8-18 ABM

AB AMES BUSINESS

MONTHLY A U G U S T 2018

August Chamber Update

WANT TO RENT IN AMES? YOU’LL NEED TO MAKE AT LEAST $13.65 PER HOUR SEE PAGE 2

FROZEN TREATS FROM A TINY MOTORIZED TRICYCLE: MEET NEVADA’S NEW ICE CREAM TRUCK SEE PAGE 4

AB

2 | AMES BUSINESS MONTHLY | AUGUST 2018

AMES BUSINESS

MONTHLY AUGUST 2018 Vol. 11, No. 8 AMES TRIBUNE Ames Business Monthly is a publication of the Ames Tribune, 317 Fifth St., Ames, IA, 50010; (515) 232-2160.

3 Ames National Corporation CEO retires 4 Meet Nevada’s new ice cream truck 5 Chamber of Commerce 17 Nevada hair stylist celebrates 40th year in business 18 Nathan Brammer 18 Workiva CEO Rizai resigns 19 Rick Brimeyer

An apartment complex in Ames south of downtown. A recent report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition says renters in Ames need to make between $13 to $15 an hour to afford a one-bedroom apartment. PHOTO BY DAN MIKA/AMES TRIBUNE

Want to rent in Ames? You’ll need to make at least $13.65 per hour

By Dan Mika, Staff Writer dmika@amestrib.com

A nationwide study estimates employees in Ames and nearby cities have to make around twice the minimum wage to afford current rental rates.

According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s 2018 report released last month, renters need to make $13.65 per hour to afford a mid-range one-bedroom apartment or $16.35 per hour to afford a two-bedroom if they live in the 50010 zip code.

That area generally encompasses the city east of University Boulevard and George W. Carver Avenue.

Workers in the 50014 zip code, which encompasses west Ames and parts of Boone County, have to make $15 an hour to afford

a one-bedroom apartment or $18.27 for a two bedroom.

The NLIHC is a Washington D.C.-based firm that advocates for federal housing policy that benefits low-income workers.

It based its figures on how much per hour an employee would have to make to pay the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s fair market rent estimate in the area with no more than 30 percent of their income. Under the department’s definition, households paying more than 30 percent for housing are considered “cost burdened.”

HUD’s fair market rental rate estimate runs from $710 to $780 for a one-bedroom apartment in the city, or $850 to $950 for twobedroom apartments.

It’s not much cheaper

to rent in the smaller cities surrounding Ames. Renters in the Nevada’s zip code need to make $13.08 per hour for a one-bedroom apartment or $15.77 for a two-bedroom.

Story City renters are estimated to need $12.88 an hour to afford a one-bedroom in the city and $15.58 The study did not include estimates for Boone’s zip codes.

Rentals in Ankeny are slightly cheaper than in Ames, with the average oneand two-bedroom apartment requiring a $13.08 and $16.15 per hour wage to afford respectively for west side of the city, and $15 and $18.46 per hour needed to afford a one or two-bedroom apartment respectively for residents on the east side.

See RENT on page 3

AUGUST 2018 | AMES BUSINESS MONTHLY | 3

RENT Continued from page 2

Ames is comparably cheap to other similarsized cities with universities competing the Big 12 collegiate athletics conference. One- and two-bedroom apartments in Manhattan, Kansas would require the renter to make $14.42 or $19.04 to afford the units respectively, while renters in Morgantown, West Virginia would need to make $14.81 or $16.92 to afford a one or twobedroom apartment.

The numbers paint a portrait of affordable rentals being out of reach for a lot of Iowans working low-income jobs.

A minimum-wage worker making $7.25 an hour would have to work at least 65 hours per week to afford a mid-range one-bedroom apartment at fair market value.

In the Ames metro area, the report estimates the average hourly wage for renters is $10.26. At that rate, a worker would have to work 68 hours a week to afford a two-bedroom apartment at the current fair market rate.

Kelli Excell, a property manager at Triplett Properties, said the 30 percent of income figure used in the study isn’t feasible due to the city’s cost of living levels and the prevailing wage from employers for non-skilled work.

“That number seems low if you’re including utilities,” she said.

“I don’t think that’s achievable.”

Excell argues some of the city’s decisions in the past decade have unnecessarily inflated rent prices. She points to an ordinance passed in May by the City Council capping rentals in seven

neighborhoods near Iowa State’s campus to 25 percent, arguing that the policy arbitrarily constricts access to available housing stock.

