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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 at https://www.thegazette.com/business-notes/submit/
New hires
Dr. Tracy McCoy has joined the acute care surgery team at Mercy General Surgery Clinic in Cedar Rapids.
Mikki Strelow has joined Strategic Financial Solutions as a corporate account executive in Cedar Rapids.
Shelby M. Smail and Sean T. Conrad have joined Nidey Erdahl Meier & Araguás as associate attorneys in Cedar Rapids.
Nicole Stamer, PA-C, has joined Mercy Gastroenterology Clinic in Cedar Rapids as a physician assistant.
Promotions
Allison C. Ackerman has been promoted to partner at the Nidey Erdahl Meier & Araguás law firm in Cedar Rapids.
Lisa McCool of Cedar Rapids has been promoted to vice president, wealth adviser and trust officer at Dubuque-based First Community Trust.
Appointments
Craig Adamson, financial adviser and owner of TrueWealth Stewardship in Marion, will serve as the 2025 president for the Iowa Chapter of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors. The organization’s state convention will be held in Cedar Rapids on Aug. 27-28 and is open to both NAIFA and non-NAIFA members.
Chris Skogman, president of Cedar Rapids-based Skogman Realty, has been named board chair of UnityPoint Health-St. Luke’s Hospital.
Christine Scheetz, the owner and principal of Senior Care Authority, has been named executive director of TRAIL of Johnson County, an Iowa City nonprofit that helps older adults age in place.
Other news
Mercy foundation president retiring: Lorrie Erusha, president of the Mercy Medical Center Foundation, will be retiring in August. She joined the foundation in 2020 and has helped with numerous campaigns, including establishment of the Jewel & Jim Plumb Heart Center at Mercy; the development of HallMar Village and The Chris & Suzy DeWolf Family Innovation Center for Aging & Dementia; and the renovation of the downtown Mercy hospital’s Emergency Department. A search committee has been named to identify Erusha’s successor.
St. Luke’s using AI to detect colon cancer: UnityPoint Health-St. Luke’s Hospital has announced it is now offering enhanced colonoscopies with the Medtronic GI Genius intelligent endoscopy module, the first FDA-cleared artificial intelligence-assisted colonoscopy. The module employs AI to help physicians detect potentially precancerous polyps, which can lead to colorectal cancer, the third-leading cause of cancer-related deaths in men and the fourth in women, but when the numbers are combined it’s the second most common cause of cancer deaths. The GI Genius module uses advanced visualization and AI software to highlight polyps in real-time. It’s been shown to significantly decrease the miss rate of adenomas and polyps by 45.8 percent.
Collins Aerospace wins Navy contract: Collins Aerospace has been awarded a $65 million contract to develop a weapons system trainer for the French E-2D aircraft. Work will be performed in Sterling, Va., Tampa, Fla., and Lorient, France (10%), and is expected to be completed in July 2028.
Collins updates Cessna business jet system: Collins Aerospace, an RTX business and the largest employer in Cedar Rapids, has announced upgrades to its Pro Line 21 integrated avionics systems installed on Cessna Citation business jets. The upgrades — spanning communications abilities, improved weather data and flight deck connectivity — will be available in the second half of 2025, RTX said in a news release.
Small business of the week: U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, last week named World’s Window of Black Hawk County as her small business of the week.
In 1982, Vonna Yoder founded World’s Window as a nonprofit to support artisans and educate the community about fair trade practices. The nonprofit sold products at church gift fairs before establishing a permanent retail location in Cedar Falls.
In 2022, longtime volunteer Betsy Roling purchased the store, which offers handcrafted goods from more than 30 countries and 40 artisan groups. She also introduced Cob Mercantile, giving local Iowa artisans a Main Street location to sell their products.
Ernst, chair of 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.
Business Notes for Feb. 9, 2025
Allison Ackerman, Nidey Erdahl Meier & Araguás
Craig Adamson, TrueWealth Stewardship
Sean Conrad, Nidey Erdahl Meier & Araguás
Lorrie Erusha, Mercy Medical Center Foundation
Tracy McCoy, Mercy General Surgery Clinic
Christine Scheetz, TRAIL of Johnson County
Chris Skogman, UnityPoint Health-St. Luke’s
Shelby Smail, Nidey Erdahl Meier & Araguás
Nicole Stamer, Mercy Gastroenterology Clinic
Mikki Strelow, Strategic Financial Solutions
