 |
| |
THURSDAY, AUG. 3, 2017 | IN THIS ISSUE
|
|
|
 Mod's Market opens in The Roosevelt
 |
|
|
Mod's Market at 200 First Ave. NE in Cedar Rapids.
|
Mod's Market - At Your Convenience, a locally-owned urban convenience store, opened Tuesday in The Roosevelt, 200 First Ave. NE, Cedar Rapids.
Owner Modteets Williams said the store was created to provide convenience for downtown residents and office workers. It offers liquor, wine, cold beer, fountain drinks, coffee, tobacco products, and both perishable and non-perishable food items.
Mod's operates in a 1,300-square-foot space that has been fully renovated to create a convenient and inviting atmosphere, according to Mr. Williams. Regular operating hours will be 8 a.m. to midnight, and until 3:30 a.m. on some weekend nights.
Mr. Williams moved to Cedar Rapids from Chicago, where he also operates a barber shop and a car wash business.
|
|
|
|
Corridor businesses look to bring cold-brew to the office
|
|
|
A Cold Brew in the Corridor coffee dispenser and display at the headquarters of Eco Lips in Cedar Rapids.
|
The cold-brewed coffee boom will soon be making its way to Corridor break rooms and cafeterias, thanks to a pioneering joint venture with roots in Cedar Rapids' flood recovery.
Cold Brew in the Corridor has begun offering refrigerated keg dispensing systems from Rapids Wholesale Equipment Company in Marion that dispense cold-brewed coffee from Brewhemia in Cedar Rapids.
Rapids Wholesale sells and leases equipment for dispensing beer, along with other restaurant equipment, throughout much of the United States. In recent years, the company has begun to accelerate its emphasis on innovation through employee teams that research and propose new opportunities.
Using its equipment to dispense cold coffee rather than cold beer was one of the ideas that floated to the top, according to Paul Adams, a Rapids Wholesale spokesman. The company had developed a dispensing system for cold coffee that seemed to perform well, and wanted to see how it would be received in an office setting. It began a search for a beverage partner with experience providing quality cold-brew coffee.
The search didn't take long. During the flood evacuation of September 2016, Rapids Wholesale had provided Brewhemia with a temporary storage location for some of its equipment. After the flood threat passed, Rapids Wholesale employees volunteered to help Brewhemia and other food service businesses in the evacuation zone get their equipment set back up and ready for reopening.
"We decided to work with them to see if the dispenser we're coming up with makes sense," Mr. Adams said. "It's a great place to introduce this concept - see if it has legs."
Read the full story at www.corridorbusiness.com.
|
|
|
|
Iowa City's Peninsula gets a new neighborhood store
Peninsables - The Neighborhood Market is now open in Iowa City's Peninsula neighborhood, offering grocery and household items to residents of the distant development.
The location had previously been home to the
second location of Woofables, a Coralville-based gourmet dog biscuit bakery run by
Laura and Alex Taylor. The location was renovated this summer and reopened Aug. 1.
"Switching from Woofables to Peninsables is an entrepreneurial pivot to best meet market needs," said Mr. Taylor, co-owner and purveyor of Peninsables. "We chose the name to pay homage to Woofables, and to tie the store's identity with its unique location on the Peninsula."
The Peninsula neighborhood is located off Foster Road, just above Iowa City's Thornberry Dog Park. The geographic location makes this neighborhood somewhat isolated, and the nearest convenience store or grocery store is more than three miles away.
Peninsables will continue to sell the company's gourmet biscuits for local hounds, the company noted.
Other small businesses in the Peninsula include The Dingo Bar (coffee shop), Apres Bistro, and Body by Carrie, a fitness business.
The store, located at 2280 Willenbock Circle, will be open seven days a week, with longer hours beginning in September.
|
|
|
|
Small businesses created 50,000 jobs in July: ADP
Small business hiring in July bounced back from a lackluster June, payroll firm ADP reported this week, pushing the number of jobs created by the sector since the start of the year past 425,000.
Private sector small businesses in the U.S. - defined by ADP as those with 49 or fewer employees - hired 50,000 people in July, up from 29,000 in June. Businesses with 19 or fewer employees led the hiring, with 27,000, while those with 20-49 increased employment by 44,000. July's gain marked the ninth straight month of double-digit employment increases in the sector.
The report wasn't completely rosy, however. Goods-producing small businesses shrank by 3,000 jobs during the month, with service businesses supplying all of the gain (see above). Goods-producing businesses have now cut jobs in three of the last five months, according to ADP.
Private employers overall added 178,000 jobs in July, with mid-sized businesses taking the lead at 83,000 hires. Read the full report here.
|
|
|
|
Consulting: Does your business really need a blog?
In this week's consulting spotlight, CBJ columnist Sherry Bonelli of early bird digital explains how to decide:
You've probably heard of a blog, but exactly what is it, and does your business really need one?
A blog is a section on your website that includes a group of short posts (typically 500-1,500 words), videos, images, links to other websites, comments from readers, etc. Blog posts are usually listed by date, with the newest posts appearing at the top of your page. To see an example of how a blog is structured, visit brightlocal.com/blog.
Blogs are great because they give you a way to share information about your products, services or industry with your customers and potential customers. Blogging is also a marketing strategy that can get your business more visibility online and higher rankings on search engines.
When blog content is optimized correctly for search engines and readers, posts can help boost your website's rankings on Google, Bing, Yahoo and other search engines. If you use search engine optimization (SEO) strategies to write your blog posts, your posts could appear higher in search results when specific keywords related to your business are searched for. An example would be if you own a pest control company and you write a blog post about what to do if your college student finds bed bugs in his or her dorm room. When the parent searches for the keywords "what to do about bed bugs in dorm rooms," your blog post about the topic can appear in the search results.
|
|
|
|
From around the web:
-
-
Crain's Chicago Business explores what happens when small manufacturers
become the bank.