However, she said one of the chief drivers of high rent prices in the area is caused by the city’s policy to tax any building with three units at the higher commercial rate instead of the residential rate. She argues those costs, along with the added costs of maintaining a rental property to city code, are passed onto the tenants.

“If they were to fix that problem alone, it would drive prices down because other people would have to meet each other (at rent prices) and it’d go lower, lower, lower,” she said.

Iowa State economist Dave Swenson said although a large percentage of Ames residents that would fall under the low-income category are ISU students, full-time residents making the minimum wage simply can’t afford to live in the city’s apartments without other sources of income.

That has driven up wages somewhat, particularly for employers that historically pay low.

“Fewer and fewer employers are able to get away with paying minimum wage,” he said.

“They have to pay substantially higher than that for basic labor, whether it’s the service industry, fast food, Walmart, any other number of places advertising to workers at significantly higher rates than the minimum wage.”

But those rates aren’t high enough to cover the cost of rent without requiring workers to spend a considerable percentage of their income.

Swenson said the cost of housing is likely

increasing faster because real wage growth for employees is slower than inflation for housing and other expenses.

He said recent growth in the U.S. economy has mostly benefited investors instead of employees, and those employees are less likely to be unionized and bargain with their employers collectively than in decades past.

“If you’re an average worker, like a newspaper reporter or like a teacher, your ability to negotiate better pay or pay that keeps up with inflation has deteriorated over the past 10 years,” he said.

Governments are also partially responsible for not raising the minimum wage to match inflation, he said.

Swenson said Ames will continue to grow in population in the near future because it’s an attractive place to live.

That growth will spur demand for rentals and increase rental prices in turn.

The report also claims there is not a single state, metro area or county were a worker making the minimum wage can afford a two-bedroom rental at fair market value, and only 22 counties out of the 3,007 across the U.S. have onebedroom units that can be rented at that rate.

Swenson said Ames’ housing affordability issues are similar to other U.S. metro areas, and it’s only going to become more of an issue for debate.

“I believe we’re in a period where housing is going to be one of the number one economic issues that we have to wrestle with over the next five to 10 years, because it’s an issue everywhere whether you’re declining or growing,” he said.

Ames National Corporation CEO Tom Pohlman in his office. Pohlman is retiring after 12 years at the helm of the company, which is a holding firm for several local banks. PHOTO BY DAN MIKA/ AMES TRIBUNE

Ames National Corporation CEO Pohlman retires

By Dan Mika, Staff Writer dmika@amestrib.com

Tom Pohlman retired last month from the helm of Ames National Corporation, the parent company of First National Bank and a handful of other central Iowa banks, after 11 years at the helm and 21 years with the company.

Pohlman, 67, first joined First National as a senior vice president in 1998 when former company president Dan Krieger was preparing the company’s management succession plan for his retirement.

He spent those first few years on the marketing side of the company and later moved to lending, all the while embedding himself in the company and its employees.

“I came in with the understanding that you hire good people, you train them, get them the support they need, and then you let them do their work,” he said.

He was later promoted to president of the bank a year later, holding that job for

eight years before becoming chief operating officer for Ames National in 2006.

He was named CEO of that company the next year.

Ames National Corporation is the holding company for First National Bank, Boone Bank and Trust, Reliance State Bank, State Bank and Trust and United Bank and Trust across multiple central Iowa counties.

It’s one of the few Amesbased companies that are publicly traded.

Pohlman said the move between First National and Ames National was the most drastic, as he went from being the face of the bank to local residents to being the point person for the bank’s shareholders.

During his time as CEO, the company’s stock rose from $21 at the end of 2006 to $31.25 at the end of trading Thursday, despite some price volatility during the 2008 financial crisis and the years following.

However, he said his job put him in a position to support the presidents of each of the local banks, in

turn supporting more of the communities Ames National has a presence in.

Ames National also made several acquisitions with Pohlman at the helm, taking over banks in Garner and West Des Moines.

The company announced earlier this spring it would acquire Clark County State Bank and its branches in Osceola and Murray, which is set to close in the third quarter of 2018.

That deal is a “shot in the arm earnings-wise” for the company, Pohlman said, and he’s glad to have completed the deal before leaving.

