CBJ's Largest Privately Held Companies 2018
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CBJ’s<br />
<strong>Largest</strong> <strong>Privately</strong> <strong>Held</strong><br />
COMPANIES <strong>2018</strong><br />
®
2 CBJ’S LARGEST PRIVATELY HELD COMPANIES <strong>2018</strong>
CBJ’S LARGEST PRIVATELY HELD COMPANIES <strong>2018</strong> 3
<strong>Largest</strong> <strong>Privately</strong> <strong>Held</strong> <strong>Companies</strong><br />
Celebrating private enterprise<br />
We are proud to publish for the fourth time<br />
a list of the largest privately held companies<br />
headquartered in Iowa’s Creative Corridor.<br />
We feel it is important to recognize and<br />
celebrate these<br />
companies<br />
and their leaders<br />
every other<br />
year because<br />
they are foundational<br />
to our<br />
region’s economy,<br />
and also<br />
because much<br />
can change in<br />
just a few years.<br />
We have<br />
seen Apache,<br />
Integrated<br />
JOHN F. LOHMAN DNA Technologies<br />
and Diamond<br />
V, among the largest of our region’s<br />
privately held companies, get sold to major<br />
publicly-traded corporations based outside<br />
of the region. That’s not always bad, but it<br />
certainly changes the dynamics of those that<br />
are acquired.<br />
The main purpose in producing this special<br />
publication is to show our readers that<br />
Iowa’s Creative Corridor has a vibrant private<br />
sector that is the very engine driving our<br />
economy. Most of these companies and their<br />
owners work extremely hard and don’t receive<br />
the recognition they rightfully deserve.<br />
This publication is a small token of our appreciation<br />
for their hard work and success.<br />
To be listed, company owners had to provide<br />
their gross revenue amounts from 2017.<br />
As many of them mentioned to us when we<br />
sought this confidential information, one of<br />
the benefits of being a privately held company<br />
is that they don’t have to provide this<br />
information to anyone other than the government.<br />
Fortunately, many were willing to<br />
disclose it to us for publication.<br />
This special supplement includes the<br />
CBJ’s List of the <strong>Largest</strong> <strong>Privately</strong> <strong>Held</strong> <strong>Companies</strong><br />
with revenues above $20 million.<br />
This list is obviously not comprehensive,<br />
as there are thousands of businesses in our<br />
region, but it does give a good representation<br />
of many of the largest. We unfortunately<br />
weren’t able to publish submitting companies<br />
with revenues under $20 million, due to<br />
space constraints.<br />
We have also profiled the largest companies<br />
on our list, and included details on their<br />
leadership teams, boards and support structures,<br />
when provided.<br />
CRST International tops the list once<br />
again, and should get a tremendous amount<br />
of appreciation and respect from our readers.<br />
This homegrown company has provided<br />
many good-paying jobs and supported many<br />
philanthropic efforts here in the Corridor.<br />
The company’s new headquarters in downtown<br />
Cedar Rapids has helped anchor a new<br />
phase of growth and commitment in the<br />
area, and shows the depth of CRST’s dedication<br />
to the community.<br />
We were pleased to celebrate all of the<br />
participating companies and their executive<br />
teams in May during a Celebrating Private<br />
Enterprise reception at the Cedar Rapids<br />
Country Club, sponsored by CRST, IWLC<br />
and Jet Air.<br />
We look forward to publishing this list every<br />
other year and helping our readers celebrate<br />
the region’s private enterprises with us.<br />
John F. Lohman<br />
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER & PUBLISHER<br />
Corridor Business Journal<br />
MAY <strong>2018</strong><br />
CHIEF EXECUTIVE<br />
OFFICER & PUBLISHER<br />
John F. Lohman<br />
VICE PRESIDENT<br />
Aspen N. Lohman<br />
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER<br />
& ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER<br />
Andrea Rhoades<br />
EDITOR & CHIEF CONTENT OFFICER<br />
Adam Moore<br />
WRITERS<br />
Katharine Carlon<br />
Dave DeWitte<br />
Jennie Morton<br />
Jim Offner<br />
Emery Styron<br />
GRAPHIC DESIGN MANAGER<br />
Becky Lyons<br />
GRAPHIC DESIGNER<br />
Julia Druckmiller<br />
MAGAZINE & SPECIAL<br />
PROJECTS EDITOR<br />
Angela Holmes<br />
MAGAZINE MEDIA CONSULTANT<br />
Judith Cobb<br />
CBJ MEDIA CONSULTANT<br />
Kelly Meyer<br />
EVENT MARKETING COORDINATOR<br />
Ashley Levitt<br />
EVENT MEDIA CONSULTANT<br />
Rhonda Roskos<br />
MARKETING & DISTRIBUTION<br />
MANAGER<br />
Jean Suckow<br />
INSIDE<br />
5........CBJ List of LPH 1-11<br />
6........CRST International<br />
8........TrueNorth <strong>Companies</strong><br />
10......Van Meter Inc.<br />
12......Elite Casino Resorts<br />
14......UICCU<br />
16......GreatAmerica Financial<br />
18......World Class Industries<br />
20......Stanley Consultants<br />
22......Centro Inc.<br />
24......West Side Transport<br />
26......Modern <strong>Companies</strong><br />
27......CBJ List of LPH 12-24<br />
28......LPH by the Numbers<br />
30......CBJ List of LPH 25-35<br />
Contents are registered to Corridor<br />
Media Group. Reproductions or<br />
other use, in whole or in part, of the<br />
contents of the publication without<br />
permission is strictly prohibited.<br />
2345 Landon Road, Ste. 100<br />
North Liberty, IA 52317<br />
319.665.NEWS<br />
www.corridorbusiness.com<br />
4 CBJ’S LARGEST PRIVATELY HELD COMPANIES <strong>2018</strong>
<strong>Largest</strong> <strong>Privately</strong> <strong>Held</strong> <strong>Companies</strong><br />
<strong>Largest</strong> <strong>Privately</strong> <strong>Held</strong> <strong>Companies</strong><br />
(Ranked by 2017 (Ranked Revenues) by 2017 Revenues)<br />
(Ranked by 2017 Revenues)<br />
RANK Name/Address<br />
RANK Name/Address<br />
Contact Information<br />
Contact Information<br />
Year<br />
Established Year<br />
Established<br />
Top Local<br />
Executives Top Local<br />
Executives<br />
2017 Revenue<br />
2017 Revenue<br />
Number of<br />
Employees Number of<br />
FT/PT Employees<br />
FT/PT<br />
1<br />
CRST International Inc.<br />
201 CRST First International St. SE Ste. Inc. 400<br />
Cedar 201 First Rapids, St. SE IA Ste. 52401 400<br />
Cedar Rapids, IA 52401<br />
(800) 736-2778<br />
(800) 736-2778; fax (319)<br />
390-2785B (800) 736-2778; fax (319)<br />
www.crst.com<br />
390-2785B<br />
www.crst.com<br />
1953<br />
1953<br />
John Smith<br />
David John Smith Rusch<br />
Hugh David Ekberg Rusch<br />
Hugh Ekberg<br />
$1,555,000,000 7,494<br />
$1,555,000,000 - 7,494 -/- -<br />
- -/- -<br />
2<br />
TrueNorth <strong>Companies</strong> LLC<br />
500 TrueNorth First St. <strong>Companies</strong> SE LLC<br />
Cedar 500 First Rapids, St. SEIA 52401<br />
Cedar Rapids, IA 52401<br />
(319) 364-5193; fax (319)<br />
862-0612 (319) 364-5193; fax (319)<br />
www.truenorthcompanies.com<br />
862-0612<br />
www.truenorthcompanies.com<br />
2001<br />
2001<br />
Duane Smith<br />
Jason Duane Smith<br />
Bill Jason Teubel Smith<br />
Dru Bill Teubel Bridges<br />
Dru Bridges<br />
$813,200,000C 320<br />
$813,200,000C 305/15 320<br />
305/15<br />
3<br />
Van Meter Inc.<br />
850 Van 32nd Meter Ave. Inc. SW<br />
Cedar 850 32nd Rapids, Ave. IA SW52404<br />
Cedar Rapids, IA 52404<br />
(800) 247-1410<br />
(319) (800) 366-5301; 247-1410 fax (319)<br />
366-4709 (319) 366-5301; fax (319)<br />
www.vanmeterinc.com<br />
366-4709<br />
www.vanmeterinc.com<br />
1928<br />
1928<br />
Lura McBride<br />
Melanie Lura McBride Fisher<br />
Doyle Melanie Fisher<br />
Mike DoyleGassmann<br />
Brian Mike Gassmann Bytnar<br />
Jeff Brian Miller Bytnar<br />
Alicia Jeff Miller Murphy<br />
Alicia Murphy<br />
$365,300,000<br />
$365,300,000<br />
512<br />
- 512 -/- -<br />
- -/- -<br />
4<br />
Elite Casino Resorts LLC<br />
3184 Elite Casino Highway Resorts 22 LLC<br />
Riverside, 3184 Highway IA 52327 22<br />
Riverside, IA 52327<br />
(877) 677-3456<br />
(319) (877) 648-1234; 677-3456 fax (319)<br />
648-5800 (319) 648-1234; fax (319)<br />
www.kehlmanagement.com<br />
648-5800<br />
www.kehlmanagement.com<br />
2015<br />
2015<br />
Dan Kehl<br />
Ken Dan Bonnet Kehl<br />
Bobby Ken Bonnet Kehl<br />
Karalyn Bobby Kehl Ollendick<br />
Karalyn Ollendick<br />
$251,100,000<br />
$251,100,000<br />
1,667<br />
1,458/209 1,667<br />
1,458/209<br />
5<br />
University of Iowa<br />
Community University of Credit Iowa Union<br />
2355 Community Landon Credit RoadUnion<br />
North 2355 Landon Liberty, Road IA 52317<br />
North Liberty, IA 52317<br />
(800) 397-3790<br />
(319) (800) 339-1000 397-3790<br />
www.uiccu.org<br />
(319) 339-1000<br />
www.uiccu.org<br />
1938<br />
1938<br />
Jeffrey Disterhoft<br />
Todd Jeffrey Fanning Disterhoft<br />
Jim Todd Kelly Fanning<br />
Sue Jim Kelly Freeman<br />
Dick Sue Freeman Noble<br />
Steve Dick Noble Quigley<br />
Amy Steve Henderson Quigley<br />
Scott Amy Henderson Wilson<br />
Scott Wilson<br />
$216,300,000<br />
$216,300,000<br />
435<br />
- 435 -/- -<br />
- -/- -<br />
6<br />
GreatAmerica Financial<br />
Services GreatAmerica Financial<br />
625 Services First St. SE<br />
Cedar 625 First Rapids, St. SEIA 52401<br />
Cedar Rapids, IA 52401<br />
(800) 234-8787<br />
(319) (800) 261-4188; 234-8787 fax (319)<br />
261-6188 (319) 261-4188; fax (319)<br />
www.greatamerica.com<br />
261-6188<br />
www.greatamerica.com<br />
1992<br />
1992<br />
Tony Golobic<br />
Stan Tony Herkelman Golobic<br />
David Stan Herkelman Pohlman<br />
Joe David Terfler Pohlman<br />
Joe Terfler<br />
$183,000,000<br />
$183,000,000<br />
516<br />
503/13 516<br />
503/13<br />
7<br />
World Class Industries Inc.<br />
925 World N. Class 15th Ave. Industries Inc.<br />
Hiawatha, 925 N. 15th IA Ave. 52233<br />
Hiawatha, IA 52233<br />
(319) 378-1766; fax (319)<br />
378-1493 (319) 378-1766; fax (319)<br />
www.worldclassind.com<br />
378-1493<br />
www.worldclassind.com<br />
1953<br />
1953<br />
Brent Cobb<br />
Sandy Brent Cobb Kaloupek<br />
Patrick Sandy Kaloupek Patterson<br />
Patrick Patterson<br />
$172,200,000<br />
$172,200,000<br />
142<br />
- 142 -/- -<br />
- -/- -<br />
8<br />
Stanley Consultants Inc.<br />
225 Stanley Iowa Consultants Ave. Inc.<br />
Muscatine, 225 Iowa Ave. IA 52761<br />
Muscatine, IA 52761<br />
(563) 264-6600<br />
www.stanleyconsultants.com<br />
(563) 264-6600<br />
www.stanleyconsultants.com<br />
1913<br />
1913<br />
Kate Harris<br />
Gayle Kate Harris Roberts<br />
Bill Gayle Harper Roberts<br />
Bill Harper<br />
$166,100,000<br />
$166,100,000<br />
838<br />
723/115 838<br />
723/115<br />
9<br />
Centro Inc.<br />
950 Centro N. Bend Inc. Drive<br />
North 950 N. Liberty, Bend Drive IA 52317<br />
North Liberty, IA 52317<br />
(319) 626-3200; fax (319)<br />
626-3203 (319) 626-3200; fax (319)<br />
www.centroinc.com<br />
