WEDNESDAY, OCT. 3, 2018  |  IN THIS ISSUE  

Cedar Rapids-based Involta today announced the acquisition of BluPrairie, LLC, the company's second public cloud business acquisition in less than a year.

"By combining our portfolio of services, we are able to expand our clients' value proposition," Bruce Lehrman, founder and CEO of Involta, said in a release. "We can partner with our clients to consider people, process and technology to meet their business needs. Our collective goal is to enable clients to move away from IT urgent care to IT wellness and be proactive versus reactive."

BluPrairie, based in Coralville, is an independent cloud strategy and design firm aimed at helping organizations leverage new technology to enable business outcomes. It offers a full suite of cloud services, from ideation and strategic planning to enterprise and solution architecture, as well as consulting services for business process improvement and organizational change management.

Involta, a national IT provider and consulting firm, said the acquisition would help it continue to expand its solutions offerings. The company has launched new company divisions centered around security, public cloud technology and hybrid cloud services. It recently hired a new chief information security officer to help it expand its security portfolio and empower clients with advanced security tool sets. In addition, the launch of Involta Hybrid Cloud services gives companies the ability to manage all of their public and private cloud infrastructure in one convenient place and respond rapidly to organizational changes.

"This is a very exciting event for both companies, for our employees, and for our clients," Michelle Bates, founder and CEO of BluPrairie, said in a release. "The combination of BluPrairie's public cloud expertise with Involta's managed service offering enables us both to provide a new and broader set of services. Our new service offering of public cloud+private cloud+managed services creates hybrid cloud services at the most competitive prices and even faster response times to service and support needs - 24/7/365."

Ms. Bates will assume the role of chief innovation officer at Involta, responsible for driving the future vision of Involta's cloud products and services.

The movement that began last year with a string of allegations against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein is still gathering steam, and Corridor insurance experts say businesses both large and small should prepare themselves accordingly.
 
#MeToo, which coalesced on social media in late 2017, has burst back onto the scene in a big way in recent days, with the controversial nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court. But the movement's main claim to fame is dragging the issue of workplace sexual harassment and assault out of the shadows and into the spotlight, toppling once untouchable figures from CBS chief executive Les Moonves to "Today" host Matt Lauer.
 
Closer to home, Gov. Kim Reynolds in March fired Iowa Finance Authority Director David Jamison for repeated sexual misconduct in the office, while the University of Iowa terminated Tippie College of Business lecturer Jeffrey Nock for harassing behavior just last month.
 
A flood of new claim activity hasn't hit area insurers yet, but some are bracing for the movement to descend from high-profile office suites into the hallways of American businesses as cultural winds shift and victims get the message it's safe to speak up - and potentially file suit.
 
"If companies are not paying attention to employment-related practices, they should, regardless if they have one or 100 employees," said Spencer Stephens, an agent with Sheets Forrest Draper Insurance of Marion. The firm specializes in business insurance, including Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI), which helps protect employers from sexual harassment lawsuits as well as claims of discrimination, wrongful termination, breach of contract and other matters.
 
"Since coverage typically applies for alleged harassment," Mr. Stephens added, "employers that have an employee handbook, required posters on display and training on harassment could still face thousands of dollars in out of pocket expenses to respond to allegations."
 
EPLI, which can be purchased as part of a business policy or as standalone coverage, generally covers the cost of defending a lawsuit in court, as well as judgments or settlements up to the chosen limit. Most policies will also extend coverage to claims brought by third parties, such as clients or customers. EPLI policies usually do not pay punitive damages or civil or criminal fines, however, and will almost certainly exclude claims involving employees' intentional conduct or bodily injury, including rape or assault.

Read the full members-first story in this week's print or digital edition of the CBJ.
 For the complete list of this week's Movers & Shakers, see the Oct. 1 edition of the CBJ.  

With construction on Collins Road well underway, new lane closures and side street traffic are causing concern for business owners and those who frequent Collins Crossing, the shopping complex opposite of the Lindale Mall.