When asked what he’ll miss the most in his retirement, Pohlman said he’ll miss his coworkers.

“That will be the hardest part,” he said. “We have great people, and I’m fortunate that a lot of them have become friends.”

John Nelson, then-COO and president of the Gilbert school board, replaced Pohlman as head of the company. Pohlman will retain his seat on the company’s board of directors.

4 | AMES BUSINESS MONTHLY | AUGUST 2018

Frozen treats from a tiny motorized tricycle: Meet Nevada’s new ice cream truck

By Dan Mika, Staff Writer dmika@amestrib.com

Nevada’s residents are hearing a familiar sound of summer again as a new ice cream truck starts making the rounds.

What they might not expect is that the truck is shorter than most adults.

Pint Sized Ice Cream, run by Nevada residents Chad and Jennifer Anderson, is a tiny three-wheeled green pickup truck with polka dots scattered about its body. A freezer is mounted on the back, carrying treats they can sell to

people around town.

Chad always wanted to open a food truck and loves barbecuing, but couldn’t devote the time between his job at the Iowa Department of Transportation, Jennifer’s full-time job at Iowa State Extension and raising his children Oliver, 5, and twins Amelia and Maxwell, 3.

The name is a play on the size of an ice cream container, the size of their kids and the diminutive vehicle.

“Get it? Yuk, yuk, yuk,” Jennifer said, slapping her knee.

About two months ago, Chad decided to sell his

Harley-Davidson motorcycle and replace it with another: a three-wheeler Cushman Truckster in Colorado that he spent 20 hours driving round-trip to acquire (the vehicle is classified as a motorcycle under state law.)

They spent the next few weeks getting it fixed up, wrapped and equipped with a freezer. In the span of about an hour and a half June 18, a state inspector approved the little green machine for selling prepackaged treats and a supplier dropped off the first round of ice cream to their house.

Jennifer and Chad Anderson stand next to the Pint Sized Ice Cream truck with children Amelia, left, Oliver, center, and Maxwell, right. The Nevada residents got certifi cation from the state to sell goods from the small three-wheeler Tuesday afternoon. PHOTO BY DAN MIKA/AMES TRIBUNE

The Pint Sized was ready to roll.

Pint Sized is part side business, part passion project for the Andersons.

The two both work fulltime in Ames, but Chad expects to able to drive around Nevada from 4 to 8 p.m. through the summer and from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturdays once they get their bearings.

It’ll also make appearances at local functions, such as the Fourth of July parade in Nevada and when RAGBRAI riders come through town after Ames’ overnight stop.

The couple will look at buying a trailer to haul the truck to nearby cities after the Fourth of July, partially to bring back the iconic sound of an ice cream truck through those streets.

“Nobody ever goes to the small towns, so we want to stick to our town, the small towns, then Ames,” he said.

Pint Sized isn’t meant to make the Andersons a lot of money. As long as it can cover the cost of operation and help out a bit with daycare and other bills, the owners consider it a

financial success.

For Jennifer, the truck is a way to give back to the community after supporting her and the family through her breast cancer diagnosis two years ago.

“Life became a ‘cherish the small moments’ kind of thing,” she said. “Our friends and people within the community, within our church, did a lot for us, so we wanted to make sure we can give back in some way, bringing business to Nevada and having something special.”

And most importantly for the kids of the city, it brings them the first consistent ice cream truck in years. The demand was pretty clear: when the large orange supply truck pulled into the cul-de-sac, a group of six children watched intently from the street.

When Chad started playing the ice cream song over the small speaker mounted to the truck roof, they came running.

Local resident Kasee Rasmussen and her 2-year-old daughter Mara were the first customers for the new business, buying a pair of

Powerpuff Girls bars. She saw the truck’s Facebook posts and decided to come out.

“It’s just kind of exciting,” she said. “You think of that as being an old-fashioned type of thing, so it’s fun that it’s happening now for us.”

Above all, Chad and Jennifer view Pint Sized as a long-term gift to their young children.

Once they become old enough to ride in the truck with their parents, they’ll be put to work selling ice cream, learning to manage money and deal with customers as the truck cements itself in the community for years to come.

“They’ll grow up with this,” Chad said. “They’ll come out with me and help me, and it’ll teach them to get out and teach them a work ethic and respect and how to act in public.”