626-3203<br />
www.centroinc.com<br />
1970<br />
1970<br />
Brian Olesen<br />
Tripp Brian Traicoff Olesen<br />
Alvin Tripp Spence Traicoff<br />
Alvin Spence<br />
$119,400,000<br />
$119,400,000<br />
950<br />
- 950 -/- -<br />
- -/- -<br />
10<br />
10<br />
West Side Transport<br />
4201 West 16th Side Ave. Transport SW<br />
Cedar 4201 16th Rapids, Ave. IA SW52404<br />
Cedar Rapids, IA 52404<br />
(800) 373-2957<br />
(319) (800) 730-1651; 373-2957 fax (319)<br />
390-7311 (319) 730-1651; fax (319)<br />
westsidetransport.com<br />
390-7311<br />
westsidetransport.com<br />
1968<br />
1968<br />
Don Vogt<br />
John Don Vogt Dalrymple<br />
Ron John Joseph Dalrymple<br />
Ron Joseph<br />
$114,000,000<br />
$114,000,000<br />
700<br />
- 700 -/- -<br />
- -/- -<br />
11<br />
11<br />
Modern <strong>Companies</strong><br />
500 Modern Walford <strong>Companies</strong> Road SW<br />
Cedar 500 Walford Rapids, Road IA 52404 SW<br />
Cedar Rapids, IA 52404<br />
(888) 871-0062<br />
(319) (888) 364-0131; 871-0062 fax (319)<br />
364-8368 (319) 364-0131; fax (319)<br />
www.moderncompaniesinc.com<br />
364-8368<br />
www.moderncompaniesinc.com<br />
1939<br />
1939<br />
Ken Brown<br />
Dave Ken Brown<br />
Matt Dave Huber Brown<br />
Matt Huber<br />
$105,000,000<br />
$105,000,000<br />
360<br />
- 360 -/- -<br />
- -/- -<br />
Note: Entries may be edited for length and clarity.B (319) 390-2649 sales fax. C Revenue includes premiums<br />
Note: Entries may be edited for length and clarity.B (319) 390-2649 sales fax. C Revenue includes premiums CONTINUED ON PAGE 27 & 29<br />
CBJ’S LARGEST PRIVATELY HELD COMPANIES <strong>2018</strong> 5
CRST International<br />
1<br />
CRST International continues to lead the pack of largest<br />
privately held companies in the Corridor, with some<br />
big acquisitions driving revenue at a time when organic<br />
growth has been hard to achieve.<br />
The Cedar Rapids-based company is one of the most<br />
diversified carriers in the country, with eight operating<br />
companies serving different segments of the market and $1.55<br />
billion in revenue. It is likely the largest privately held trucking<br />
company in the United States after a rival carrier, Schneider National,<br />
went public in 2017.<br />
CRST serves shippers with<br />
8,100 company drivers and<br />
independent contractors and<br />
about 6,100 trucks. In 2017,<br />
it was ranked the nation’s<br />
19th largest for-hire carrier by<br />
Transport Topics magazine,<br />
up from 24th in 2016.<br />
Being privately owned<br />
by the Smith family of Cedar<br />
Rapids has helped CRST<br />
take advantage of many<br />
growth opportunities while<br />
also taking care of its home<br />
DAVID RUSCH<br />
PRESIDENT & CEO<br />
community, according to<br />
CEO David Rusch.<br />
“Being privately held gives<br />
us a lot of flexibility in the<br />
marketplace because we can react much quicker to our shipper’s<br />
needs than some of the large publicly-held companies that have<br />
more bureaucracy,” Mr. Rusch said. Difficult decisions such as<br />
whether to acquire another company or make a major investment<br />
can be made faster, he added.<br />
Chairman John Smith and his wife Dyan have been leaders<br />
in the city’s recovery from the flood of 2008, showing confidence<br />
in the flood-affected downtown area by building a $36<br />
million office tower, donating more than $1 million to neighborhood<br />
rebuilding effort Block by Block and supporting wetlands<br />
restoration efforts in the Cedar River watershed that will<br />
reduce future flooding.<br />
CRST has drawn growth in recent years from its 2016 acquisition<br />
of California-based Gardner Trucking, which added<br />
about $400 million in revenue, and its 2015 acquisition of Pegasus<br />
Transportation, a Kentucky-based carrier specializing in<br />
time-sensitive loads such as blood plasma and pharmaceuticals.<br />
Without those acquisitions, Mr. Rusch said growth would<br />
have been elusive. Shipping demand rose rapidly when the<br />
economy first began recovering from the last recession in 2010.<br />
Many carriers had gone bankrupt, leaving the surviving, larger<br />
carriers with all the business they could handle. Those companies<br />
then went on a truck-buying spree, and by 2016, there was<br />
overcapacity, meaning carriers were unable to raise rates even as<br />
costs continued to escalate.<br />
“Our legacy companies, like most of our peers, were forced<br />
to cut fleet size over the last couple of years,” Mr. Rusch said.<br />
“Freight wasn’t strong, utilization dipped a bit and we just<br />
couldn’t get the drivers.” Without CRST’s recent acquisitions, he<br />
said overall revenue would have declined.<br />
Although shipping demand has picked up since last year,<br />
CRST and most other<br />
carriers have been<br />
hard-pressed to take<br />
advantage of it. Heavy<br />
Duty Trucking magazine<br />
reported that<br />
many shippers began<br />
having trouble as early<br />
as September 2017<br />
finding enough trucks<br />
to satisfy customers’<br />
shipping needs. That<br />
shortage has bloomed<br />
into a “capacity crisis”<br />
in recent months.<br />
“It’s the worst driver<br />
shortage I’ve seen<br />
in my 38 years in the<br />
industry,” Mr. Rusch<br />
said. “The only difference<br />
between 2010<br />
and today is that none<br />
of us can get drivers.”<br />
CRST announced a<br />
pay enhancement program<br />
in January that<br />
will cost it about $14<br />
THE TEAM<br />
EXECUTIVE TEAM<br />
John Smith, Chairman<br />
David Rusch, President & CEO<br />
Hugh Ekberg, COO<br />
BOARD OF DIRECTORS<br />
John Smith, Chair<br />
Dyan Smith<br />
Ian Smith<br />
John Bowron<br />
Tony Golobic<br />
Dave Kulik<br />
Robert Lake<br />
Peter Latta<br />
John Larkin<br />
Henry Royer<br />
SUPPORT TEAM<br />
Cedar Rapids Bank & Trust<br />
RSM US LLP<br />
Simmons Perrine Moyer<br />
Bergman PLC<br />
million this year in an effort to attract and retain more drivers.<br />
One operating company, CRST Specialized Transportation Services,<br />
introduced a $12,000 bonus program that pays the driver<br />
an extra $1,000 per month for the first 12 months on the job.<br />
The inability of trucking companies to raise rates during the<br />
recent period of overcapacity has slowed the company’s pace toward<br />
$2 billion in annual revenue, Mr. Rusch said, but he’s confident<br />
CRST can reach the goal within the next couple of years.<br />
“We’re entrepreneurial,” Mr. Rusch said. “We just don’t take<br />
‘no’ for an answer. When there’s a challenge out there, we have<br />
solutions. We understand them, we know what we have to do<br />
to fix them and I’m confident in my management team that we<br />
can execute and achieve our goals.”<br />
- Dave DeWitte<br />
PHOTO MIRANDA MEYER<br />
6 CBJ’S LARGEST PRIVATELY HELD COMPANIES <strong>2018</strong>
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CBJ’S LARGEST PRIVATELY HELD COMPANIES <strong>2018</strong> 7
TrueNorth <strong>Companies</strong><br />
2<br />
When TrueNorth <strong>Companies</strong> set about preparing its<br />
2017 annual report, there was only one logical thing<br />
to title it: Evolve.<br />
In what CEO Duane Smith called “a year of transformation<br />
and evolution,” TrueNorth announced a transition<br />
in leadership, 60 new team members, four new<br />
acquisitions and a new talent development program designed to<br />
help employees grow both personally and professionally.<br />
That’s without even mentioning its $813 million in revenue,<br />
a figure that ranks the Cedar Rapids-based insurer and financial<br />
services provider as the<br />
second-largest privately held<br />
company in the Corridor,<br />
and puts it well on its way to<br />
reaching a goal of $1 billion<br />
in sales by 2020 and $2 billion<br />
by 2025.<br />
“We’re right on track to hit<br />
that $2 billion in 2025,” said<br />
Mr. Smith, adding that True-<br />
North’s growth has been split<br />
about 70-30 between organic<br />
growth and acquisitions over<br />
the past two years.<br />
“It’s a good thing,” he<br />
DUANE SMITH<br />
CEO<br />
joked of the rapid change.<br />
“But be careful what you ask<br />
for, you just might get it.”<br />
Since 2015, four new firms<br />
have begun operating under the TrueNorth umbrella, including<br />
Community State Bank Insurance of Ankeny, Edwards-Brandt<br />
and Associates of Mason City, Weinman Insurance of Indianola<br />
and Nimble Insurance of Chicago.<br />
Thanks to consolidation in the industry, competition is<br />
fierce, and Mr. Smith said TrueNorth looks at about 20 acquisition<br />
targets for every deal that gets completed.<br />
“Private equity groups have found that the reoccurring revenue<br />
our industry generates is attractive to them,” he said, adding<br />
that TrueNorth’s unique ownership structure has given it an advantage<br />
others can’t match. Since the company was established<br />
in 2001, it has grown from six owners to 60 – and counting.<br />
“It’s because we give entrepreneurs the ability to have a say in<br />
their own business and their own specialty, subject to our owners<br />
manual, and to own part of their future growth, income and<br />
ability to grow equity in their respective profit center,” Mr. Smith<br />
explained. “They’re making their own decisions about their businesses<br />
everyday versus just being employees of a larger firm and I<br />
think that resonates in the partnerships we build with our clients.”<br />
The company’s organic growth has largely been driven by<br />
its insurance products and industry-specific services for construction,<br />
medical, transportation and other fields. Over the<br />
next 10 years, the company hopes to add another 400-500<br />
employees, ideally half through its acquisition strategy and<br />
half from within.<br />
“We’ve been building out our level of expertise so we can<br />
focus on really specific industries,” Mr. Smith said. “We’re<br />
active within their associations, we really get to understand<br />
what problems they are facing. In a perfect partnership with<br />
our clients, we’re only spending 25-30 percent placing insurance<br />
products and<br />
spending the other 70<br />
percent helping solve<br />
other business issues<br />
… many of our competitors<br />
don’t focus<br />
that deep.”<br />
The company earlier<br />
this year made<br />
good on its long-held<br />
succession plan, with<br />
Mr. Smith’s son, Jason,<br />
set to take over<br />
as CEO in 2020. Jason<br />
Smith, who now serves<br />
as president, has taken<br />
over business development<br />
and growth initiatives,<br />
his father said,<br />
“and has done a great<br />
job of really building<br />
out a structured focus<br />
on organic growth.”<br />
Planning for a new<br />
generation of leadership<br />
is perhaps the<br />
biggest challenge the<br />
company faces going<br />
into the future – and<br />
