Business Notes for May 5, 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 to Business Notes by email to businessnotes@thegazette.com, or on our site at thegazette.com/businessnotes.

New hires

Mark Fay has joined Skogman Realty as a Realtor.

Other news

SCORE business workshop: SCORE is offering a free workshop on May 14 to business owners, offering training in marketing and sales and networking. It will be held at the Cedar Rapids Public Library from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., with a free lunch provided by Roasters. Seating is limited. Those interested in attending should contact Mark at mark.hermann@scorevolunteer.org.

Collins solar farm in Illinois: Collins Aerospace, an RTX business, broke ground last week for a 6.5-acre solar farm at its electric power systems facility in Rockford, Ill. The farm will be owned and operated by ENGIE North America and will provide roughly 10 percent of the Rockford facility’s electrical needs annually. RTX has pledged to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 46 percent from 2019 levels.

Small business of the week: U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, last week named Hawkeye Molding of Story County as her small business of the week. Ryan Gruhn and Lana Leander bought the Albia plastic injection manufacturing company in 2021 from founders Bob Russell and Mike Lawrence, moving the business to Roland, a city of 1,300 in Story County. The Iowa Farm Bureau recognized the company that year with the Renew Rural Iowa Entrepreneur Award. 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.