But for Oliver, the only child old enough to ride along in the one-seater with his dad, there was one other thing he’s excited for when he starts traveling on the routes.

“I get to have daddy time with him,” he said.

AUGUST 2018 | AMES BUSINESS MONTHLY | 5

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lease join your fellow Chamber members on Friday, August 31 from 11:30a.m.-1:00p.m. at the Ames Community School District Administration Building (2005 24th Street) for the Ames Community School District Board of Directors Legislative Luncheon.

Attendees will hear from the Ames Community School District Board of Directors regarding important issues

and projects being undertaken by the Ames School Board. The schedule for the luncheon is: 11:30a.m.-11:45a.m.: Registration and lunch available to all attendees. ~11:45a.m.-11:50a.m.: Superintendent Jenny Risner addresses the audience. ~11:50a.m.-1:00p.m.: School Board members address the crowd and field questions.

The event is open to Chamber members and their guest. The cost of attendance is $10.00 and includes lunch.

If you have questions regarding the event, are interested in attending, or wish to submit a question, please contact Drew Kamp at 515-817-6311 or drew@ameschamber.com.

The Ames Chamber of Commerce thanks Converse Conditioned Air, First National Bank, Renewable

Energy Group, and Workiva for their support as 2018 Taking Leadership Legislative Sponsors. The Chamber also thanks Greater Iowa Credit Union, Roseland, Mackey, Harris Architects, P.C., and VenuWorks for their continued support and generosity as 2018 Legislative Lunch Season Sponsors.

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The mission of the Ames Chamber of Commerce is to provide our members services that strengthen the economic vitality in Ames and enhance the quality of life in our community.

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he â&#x20AC;&#x153;See Yourself in Amesâ&#x20AC;? intern event series is designed to round out the summer experience for college students staying in the area for professional development. These events aim to highlight Ames as the #SmartChoice to live, work, and play. During the series, interns build their professional network with peers and local business leaders, hear from motivational speakers, and experience unique features of the community beyond campus. This yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s theme was â&#x20AC;&#x153;North, South, East, West, See Yourself in Amesâ&#x20AC;? and showcased venues in the cardinal directions of Ames.

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$0(6 &+$0%(5 $1' $)),/,$7( 67$)) â&#x20AC;¢ Dan Culhane, President and CEO â&#x20AC;¢ Ron Hallenbeck, Executive Vice President â&#x20AC;¢ Andrea Hammes Dodge, Vice President â&#x20AC;¢ Amy Howard, Vice President, Finance & Operations â&#x20AC;¢ Sarah Buss, Director, Events & Sponsorship â&#x20AC;¢ Karin Chitty, Campustown Action Association, Executive Director â&#x20AC;¢ Edana Delagardelle, Client Services Coordinator â&#x20AC;¢ Brenda Dryer, Director, Workforce Solutions â&#x20AC;¢ John Hall, Director, Marketing â&#x20AC;¢ Cindy Hicks, Ames Main Street, Executive Director â&#x20AC;¢ Dustin Ingram, Director, Business Development â&#x20AC;¢ Drew Kamp, Director, Business Retention/Expansion & Public Policy â&#x20AC;¢ Brandon Mumm, Director, Membership Development â&#x20AC;¢ Lojean Petersen, Ames Main Street Farmersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Market Manager â&#x20AC;¢ Calli Sandahl, Director, Digital Marketing

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Because of contributions from members like these, the Ames Chamber can maintain a level of excellence in the services we provide. Please note: This represents only a portion of the Chamberâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Gold members.

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14 | AMES BUSINESS MONTHLY | AUGUST 2018

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-RLQ <3$ You can now join the more than 100 fascinating, involved, diverse individuals who make up the Young Professionals of Ames membership.

And joining online is quick and easy!

We are a dues-based organization and dues help support: â&#x20AC;˘ Monthly Lunch & Learns â&#x20AC;˘ Annual Leadership Symposium â&#x20AC;˘ Read with Me Program â&#x20AC;˘ Monthly After Work Social Events â&#x20AC;˘ And many events and activities throughout the year

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-RLQ D <3$ &RPPLWWHH Members are encouraged to assist in planning one the many events we host each year or to join one of our ongoing committees. While event volunteers assist members of the YPA Board in planning a single activity, committee volunteers have the opportunity to join board members in planning special long-term initiatives or ongoing activities. Committees are open to any YPA member interested in getting involved.

