit bit.ly/2xhvztC .
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Headlines from CBS2/FOX 28
These news items are provided by CBS2/FOX 28  
 
One candidate for governor says he's raising the stakes to help the mental health crisis in Iowa. Cedar Rapids Mayor and Republican candidate for governor Ron Corbett said Wednesday that he supports the legalization of sports betting in the state as a source of revenue to support mental health services. Right now, sports betting is legal in only four states. "They predict that next year another $40 million to $90 million will have to be cut from the budget, so it doesn't look like they're going to have the resources to help with this mental health crisis. This would be new revenue for the state and that's been the challenge for the whole mental health crisis," Mr. Corbett said. The U.S. Supreme Court heard a case last week that could pave the way for legalization of sports gambling in all states as early as next year. Mr. Corbett says he believes the Iowa lottery should handle sports betting should it become legal in the state, but says he is open to the idea of casinos dealing with it. He's commissioning a survey to hear what Iowans think about the issue.
 
The University of Iowa is facing a lawsuit after it pushed a faith-based student group off campus. According to a lawsuit filed by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, the group "Business Leaders in Christ" was unjustly pushed off campus following allegations of discrimination. They claim the group was unregistered by the university as a student group after an openly gay student was denied a leadership position. Court documents show the student was told: "He would not be eligible for a leadership position because his decision to enter into same sex relationships was inconsistent with BLinC's religious beliefs," the complaint says. The university says it supports the right of students and staff to practice the religion of their choice, but they continue to say that Business Leaders in Christ violated the UI's human rights policy. LGBTQ advocacy group One Iowa is backing the University's decision.

T hese news items are provided by CBS2/FOX 28 
CBS2 Chief Meteorologist Terry Swails' Weather First Forecast

We'll start off with some sunshine but clouds will move back in through the afternoon. Temperatures will climb into the upper 20s to near 30. Later tonight, under mostly cloudy skies, a few stray flurries will be possible. Warmer air will start to fight back in for the end of the week and weekend. There will be more sunshine Friday and temperatures will rise into the mid 30s. It gets even warmer Saturday with temperatures in the low to mid 40s.