The Business Record’s 2025 innovationIOWA Magazine was unveiled at our annual innovationIOWA event Thursday in Des Moines. We posed a question to several successful Iowa innovators: How did you get there? We asked them to take us back to when innovation was still new to them. In a series of essays these innovators have shared…

The West Des Moines Chamber of Commerce has announced the recipients of its fifth annual Reignite CommUNITY awards, recognizing nine individuals and organizations, including Mazahir Smith, Isaiah Poe, OneVoice DSM, Will Keeps, Val Veiock, Holmes Murphy, Professional Contrarian, the Beacon, and Lutheran Services in Iowa, for their outstanding contributions to the community. Selected from 39…

The Des Moines Menace have announced the team has been selected as a host team for the first two rounds of the 2025 USL League Two playoffs. Thirty-two teams have qualified for the single elimination-style playoffs out of over 140 teams nationwide. The playoff matches will be hosted at Valley Stadium July 18 and 20….

The Iowa Department of Education has announced a first-in-the-nation statewide partnership with National Math Stars to support mathematically gifted students. The department invited 764 third-graders who scored in the top 2% statewide to apply for a fully funded, 10-year enrichment program. The initiative, launched after the Math Counts Act, offers selected students weekly mentoring, advanced resources, STEM…

The Mutual Group, located at 1111 Ashworth Road in West Des Moines, has announced that it will lay off 34 people, effective Aug. 8. The company launched in late 2023 by Bain Capital Insurance with GuideOne as its first member. The Mutual Group started with about $800 million in annual premiums serviced across 50,000 commercial policyholders by its…

The Iowans for Tax Relief Foundation has named Ashleigh Hackel as its new executive vice president. In her new role, Hackel will oversee daily operations, lead internal teams and manage the foundation’s fundraising and development efforts. Hackel most recently served as general counsel at the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing. She played a…