Community Outreach & Partnerships Committee The YPA Community Outreach & Partnerships Committee is dedicated to giving back to the community in which we live, work and play. Committee members help plan volunteer events, encourage YPâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s to join a non-profit board or City commission and much more!

Leadership & Professional Development Committee Members of this committee help coordinate educational programming and leadership development opportunities for YPA members. Activities include monthly Lunch & Learns and an annual Leadership Symposium.

Marketing Committee Help us spread the word about all the great things YPA does in our community!

Members of this committee help promote YPA events and opportunities by managing the YPA website, social media, press releases, email updates, and more.

Social Committee The YPA Social Committee coordinates events and provides opportunities for YPA members and guests to come together to network and socialize.

AUGUST 2018 | AMES BUSINESS MONTHLY | 15

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mes Main Street Cultural District has changed its name to Ames Main Street (AMS) as part of a rebranding collaboration with Main Street Iowa (MSI).

MSI hired a branding consultant to help Ames better define the look, mission, and purpose of the nationally accredited Main Street program. AMS launched the new brand, along with a new brand for the downtown district, at an open house and ribbon cutting on Wednesday, June 27.

Ames Main Street Cultural District got its name when it became a state certified cultural district in 2004 through a program within the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs.

That state program has since been discontinued. When the area was accepted into the Main Street Iowa program in 2009 it kept the name for the local program and for the district. The new brand, created by Ben Muldrow of Arnett, Muldrow and Associates, separates the program name from the district name, giving each a separate identity. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our program name is now Ames Main Street, the area we promote is Downtown Ames,â&#x20AC;? said Cindy Hicks, Executive Director. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There are many different names that have been used over the years to describe the heart of

our community, but for most people it has always been simply Downtown Ames.â&#x20AC;?

Hicks hopes the new brand will help Ames Main Street and downtown businesses better market the district as a destination location.

A committee, led by Erin Wendt, owner of Dashing Boutique, put together the plan to implement the new brand concept. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The re-branding process should be more than just changing logos and graphics,â&#x20AC;? said Wendt. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It should be about telling the Downtown Ames story. We want to build excitement, energy and momentum.â&#x20AC;?

16 | AMES BUSINESS MONTHLY | AUGUST 2018

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A U G U S T 2 0 1 8 | A M E S B U S I N E S S M O N T H L Y | 17

Nevada hair stylist celebrates 40th year in business

By Marlys Barker Nevada Journal

A Nevada beautician said three iconic females and their hairstyles set the tone, over the past 50 years, for what others wanted when it came to hair.

First, there was Olympic ice skater Dorothy Hamill, whose wedge haircut, curled under at the edges, became the rage in 1976 when she won the gold.

Then it was “Charlie’s Angels” actress Farrah Fawcett who set the stage for feathered, big hair in the ’80s. And finally, Vicki Tendall, 69, said, it was television’s “Friends” star Jennifer Aniston who made the straight, long hair (which was popular in the ’60s and ’70s) a thing that was “in” again.

Tendall knows the styles that people, especially younger gals, wanted over the years because she’s done all of them for clients during her nearly 50 years of cutting and styling hair. And if you loved something in hair at one time, Tendall is a strong believer that every 20 years or so the styles of yesteryear resurface.

A little-known holiday, called National Beautician’s Day, was celebrated on Tuesday of this week, and the Journal is featuring Tendall in honor of that holiday. To our knowledge, she is probably the longest-tenured current beautician in Nevada.

“Doreen (Gillespie) and Ruth (Soseman) were ahead of me,” Tendall said of two Nevada beauticians who’ve retired. “Now, I’m the queen of roller sets,” she said with a laugh, while working on taking out the rollers for a client as she talked. She still does about half a dozen of these a week.

2018 marks the 40th year that Tendall has been in business in Nevada, and next year will mark her 50th year of being a beautician.

The 1968 graduate of Nevada High School (celebrating with her classmates their 5oth reunion this past weekend), Tendall said she had two choices she considered for her career. She was either going to beauty school or going to

Vicki Tendall stands at the door of her home beauty shop, where she has been doing hair for most of the past 40 years. Tuesday was National Beauticians Day, a time to honor those who work in the profession.

PHOTO BY MARLYS BARKER

go to college to become a home ec teacher.

