Mike Mendenhall

On the shop floor at Osmundson Manufacturing Co.’s facility in Perry in early January, workers shape, cut and powder coat tillage blades that will be installed on some of the most recognizable agricultural equipment brands in the U.S. and worldwide.  As the company enters 2025, fewer workers are on the lines making the circular blades…

As state lawmakers convene at the state Capitol, the Business Record will sit down with business and nonprofit advocacy leaders on Jan. 14  for our annual virtual Legislative Forecast event to learn what issues they think will define the 2025 Iowa legislative session for the business community.  We will discuss efforts to reduce and reform…

The Business Record strives every day to bring a diversity of voices throughout Iowa to our audience to help you make sense of what’s driving change in the state’s business and nonprofit communities.  To begin 2025, the Business Record surveyed our audience and key members of the Central Iowa business, nonprofit and civic communities, to…

When I interviewed Harry Smith in October on the Central College campus in Pella, the focus was his class on curiosity he was teaching at his alma mater. But naturally, the conversation turned to story upon story of his 40-year career in journalism including his time as an anchor and reporter for NBC News and CBS News.…

The Iowa Economic Development Authority board awarded nearly $900,000 in tax credits to two companies at its Dec. 20 meeting through the state’s High Quality Jobs program that the economic development agency says will create a combined 223 jobs and $20 million in capital investment. The board also authorized $1,156,000 in grants to four projects…

Waukee-headquartered insurance brokerage Holmes Murphy & Associates is planning a $10.6 million expansion of its Central Iowa office footprint that the company says will allow it to create 212 new positions, according to the Iowa Economic Development Authority. The IEDA board voted on Dec. 20 to award Holmes Murphy subsidiary HMA Group Holdings LLC $413,900 in…

Republican leadership in the Iowa Senate and House made it clear during a panel discussion with Central Iowa business and local elected leaders that GOP lawmakers intend to pursue state property tax reform when the Legislature convenes in January. “At the end of this session, I think that one thing you will see get done…

The Johnston Economic Development Corp. (JEDCO) announced today that it has started the legal process of dissolving as an organization. Board members for the public-private economic development partnership with the city of Johnston voted unanimously during their Nov. 19 meeting to end the investor-based not-for-profit after a survey of its membership that found 76% of…

Entrepreneur Robert Abbott built a career founding and establishing digital strategy and design companies primarily in the city of Columbus, Ohio, 523 miles from his hometown of Maquoketa, Iowa.  His decision in 2021 to form the nonprofit innovation, entrepreneurship and coworking center Innovate 120 and house it in a historic bank building on the town’s…

Harry Smith’s 40-year career in journalism, the majority serving as an anchor and reporter for NBC News and CBS News, took him around the world.  He’s interviewed U.S. presidents, global political figures and celebrities and told the stories of unseen and everyday people.  In March, when Smith announced his retirement on NBC’s “Today” show following…