One afternoon, a truck pulled up to a JT Logistics warehouse in the Des Moines area. Due to a mix-up, the driver had arrived two hours before his scheduled drop-off. Now, his son’s T-ball game was about to begin, and he was almost certainly going to miss it—unless something amazing happened.
A New Lease on Life: How Goldfinch Growth Reimagined Altoona’s Old Police Station
Station 700 doesn’t look anything like Altoona’s old police station or public library, though it was both of these things in a past life. And it certainly doesn’t feel like it was built 5 decades ago.
It’s just too stunning, too polished.
Good Medicine: How UnityPoint Health Helps Altoona’s Residents & Economy Thrive
When we think of infrastructure, we often picture roads and bridges, electrical wires and pipes—the physical “backbone” of a community.
But there is another kind of infrastructure, one that consists not of concrete and wire, but hospitals, outpatient centers, and the many services they provide.
This ‘wellness infrastructure’, while less visible than a bridge or an electrical station, is no less important. The variety, quality and accessibility of local medical services impacts a community in myriad ways, from the personal to the far-reaching, shaping the long-term wellness of residents and visitors as well as the viability of the local economy.
It’s more than the pipes and wires. MidAmerican Energy is building strong, sustainable communities.
It often takes a power outage to get us thinking about the energy we use every day. (Electricity suddenly became very interesting following the 2020 derecho.)
But ever since MidAmerican Energy launched their Altoona-based Service Center in 2019—a facility that supports the power MidAmerican delivers to communities throughout the Central Iowa region—energy has been on our minds.
Continue reading…When COVID hit, this new Altoona business sprang into action to support the community.
Rick and Stephanie Troncin were still catching their breath after opening their new business—Fully Promoted Altoona—when the pandemic hit, forcing many of their customers to temporarily shut down and pumping the brakes on their fledgling franchise.
Continue reading…A local baseball coach & business owner swings for the fences
Luke Peterson is always telling his little leaguers to keep their eye on the ball. He should know. While he worked as a ‘captive’ agent in the insurance business for twelve years—meaning that he worked for a single provider—he always had his sights set on going independent.
In 2019, Luke took a swing, founding his own independent company, Luke Peterson Insurance, in Altoona.
As his business and the community around him continue to grow, it seems that he’s hit a home run.
Continue reading…Legacy Bank’s Roots Run Deep in the Altoona Region
Not many businesses can say they’re celebrating their 117th birthday. But Legacy Bank has managed to navigate the changing and often turbulent world of the last century – including not one but two global pandemics – and have continually evolved to meet the needs of the communities they serve.
Continue reading…MEET THE ALTOONA BUSINESS WITH 3 GENERATIONS WORKING ON 1 JOB SITE
You’ll find many family-owned businesses in Altoona, Iowa. But few can claim to have three generations working on the same project.
“We’re in the Business of Supporting Business”: 50 Years of the Altoona Area Chamber of Commerce
As the Altoona Area Chamber of Commerce celebrates 50 years of service, we take a closer look at how the Chamber has helped create a business-friendly climate in Altoona.
Haverkamp Properties Doubles Down on Altoona
“We want to create homes that people love in communities where they love to live.”
In a sign of changing times and the ‘new normal’, the permit for The Emory – a new residential development by Haverkamp Properties – was approved during a recent, rather unconventional Altoona City Council meeting.