on a personal level,<br />
Mr. Smith said, the<br />
toughest evolution.<br />
THE TEAM<br />
EXECUTIVE TEAM<br />
Duane Smith, CEO<br />
Jason Smith, President<br />
Bill Teubel, CFO<br />
Dru Bridges, COO<br />
BOARD OF DIRECTORS<br />
Loren Coppock, Chair<br />
Duane Smith<br />
Jason Smith<br />
Bill Teubel<br />
Dru Bridges<br />
Randy Rings<br />
Trent Tillman<br />
Max Smith<br />
Josh Budke<br />
Devin Pipkin<br />
Dave Verhille<br />
Pete Layden<br />
Jim Swift (board observer)<br />
SUPPORT TEAM<br />
Bankers Trust<br />
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Bohr, Dahm, Greif & Associates<br />
Cedar Rapids Bank & Trust<br />
Rings Law PLC<br />
“At 62, I now have about two and a half years and counting,”<br />
he said. “What that does is require you to really develop<br />
a plan and what we call an ‘owners manual’ to hand off to the<br />
younger generation. One of the key components of building a<br />
successful company is really the ability to hand it off and have<br />
it prosper beyond the hand-off … building an enterprise that<br />
will stand the test of time.”<br />
-Katharine Carlon<br />
8 CBJ’S LARGEST PRIVATELY HELD COMPANIES <strong>2018</strong>
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CBJ’S LARGEST PRIVATELY HELD COMPANIES <strong>2018</strong> 9
Van Meter Inc.<br />
3<br />
LURA MCBRIDE<br />
PRESIDENT & CEO<br />
Van Meter Inc. is unique among the Corridor’s largest<br />
companies, in that it is 100 percent owned by its employees.<br />
It’s an approach that makes every worker an<br />
active guardian of the electrical distributor’s bottom<br />
line and has fueled its growth since its last appearance<br />
on the CBJ’s <strong>Largest</strong> <strong>Privately</strong> <strong>Held</strong> <strong>Companies</strong> list in<br />
2016, according to President and CEO Lura McBride.<br />
In addition to an acquisition in downtown Chicago, Van Meter<br />
has also opened a branch<br />
in Omaha. The 85-year-old<br />
company based in Cedar<br />
Rapids now has 15 locations<br />
throughout the Midwest.<br />
“Nebraska is a true extension<br />
of our Iowa marketplace,”<br />
Ms. McBride said of<br />
the new location. “We are<br />
listening to our customers<br />
and expanding to where they<br />
need us to have a presence.”<br />
Van Meter has also formed<br />
relationships with national<br />
commercial contracting clients,<br />
offering a new avenue<br />
for growth. It continues to<br />
serve numerous other verticals<br />
as well, from education<br />
and health care to manufacturing and agriculture.<br />
A perennial leader in building staff engagement and positive<br />
workplace culture, the company recently created a 2025<br />
vision to guide how it will continue to provide lasting value.<br />
This roadmap was crafted by the entire organization, and incorporated<br />
input from customers and partner suppliers as well.<br />
“To foster buy-in, we had to ensure that the direction was<br />
aligned with our people. Everyone from our receptionists and<br />
delivery drivers to managers and product specialists had the<br />
opportunity to contribute,” Ms. McBride explained. “When everyone<br />
understands how their role is critical to our vision, the<br />
goals are easier to achieve.”<br />
The company also continues to invest in its workforce. Van<br />
Meter encourages its employee-owners to nurture their purpose<br />
outside of work. With a parental leave program that recognizes<br />
both mothers and fathers, employee sabbaticals, and a<br />
“5-7 Challenge” that discourages after-hours work, the company<br />
ensures work-life balance is an authentic habit and not just<br />
a buzzword.<br />
The results are paying<br />
off as Van Meter<br />
has grown its employee-owner<br />
base to more<br />
than 500 – a 10 percent<br />
increase from 2016.<br />
Part of that progress<br />
stems from deliberately<br />
building relationships.<br />
Van Meter’s mission<br />
rests on five core principles:<br />
people, partners,<br />
progress, place<br />
and profit. According<br />
to Ms. McBride, a business<br />
can reach new<br />
heights only when its<br />
people come first.<br />
“Employee benefits<br />
aren’t the only way to<br />
invest in people – you<br />
THE TEAM<br />
EXECUTIVE TEAM<br />
Lura McBride, President & CEO<br />
Melanie Fisher Doyle, CFO<br />
Mike Gassmann, EVP & Chief<br />
Growth Officer<br />
Brian Bytnar, Chief Development<br />
Officer<br />
Jeff Miller, VP Information<br />
Technology<br />
Alicia Murphy, Chief<br />
Organizational Effectiveness<br />
Officer<br />
BOARD OF DIRECTORS<br />
Bruce Lehrman<br />
Barry Boyer<br />
Hillary Hughes<br />
Lura McBride<br />
Jeff Siegfried<br />
Duane Smith<br />
should strengthen<br />
your day-to-day culture<br />
as well” she said.<br />
“Van Meter achieves<br />
this by heavily developing our own leaders. We want our leaders<br />
to lift up each individual person in our company. When<br />
leaders empower, enable and support every team member, our<br />
employee-owners are inspired and motivated to innovate for<br />
our customers.”<br />
To keep people at the forefront and reinforce its ownership<br />
culture, Van Meter has made intentional and strategic investments<br />
in how it recruits and hires new members. It has also<br />
focused on inboarding, which is a type of support given to existing<br />
employee-owners to help them succeed not only in their<br />
current role but ones they may hold in the future.<br />
“Van Meter is different because we are both privately held<br />
and employee owned. The employee-ownership model not<br />
only provides accountability, but it also makes profitability accessible<br />
to every single person in the company, regardless of<br />
their position,” Ms. McBride said. “When employees think, act<br />
and serve like an owner, it creates a company culture that delivers<br />
better service, value and outcomes for everyone.”<br />
- Jennie Morton<br />
“When employees think, act<br />
and serve like an owner, it<br />
creates a company culture that<br />
delivers better service, value<br />
and outcomes for everyone.”<br />
- LURA MCBRIDE<br />
10 CBJ’S LARGEST PRIVATELY HELD COMPANIES <strong>2018</strong>
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CBJ’S LARGEST PRIVATELY HELD COMPANIES <strong>2018</strong> 11
Elite Casino Resorts<br />
4<br />
“We try to do things that will change the landscape<br />
here in the state,” said Dan Kehl, whose family obtained<br />
the first riverboat gambling license in Iowa<br />
more than 25 years ago, pioneering the state’s modern<br />
gaming industry.<br />
Mr. Kehl, CEO of Elite Casino Resorts, which owns<br />
three gaming complexes generating more than $225 million<br />
per year in combined revenue, is currently overseeing a $10<br />
million revamp of its first<br />
land-based venture, Riverside<br />
Casino & Golf Resort, located<br />
south of Iowa City. Elite’s<br />
other properties are Grand<br />
Falls Casino, near Larchwood<br />
in far northwest Iowa, and<br />
Rhythm City Casino Resort,<br />
located at the intersection of<br />
I-80 and I-74 in Davenport.<br />
Riverside has seen tens of<br />
millions of visitors in its 12-<br />
year lifetime and was due for<br />
renewal, Mr. Kehl said. The rehab<br />
includes upgrading all the<br />
DAN KEHL<br />
CEO<br />
finishes and furniture, redoing<br />
two food venues, reworking a<br />
bar, installing facilities for “grab<br />
and go” dining and giving the<br />
show lounge a makeover. Work at the Rees Jones-designed casino,<br />
hotel, golf course and spa is expected to be complete in August.<br />
The improvements are also aimed at making the casino<br />
“more relevant to millennial clientele,” he said. Elite is “dabbling<br />
in some skill-based gaming,” such as Topgolf Swing Suites<br />
– golf simulators featuring comfy lounges, massive screens and<br />
a selection of virtual games for golfers and non-golfers – although<br />
90 percent of the gaming floor will remain devoted to<br />
slot machines and table games.<br />
Rees Jones’ firm also designed the Grand Falls Casino &<br />
Golf Resort, serving the Sioux City-Sioux Falls market. The facility<br />
has been open seven years, with the golf course featuring<br />
a 30-foot waterfall since 2014.<br />
“It’s going well up there. We will start a remodel of our facility<br />
there in a couple of years,” Mr. Kehl said.<br />
Elite’s latest venture, Rhythm City, began with purchase<br />
of the old Treble Clef<br />
gambling boat docked<br />
on Davenport’s riverfront<br />
in 2014. Its<br />
gaming moved inland<br />
to the Elmore Avenue<br />
corridor two years ago<br />
with the completion<br />
of the $100-million<br />
casino-hotel-events<br />
center complex. That<br />
change has been “well<br />
received in the marketplace,”<br />
Mr. Kehl said.<br />
THE TEAM<br />
EXECUTIVE TEAM<br />
Dan Kehl, CEO<br />
Ken Bonnet, COO<br />
Bobby Kehl, Executive Director<br />
of Golf<br />
Dan White, GM Shared Services<br />
Karlyn Ollendick, CIO<br />
Each of Elite’s casinos are outperforming Iowa’s broader<br />
gaming industry, which saw its gambling revenue tick up just<br />
1.1 percent last year according to the Iowa Racing and Gaming<br />
Commission. Adjusted gross gaming revenue increased 4.75<br />
percent at Riverside to $88.1 million, 2 percent at Grand Falls<br />
to $55.6 million, and a whopping 25 percent at Rhythm City,<br />
reaching $65.3 million.<br />
Three separate casino companies were combined in 2015<br />
to form Elite, which is owned by 1,200 Iowans. That’s a fairly<br />
large number of shareholders for a privately held firm, so Elite<br />
acts somewhat like a public company, Mr. Kehl said, but with<br />
key differences. The company is not burdened with quarterly<br />
reports to the Securities Exchange Commission, worries “about<br />
what the stock price did this quarter” or regulations that govern<br />
publicly traded firms.<br />
Adequate financing has been available thus far from local<br />
banks, so going public would “create a lot of issues we don’t<br />
have to worry about,” Mr. Kehl said.<br />
“We look to increase our revenue every year. Our focus is<br />
on maintaining a strong balance sheet through debt reduction<br />
and deploying capital where it makes sense,” he added. A small<br />
executive team allows the firm to make decisions and investments<br />
quickly and easily. “That makes us pretty nimble.”<br />
Elite keeps a close eye on the state for game-changing opportunities.<br />
If the right situation comes along, the company<br />
might consider expanding outside the state, or even a public<br />
offering, Mr. Kehl said. A new division, Elite Hospitality Group,<br />
is pursuing non-gaming opportunities as well.<br />
— Emery Styron<br />
RIVERSIDE CASINO<br />
& GOLF RESORT<br />
12 CBJ’S LARGEST PRIVATELY HELD COMPANIES <strong>2018</strong>
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UICCU<br />