“Beauty school was quicker,” she said with a laugh. She also admits she didn’t like school all that well and going for four years of college didn’t really appeal to her. “And I really liked doing hair.”

She attended Bernell’s Hair Styling College on Fifth Street in Ames, and graduated from there in 1969. For the next 10 years, she worked in other shops in two other towns, Perry and Boone, before coming to Nevada. She first worked in Nevada for Dori Peterson in her shop next to Ben Franklin, and later opened a shop in her home, The Hairbender. She was in her home shop from 1978-86, and then styled hair for a couple years across from the fire station in the little building that now houses Gypsy Alley. She returned back home in 1988 and has been back in her home shop for 30 years.

In her early days in Nevada, Tendall said, the cut that made her known in town was the Dorothy Hamill cut.

“I had a lot of people, especially younger girls, come to me for that haircut. And I loved doing the younger girls, because I was young.”

That Dorothy Hamill cut, she said, “it changed everything.

It had to be blown dry and you had to use a curling iron on the ends. Those were things we didn’t learn in beauty school. Quick hair stuff.”

She also, through the years, said one of the things she enjoyed most was “up-dos,” when girls would come to her to get ready for special events, especially prom.

“Getting girls ready for prom was the highlight of the year to me,” she said.

Tendall was a great go-to person when it came to big events, because another thing she’s very good at is sewing. She can mend something or take a hem up an inch in a jiffy. And she very much enjoyed also being involved in a costume business for 25 years, where a lot of her hair styling and seamstress skills came into play.

One thing about the hair business, Tendall said, is that your customers often grow older with you, especially your “regular ladies,” as she calls the women who come to her weekly for a shampoo and set, usually at the end of the week. The older ladies are accustomed to this way of having their hair done. And to

this day, Tendall, as well as her “regular ladies” believe strongly, “a wet set on rollers is the best way to make your hair stay.”

Tendall said as she’s aged, her clientele has aged, because younger clients generally choose younger stylists. And as women get older, they often want someone with more experience.

“I had one lady call and ask one time if I knew how to do petal curls. I finally asked her, are you really wondering how old I am?”

The lady admitted, yes. “But I was trying to be nice,” she said.

Tendall still laughs about that.

She knew what a petal curl was, of course. And she knew why the lady was probably asking.

In the olden days, beauty schools spent a good deal of time on the chemistry aspect of permanents and solutions for color that are used in the hair business.

One lady sitting in Tendall’s shop as she was being interviewed, said she wants an older stylist, because she believes they have more schooling when it comes to using those chemicals, and what to do if something goes wrong.

Growing old with your clients, Tendall said, also means going on location for some of her regulars

who can’t get to her shop any longer. As long as they live close by, she’s able to do that for a few.

And, it means getting called to the funeral home to do hair quite frequently. Tendall said she actually got called to a funeral home pretty early in her career, so she’s been doing that awhile. She doesn’t mind the task.

“It’s my last chance to say ‘good-bye,’ and it means so much to the family,” she said. She admits she often has to have a good hard cry while doing this, but it’s an important thing to be able to do.

Tendall has also learned over the years that being a longtime beautician in a community means wearing more than just a styling cap. She also a therapist, psychiatrist, seamstress and medical professional, as she’s had more than one child of a client playing at her house and needing a Band-Aid over the years.

“There’s a lot of side things going on here,” she said.

Presently, Tendall is on what she calls “the five-year plan” when it comes to her future. A few years back, when she was 66, she cut her work days back to four days a week, dropping Saturdays.

Within the next five years, whenever she gets her home sold, she will be moving to a smaller living space and closing her shop for good. It will give her some time to enjoy other things, and spend more time with her three kids and seven grandchildren.

She had a mentor when she worked in Boone. One of the hair stylists she knew there had worked just shy of her 92nd birthday. She’s still a mentor in Tendall’s mind, but Tendall doesn’t want to go that long. She’s enjoyed her time as a stylist, has enjoyed the career and how it allowed her to get to know so many people and visit with so many people. But she’s also ready to do other things.

Even when she’s no longer doing hair and no longer known as “The Hairbender,” Tendall will continue to live in Nevada. She’s enjoyed being part of her hometown all these years. “I grew up here. My heart’s here.”

18 | AMES BUSINESS MONTHLY | AUGUST 2018

Superman vs.