-
Sen. Charles Grassley is "
right on the money" when it comes to tax reform, this Des Moines Register contributor writes.
-
|
|
Small but mighty
Forward the FREE, weekly CBJ on Small Business newsletter to your friends and colleagues, and share the feeling of being informed! Use our fast, one-minute subscription to the CBJ's newsletters
here, or check out our other subscription options
here.
|
|
|
Corridor Stocks
| NAME |
SYM |
PRICE |
CHG |
%CHG |
| AEGON |
AEG |
5.61 |
0.00 |
0.00% |
| Alliant Energy |
LNT |
41.14 |
0.19 |
0.46% |
| Deere & Company |
DE |
129.48 |
0.50 |
0.39% |
| Dow Jones |
^DJI |
22,026.10 |
9.86 |
0.04% |
| General Mills |
GIS |
56.23 |
0.16 |
0.29% |
| GoDaddy Inc. |
GDDY |
42.94 |
0.14 |
0.33% |
| Great Western Bank |
GWB |
38.66 |
-0.63 |
-1.60% |
| Heartland Express |
HTLD |
20.72 |
-0.08 |
-0.38% |
| KemPharm |
KMPH |
3.40 |
0.10 |
3.03% |
| Marsh & McLennan |
MMC |
78.40 |
-0.24 |
-0.31% |
| MidWestOne |
MOFG |
33.74 |
-0.29 |
-0.85% |
| Pearson |
PSO |
8.62 |
0.00 |
0.00% |
| Pepsico |
PEP |
116.30 |
0.69 |
0.60% |
| Principal Financial |
PFG |
66.54 |
-0.12 |
-0.18% |
| QCR Holdings |
QCRH |
46.05 |
0.00 |
0.00% |
| Rockwell Collins |
COL |
118.44 |
6.08 |
5.41% |
| S&P 500 |
^GSPC |
2,472.16 |
-5.41 |
-0.22% |
| Tanger Factory |
SKT |
26.19 |
0.21 |
0.81% |
| Procter & Gamble |
PG |
90.89 |
-0.15 |
-0.17% |
| United Fire Group |
UFCS |
44.37 |
0.30 |
0.68% |
| U.S. Bank |
USB |
52.68 |
-0.31 |
-0.59% |
| Wells Fargo |
WFC |
53.42 |
-0.20 |
-0.37% |
| West Bank |
WTBA |
22.40 |
-0.55 |
-2.40% |
| Whirlpool |
WHR |
175.61 |
-0.97 |
-0.55% |
|
|
|
Short-Term Event Planner
Aug. 7
Coralville Roundtable
, by Iowa City Area Chamber of Commerce, noon-1 p.m., Monica's, 303 Second St., Coralville. 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 for members. Call the chamber (319) 337-9637 if interested and not a member.
Aug. 8
TechBrew AM Cedar Rapids
, by the Technology Association of Iowa, OneNeck IT Solutions and Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance, 7:30-8:30 a.m., Economic Alliance, 501 First St. SE, Cedar Rapids. TAI president Brian Waller will interview Brian Frese, CTO at United Fire Group. The discussion will focus on his career path, the future of Iowa's technology community and music. The informal networking event begins with coffee at 7:30 a.m. Free. For more information and to register, visit
bit.ly/2vut1YO
.
Financing the Beginning Farmer
, by Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance and Hills Bank and Trust Co., 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m., Hills Bank, 590 W. Forevergreen Road, North Liberty. Registration begins at 9:45 a.m. Eight speakers from various organizations will share opportunities and resources available to beginning farmers. Free, lunch provided. RSVP by Aug. 1 at
conta.cc/2uap3ba
or contact Tara at (319) 358-2261.
Put Our Cities on the Map With Google
, by UI John Pappajohn Entreprenurial Center, noon-1:30 p.m., UI Research Park - Bioventures Center, 2500 Crosspark Road, Coralville. This free workshop, brought to you by Google with sponsorship from local business organizations, will help you establish an online presence for your business and put it on the map. Attendees are encouraged to bring alaptop or mobile device.Pre-registration is requested and you may bring your own lunch. Free. Register at ow.ly/twMi30e5Oau.
|
|
|
Headlines from CBS2/FOX 28
These news items are provided by CBS2/FOX 28
Amrita Health Foods is recalling a limited number of Amrita Bars. The company says they have the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. No illnesses have been reported at this time. The recalled Amrita Bars were distributed across the country via retail stores, ecommerce and direct. See the full list of affected products here.
The city of Cedar Rapids will close Cheyenne Off-Leash Dog Area on Aug. 8 for weed control in the entry yard and on the gravel trail. The park will reopen Aug. 9. Signs will be posted while the park is closed and patrons are asked to not enter the park during the closure. For more information, contact Cedar Rapids Parks and Recreation at (319) 286-5760.
T
hese news items are provided by CBS2/FOX 28
|
|
|
CBS2 Chief Meteorologist Terry Swails'
Weather First Forecast
Showers and thunderstorms should wind down by early afternoon before a cold front sweeps through later with the chance of additional showers and storms, some of which could be strong, especially in far Eastern Iowa. Wind and hail would be the main threats. Locally heavy rains are possible in the stronger storms, but we're not expecting anything widespread. Temperatures will range from the low to upper 70s from north to south with low 80s possible furthest south. It'll be a breezy day with gusts of 25-30 mph.
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