5<br />
JEFF DISTERHOFT<br />
PRESIDENT & CEO<br />
University of Iowa Community Credit Union continued<br />
its climb up the Corridor Business Journal’s <strong>Largest</strong> <strong>Privately</strong><br />
<strong>Held</strong> <strong>Companies</strong> list this year, breaking the top five<br />
and setting a new bar for the state’s banking industry.<br />
The North Liberty-based credit union ranked No. 5<br />
on this year’s list, with $216.3 million in revenue and<br />
435 employees in 2017. That’s a revenue increase of 46 percent<br />
over 2015’s numbers, when it ranked No. 7, and 95 percent<br />
over 2013, when it ranked No. 9.<br />
For President and CEO Jeff<br />
Disterhoft, the organization’s<br />
growth has been both a constant<br />
and a challenge over the<br />
past few decades.<br />
“We’ve been averaging<br />
about 20 percent a year for<br />
20 years, so in that regard our<br />
growth has been comparable<br />
the last couple years to what<br />
we enjoyed 10 years ago, or<br />
maybe even 20 years ago,”<br />
Mr. Disterhoft said. “But I’m<br />
not naïve enough to not realize<br />
that 20 percent growth today<br />
is a little different than 20<br />
percent growth 20 years ago.”<br />
UICCU has faced its share<br />
of growing pains, Mr. Disterhoft<br />
offered, and is working hard to “get folks in the right<br />
seats on the bus,” but it has also grown into a lending and<br />
retail banking giant. It reported $4.67 billion in assets and<br />
$3.53 billion in deposits at the end of last year, making it the<br />
largest financial institution chartered in Iowa. It is also the<br />
largest purchase mortgage lender, and often the largest auto<br />
lender in the state.<br />
The credit union has found an organic formula for success<br />
in competitive rates and a methodical branch expansion plan<br />
that has added one or two new branches each year. That has<br />
taken UICCU’s black-and-gold brand into Black Hawk County,<br />
the Quad Cities and the central Iowa region – a move that “has<br />
gone really well for us,” Mr. Disterhoft said.<br />
Its newest branch opened in Waukee this April and an office<br />
in nearby Ankeny is planned for the fall.<br />
Another piece of the formula is UICCU’s focus on “capturing<br />
its own business” through its five-year old UICCU<br />
Insurance division. Policy sales are up 40 percent year over<br />
year, Mr. Disterhoft said, and offer a promising avenue for<br />
future growth.<br />
“We have really gone back to basics, and trying to capture<br />
the insurance on our home loans, our own car loans,” he said.<br />
“Once we get that part figured out, maybe we can go out marketing<br />
to the rest of the world, but right now we’re just trying<br />
to make sure we’re taking care of our own business, and we’re<br />
doing a better job of that finally.”<br />
UICCU’s success hasn’t come without a price, however. The<br />
credit union is the frequent target of attacks by the state’s banking<br />
industry, which charges that its nonprofit status allows it<br />
to undercut the competition and grow more aggressively. A<br />
$1.2 billion tax cut reform bill passed by the Iowa Senate in<br />
late February included<br />
a measure that would<br />
impose new taxes on<br />
credit unions and lower<br />
them on banks, although<br />
a separate bill<br />
backed by Gov. Kim<br />
Reynolds and the Iowa<br />
House does not include<br />
the provision.<br />
Mr. Disterhoft expressed<br />
confidence<br />
in the legislative process,<br />
noting that the<br />
House and the Governor’s<br />
Office have<br />
been “very supportive<br />
of credit unions,” and<br />
reiterated his industry’s<br />
position that its<br />
tax status saves Iowans<br />
money.<br />
A final agreement<br />
on a tax reform bill<br />
had not yet been<br />
reached as of this<br />
deadline.<br />
Culturally, UIC-<br />
CU continues to lead<br />
in the Corridor, with<br />
the company recently<br />
transitioning to an<br />
unlimited PTO model,<br />
where employees<br />
are allowed to take<br />
THE TEAM<br />
EXECUTIVE TEAM<br />
Jeff Disterhoft, President & CEO<br />
Todd Fanning, SVP & CFO<br />
Jim Kelly, SVP Marketing<br />
Sue Freeman, SVP HR<br />
Dick Noble, SVP Operations<br />
Steve Quigley, SVP Retail Services<br />
Amy Henderson, SVP Mortgage<br />
Scott Wilson, SVP Commercial<br />
BOARD OF DIRECTORS<br />
Karin Franklin, Chair<br />
Sarah Fisher Gardial, Vice Chair<br />
Dean Borg<br />
Laurel Day<br />
Fred Mims<br />
Mark Rolinger<br />
Lynsey Engels<br />
Tom Lepic<br />
Marc Moen<br />
Dave Wright<br />
Andre Perry<br />
SUPPORT TEAM<br />
Raddon Financial Group<br />
RSM US LLP<br />
TMG Financial Services<br />
Wilary Winn LLC<br />
as much time off as they need. Mr. Disterhoft acknowledged<br />
some anxiety about the policy change before it was instituted<br />
at the start of this year, but said it has ultimately been a positive<br />
step for the institution.<br />
“It’s going great. I think there was some trepidation by folks<br />
at the tail end of last year that nobody was going to show up<br />
for work on Jan. 1, but we’re coming up on the end of the first<br />
quarter, and lo and behold, our world works just fine.”<br />
- Adam Moore<br />
14 CBJ’S LARGEST PRIVATELY HELD COMPANIES <strong>2018</strong>
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CBJ’S LARGEST PRIVATELY HELD COMPANIES <strong>2018</strong> 15
GreatAmerica Financial Services<br />
6<br />
TONY GOLOBIC<br />
CHAIRMAN & CEO<br />
GreatAmerica Financial Services passed the quarter-century<br />
mark last year, but it hasn’t lost the lean,<br />
hungry attitude that propelled it from an upstart in<br />
the commercial equipment finance business to a major<br />
player.<br />
The Cedar Rapids-based company’s assets have<br />
topped $2 billion, up from $1.8 billion in 2016 when Great-<br />
America placed fourth on the CBJ’s <strong>Largest</strong> <strong>Privately</strong> <strong>Held</strong><br />
<strong>Companies</strong> list. In the meantime, the company has increased<br />
its employee base from 460 to 516 and broadened its information<br />
technology capabilities,<br />
Chairman and CEO Tony<br />
Golobic said.<br />
GreatAmerica aims to<br />
grow an average of 10 percent<br />
per year, but it doesn’t<br />
meet that goal by focusing<br />
solely on dollars, Mr. Golobic<br />
noted.<br />
“We want to be the best at<br />
helping our customers be more<br />
successful. Revenue growth is<br />
important, and it has always<br />
followed – year over year since<br />
inception – our strategic objective<br />
of being a business without<br />
competition.”<br />
GreatAmerica is “planning<br />
for a more IT-centric future<br />
that provides a frictionless environment for our customers,”<br />
Mr. Golobic added. “Though we are still in the primary business<br />
of financing equipment and software for our resellers’<br />
customers, we want to strengthen our online presence for customers<br />
and prospects who need answers to questions beyond<br />
financing and more about running their businesses.”<br />
Recruiting and retaining talented employees and maintaining<br />
a strong corporate culture have been strengths from<br />
the outset. GreatAmerica shares that expertise via its human<br />
resource consulting arm, which helps clients with the selection<br />
and training of personnel in sales, information systems, managed<br />
services and other areas.<br />
The company’s Collabrance and Portfolio Services business<br />
units have also “grown nicely,” Mr. Golobic said, adding that<br />
jobs in those areas require emerging skillsets in IT, database<br />
management and systems analysis.<br />
Collabrance provides managed IT customers with U.S.-<br />
based, live-answer service desk and network operations functions,<br />
including private label programs that allow clients to<br />
have customer calls answered as if by their own company.<br />
Portfolio Services allows clients such as banks, equipment<br />
leasing companies and solar finance companies to outsource<br />
contract servicing at reduced costs and with fewer operational<br />
barriers. That allows them to concentrate on their core strengths.<br />
Other value-added services include FleetView, a remote<br />
monitoring system for printing devices on a network, and Info-Zone.com,<br />
a secure network that gives proprietary access to<br />
customer files and details of individual leases.<br />
The widening focus has led GreatAmerica to increase its<br />
hiring of beginning to mid-level IT specialists over the last two<br />
years, and change its<br />
recruiting strategy to<br />
include more social<br />
media engagement<br />
and greater use of online<br />
tools such as Indeed,<br />
LinkedIn and<br />
Google. Internal employee<br />
referrals have<br />
gone from about 40<br />
percent of hires to 50<br />
percent, Mr. Golobic<br />
said.<br />
Despite the challenges<br />
of continuous<br />
growth, GreatAmerica<br />
has elected to stay private<br />
rather than access<br />
public markets to raise<br />
additional capital.<br />
“Being public has<br />
some pluses and many<br />
drawbacks,” Mr. Golobic<br />
said. “Publicly-held<br />
companies tend to face<br />
THE TEAM<br />
EXECUTIVE TEAM<br />
Tony Golobic, Chairman & CEO<br />
Stan Herkelman, President<br />
David Pohlman, COO<br />
Joe Terfler, CFO<br />
BOARD OF DIRECTORS<br />
Tony Golobic, Chair<br />
Stan Herkelman<br />
Doug Olson<br />
Paul Rhines<br />
Emmett Scherrman<br />
Doug Sedlacek<br />
John Smith<br />
SUPPORT TEAM<br />
Bank of America<br />
Deloitte<br />
KPMG<br />
Simmons Perrine Moyer<br />
Bergman PLC<br />
Wells Fargo<br />
quarterly pressures<br />
that put short-term<br />
results ahead of long<br />
term objectives. The<br />
ultimate direction and future of publicly owned companies is<br />
subject to pressures from different ownership groups.”<br />
Fortunately for GreatAmerica, “our profitability has enabled<br />
us to generate our own capital for growth and buy out our investors,”<br />
Mr. Golobic noted. “We now have the luxury of being in<br />
control of our future by being a family-owned private company.”<br />
— Emery Styron<br />
16 CBJ’S LARGEST PRIVATELY HELD COMPANIES <strong>2018</strong>
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Passionate Service<br />
Given the BankIowa team’s notable combined<br />
length of service, the breadth of<br />
products and the knowledge that comes<br />
with it, BankIowa has truly grown to be a<br />
single stop for all financial needs. Beyond<br />
the basic checking and savings account offerings,<br />
BankIowa also has a solid menu of<br />
services that include consumer and business<br />
deposit services, commercial and agriculture<br />
business banking, trust services,<br />
investments, mortgages and insurance.<br />
With the local decisions, customized<br />
products, and seasoned staff, BankIowa<br />
has been claimed by some to be the<br />