Lex Luthor: Retire well

I

f you read the comics as a kid or if you still do, then you know every superhero needs an arch nemesis. Financial Advisors are no different. Although we are more Peter Parker or Clark Kent than Spiderman or Superman, we have our own arch enemy. For financial advisors trying to help people retire successfully, debt often is that enemy. Although we can use the power of debt for good, too often its powers are destructive.

Here are some thoughts on debt: Avoid debt: Too often we use debt for things we shouldn’t. I am looking at you, Christmas and Vacations. We should all be able to get through both

by having saved systematically all year from our cash flow. It is easy to throw this or that on the credit cards during those times, but too often those cards are not paid off right away and balances linger at 14.99% rate of interest or higher.

In an ideal world, it also makes the most financial sense to pay cash for your vehicles purchases. I often get the pushback, “but it is only 1.9% interest.” This is a super low rate environment from the car manufacturers.

However, two things: first dealers tend to move less on the price when offering such a low rate because the rate is the concession; and secondly, you are probably only earning 0.5% on the money you would use to buy the

car outright. So, save up and buy a car with a combination of tradeNate Brammer in and savings.

Getting out of debt: First, knowledge is power. Put on paper or a spreadsheet everything you owe including your monthly payment, the current interest rate and the current balance. Next, create a budget of your current monthly expenses.

What is your income and how much is going out? If you are truly serious about getting out of debt, look for the ways to wring extra dollars out of your monthly budget. Eat out less. Take your lunch to work. Reduce your cable and phone bills.

Forego vacations for a few years.

We are now going to use

the extra money to eliminate your debt. Here are two methods: The Lowest Balance or the Highest Interest Rate Methods.

With the Lowest Balance Method, use the extra monthly payment from our budget exercise, plus the normal payment, and apply it to the balance of the smallest loan or debt.

You will quickly pay this off. The advantage of this method is that you will gain confidence in your ability to have financial discipline, and you will create some momentum towards your goal. At that point, use the monthly savings plus the payment loan you had been making on the smallest loan and apply these to the next smallest loan along with its normal payment. When this loan is paid off, again repeat the process. By the time you zero in on the final loan, you will be making large monthly payments

and moving with momentum toward becoming debt free.

The Highest Interest Rate Method is just what it sounds like. You will apply the extra dollars from your leaner budget to the loan with the highest interest rate to reduce your interest expense. Again, as this loan is paid off, you will attack the next most expensive loan and snowball through your debt.

Reorganize debt: Finally, you may be able reorganize your debt. Check with your bank or credit union regarding a Home Equity Loan or Home Equity Line of Credit.

It is important to know this is a 2nd mortgage against your home. However, because the loan’s collateral is sound (your home,) you can often qualify for a much lower rate of interest.

Use the combined payments from all the loans paid off with the home equity loan,

as well as the extra savings from your budget, and apply them to this single, new, low-interest loan.

There is risk with this pay-off method if money management behaviors do not change and your consumer debt balances grow right back. You would once again be making payments consumer debt in addition to the Home Equity Loan.

As our clients move toward retirement, we encourage and work with them to pay-off their debts, including their mortgage.

The financial and emotional freedom it free provides is hard to describe but defeating your arch enemy of debt will make you feel like a superhero.

NATHAN D. BRAMMER MBA, CIMA®, AIF® is a principal and investment advisor at Marrs Wealth Management.

He can be reached at Nate@ marrswealth.com

Workiva CEO Rizai resigns

By Dan Mika, Staff Writer dmika@amestrib.com

Workiva promoted Martin Vanderploeg as CEO after former CEO Matt Rizai resigned, the company announced last month.

According to a news release from the company, Vanderploeg, the company’s chief operating officer and member of the board of directors, was unanimously confirmed by the company’s board of directors to the position.

The company said Rizai’s resignation was a mutual decision. Workiva spokesman Kevin McCarthy declined to comment further on Rizai’s departure.

Rizai co-founded the company with Vanderploeg in 2008 as WebFilings, with the company changing its

Vanderploeg

Rizai

name to Workiva in 2014.

Workiva grew its quarterly revenue by $8 million from the first quarter of 2017 to the end of 2018’s first quarter and beat revenue estimates by at least $1 million each quarter.

