Holmes Murphy & Associates Inc. announced today that Jason Hellickson, shareholder and executive vice president, will join the firm’s corporate headquarters in Des Moines, assuming broader leadership responsibilities within the company. His new responsibilities include leading the company’s property and casualty sales training and mentoring programs, guiding Holmes Murphy leadership development and expanding the propriety sales system. Hellickson previously co-led the Cedar Rapids office Holmes Murphy.

Iowa flooding could require Denver-based telecom company Qwest Communications International Inc. to make as much as $60 million in repairs to its buildings and phone lines in the state this year. In Qwest’s second-quarter earnings report, issued Aug. 6, the company tallied $5 million in expenses prior to the end of June related to the massive June flooding along the Cedar, Iowa and Mississippi rivers.

Casey’s General Stores Inc. announced today that it will host an earnings conference call Sept. 4 at 9:30 a.m. Iowa time to discuss fiscal first-quarter profits for 2009.

The Des Moines Business Record, dsm magazine and the Greater Des Moines Convention and Visitors Bureau are hosting Des Moines’ first Restaurant Week this Saturday, Aug. 16, through Sunday, Aug. 24. Thirty-three participating restaurants will create a special prix fixe menu for dinners at $20.08 per person or $20.08 for lunch for two. Diners are invited to visit the participating restaurants, save four receipts and enter to win a trip for two to Puerto Rico. The Iowa Culinary Institute at Des Moines Area Community College will host a Restaurant Week celebration from 4 until 7 p.m. Monday, Aug. 25, where the winner of the trip to Puerto Rico will be announced. More information can be found at www.businessrecord.com by clicking on the Restaurant Week icon.

GE Energy Financial Services, a unit of General Electric Co., announced today in a release that it is partnering with ACCIONA, a world leader in wind farm development, and is investing $141 million in the Tatanka Wind Farm on the North Dakota-South Dakota border, CNN reported. GE Energy Financial Services invested with Wachovia Investment Holdings LLC to provide structured equity for the 180-megawatt wind farm, which spans 14,000 acres of farmland in Dickey, McIntosh and McPherson counties in North and South Dakota.