“hidden jewel” in the market. BankIowa<br />
has the ability to go head-to-head with<br />
larger financial institutions, possessing a<br />
lending limit and array of products that<br />
could be perceived as something only<br />
larger banks have the capacity to offer.<br />
“We feel very fortunate every day to<br />
have the opportunity in our market area<br />
to create long standing banking relationships.<br />
We truly believe and practice our<br />
bank-wide mission of ‘Your financial<br />
future is our professional passion,’” stated<br />
Russ Breazeale, Senior Vice President<br />
and Cedar Rapids Market President.<br />
In recognition of BankIowa’s commitment<br />
to the financial field, it recently<br />
received a 5-Star Superior rating by BauerFinancial,<br />
Inc. BauerFinancial, Inc. is<br />
the nation’s leading independent bank<br />
and credit union rating and research<br />
firm. No institution can pay for or opt<br />
out of a BauerFinancial rating. BankIowa<br />
has earned the highest rating for 28<br />
consecutive quarters. A 5-Star Superior<br />
rating indicates that BankIowa is one of<br />
the strongest banks in the nation, excelling<br />
in such areas as capital, loan quality,<br />
profitability and much more.<br />
Hometown Commitment<br />
A business and its staff are only as strong<br />
as the communities they serve. Knowing<br />
this, BankIowa is dedicated to not only<br />
investing in its communities, but also<br />
supporting its employees’ dedication<br />
to the countless hours they spend helping<br />
their communities be strong and<br />
healthy places to live, work and play. Being<br />
a good neighbor is part of life in the<br />
BankIowa family; supporting educational,<br />
recreational and social service initiatives<br />
come naturally to the organization.<br />
Whether it’s volunteering at the Freedom<br />
Festival Freedom Ride event, contributing<br />
dollars to the building of a new<br />
school or community pool or volunteering<br />
at HACAP and in classrooms, BankIowa<br />
has never hesitated to take a lead<br />
role when needed.<br />
“Nothing makes me feel more satisfied<br />
and proud about the work of every<br />
BankIowan than when I receive unsolicited<br />
feedback about how we made a<br />
positive impact in someone’s life,” Rob<br />
Robinson said. •<br />
FOR OVER 95 YEARS, Banklowa has provided its customers<br />
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Your Financial Future is Our Professional Passion.<br />
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CBJ’S LARGEST PRIVATELY HELD COMPANIES <strong>2018</strong> 17
World Class Industries<br />
7<br />
After hitting a soft patch during the downturn in the<br />
farm economy, World Class Industries in Hiawatha is<br />
getting back to the kind of growth that has made it<br />
one of the Corridor’s largest privately held companies.<br />
The Hiawatha-based supply chain specialist provides<br />
contract management and supply chain consolidation<br />
services to leading equipment manufacturers including<br />
Deere & Co., Caterpillar, CNH and Bobcat. It’s been focused on<br />
providing more value and services to existing customers, a strategy<br />
that has allowed it to tap the trend toward manufacturers<br />
building deeper relationships<br />
with fewer suppliers.<br />
“Parts in – assemblies out,”<br />
is a simple shorthand for what<br />
World Class Industries (WCI)<br />
does, President Brent Cobb<br />
said. The company’s business<br />
peaked in 2013, then slowed<br />
as the decline in ag commodity<br />
prices cut deeply into farm<br />
incomes, resulting in fewer<br />
orders from customers like<br />
Deere and CNH. That spurred<br />
the company to pursue other<br />
sectors for growth, including<br />
BRENT COBB<br />
PRESIDENT<br />
the aviation and aerospace<br />
industries.<br />
Mr. Cobb said the decline<br />
hit a bottom in 2016, and<br />
finally showed a rebound effect this year. Employment is up<br />
about 50 full-time equivalent positions from the market bottom<br />
and revenue has risen to $172.2 million.<br />
World Class Industries is building its eighth facility next to<br />
a factory where Deere builds Family Compact Utility Tractors<br />
in Grovetown, Georgia, and is also moving to improved facilities<br />
in Kaiserslautern, Germany, and Des Moines. The new<br />
50,000-square-foot facility in Grovetown, expected to open this<br />
year, will place WCI in an entirely new region, and allow the<br />
company to better service equipment manufacturers located in<br />
the southeast.<br />
“This year, we’re half market-driven and half new projects,”<br />
Mr. Cobb said.<br />
A major undercurrent<br />
in the manufacturing<br />
industry that<br />
drives WCI’s business<br />
is product complexity.<br />
Customer preferences<br />
are driving more complex<br />
assemblies and<br />
systems. As a result,<br />
manufacturers prefer<br />
to have certain components<br />
preassembled<br />
to avoid bogging down<br />
lines at their main assembly<br />
plants.<br />
The rebounding ag<br />
market has also helped<br />
drive demand. Mr.<br />
Cobb said agricultural<br />
THE TEAM<br />
EXECUTIVE TEAM<br />
Brent Cobb, President<br />
Sandy Kaloupek, Vice President<br />
Patrick Patterson, Director of<br />
Operations<br />
BOARD OF DIRECTORS<br />
Brent Cobb<br />
Michael Rosberg<br />
James Schrempf<br />
Kevin Code<br />
SUPPORT TEAM<br />
Bradley & Riley PC<br />
Cedar Rapids Bank & Trust<br />
CliftonLarsonAllen<br />
producers continued<br />
to expand the size of<br />
their operations even during the downturn, and appear to be<br />
buying new equipment because reliability is even more critical<br />
during key harvest and planting seasons due to the acreage at<br />
stake. Deere and Caterpillar have both issued upbeat sales forecasts<br />
for <strong>2018</strong>, which bodes well for WCI.<br />
Adding customer value is always key for the roughly 140<br />
WCI employees and about 25 temporary employees. The company’s<br />
investments in its Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)<br />
purchasing system in particular have helped drive down procurement<br />
prices for clients, as the company can look for advantageous<br />
price breaks and buy certain commodities in bulk.<br />
“So instead of having someone go part by part and deciding<br />
what we want to do, we’re having that be more algorithm-driven,<br />
and having those orders go out automatically and using some of<br />
those same resources,” Mr. Cobb previously told the CBJ.<br />
Although the company’s work is anything but simple, the<br />
work it does makes things easier for equipment manufacturers.<br />
“We like to say, ‘We simplify supply chain,’” Mr. Cobb said.<br />
- Dave DeWitte<br />
“This year, we’re half<br />
market-driven and half<br />
new projects.”<br />
- BRENT COBB<br />
18 CBJ’S LARGEST PRIVATELY HELD COMPANIES <strong>2018</strong>
How to future-proof your business:<br />
planning for IT adoption<br />
It’s an exciting and challenging time<br />
to be a business leader. Technology<br />
is leveling the playing field between<br />
businesses of all sizes, but it’s also<br />
creating a steep curve for leaders who<br />
don’t understand that tech adoption<br />
is now a key competency in an<br />
organization.<br />
Luckily, “adopting technology” doesn’t<br />
have to mean doing everything<br />
in-house or expensively. In fact,<br />
outsourcing some areas of your IT can<br />
allow you to reduce costs, increase<br />
quality, and re-invest in tech areas that<br />
closely impact your customer or core<br />
product.<br />
3 ways to take control of IT adoption<br />
for your business<br />
Take your business’<br />
future into your own<br />
hands by enlisting the<br />
help of ours.<br />
CCR specializes in strategic<br />
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Contact Us Today<br />
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1. Start by really looking at your budget. Many business leaders struggle<br />
to accurately account for their IT spend, which leads them to believe that<br />
additional investments are out of the realm of possibility. Review your budget<br />
again in <strong>2018</strong> and make sure you are accounting for staff, hardware, software<br />
and project expenses.<br />
2. Make sure your IT priorities are aligned with your business’ key strategies.<br />
Create a roadmap to replace outdated or inefficient systems with ones that will<br />
be easy to replace in the future when newer technologies become available.<br />
(Always pretend that this is sooner than you’d think.)<br />
3. Focus on the core, and enlist help for the rest. IT service desk and support,<br />
IT maintenance, security, and backup/recovery are all incredibly important to<br />
your business. But in today’s business climate, they should not be taking up<br />
the time and resources of people on your team who could be preparing for<br />
the future.<br />
For all these reasons, it’s no surprise that many businesses are beginning<br />
to seek outside help where technology implementation is concerned. The<br />
investment in this type of relationship can be key to scaling technology for<br />
the future of your business – by bringing focus and expertise to an area that<br />
supports your business behind the scenes.<br />
CBJ’S LARGEST PRIVATELY HELD COMPANIES <strong>2018</strong> 19
Stanley Consultants<br />
8<br />
Balancing its long legacy with today’s challenges is<br />
what has kept 105-year-old Stanley Consultants at the<br />
top of the engineering industry, decade after decade.<br />
“We won’t compromise who we are,” said President<br />
and CEO Kate Harris, who was elected to her<br />
current post at the global engineering and consulting<br />
firm in 2017, taking over for Gayle Roberts, who became chair<br />
of the board. “We are incredibly respectful of our legacy. It’s<br />
so important as a foundation for our values – our long history<br />
provides us with equilibrium.”<br />
Founded as Central States<br />
Engineering in 1913, the<br />
Muscatine-based firm originally<br />
focused on regional<br />
jobs like drainage work. It<br />
went international in 1957<br />
and never looked back, now<br />
counting offices not just<br />
across the United States, but<br />
in the Caribbean, the Middle<br />
East, South Asia and the Pacific<br />
region.<br />
Today, Stanley Consultants<br />
is the largest engineering<br />
firm in Iowa with more<br />
KATE HARRIS<br />
PRESIDENT & CEO<br />
than 900 member-owners<br />
in 30 offices worldwide. The<br />
company ranks No. 78 out of<br />
the top 500 engineering design<br />
firms in the U.S. and has been named among the nation’s<br />
top 50 designers in power, fossil fuel, water, wastewater and<br />
transportation by Engineering News-Record.<br />
“Those that know us love us,” Ms. Harris said. “People will<br />
be surprised to learn that Stanley Consultants has designed<br />
