Des Moines Business Record

Meet Lauren Kollauf, one of the Business Record's 2024 Forty Under 40. She serves as the executive director of Avenues of Ingersoll & Grand, where she's shepherded several public art projects to the district, including a staircase mural, the first of eight DART art shelters, the return of a public art projector and beautifying an alleyway. "I am passionate about feeling connected to my community – and helping others feel the same," she says. "This is what initially drew me to journalism and then nonprofit work. I believe that we, as humans, are at our best when we feel connected to others, especially those right in our neighborhoods." Outside of work, she values her roles as a mom, wife, sister, daughter and friend. She completed her 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training in 2017 and has taught 700-plus classes at Power Life since then. https://lnkd.in/gjaFPwFm

Sean Willett took over the helm of Waterloo-based Lincoln Savings Bank just before the start of the year. Before he joined Lincoln Savings Bank, he was the chief administrative officer for a community bank in western and central New York. Prior to that, Willett was in investment banking at firms such as Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan. While Willett doesn’t have a traditional community banking background, he says his experience prepared him well for his new role and allows him to bring a fresh perspective to Lincoln Savings Bank. The Business Record recently sat down with Willett to talk about his strategy for Lincoln Savings Bank, current challenges in monetary policy and lending, and the role of a community bank today. https://lnkd.in/gXeva2Gc

Happy anniversary to Nicole Grundmeier, who celebrated her one-year milestone with BPC last week! Nicole has been doing an outstanding job as a copy editor at the Business Record by ensuring that our content maintains the highest standards of accuracy for our readers. As a reporter, Nicole has consistently brought attention to important community issues, particularly those concerning women’s and gender-related topics in Fearless, our weekly e-publication. “I feel a deep responsibility to Iowa women and girls,” Nicole said. “What I love about my job is that I have the time to report and write stories that no one else in Iowa is doing, like the maternal health care crisis.” A few months ago, Nicole wrote a story for Fearless about the Beacon, a nonprofit that supports formerly incarcerated women. “More often than not, these women are a victim of crime themselves. I wanted to look at this story from a mental health perspective,” Nicole said. “It’s a huge privilege and an honor to tell these stories.” Nicole, thank you sincerely for your dedication and contributions to BPC during your time here. We’re looking forward to your thorough reporting and precise copy editing for many years to come. Read Nicole’s story on the Beacon here: https://lnkd.in/gdxz5vtV

Join us Thursday, May 16 at 9 a.m. at Des Moines Heritage Center for our next Power Breakfast: Leadership in Changing Times. Persistent economic uncertainty and global disruption, coupled with the rapid evolution of technology and artificial intelligence, present new challenges and opportunities to today’s business leaders. The pace of change that started even before the pandemic is showing no sign of stopping. In addition to managing the rapid rate of change, leaders today are increasingly living in a VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous) environment. In this Power Breakfast, learn from top leaders about how they are preparing themselves for change and leading their teams in a VUCA world. PANELISTS: Pete Brownell: chairman of the board, Brownells Miriam Erickson Brown: chair and CEO, AE Dairy Angela Franklin, Ph.D.: president and CEO, Des Moines University David Stark: chief of government, external affairs and philanthropy, UnityPoint Health Emily Steele: CEO and co-founder, Hummingbirds Tickets available at https://lnkd.in/gQBz-mxk

Check out today's innovationIOWA Weekly for a story on a research effort out of Iowa State working to help farmers and more entrepreneurship and innovation news from around the state: https://lnkd.in/gRZqTxBM

Associate Editor Michael Mendenhall is in Washington, D.C., this week following the 45th annual DMDC trip. Watch the Business Record Daily for coverage during and following the trip!

Manufacturers: Share your input on the future of manufacturing technology The Business Record is polling stakeholders in Iowa's manufacturing sector about how automation and technology are affecting the industry today and into the future for an upcoming news story for the Business Record print edition. We invite any manufacturing company or stakeholder statewide to participate. Responses are due by Monday, May 20. https://lnkd.in/giStyfyM

Did you miss Fearless? In this week’s e-newsletter, you will find: - More from our annual Fearless survey: What are the biggest challenges, obstacles or barriers that you and other women face outside of work? - A column by Jackie Norris about the invisible burdens of caregiving for aging loved ones. - The annual Healthy Birth Day, Inc. Count the Kicks Changemakers Luncheon brought in more than $310,000. - Lots more! #EmpoweringWomen #WorkLifeBalance #Caregiving

Congratulations to Lynne Belknap, who celebrated her first year with BPC yesterday! In the past year, Lynne has spearheaded our custom content division with creativity and innovation, including integrating programmatic advertising to extend our clients' reach beyond our usual audience. "We're all about connecting our clients with their people," Lynne said. "Now, we can amplify our local and national clients' narratives." Lynne takes pride in contributing to a company that plays a pivotal role in fostering community growth. "I love crafting tailored solutions that showcase our advertisers' stories across all our platforms," she shared. "What sets us apart is not just creating content, but also having the distribution channels to share those stories with the community." Lynne, we appreciate your dedication and service to our company! Here's to many more successful years ahead. If you would like to discuss custom content and marketing solutions with Lynne, you can reach out through this link: https://lnkd.in/gThhB-Z9

"During COVID-19, in the welding industry, the cost of raw materials tripled from normal market prices," wrote Derrick Walker, co-chair of welding, DMACC Ankeny campus. "This affected our welding program because the institution did not want to raise the cost of tuition to accommodate rising prices of raw materials. This is the most common issue in my trade that affects the bottom line. When prices go up, sales go down due to prices rising for materials to build new products." Read other trends in the trades here from our Annual Real Estate Magazine: #Trades #RealEstate #IndustrialMarket