"It takes a long time to get out, sometimes it takes 20 minutes just to get onto Collins road," Sharon White, the manager at Betty Jane Candies told CBS2/FOX 28. "We have had a lot of customer complains and obviously a decline in business."

The city is currently working on several additions to Collins Road forcing lane closures and smaller side streets having to take on much heavier traffic than they are designed for. Long lines from the parking lots onto Collins have created issues for commuters and potential customers for stores at Collins Crossing.

"There is only so much time we can give on the mainline and also on the side streets and when you reduce lanes like that, that does create some extra congestion out there," John Witt, the city's traffic engineering program manager, said.

Mr. Witt is also working on creating better traffic signals to regulate traffic on Collins Road. Several new lights have been installed with all of them using camera technology to trigger green and red phases. Vehicle detection happens through a centralized system with cameras having certain zones that can be adjusted depending on traffic. The system however still needs to be tweaked and technicians work on the lights as soon as problems occur.

"Throughout construction they can change where the zones are so if we are shifting traffic we can redo the zones," Mr. Witt said. "Short term here there is going to be extra delays but it's going to be all worth it as we have added capacity out there."

Read the full story and watch the video here.

Deere & Co. yesterday announced a series of changes to its leadership team in response to the planned retirement of a member of senior management later this year, the Des Moines Business Record reported.

"We are taking this opportunity to realign the senior management team to improve efficiency, further develop leadership talent, and more effectively align the organization in support of the company's business strategy," said Samuel Allen, chairman and CEO of the Moline-based company. 

Effective Nov. 15, Max Guinn will retire as president of the Worldwide Construction & Forestry Division. Succeeding him will be James Field, who had been a president in Deere's Agriculture & Turf Division. Mr. Field has an extensive background in finance and operations and in his new role will focus on sustainable, profitable growth around the globe as well as the continued integration of the Wirtgen Group, the company said.

Other changes, all effective Nov. 15, include: 
  • John May is appointed president, Worldwide Agriculture & Turf Division - Global Harvesting and Turf Platforms, Ag Solutions, Americas and Australia. He will assume leadership responsibilities for the Agriculture & Turf Division in the Americas and the crop harvesting and turf platforms while continuing to lead the crop care platform and Intelligent Solutions Group. He has had primary responsibility for the company's precision-agriculture strategy since 2012.
  • Mark von Pentz is appointed president, Worldwide Agriculture & Turf Division, Global Tractor and Hay & Forage Platforms, Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Asia, Africa. Mr. Von Pentz will add Deere's hay and forage product platform to his existing duties of leading the company's tractor platform and for Europe, the CIS, Asia and Africa. Combining the hay and forage and tractor platforms reinforces Deere's commitment to ongoing worldwide growth.
  • Raj Kalathur is appointed senior vice president, chief financial officer and chief information officer. Mr. Kalathur will continue in his role as CFO and assume responsibility for the company's information and technology function - a move to help position information technology as a strategic competitive advantage for Deere.

Mr. Guinn is retiring after 38 years at Deere. After joining the company as an engineer in 1980, his career included a variety of management and leadership assignments. He has been president of Worldwide Construction & Forestry since October 2014 and directed the 2017 acquisition of the Wirtgen Group, the world leader in road building equipment. It was Deere's largest acquisition and a move that added global scale to its construction equipment business.

Oct. 3-4
Education Technology and Computational Psychometrics Symposium 2018, by ACTNext, The Graduate Hotel & MERGE, 210 S. Dubuque St., Iowa City. Engage with leading experts across diverse fields, all working to solve the challenges at the intersection of education research and technological innovation. Presenters will discuss topics ranging from multimodal analytics and alternative assessment modalities to the impact education technology has in the classroom. Tickets: $0-$200. For more information, visit etcps.actnext.info.
 