some of the largest projects in the world.”<br />
Some of the firm’s highest-profile projects include the<br />
world’s largest desalination water plant in Algeria and providing<br />
master planning and program management services to the<br />
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to reconstruct Iraq’s infrastructure<br />
following the second Gulf War.<br />
Stanley Consultants isn’t content to rest on its laurels, however.<br />
The firm is currently providing master planning services<br />
at Abu Dhabi International Airport, and its design of the new<br />
$95 million Fox River<br />
Bridge along the Illinois<br />
Tollway has garnered<br />
multiple awards,<br />
as well as a finalist nod<br />
for the American Society<br />
of Civil Engineers’<br />
prestigious Outstanding<br />
Civil Engineering<br />
Achievement award.<br />
“With buoyant<br />
markets, Stanley<br />
Consultants is well<br />
positioned in the<br />
power and infrastructure<br />
markets with<br />
THE TEAM<br />
EXECUTIVE TEAM<br />
Kate Harris, President & CEO<br />
Gayle Roberts, Board Chair<br />
Bill Harper, VP & CFO<br />
BOARD OF DIRECTORS<br />
Gayle Roberts, Chair<br />
Steve Hammes<br />
Kate Harris<br />
Mike Helms<br />
Mike Hunzinger<br />
Douglas Smith<br />
Bob Uhler<br />
long-standing relationships<br />
and great<br />
expertise,” Ms. Harris<br />
said. “The firm is capitalizing<br />
on the strength within the company and supplementing<br />
it with new skills and acquisitions to ensure clients<br />
are provided with the best service, expertise and advice.”<br />
The firm is not averse to growth through acquisition, having<br />
purchased Hartwig & Associates, a Denver, Colorado-based<br />
engineering and construction firm in February 2016. But Ms.<br />
Harris said Stanley Consultants, which has bucked the trend<br />
toward “mega firms with many thousands of employees,” will<br />
continue to prioritize its values and clients over growth for<br />
growth’s sake.<br />
“Consolidation in the engineering industry has created a<br />
bifurcated market,” she said. “There are some mega firms with<br />
incredible depth and reach but they sometimes struggle to successfully<br />
provide some of the basic client services that come as<br />
second nature to Stanley Consultants.”<br />
Ms. Harris stressed that Stanley Consultants’ brand stands for<br />
longevity and ethics, as well as “smart and creative solutions.”<br />
“As a privately held company, we can take a longer partnership-based<br />
approach rather than relying on short-term returns,”<br />
she said. “This allows us to think more creatively, dream bigger<br />
dreams and do things in a bold, yet balanced way, calling on<br />
decades of experience and the appropriate risk management.”<br />
- Katharine Carlon<br />
20 CBJ’S LARGEST PRIVATELY HELD COMPANIES <strong>2018</strong>
Celebrating 11 Years<br />
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Centro Inc.<br />
9<br />
BRIAN OLESEN<br />
PRESIDENT & CEO<br />
It’s been a long three years, but there appears to be<br />
light at the end of the tunnel for Centro Inc.<br />
The rotational molding company headquartered<br />
in North Liberty with offices in the U.S., Ireland and<br />
Brazil has weathered three consecutive years of a significant<br />
down cycle in its core markets of agriculture<br />
and construction equipment, and is now seeing a “very robust<br />
bounce back,” according to President and CEO Brian Olesen.<br />
Centro has seen its construction sales surge in particular<br />
as its clients – manufacturers<br />
such as Deere & Co., Caterpillar<br />
and Toro – have responded<br />
to stronger global demand<br />
for infrastructure and homes.<br />
The ag sector appears to be<br />
trending upward as well.<br />
Centro is also reaping the<br />
benefits of its investments<br />
in its R&D and engineering<br />
operations, which have kept<br />
demand up and attracted new<br />
customers. Innovations like<br />
its diesel exhaust fluid (DEF)<br />
tanks and its patented RotoLoPerm<br />
process, which limits<br />
fuel vapors from leaking<br />
from molded gas tanks, have<br />
helped manufacturers meet<br />
increasingly stringent environmental regulations, while also<br />
creating new licensing streams for the company. New markets<br />
have similarly opened up, ranging from molded lawn and garden<br />
items to Gunner Kennels.<br />
“Engineering is one of those resources that can set us<br />
apart from other rotational molders in the industry today,”<br />
Vice President of Engineering Alvin Spence previously told<br />
CBS2/FOX28. “Centro has always had a vision of setting<br />
ourselves apart providing solutions to the OEMs that they<br />
can’t get anywhere else.”<br />
The company hit $119.4 million in revenue in 2017, and is<br />
up 25 percent year over year eight months into its current fiscal<br />
year, Mr. Olesen said.<br />
“Interest rates remain low, consumer and business leader<br />
confidence is high, and we support good strong companies<br />
in industries that will<br />
prosper,” Mr. Olesen<br />
wrote in an email.<br />
“The overall fundamental<br />
of population<br />
growth needs infrastructure<br />
and food to<br />
sustain it, and those<br />
are our key markets.”<br />
Indeed, if anything<br />
could derail the good<br />
times, it’s the company’s<br />
ability to hire people<br />
to make its products.<br />
Centro has grown<br />
over the past two<br />
years from about 850<br />
employees to nearly<br />
1,000; if all of its open<br />
positions were filled,<br />
the company would<br />
cross the 1,000 mark, Mr. Olesen said.<br />
THE TEAM<br />
EXECUTIVE TEAM<br />
Brian Olesen, President & CEO<br />
Tripp Traicoff, VP Operations<br />
Alvin Spence, VP Engineering<br />
BOARD OF DIRECTORS<br />
Diane Flynn<br />
Brian Olesen<br />
Gary Rozek<br />
SUPPORT TEAM<br />
Bradley & Riley PC<br />
CliftonLarsonAllen<br />
Wells Fargo<br />
Centro currently finds itself capacity constrained at its largest<br />
plants, and has instituted “significant wage increases” at all<br />
of its locations in a race to keep up with the global economic<br />
recovery. In North Liberty, the company is now hiring workers<br />
at $16.20 per hour to start without experience, with full benefits,<br />
Mr. Olesen said.<br />
“It’s all about the labor. Our biggest constraint managing<br />
our growth is people, or the lack of them,” he said. “If our local<br />
businesses are to continue growing, we need growth in the<br />
labor pool.”<br />
Part of the solution to the company’s workforce challenges<br />
will have to come from a regional willingness to reevaluate<br />
and promote manufacturing jobs as a viable profession, Mr.<br />
Olesen added.<br />
“I just read that in January there were 425,000 open manufacturing<br />
jobs [in the country], so it is felt everywhere,” he<br />
added. “We need to do a better job in promoting manufacturing<br />
as a career opportunity. All nine of our Centro manufacturing<br />
locations are being run by long-term associates that started<br />
without any experience and at an entry-level position.”<br />
- Adam Moore<br />
22 CBJ’S LARGEST PRIVATELY HELD COMPANIES <strong>2018</strong>
ADVERTISEMENT<br />
F & M Bank – Continuing to<br />
Exceed Client’s Expectations<br />
The F & M Team at ‘Bowl for Kids Sake’ sponsored by Big Brothers Big Sisters<br />
of East Central Iowa. Pictured: Jim Bell, Jen Finn, Elaine Yanda, Bec Schneiter,<br />
Chad Kellogg, Kris Wetrich, Nate Dunn, Julie Herzog and Natasha Jones<br />
Community banks continue to thrive<br />
in the Corridor and F & M Bank is no<br />
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Bank continues to cultivate current and<br />
develop new markets in order to grow<br />
the organization.<br />
As it experiences this growth, F & M<br />
offers the technology-based banking that<br />
clients and prospects demand, but insists<br />
that personalized, relationship-based<br />
banking continues to be the core of what<br />
they do. “We strive for controlled growth<br />
as we look to the future. We want to develop<br />
opportunities with new and existing<br />
clients that result in a mutually beneficial<br />
relationship for the client and the bank,”<br />
states Michael W. Dunn, President.<br />
F & M Bank’s team of financial experts<br />
and strong family connections differentiates<br />
them from other banks. Investing<br />
in, and development of their team are<br />
top priorities for the bank’s leadership.<br />
To date, F & M’s team of 120 financial<br />
professionals have a total of over 1,500<br />
years of banking experience. That is experience<br />
you can trust. The cumulative<br />
years of experience has allowed F & M to<br />
create a culture that supports growth for<br />
its employees and its clients. This culture<br />
is based on integrity, trust, performance<br />
and reward. F & M knows that creating a<br />
strong, healthy organization results in a<br />
stronger, more viable organization.<br />
Understanding our client base and<br />
tailoring our services to them is why F &<br />
M Bank has continued to thrive throughout<br />
the bank’s history. A genuine commitment<br />
and active involvement in the<br />
communities where our clients live and<br />
do business is a big part of what we do.<br />
The F & M Bank Cares program, which<br />
we originated in the year 2000, connects<br />
our team members with their local communities<br />
and allows us to make a difference.<br />
The F & M team members have<br />
personally donated over $120,000 to local<br />
families and charities.<br />
A locally owned institution for 93<br />
years, F & M currently has three generations<br />
of the Dunn family involved in the<br />
management and operations of the bank.<br />
Mutual respect and setting the highest<br />
expectations for one another are key elements<br />
to the success of the bank, as well<br />
as building lasting relationships with its<br />
clients. We hold ourselves accountable<br />
for not only our performance but for the<br />
success of our clients. The focus continues<br />
to be on offering prompt, personalized financial<br />
services and proactively assisting<br />
clients in achieving their financial goals.<br />
“F & M’s personal touch has proven<br />
to be successful,” said Dunn. “We care<br />
about our client’s success. Our mission<br />
is to exceed clients’ expectations, and it’s<br />
our people that make the difference.”<br />
Whether visiting one of F & M’s branches<br />
or speaking with a team member over<br />
the phone, it’s the bank’s personal and<br />
professional way of doing business that<br />
continues to make it “the right choice”<br />
for customers throughout the Corridor. •<br />
CBJ’S LARGEST PRIVATELY HELD COMPANIES <strong>2018</strong> 23
West Side Transport<br />
10<br />
Today Cedar Rapids, tomorrow the world.<br />
That might be an oversimplification of West<br />