Workiva, based in the Iowa State University Research Park, develops software to help companies keep compliance with

the Securities and Exchange Commission and other financial regulators. The company employs just over 1,313 people in 16 offices in the U.S., Canada, Netherlands and United Kingdom.

Vanderploeg also founded Engineering Animation with Rizai before selling the firm in 2000. He also taught mechanical engineering at ISU.

AUGUST 2018 | AMES BUSINESS MONTHLY | 19

Lessons from the MDI Queens Rick Brimeyer

T

here are multiple mechanisms for eliminating waste and incorporating improvements into your organization. I like to depict the various methods using the figure below which I call the Improvement Pyramid.

At the peak of the pyramid are Rapid Improvement Events (often called “kaizen” events) which most readers no doubt associate with Lean. A team of experts are assembled for multiple days and charged with analyzing a specific process, identifying waste, and building a better way.

Properly facilitated, Rapid Improvement Events can be significantly impactful, both in terms of the process improvements implemented as well as the growth of team members.

A byproduct of events is the confidence and knowledge gained that members often take back to their daily jobs.

Rapid Improvement Events are people-resource intensive and so this tends to limit their frequency of use.

In the middle of our pyramid are good, old-fashioned projects. Oftentimes, various barriers exist which prevent improvements from being implemented within a Rapid Improvement Event.

Perhaps equipment must be specified and procured, software created/modified, or stakeholders require time to seamlessly transition to

the change. Projects tend to be capital intensive or dependent on specialized support resources (e.g. IT department) and so available funding or staffing tends to limit their use.

The base of the Improvement Pyramid is Managing for Daily Improvement (MDI). These are the “organic” improvements resulting from an entire workforce of engaged employees making frequent, small improvements within their respective spheres of influence.

Many will be tiny but, as a former mentor used to advise, “Peanuts are filling.” Some may save only a couple of seconds, but perhaps to a process repeated thousands of times per year. A few will be huge, perhaps rivaling the magnitude of benefit realized from a Rapid Improvement Event.

Unlike Rapid Improvement Events and projects, daily improvements are essentially limitless. They depend only on the level of employee engagement and culture…two factors heavily influenced by leaders.

That’s why I like to refer to MDI as the secret sauce of a truly Lean culture. That’s also why—unlike Rapid Improvement Events and projects—responsibility for MDI cannot be outsourced.

It resides squarely on our shoulders as leaders.

The Planning Department for the City of Fort Dodge has captured the

magic of MDI. The five ladies within the department have tallied 336 improvements over the past 2.5 years. Undoubtedly, additional small improvements were made which escaped their simple, informal documentation process.

That’s a lot of improving!

One of the team’s many improvements adds conference rooms and City vehicles as unique entities into the scheduling software. This allows employees to schedule these critical physical assets and to avoid double-booking.

Key to their success is being intentional about improvement. The team schedules an hour each week to focus solely on improving their processes.

Team members capture ideas as they occur during the week and bring them to the meeting. Following a short discussion, members split up to work on various ideas.

Scheduling time is absolutely necessary. Proactive improvement work is a classic example of what Stephen Covey refers to a “Quadrant II,” important but not urgent. Unless we proactively schedule time for it, it simply won’t happen.

The team makes it fun.

There is inherent teambuilding as the members share their ideas and build upon each other’s suggestions. Members of other teams often stop by to benchmark MDI Hour and

The MDI Queens are, from left, Carissa, Maggie, Vickie, Peggie, and Karen. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

catch the spirit. (I suspect snacks may frequently be involved.)

Adding to the atmosphere is tracking and sharing successes with other departments. In addition to recognizing the team members, it provides

opportunities for other areas to copy or build upon their improvements.

The team takes pride in its accomplishments. About a year ago, I coined them “The MDI Queens,” a title they embraced. Following their next improvement

meeting, I received a team photo with members proudly donning construction paper tiaras.

Finally, as Vickie, the team’s supervisor, points out, “I think probably the most important thing I’ve learned is that my team is only going to be as engaged in working on MDIs as I am. If it doesn’t seem important to leadership, team members won’t make it a priority either. If I don’t bring it up, it falls by the wayside.”

No truer words regarding leadership were ever spoken.

RICK BRIMEYER is the president of Brimeyer LLC, an independent management consulting firm located in Ames which guides organizations to higher performance by focusing on process improvement and leadership development. Further information is available at www.brimeyerllc.com or by calling (515) 450-8855.

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