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Good morning, Fearless readers:
Even though I am long removed from elementary school, I still love this time of year: the carefully organized backpacks, the new shoes, the blank notebooks. The first day of school always feels like a fresh start, a new chance, no matter one’s age. Embrace it.
In this week’s Fearless e-newsletter, you will find:
- Insights from two of the Business Record’s Forty Under 40 honorees, Jessi McQuerrey and Jerrica Marshall, who are experts in leadership development and what benefits it delivers for organizations and individuals.
- An interview with Noreen Otto, executive director of the Iowa Brewers Guild, about the evolution of Iowa’s craft brewing industry.
- In the headlines: Four distinct businesses have banded together to create Shops on 3rd, 301 Southwest Walnut St. in Ankeny, to combat high rent prices in the Uptown district.
- In case you missed it: A list of Central Iowa women who have been recognized in this year’s 40 Women to Watch in Hospitality.
- Lots more!
– Nicole Grundmeier, Business Record staff writer
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What’s new in leadership development? Two Forty Under 40 honorees tell us
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Since starting with the Business Record in 2019, I’ve had the pleasure of editing our features on each of our Forty Under 40 honorees. It’s always fascinating to see the similar and unique qualities of each of the leaders.
While they all have been successful professionally and in the community, their paths have looked different. Some have ascended to leadership through multiple promotions within one organization. Others have been recruited to their organizations because of their talent and impact in another workplace. Others are leaders through their entrepreneurial ventures.
Two members of this year’s Forty Under 40 class, Jessi McQuerrey and Jerrica Marshall, oversee leadership development organizations. We asked them about trends they’re seeing.
— Emily Barske Wood, Business Record special projects editor
Q&A with Jessi McQuerrey, who oversees Leadership Iowa as director of programs at the Iowa Association of Business and Industry Foundation
Responses have been edited and condensed for clarity.
What is the goal of Leadership Iowa?
Our official Leadership Iowa mission statement is to educate, inspire and grow a network of informed leaders and to encourage their ongoing local and statewide engagement to create a better future for Iowans. (Phew!) Leadership Iowa exists to do a lot of things, and I think everyone comes into it with a different outcome in mind.
The program allows our participants to be tourists in their own state. We hope to build a renewed sense of pride in the place we call home and allow the group to explore communities they wouldn’t have a reason to visit otherwise.
Since its inception, Leadership Iowa has been designed as an issues-awareness program, which holds true today. We provide the group with firsthand insight into what’s happening in our state — dispelling false narratives or assumptions and replacing those with education and opportunity. We want to provide our participants with information and resources that motivate them to use their leadership to bring about positive change on a community and statewide level.
At possibly its most basic, but also most profound level, Leadership Iowa is an annual case study on the value of diverse human capital. The “magic” of Leadership Iowa is created because we’re bringing enthusiastic leaders together, many who would have never crossed paths otherwise, and providing a space for them to engage in meaningful dialogue and come together as a cohort built on support, respect and authenticity.
What leadership development trends are you currently seeing with your work?
Fortunately for us, Iowa as a state has put an emphasis on developing quality leaders in our communities. While many have been engaged in leadership work for years, the Empower Rural Iowa Initiative helped to elevate this conversation a few years ago, and it’s continued to grow from there, resulting in new or revamped community leadership programs. We’re seeing positive change come from small groups of citizens in our communities that are stepping up and taking charge of the future of their community in big ways. We’re continuing to explore, however, how to engage everyone in these conversations, and how to best empower the next generation of leaders to be involved.
Some of the other trends that aren’t necessarily new, but maybe brought more to the forefront, are opportunities like professional coaching, especially as we look to take better care of our mental health and realize that life and work aren’t mutually exclusive.
This also allows for more conversations and training opportunities revolving around attributes and key concepts of holistic leadership like well-being, vulnerability, resiliency, emotional intelligence, belonging, ingenuity and versatility.
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Q&A with Jerrica Marshall, who oversees the African American Leadership Academy as executive director of the Directors Council
Responses have been edited and condensed for clarity.
What is the goal of the African American Leadership Academy?
The African American Leadership Academy is designed to develop the next generation of leaders for our community and beyond. Designed to be more than a collection of in-service programming, the Leadership Academy takes the unique perspective of the Black community (from the African diaspora) and addresses leadership from a variety of perspectives, including politics, education, the media, criminal justice and the law, and both nonprofit and for-profit business.
This training will help support community transformation in Greater Des Moines through mentoring and active community-building while developing and encouraging emerging Black leaders in their commitment to improving the community.
Why do you feel culturally specific leadership development is helpful?
Culturally specific leadership development is necessary as it provides a support system to our workforce talent. The academy allows African American leaders to navigate and lead diverse environments effectively. We are observing a growing trend among corporations to expand their workforce by acquiring out-of-town talent. We are excited to see these employers connecting their new hires with our programming to enhance their skills, build a sense of community connectedness and a social network. It can become an important underlying element to talent retention.
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Iowa Brewers Guild executive director talks about future growth in state’s maturing craft beer scene
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BY MIKE MENDENHALL, BUSINESS RECORD ASSOCIATE EDITOR
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After a decade of rapid growth, Noreen Otto, executive director of the Iowa Brewers Guild, sees the state’s relatively young craft beer industry reaching maturity.