Side Transport’s long-term business plan, but<br />
it certainly captures its essence, according to<br />
COO Ron Joseph. The 45-year-old trucking<br />
company has been growing rapidly as of late,<br />
spurred by the recent success of its West Side Logistics arm.<br />
“I think the biggest change is we’ve done a lot of expansion<br />
– we’ve kind of spread our<br />
wings out,” Mr. Joseph said.<br />
Founded by Dale Vogt to<br />
salvage and resell spilled grain<br />
found in railroad yards, West<br />
Side Transport’s traditional<br />
customer base has long been<br />
located around Cedar Rapids.<br />
In the last three years, however,<br />
the company has added<br />
full-service facilities in Chicago<br />
and Columbus, Ohio<br />
to terminals in Glenwood,<br />
Illinois, St. Paul, Minnesota<br />
and Indianapolis, boosting<br />
RON JOSEPH<br />
COO<br />
employment by more than<br />
220 employees in the process.<br />
Another new facility in Harrisburg,<br />
Pennsylvania is set to<br />
come online later this year, adding 100 employees.<br />
There has been some local expansion as well. The company,<br />
now led by owner and CEO Don Vogt, has built a new<br />
drop yard south of Cedar Rapids and will move its corporate<br />
office to the site in 2019. It has also opened a new office by<br />
The Eastern Iowa Airport for its logistics company, which has<br />
grown in the last three years from zero to $12 million in revenue,<br />
Mr. Joseph said. That company forecasts revenues of $16<br />
million next year.<br />
“That [logistics<br />
business] started with<br />
a couple of employees<br />
and now has over 15,”<br />
he noted, describing<br />
it as a truck brokerage<br />
that functions “basically<br />
as an intermediary<br />
between trucking<br />
and shippers.”<br />
The trucking business<br />
is changing, Mr.<br />
THE TEAM<br />
EXECUTIVE TEAM<br />
Don Vogt, Chairman & CEO<br />
John Dalrymple, SVP & CFO<br />
Ron Joseph, COO<br />
Joseph said, adding that “finding a driver to live in a truck<br />
for a week is a challenge.” The creation of new trucking<br />
hubs around the country has helped West Side create more<br />
home-daily jobs, and thus recruit and retain more drivers.<br />
“That means they drive a truck and start at 8 a.m. and come<br />
home at 5 at night, like anyone else, compared to over-the-road<br />
jobs, where they leave on Sunday and come back Friday or Saturday,”<br />
he said. “It’s a tough life. I think expansion and logistics<br />
have been our big initiatives the last couple of years.”<br />
The goal is to keep the logistics arm growing by 20 percent<br />
annually, Mr. Joseph said, and its core trucking business by<br />
5-10 percent a year.<br />
“We expect our non-assets – managing freight and customers<br />
– to be as big as our assets – our drivers and trucks,” he said.<br />
With all of the headwinds facing the trucking industry, West<br />
Side’s strong and varied clientele has helped sustain its growth.<br />
“We have account managers, salespeople inside and outside<br />
that are focused on winning new business every year,” Mr. Joseph<br />
said. “Last year, we started doing business with Procter &<br />
Gamble, General Mills and Target. We have International Paper,<br />
Chrysler, Lowes, Walmart and Toyota, so we have a really<br />
blue-chip base of customers and there’s so much opportunity<br />
to grow with those customers.”<br />
- Jim Offner<br />
“Last year, we started<br />
doing business with<br />
Procter & Gamble, General<br />
Mills and Target. We<br />
have International Paper,<br />
Chrysler, Lowes, Walmart<br />
and Toyota, so we have a<br />
really blue-chip base of<br />
customers and there’s so<br />
much opportunity to grow<br />
with those customers.”<br />
- RON JOSEPH<br />
24 CBJ’S LARGEST PRIVATELY HELD COMPANIES <strong>2018</strong>
FOCUSED ON<br />
BUILDING<br />
QUALITY<br />
Chauncey, Iowa City<br />
Scheduled completion – Fall 2019<br />
319.338.1125<br />
1310 Highland Court, Iowa City<br />
mccomaslacina.com<br />
LOCALLY OWNED FOR 40 YEARS<br />
helping your<br />
business make the right<br />
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Our belief in providing a great local experience<br />
extends far beyond our Internet, voice and<br />
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Don’t just take our word for it, see why other<br />
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installation.....They rate a 5 star in our book!”<br />
- Kelly Beckler, MMS Consultants<br />
Internet • Voice • Data | 319-298-6484 | ImOn.net/Business<br />
CBJ’S LARGEST PRIVATELY HELD COMPANIES <strong>2018</strong> 25
Modern <strong>Companies</strong><br />
KEN BROWN<br />
CEO<br />
11<br />
Modern <strong>Companies</strong> has evolved and expanded<br />
across the region over the past seven<br />
decades as mergers and acquisitions have<br />
reshaped the firm, from its start as Modern<br />
Refrigeration in 1939 to Modern & Puth to<br />
Modern Piping in the 1960s. But it wasn’t until<br />
the turn of the 21st century that things really started to heat<br />
up for the company, according to CEO Ken Brown.<br />
“The early 2000s was really the beginning of our growth and<br />
expansion with the development<br />
of the Dubuque market<br />
and our entrance into the<br />
Minneapolis market when we<br />
were selected for a large biopharmaceutical<br />
project, the<br />
largest of its kind at the time,”<br />
Mr. Brown said. “This is really<br />
the beginning of the culture<br />
of the company where we<br />
look for opportunities that<br />
fit our skillsets. We have been<br />
expanding into different services<br />
and markets based on<br />
client requests, market conditions<br />
and new technologies<br />
for more than a decade.”<br />
Today, the Cedar Rapids-based<br />
fabricator counts<br />
336 employees, including dozens stationed at offices in Des<br />
Moines, the Quad Cities, Dubuque, Minneapolis and Oklahoma<br />
City. Those outlying markets have helped fuel the company’s<br />
recent expansion, with revenues growing by more than<br />
300 percent in Modern’s Des Moines office in 2017 alone,<br />
and Oklahoma City’s Mid-Continent Group – in which Modern<br />
<strong>Companies</strong> is a minority investor – seeing “tremendous<br />
growth” and contracts on specialty projects as far away as<br />
South Korea, Mr. Brown said.<br />
Modern <strong>Companies</strong> most recently acquired the service division<br />
assets of Johnson Contracting Co. in Moline, Illinois,<br />
giving it a better foothold in the western Illinois market.<br />
“The strategic acquisition allows us to better serve our current<br />
customers in the Quad Cities and increases our number of<br />
service technicians from 18 to 31, including Des Moines operations,”<br />
Mr. Brown said. “The Quad Cities is a larger market than<br />
Cedar Rapids, and we feel that it is underserved in our space.”<br />
Two of Modern’s newest divisions – Modern Compressed<br />
Air (MCA) and Modern Control Services (MCS) – are growing,<br />
too, Mr. Brown said.<br />
Modern Compressed Air supplies aluminum tubing and fittings<br />
for compressed air and inert gas distribution in addition<br />
to air compressors, dryers, hose reels and accessories. MCA<br />
also represents Powerex medical gas components for use in any<br />
medical gas delivery system.<br />
Modern Control Services represents building automation<br />
and analytics solutions from Siemens, Delta and CopperTree<br />
Analytics, in addition to building entry control and lighting<br />
control solutions, Mr. Brown said.<br />
The company is also pushing to develop its own technologies<br />
in the competitive construction industry. It last year launched<br />
FabPro LLC, a software<br />
company that has<br />
developed “the only<br />
solution for fabrication<br />
shop productivity<br />
tracking in the construction<br />
industry” and<br />
has other products under<br />
development, Mr.<br />
Brown noted.<br />
The company’s<br />
wide range of construction<br />
expertise<br />
and technologies has<br />
earned it a role in a<br />
number of high-profile<br />
Corridor projects,<br />
including the University<br />
of Iowa’s Stead<br />
THE TEAM<br />
EXECUTIVE TEAM<br />
Ken Brown, CEO<br />
Dave Brown, Director<br />
Matt Huber, CFO<br />
BOARD OF DIRECTORS<br />
Ken Brown<br />
Dave Brown<br />
Kristin White<br />
SUPPORT TEAM<br />
F&M Bank<br />
RSM US LLP<br />
Simmons Perrine Moyer<br />
Bergman PLC<br />
Family Children’s<br />
Hospital, the new Hancher Auditorium and the UI’s new<br />
Visual Arts Building.<br />
“Without the investments in virtual design construction<br />
and our fabrication facility in Cedar Rapids, we could have not<br />
completed these projects efficiently,” he said.<br />
Strategic partnerships are set to be a focus for Modern <strong>Companies</strong><br />
in <strong>2018</strong>, Mr. Brown said. The firm is working with other<br />
“like-minded” partners in Des Moines and Minneapolis, and<br />
plans to have agreements in place this year. It’s a logical evolution<br />
for a company that has grown through relationships and<br />
alignments with other firms, and is fighting hard to stay relevant<br />
in a rapidly changing industry.<br />
“I wouldn’t have thought five years ago we would be rounding<br />
out our services, looking into other opportunities and developing<br />
software,” he said. “The construction industry is moving<br />
faster than ever before.”<br />
- Jim Offner<br />
26 CBJ’S LARGEST PRIVATELY HELD COMPANIES <strong>2018</strong>
<strong>Largest</strong> <strong>Privately</strong> <strong>Held</strong> <strong>Companies</strong><br />
(Ranked by 2017 Revenues)<br />
<strong>Largest</strong> <strong>Privately</strong> <strong>Held</strong> <strong>Companies</strong><br />
(Ranked by 2017 Revenues)<br />
RANK Name/Address Contact Information Year Established Top Local Executives 2017 Revenue<br />
Number of<br />
Employees<br />
FT/PT<br />
12<br />
McComas-Lacina Construction<br />
1310 Highland Court<br />
Iowa City, IA 52240<br />
(319) 338-1125; fax (319) 338-5964<br />
www.mccomaslacina.com<br />
1977<br />
Mike Hahn<br />
Al Morelock<br />
$92,000,000<br />
155<br />
- -/- -<br />
13<br />
HR Green Inc.<br />
8710 Earhart Lane SW<br />
Cedar Rapids, IA 52404<br />
(800) 728-7805<br />
(319) 841-4000; fax (319) 841-4012<br />
www.hrgreen.com<br />
1913<br />
Steven Heyer<br />
Richard White<br />
Michelle Byard<br />
$86,700,000<br />
436<br />
385/51<br />
14<br />
The Accel Group LLC<br />
3100 Oakland Road NE<br />
Cedar Rapids, IA 52402<br />
(800) 765-8611<br />
(319) 365-8611; fax (319) 365-6919<br />
www.acceladvantage.com<br />
1928<br />
Tim Gassmann<br />
Mike Byl<br />
Kevin Mease<br />
$86,500,000<br />
75<br />
73/2<br />
15<br />
Acumen<br />
425 Second St., Ste. 1275<br />
Cedar Rapids, IA 52401<br />
(319) 731-0500; fax (319) 366-3636<br />
www.acumenadv.com<br />
2012<br />
Andrew Morf<br />
Kirby Moss<br />
