Archive for August 2019
Urban Dreams to serve up community appreciation buffet
Urban Dreams’ fourth annual 24-hour Community Appreciation Buffet — which provides free meals to its neighbors, first responders and business leaders — began serving this morning at its 601 Forest Ave. headquarters. The event, presented by Broadlawns Medical Center, …
Read MorePartnership’s Murphy named IBC executive director
Joe Murphy is leaving the Greater Des Moines Partnership to become executive director of the Iowa Business Council. Murphy, the Partnership’s senior vice president of government relations and public policy, will replace Georgia Van Gundy, who joined …
Read MorePithan announces bid for Urbandale council seat
Pat Pithan, board chairman of the Urbandale Chamber of Commerce, announced that he is running for a seat on the Urbandale City Council. Three seats are on the Nov. 5 ballot. Current council members Michael …
Read MoreDes Moines: The Ss are silent
Catch Des Moines wanted to come up with a new campaign to promote tourism in Des Moines, and marketing Vice President Ben Handfelt knew a few things coming in.
For example, every city claims to …
Carrot Cake, Portfolios, and Recipes that Deliver!
BY KENT KRAMER, CFP®, AIF®, Chief Investment Officer, Foster Group
I confess, I love my wife’s carrot cake recipe! She makes it for my birthday every year. The recipe results in a cake that is moist, …
Read MoreNOTEBOOK: Private equity firms point fingers at each other after failed American Equity bid
An article in the Financial Times this past week details an ongoing legal battle in New York involving private equity firm Apollo Global Management — a major investor in Athene USA’s parent Athene Holding Ltd. …
Read MoreNOTEBOOK: Scorched: Heat changes real estate world
The Urban Land Institute, a real estate professional group with a branch in Iowa, recently released “Scorched: Extreme Heat and Real Estate.” The national group’s Katharine Burgess, vice president of urban resilience, was in town …
Read MoreNOTEBOOK: American Water uses AI, eyes tap water threats
When American Water President and CEO Susan Story stopped by our offices during a routine Des Moines business trip, the leader of the nation’s largest water system had two particularly intriguing things on her mind: …
Read MoreMcLellan: Putting Instagram to work
In last week’s column, we began the conversation about whether or not Instagram was a viable marketing tactic for your business. We covered having a business profile rather than a personal one and the fact …
Read MoreThe Elbert Files: Putting lipstick on a pig
Gov. Kim Reynolds has created an interesting distraction from Iowa’s dirty water problem.
Instead of directly confronting the issue, which is increasingly a national embarrassment, she’s proposed a contest for Iowans to create videos promoting …
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