Otto has led the not-for-profit industry group, which represents more than 100 members from Iowa’s professional breweries and cideries, since August 2021.
The organization recently partnered with the Iowa Economic Development Authority to release a report that found Iowa’s craft brewing industry had a $1.25 billion impact on the state’s economy in 2022 and is projected to grow to $1.469 billion by 2027.
The positive outlook comes at a time of changes for the industry in Iowa. While brewers like Solon-founded Big Grove complete expansions in Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and Iowa City, Peace Tree Brewing Co., a 15-year legacy brewery and taproom with locations in Knoxville and Des Moines, closes its doors.
Brewers testing and launching hemp-derived, THC-infused seltzers and beverages have had to adjust their products as a state law that went into effect July 1 limits THC to 4 milligrams per serving in consumable products.
Otto sat down with the Business Record recently to talk about the state of craft brewing in Iowa. The conversation was a few days after she returned from a trip to Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., where she represented the Guild and discussed craft brewing’s economic impact with Iowa’s congressional delegation and other federal officials, stressed community building and continued to develop agricultural partners for the local industry.
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Iowa Restaurant Association names 40 Women to Watch in Hospitality
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The Iowa Restaurant Association has named its 2024 class of 40 Women to Watch in Hospitality honorees.
The association chose the 40 from nominations from across the state. They will be recognized at an awards ceremony Nov. 18 as part of the Iowa Hospitality Showcase, according to a news release.
“What is most striking about this year’s list is the number of women from rural Iowa who were selected for the final list,” Jessica Dunker, president and CEO of the Iowa Restaurant Association, said in a prepared statement. “Many are leading the way in transforming and saving rural Iowa Main Streets.”
To view the full list of honorees, visit restaurantiowa.com.
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“BEHIND EVERY GREAT WOMAN … IS ANOTHER GREAT WOMAN.”
KATE HODGES
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The Ankeny Market & Pavilion, a $2.5 million investment, serves as a trailhead for the heavily used High Trestle Trail that dissects Uptown. The Ankeny Farmers Market is held at the pavilion, as are other community events. The community has grown in recent years to include innovative businesses such as Shops on 3rd, 301 Southwest Walnut St. Photo by Duane Tinkey.
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To combat high rent, 4 distinct stores open in 1 Ankeny Uptown building: Four distinct businesses have banded together to create Shops on 3rd, 301 Southwest Walnut St. in Ankeny, to combat high rent prices in the burgeoning Uptown district. It’s also a way to provide a place where customers can go on a shopping spree under one roof, according to this story by the Des Moines Register. “I hope that when people walk in, they go, ‘Wow! This is so cute!” Funky Zebras owner Cheryl Hayes told the Register. “When the customer comes in, I hope they’re here for a couple of hours.”
Iowa launches new website to help families find child care providers with openings: Iowa is launching a new website that allows families to look up openings at child care providers around the state, Gov. Kim Reynolds announced Thursday. The site, Iowa Child Care Connect, can be found at iachildcareconnect.org. It maps more than 3,000 child care providers around Iowa and lists information such as whether they have vacancies, quality ratings and complaints, hours of operation, which ages they accept and whether they take state child care assistance funds, according to this story in the Des Moines Register.
Abortion clinics end suit over 6-week ban, ending battle after Iowa Supreme Court decision: Iowa abortion providers have dismissed their lawsuit challenging the state’s six-week abortion ban in the wake of an Iowa Supreme Court decision, clearing the way for the law to take effect, according to this story by the Des Moines Register. Planned Parenthood of the Heartland and Iowa City’s Emma Goldman Clinic had sued to block the 2023 law, which bans abortion, with some exceptions, after fetal cardiac activity can be detected on ultrasound, generally at about the sixth week of pregnancy.
Orchard Place treatment facility sued over alleged sexual grooming by employee: An Iowa woman is suing a residential treatment facility, alleging an employee sent her messages of a sexual nature while she was living there as a minor, according to this story by Iowa Capital Dispatch. The woman, identified in court documents only as “Jane Doe,” alleges she lived at Des Moines’ Orchard Place, a residential treatment facility for adolescents, from May 20, 2019, to Aug. 19, 2019.
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Microcredit is transforming the lives of women entrepreneurs in Haiti: ‘Business is in my blood’ (Ms. magazine). An alternative to the pap smear is here, no speculum required (New York Times). Should parents stay home to raise kids? And should the government pay them for it? (the Atlantic). 6 conditions that highlight the women’s health gap (World Economic Forum). For millions of Americans, the economic and financial toll of raising a family increasingly weighs on one of the most personal life choices (Washington Post). Caring for a newborn is a team sport. Here’s how to share the load. (NPR).
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At its core, Fearless exists to help empower Iowa women to succeed in work and life. We believe that everyone has a story to share and that we cannot progress as a society unless we know about one another. We share stories through featuring women in our reporting, featuring guest contributions and speakers at our events.
We are always looking for new stories to share and people to feature. Get in touch with us!
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