$85,000,000B<br />
39<br />
- -/- -<br />
16<br />
Folience<br />
230 Second St. SE, Ste. 100<br />
Cedar Rapids, IA 52401<br />
(800) 397-8333<br />
(319) 200-2800<br />
www.folience.com<br />
1884<br />
Daniel Goldstein<br />
Cathy Terukina<br />
$78,400,000<br />
509<br />
- -/- -<br />
17<br />
Ready Wireless<br />
955 Kacena Road, Ste. A<br />
Hiawatha, IA 52233<br />
(800) 516-0414<br />
(319) 294-6080; fax (319) 294-6081<br />
www.readymobile.com<br />
2005<br />
Dennis Henderson<br />
Fred Haumesser<br />
Scott Kokotan<br />
$71,400,000<br />
135<br />
132/3<br />
18<br />
Pancheros<br />
2475 Coral Ct. Ste. B<br />
Coralville, IA 52241<br />
(319) 545-6565; fax (319) 545-6570<br />
www.pancheros.com<br />
1992 Rodney Anderson $69,000,000<br />
222<br />
- -/- -<br />
19<br />
Shive-Hattery Architecture &<br />
Engineering<br />
316 Second St. SE., Ste. 500<br />
Cedar Rapids, IA 52401<br />
(800) 798-0313<br />
(319) 362-0313; fax (319) 364-2883<br />
www.shive-hattery.com/<br />
1895<br />
James Lee<br />
Shawn Lueth<br />
Phil Larson<br />
$58,700,000<br />
380<br />
346/34<br />
20<br />
Collins Community Credit Union<br />
1150 42nd St. NE<br />
Cedar Rapids, IA 52402<br />
(800) 475-1150<br />
(319) 393-9000; fax (319) 378-3399<br />
www.collinscu.org<br />
1940<br />
Stefanie Rupert<br />
Benjamin Wickum<br />
$57,600,000<br />
301<br />
293/8<br />
21<br />
BerganKDV<br />
2720 First Ave. NE, Ste. 300C<br />
Cedar Rapids, IA 52402<br />
(800) 741-7087<br />
(319) 294-8000; fax (319) 294-9003<br />
www.bergankdv.com<br />
1945D<br />
Loren Viere<br />
Vince Ellison<br />
Cori Power<br />
Brittani Von Roden<br />
$52,100,000<br />
355<br />
347/8<br />
22<br />
Involta<br />
460 12th Ave. SE, Ste. 100<br />
Cedar Rapids, IA 52401<br />
(855) 364-3061<br />
(319) 261-3008; fax (319) 362-1046<br />
www.involta.com<br />
2007<br />
Bruce Lehrman<br />
Jim Buie<br />
Ken Kremer<br />
$47,500,000<br />
198<br />
- -/- -<br />
23<br />
Ohnward Bancshares Inc.<br />
665 Marion Blvd.<br />
Marion, IA 52302<br />
(319) 373-1371<br />
www.ohnwardbank.com<br />
2009E<br />
Abram Tubbs<br />
Kevin King<br />
$47,200,000<br />
261<br />
- -/- -<br />
24<br />
CEC (Communications Engineering<br />
Company)<br />
405 Boyson Road<br />
Hiawatha, IA 52233<br />
(800) 377-0271<br />
(319) 294-9000; fax (319) 395-6096<br />
www.cecinfo.com<br />
1946<br />
Jim Smith<br />
Matt Dlouhy<br />
$42,000,000<br />
250<br />
- -/- -<br />
Note: Entries may be edited for length and clarity.B Revenue includes premiums C Other location: 2530 Corridor Way Ste. 301; Coralville, IA 52241 D Merger in 2015 created BerganKDV E Ohnward Bancshares, Inc. was<br />
formed in 1967<br />
CBJ’S LARGEST PRIVATELY HELD COMPANIES <strong>2018</strong> 27
LPH by the Numbers<br />
EMPLOYEE BASE<br />
(TOP 10 COMPANIES)<br />
TOP SUPPORT<br />
ORGANIZATIONS<br />
(AS DETERMINED BY COMPANY<br />
RESPONSES IN 2016 & <strong>2018</strong>)<br />
BANKS<br />
Cedar Rapids Bank & Trust<br />
Wells Fargo<br />
LAW FIRMS<br />
Bradley & Riley PC<br />
Simmons Perrine Moyer<br />
Bergman PLC<br />
ACCOUNTANTS/<br />
CONSULTANTS<br />
RSM US LLP<br />
CliftonLarsonAllen<br />
18,000<br />
16,000<br />
14,000<br />
12,000<br />
10,000<br />
8,000<br />
6,000<br />
2012 2014 2016 <strong>2018</strong><br />
TOTAL REVENUES<br />
(TOP 10 COMPANIES)<br />
$4,500<br />
MILLIONS<br />
$4,000<br />
$3,500<br />
$3,000<br />
$2,500<br />
$2,000<br />
$1,500<br />
2012 2014 2016 <strong>2018</strong><br />
2: WOMEN-LED<br />
COMPANIES<br />
on the <strong>2018</strong> list (Van Meter &<br />
Stanley Consultants), up from 1 in<br />
2014 and 2016, and none in 2012.<br />
6: THE MOST<br />
SPOTS JUMPED<br />
by a company making the Top 10,<br />
by Ruffalo Noel Levitz<br />
(No. 14 in 2012 to No. 8 in 2016).<br />
28 CBJ’S LARGEST PRIVATELY HELD COMPANIES <strong>2018</strong>
LPH by the Numbers<br />
<strong>2018</strong> INDUSTRY BREAKDOWN<br />
(TOP 35 COMPANIES)<br />
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES.................. 8<br />
BANKING/FINANCE............................. 6<br />
CUSTOMER SERVICE............................ 5<br />
CONSTRUCTION/DEVELOPMENT..... 4<br />
INSURANCE........................................... 4<br />
TECH........................................................ 3<br />
MANUFACTURING................................ 2<br />
TRANSPORTATION............................... 2<br />
GAMING.................................................. 1<br />
MILLHISER<br />
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WEALTH MANAGEMENT<br />
AGRIBUSINESS<br />
www.acceladvantage.com<br />
Mike Byl, President<br />
Tim Gassmann, CEO<br />
Serving clients across Iowa with offices in<br />
Cedar Rapids | Waverly | Cedar Falls<br />
CBJ’S LARGEST PRIVATELY HELD COMPANIES <strong>2018</strong> 29
<strong>Largest</strong> <strong>Privately</strong> <strong>Held</strong> <strong>Companies</strong><br />
<strong>Largest</strong> <strong>Privately</strong> <strong>Held</strong> <strong>Companies</strong><br />
(Ranked by 2017 Revenues)<br />
(Ranked by 2017 Revenues)<br />
RANK Name/Address Contact Information Year Established Top Local Executives 2017 Revenue<br />
Number of<br />
Employees<br />
FT/PT<br />
25<br />
Garling Construction Inc.<br />
1120 11th St.B<br />
Belle Plaine, IA 52208<br />
(319) 444-3409; fax (319) 444-2437<br />
www.garlingconstruction.com<br />
1973<br />
Doug DeMeulenaere<br />
Troy Pins<br />
Rick Maas<br />
$42,000,000<br />
50<br />
- -/- -<br />
26<br />
CarePro Health Services<br />
1014 Fifth Ave. SE<br />
Cedar Rapids, IA 52403<br />
(800) 575-8810<br />
(319) 363-4554; fax (319) 896-4347<br />
www.careprohealthservices.com<br />
1971<br />
Michelle Jensen<br />
Brent Bormann<br />
$41,100,000<br />
175<br />
- -/- -<br />
27<br />
MCI, LC<br />
2937 Sierra Ct. SW<br />
Iowa City, IA 52540<br />
www.mci.world 2015 Anthony Marlowe $38,200,000<br />
1,400<br />
1,100/300<br />
28<br />
MediRevv Inc.<br />
2600 University Parkway<br />
Coralville, IA 52241<br />
(888) 665-6310<br />
(319) 665-2901; fax (319) 665-6070<br />
www.medirevv.com<br />
2007<br />
Chris Klitgaard<br />
Brad Baldwin<br />
Mike Goedken<br />
$35,800,000<br />
630<br />
- -/- -<br />
29<br />
Watts Group<br />
425 E. Oakdale Blvd., Ste. 101<br />
Coralville, IA 52241<br />
(319) 338-4100<br />
www.wattsgroup.com<br />
1978<br />
Gary Watts<br />
Mike VanDyke<br />
Brian Watts<br />
$35,000,000<br />
27<br />
26/1<br />
30<br />
Clickstop Inc.<br />
202 Blue Creek Drive<br />
Urbana, IA 52345<br />
(800) 383-0592<br />
(866) 322-7883<br />
www.clickstop.com<br />
2005<br />
Tim Guenther<br />
Todd Kuennen<br />
Chad Brandmeyer<br />
$34,500,000<br />
166<br />
145/21<br />
31<br />
Farmers State Bank<br />
1240 Eighth Ave.<br />
Marion, IA 52302<br />
(319) 377-4891<br />
www.myfsbonline.com<br />
1927<br />
Gene Neighbor<br />
Steve Neighbor<br />
$33,600,000<br />
151<br />
136/15<br />
32<br />
ImOn Communications LLC<br />
625 First St. SE, Ste. 250<br />
Cedar Rapids, IA 52401<br />
(319) 298-6484; fax (319) 261-4636<br />
www.imon.net<br />
2007<br />
Patrice Carroll<br />
Jeremy Wild<br />
$32,900,000<br />
108<br />
106/2<br />
33<br />
Thomas L. Cardella & Associates<br />
3735 Queen Court SW<br />
Cedar Rapids, IA 52404<br />
(319) 730-4000; fax (319) 393-3901<br />
www.tlcassociates.com<br />
2007<br />
Thomas Cardella<br />
Tom Moroney<br />
Ashley Hahesy<br />
$31,000,000<br />
1,353<br />
1,135/218<br />
34<br />
Western Fraternal Life Association<br />
1900 First Ave. NE<br />
Cedar Rapids, IA 52402<br />
(877) 935-2467<br />
(319) 363-2653; fax (319) 363-8806<br />
www.wflains.org<br />
1897 Craig Van Dyke $29,800,000<br />
34<br />
- -/- -<br />
35<br />
BankIowa<br />
2701 Edgewood Pkwy. SW<br />
Cedar Rapids, IA 52404<br />
(877)-275-7034<br />
(319) 654-0525; fax (319) 395-9422<br />
www.bankiowa.com<br />
1921<br />
Rob Robinson<br />
Dolph Leytze<br />
Alison Urbina<br />
$28,300,000<br />
139<br />
113/26<br />
Note: Entries may be edited for length and clarity.B Also office at 5210 20th Ave. SW, Cedar Rapids, IA 52404: (319) 398-3340<br />
30 CBJ’S LARGEST PRIVATELY HELD COMPANIES <strong>2018</strong>
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Hiawatha, IA 52233<br />
LOCATIONS<br />
CRYSTAL LAKE (IL)<br />
EAST MOLINE (IL)<br />
CEDAR FALLS (IA)<br />
DES MOINES (IA)<br />
HIAWATHA (IA)<br />
AUGUSTA (GA)<br />
WORCESTER (UK)<br />
KAISERSLAUTERN (GERMANY)<br />
CBJ’S LARGEST PRIVATELY HELD COMPANIES <strong>2018</strong> 31
CRST TIME LINE<br />
Proud to call<br />
Cedar Rapids<br />
home for over<br />
60 years!<br />
CEDAR RAPIDS HAS ALWAYS COME FIRST FOR US.<br />
It’s been over 60 years since we began operations<br />
as Cedar Rapids Steel Transportation. Thousands of<br />
employees and millions of miles later, we’ve never<br />
lost sight of our home. We know the extraordinary<br />
dedication and work ethic of the people in this<br />
community have been the power behind our success.<br />
That success has allowed CRST to support not only<br />
a large local workforce but to invest millions of<br />
dollars in this community. We believe supporting<br />
many deserving non-profit organizations helps<br />
to make Cedar Rapids a better place to live...and<br />
keeps CRST a great place to work.<br />
Visit us at www.crst.com/careers<br />
1955 Cedar Rapids Steel Transportation is founded by<br />
Herald Smith.<br />
1963 CRST reaches $1 million in annual revenue.<br />
1968 Herald Smith purchases BOS Lines to quadruple<br />
the size of CRST and set the stage for growth in the<br />
1970s.<br />
1974 CRST expands into dry freight and refrigerated<br />
commodities. Cedar Rapids Steel Transport changes<br />
name to CRST, Inc.<br />
1977 Paul Shawver becomes President; Herald Smith<br />
remains Chairman of the Board.<br />
1983 John Smith becomes President; Paul Shawver<br />
becomes Vice Chairman of the Board.<br />
1984 Malone Freight Lines is acquired.<br />
1985 CRST International, Inc. is formed.<br />
1991 CRST Logistics is formed.<br />
1997 John M. Smith purchases company from his family.<br />
2007 CRST Dedicated Services is formed.<br />
2008 Driver Training Center is opened on Cedar Rapids<br />
campus.<br />
2010 John Smith becomes Chairman of the Board;<br />
Dave Rusch is appointed President and CEO.<br />
2011 Specialized Transportation, Inc. is acquired. CRST<br />
reaches $1 billion in revenue. Transport Topics names<br />
CRST the Fastest Growing Carrier.<br />
2013 Special Products Division of Allied Van Lines and BESL<br />
are acquired.<br />
2014 CRST breaks ground on new head-quarters in<br />
downtown Cedar Rapids. CRST launches culturechanging<br />
Gold Rules driver retention initiative.<br />
2015 CRST acquires Pegasus Transportation and celebrates<br />
60th Anniversary. Joe Scherbring achieves 5 million<br />
accident-free miles.<br />
Herald Smith, beloved company founder passes away.<br />
2016 CRST acquires Gardner Trucking, California’s largest<br />
private carrier.