WEDNESDAY, DEC. 19, 2018  |  IN THIS ISSUE  
 
 
In the latest CBJ exclusive video and the last of 2018, former pro athlete and Corridor entrepreneur Nate Kaeding sits down with CRST's retiring president and CEO, Dave Rusch, to discuss the art of leadership and "getting on base" in business. Read the latest installment of Real Success with Nate Kaeding, and watch the exclusive video, presented by West Bank, here.  
 
Iowa City-based MCI announced Tuesday it will re-open a recently closed Canadian call center after the first of the year, marking the company's first foray outside the United States. 
 
MCI Canada, a wholly owned subsidiary of MCI's Mass Markets division, will take over the former ServiCom contact center in Sydney, Nova Scotia, and operate as The Sydney Call Centre Inc. The company will be a subsidiary of MCI's North American tech-enabled contact center business. 

While MCI Canada will not acquire any assets from ServiCom Canada, it will enter a nine-year lease for the shuttered facility. Company officials said they hope to be operational by Jan. 2, or soon thereafter, offering inbound and outbound customer service, technical support and inside telesales programs. The prior operator, ServiCom, will be responsible for past wages and other liabilities.

MCI, the CBJ's Fastest Growing Company in 2018, had been working to acquire ServiCom while the company was still operating, and MCI founder and CEO Anthony Marlowe said in a release he believed strongly that the Sydney operation was a good fit for its business. 
 
"Expanding into a new country in less than 30 days is a big undertaking, but we have a great team and technology in place to get it done," Mr. Marlowe said. "That coupled with the talent, quality, tenure and commitment of the team on the ground, and we have the ingredients for a high degree of short- and long-term success."
  
Over the past three years, MCI has grown its Mass Markets division, acquiring two other companies, GravisApps and OnBrand24, to further expand their financial services business process outsourcing offerings.
 
ServiCom's closure put more than 500 employees out of work - a fact not lost on Mr. Marlowe, who said he saw the agreement as an opportunity to do something meaningful.

"It feels great to align our desire to help the workers impacted with our desire to grow MCI," he said.  "We are in a unique position to be able to quickly bring jobs back to Sydney, provide a valuable service to customers, and add talented employees and capacity to the MCI portfolio."
 
Mass Markets currently operates four contact center facilities out of Iowa and South Dakota. Marlowe Companies Inc. (MCI) has nine contact center operations in Iowa, Georgia, Florida, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, South Dakota and, now, Nova Scotia. 
 
Eastern Iowa Airport (CID) officials announced yesterday that after breaking monthly passenger records in both October and November, the airport is on pace to break its annual passenger record set in 2017. 

The total number of passengers in October was 109,096, breaking the previous record set in October 2017 (102,447) by 6.5 percent. In November, the total number of passengers was 101,119, breaking the previous record set in November 2017 (96,997) by 4.25 percent.
 
The year-to-date increase for enplaned passengers - those who board a plane at CID - is up 5.3 percent over the same time in 2017. January is the only month in 2018 that was not a monthly passenger record. 

CID recorded an annual passenger record in 2017 with 1.14 million total passengers. Nearly 30 percent of Iowa's commercial passenger traffic flies out of CID. 

Officials said the airport will benefit from additional charter traffic in December with Hawkeye fans attending the Outback Bowl in Tampa, Florida. Airport officials have been notified of two public charters, one departing Dec. 29 and one departing Dec. 30. 

Cargo traffic has also increased in the past two months, up by 20.3 percent year-over-year. Based on current trends, by the end of 2018, CID will handle 50 percent of the state's cargo traffic.  

Alliant Energy Corporation (LNT) will move its stock exchange listing to the Nasdaq from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), effective after market close  Dec. 28 .
 
The move will place the company's shares on the same exchange as some of the world's largest technology companies.

