JIM HOFFMAN Jim Hoffman, who led the Paramount Theatre’s $7.8 million renovation in 2002-03, answered the call for an even more monumental undertaking, leading Paramount Constituents Committee after the Floods of 2008. This volunteer group of citizen experts would seek advice and make renovation decisions on behalf of the city. Why would the retired Alliant [...]

Everyone knows this: Reporters call their assigned areas “beats.” Why they’re called beats I’ve no idea. Maybe because in the early days of journalism, rough-and-tumble reporters were determined to “beat down the doors” of reluctant miscreants in the course of gathering news. Or maybe because the reporters beat a regular path in the course of [...]

A two-year rebranding effort involving more than 1,500 people has produced a new identity, Iowa’s Creative Corridor, for the region formerly known as Iowa’s Technology Corridor. The new brand name and double helix logo were unveiled Friday morning at an event held at Kirkwood Community College. John Lohman, a member of the Corridor Business Alliance task force that [...]

Cedar Rapids and Iowa City ranked near the top in the annual Milken Institute ranking of cities by economic performance for 2011, according to a statement released Monday. Iowa City climbed one notch in the rankings to No. 8 on the institute’s small cities list. Cedar Rapids jumped 15 spots to No. 13 on the [...]

After many years of operating separately, members of the Cedar Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce, the Cedar Rapids Downtown District and Priority One have voted to merge into a single entity on Jan. 1. The Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance was formally unveiled Tuesday at the conclusion of a joint annual meeting of the three business [...]

A California developer and manufacturer of unmanned surveillance drone aircraft will be launching a final assembly, testing and sales operation early next year near downtown Cedar Rapids. AirCover Integrated Solutions of El Dorado Hills, Calif., plans to lease space in the Cherry Building at 329 10th Ave. SE to assemble, test and sell its QuadRotor [...]

Looking to present a unified voice for public policy and economic development, the Cedar Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce, Priority One and the Downtown District are planning to merge into a single organization. The boards of directors of the three business groups have signed a letter of intent to merge and appointed a nine-member “unification [...]

The University of Iowa vice president for legal affairs and general counsel was elected chairman of the Cedar Rapids Airport Commission on Monday. Commissioner Carroll Reasoner was unanimously elected to lead the five-member panel that supervises the operation of The Eastern Iowa Airport. Commissioner Dee Baird, president of Priority One and interim president of the Cedar Rapids [...]

CEDAR RAPIDS – Cedar Rapids scored a triple play Thursday as two existing businesses — Intermec and Raining Rose – and a newcomer – AgSugar International — announced plans for new buildings in the community. Priority One, the economic development division of the Cedar Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce, said the three projects represent a total capital investment — including equipment [...]

CEDAR RAPIDS — A survey released Thursday shows regional employers are expected to hire almost 12,000 new and replacement workers over the next four years and they will be looking for experienced and skilled applicants. Also released Thursday was a study commissioned by ACT Inc. that examined whether workplace skills are strategically aligned with current and future employer requirements. To read [...]