Oct. 4
Speed Networking, by Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance, 7:45-9 a.m., Economic Alliance, 501 First St. SE, Cedar Rapids.Meet fellow Economic Alliance members in a quick-paced and casual environment. Free, although space is limited by the number of attendees, and also by industry type. Register at bit.ly/2N89dae.
 
Wake Up Marion: Farmers State Bank, by Marion Chamber of Commerce, 8-9 a.m., 1240 Eighth Ave., Marion. Wake Up Marion is held the first Thursday of each month at a different member location. Enjoy complimentary coffee and get to know the host business. Free. For more information and to register, visit bit.ly/2MnCV6J.
 
CIRAS Veterans Business Roundtable, by Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance, Alliant Energy and VGM, 8-9 a.m., Economic Alliance, 501 First St. SE, Cedar Rapids. Veteran business owners are invited for a light breakfast and facilitated discussion on business topics that are relevant to all industries. Free. Contact Julie Fagle at [email protected] with questions.
 
Culture Change to Improve the Workplace, by Kirkwood Community College, 6:30-8:30 p.m., Kirkwood Linn County Regional Center, 1770 Boyson Road, Hiawatha. This interactive class will touch on improving communications, supporting co-workers, and evaluating the environment to ensure the workplace works for everyone. Cost $25. For more information, visit bit.ly/2Qs6ur5.

Oct. 5
First Friday Coffee Connections, by Iowa City Area Chamber of Commerce, 7:30-8:30 a.m., AlphaGraphics, 1325 Kennel Ct., North Liberty. Join chamber members for an hour of energetic networking before you head off for the daily grind. Free.
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Headlines from CBS2/FOX 28
These news items are provided by CBS2/FOX 28  
 
On Tuesday, Iowa City voters elected Bruce Teague to fill a vacant city council seat. Mr.  Teague grabbed 54 percent of the votes, while opponent Ann Freerks captured 45 percent of the votes.  The spot was left open after former council member Kingsley Botchway resigned earlier this year to take a new job in Waterloo.  After five candidates initially ran for the seat, a September primary narrowed it down to Mr. Teague and Ms. Freerks for the special election Tuesday night.

Monday's heavy rainfall is still making its way into the river systems with some Eastern Iowa rivers continuing to see rises while others have crested and are falling.  Manchester in Delaware county, which was one of the areas hit hardest, is seeing the water slowly recede as the Maquoketa River is expected to fall below the twelve foot flood stage on Wednesday morning.  The Wapsipinicon River at Independence has also crested and will fall below flood stage Wednesday morning while downstream at Anamosa a crest of fifteen feet will also occur Wednesday morning with moderate flooding.  The Cedar River is also seeing a rise although to a much lesser extent than others due to where the heaviest rain fell.  The Cedar at Cedar Falls is expected to crest Wednesday at 89.2 feet with minor flooding. Downstream at Waterloo a crest of 12.5 feet is forecast on Wednesday afternoon although that is half a foot below flood stage.  The water will make its way to Cedar Rapids with minor flooding expected as the river will crest at 12.5 feet on Thursday morning. Read the full story here.

T hese news items are provided by CBS2/FOX 28 
CBS2 Chief Meteorologist Terry Swails' Weather First Forecast

There will be multiple chances for rain over the next seven days. It won't be constantly raining, but there will be the potential for heavy rain which will lead to concerns on the rivers in eastern Iowa.  A cold front will move through Eastern Iowa this evening. Out ahead of the front, it will be warm and windy. Temperatures will climb into the low to mid 80s and winds will be kicking out of the south. The cold front will then lead to some scattered showers and thunderstorms between 5-10 pm tonight. Some gusty winds will be possible as the front quickly moves through.Thursday and Friday, c older air will move in behind the front and temperatures will be in the 40s Thursday morning and just climb into the 50s in the afternoon. The front will just be stalled to the south so it will be dry Thursday, but rain will be likely late Thursday night into Friday morning as the front lifts back north. Rain will be likely through the day Friday with temperatures in the low 70s.