" Alliant Energy is thrilled to join the many innovative, creative and consumer-focused companies on Nasdaq," said Patricia Kampling , Alliant Energy chairman and CEO, in a release. "Our partnership with Nasdaq will enable us to leverage their technology platform, target new investors and continue to provide excellent service to our shareowners."   

Alliant Energy shares are expected to begin trading as a Nasdaq-listed security on Dec. 31  at the opening of trading. The common stock will continue to trade under the symbol "LNT."

Alliant Energy's  Iowa energy company, Interstate Power and Light Company (IPL), is also transferring the listing of its 5.100 percent Series D Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock to the Nasdaq Global Select Market from the NYSE , with the delisting from NYSE  also effective Dec. 28 . IPL Preferred Stock is expected to begin trading as a Nasdaq-listed security at the opening of trading Dec. 31 under the ticker symbol "IPLDP."

Both listing changes are expected to be seamless for investors and shareowners. Alliant Energy serves 960,000 electric and 410,000 natural gas customers across Iowa and Wisconsin.
 
For the complete list of this week's Movers & Shakers, see the Dec. 17 edition of the CBJ.
 
Dec. 20
Small Business Roundtable, by SCORE of East Central Iowa, 7:30-9 a.m., Scott's Family Restaurant, 1906 Blairs Ferry Road NE, Cedar Rapids. A business topic will be discussed, along with networking among participants. Free. For more information or to pre-register, visit scorecr.org.

Jan. 3
Ribbon Cutting: Kwik Star, by Marion Chamber of Commerce, 11 a.m., 1700 Banner Drive, Marion. Help celebrate the opening of Kwik Star's new location at Squaw Creek Crossing. Free.

Jan. 7
Coralville Roundtable, by Iowa City Area Chamber of Commerce, noon-1 p.m., Wig & Pen Pizza Pub, 1220 Highway 6 W., Iowa City. Roundtables are social lunches over the noon hour. All are invited to network, keep up-to-date with chamber and community events and frequent a member restaurant or business. Free. Questions can be directed to Emily at (319) 337-9637 or info@iowacityarea.com.
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Headlines from CBS2/FOX 28
These news items are provided by CBS2/FOX 28  
 
On Tuesday, voters in Johnson County filled a supervisor seat left vacant by Kurt Friese following his death in October.  Democrat Royceann Porter won the seat with 56 percent of the vote against Republican Phil Hemingway with 43 percent, according to the Johnson County Auditor's Office. Ms. Porter is the first African-American to be elected to serve on the Board of Supervisors.

A new state assessment shows many Iowa schools are not performing as well as they could - and some in the Corridor still need more support.  The  Iowa School Performance Profiles , which is a measurement system in compliance with the Every Student Succeeds Act, replaced the old report card measurement created through the No Child Left Behind Act.  The findings show 341 schools across the state need to improve to shrink the achievement gap, including schools in the Cedar Rapids Community School District. Profiles showed 16 schools in Cedar Rapids are in need of targeted support and one is in need of comprehensive support. This includes nine elementary schools: Cleveland, Grant, Hoover, Johnson, Madison, Van Buren, Viola Gibson and Wright and Taylor. All of the district's six middle schools have targeted status, as well as Jefferson and Washington high schools. "We take it seriously, and we want to make sure that we're using this information to dig into our data a little deeper," said CRCSD Deputy Superintendent Noreen Bush. Read the full story here.
 
T hese news items are provided by CBS2/FOX 28 
CBS2 Chief Meteorologist Terry Swails' Weather First Forecast

A weak front will move through Eastern Iowa today. Some light showers will be possible, then cooler air moves in behind the front for the rest of the week.  Some drizzle will be possible early this morning, then mostly cloudy skies will appear this afternoon. There may be a few peaks of sunshine at times, and that'll help get temperatures into the mid to upper 40s once again today. As the cold front moves through this evening, a few light showers will be possible. It will be cloudy and cooler on Thursday, with highs in the mid to upper 30s. It will be cooler for the remainder of the week and into the weekend. Temperatures will still be above average, though, in the mid to upper 30s each day.