Final Memo - Monday Memo 12/16/24
December 16, 2024
First ABI Board Meeting of 2025 on January 15; Legislative Reception Same Day
January 15 is the date for the first meeting of the ABI Board of Directors in the new year. ABI Chair Chad Reece (Winnebago Industries, Forest City) will convene the meeting at 2:00 p.m. at the Iowa Events Center in downtown Des Moines. This is the same day as the 2025 ABI Legislative Briefing and Reception and those events immediately follow the board meeting. Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds is expected to appear at the reception, along with hundreds of legislators and state officials. Your participation and interaction with legislators is what makes this event a must for Iowa policy-makers.
Go to the ABI website at Summary - Legislative Briefing and Reception. You’ll find all the information you need and can follow the easy instructions to register right now. Thank you in advance for participating in this very important event. On behalf of Chad and our other ABI officers, I look forward to seeing you in Des Moines on January 15.
Get Ready for Legislative Events with ABI “Advocacy 101” Webinar
In just a few weeks, the 2025 session of the Iowa General Assembly will convene. In that regard, the ABI public policy team will help get you ready to advocate for Iowa business in 2025. At 9:00 Friday morning January 10th, ABI Vice President Public Policy JD Davis and ABI Senior Director Public Policy Brad Hartkopf will host a one-hour webinar to share information about the legislative process and tips for engaging your legislators. This interactive, members-only discussion will provide a deeper dive into the legislative process to help you feel prepared as the Legislature convenes. Register here for this FREE webinar: Advocacy 101 Webinar (Members Only) | Iowa Association of Business and Industry.
Leadership Iowa Class to Meet, LI Alumni Dinner Coming January 15
The 2024-2025 Leadership Iowa Class will hold its fourth session January 15-17. As is usual, the January session will focus on state government. Class members will tour the Statehouse, hear from some terrific speakers, and join you for the ABI Briefing and Reception on January 15.
Following the reception on Wednesday the 15th, ABI will again host the Leadership Iowa Alumni Society Dinner and Celebration. This event will take place at Curate, just steps from the ABI office in Des Moines’ East Village. The event provides a fun and unique dinner networking opportunity for LI alumni. Click here for more information or to register: Summary - Leadership Iowa Annual Dinner.
Mike Henningsen Passes
One of the first ABI board members I met after joining ABI was Mike Henningsen (Henningsen Construction, Atlantic). It was December, 2005, and Mike told me he had some concerns and so he drove in from Atlantic to size me up. Then he laughed and said no, that wasn’t true; he just happened to be in Des Moines and stopped to welcome me aboard. It was always great to see Mike at ABI meetings and events. Many times, his wife Kathy Henningsen, would be with him, and they were a terrific couple. Mike served on the ABI board for 30 years or so.
ABI Board Member and Mike’s son, Brad Henningsen (Henningsen Construction, Atlantic), let me know on Tuesday evening that Mike’s battle with pancreatic cancer was over. Mike had passed away that morning.
Mike was a great businessman, a great leader for ABI, and a great guy in general. As former ABI Chair Kirk Tyler (Atlantic Coca-Cola Bottling Company, Des Moines) shared about Mike in a message to me, “We lost a good one.” Read more about Mike here: Michael Henningsen Obituary (1952 - 2024) - Oro Valley, Arizona. Mike’s funeral will be held tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. at the First United Presbyterian Church of Atlantic. A Celebration of Life will follow at the Henningsen Hangar at the Atlantic Airport. If you knew Mike, you know he would love that. Our thoughts and prayers are with Kathy, Brad, and the entire Henningsen Family.
ABI Office Closed 24th and 25th and January 1st
Due to the Christmas and New Year's holidays, the ABI office will be closed a week from tomorrow (December 24th) and the next day (Wednesday, December 25th) and again on the following Wednesday (January 1st). All of us at ABI send the best holiday wishes to you, your family, and your employees! Many ABI staff members will be taking some vacation at various times over the next two weeks. Staff members have worked hard and I hope you will join me in thanking them for their work.
Editor’s Note: My Final Memo
For all practical purposes, today is my final time in the office. I have a ton of unused PTO and will never be able to use all of it (but I am going to take some of it).
For several weeks, I have been thinking about what I might share with you in my final memorandum. I had hoped lightning might strike and I would suddenly become more eloquent and be able to share with you what leading ABI has meant to me. What has ABI meant to me?
It has meant everything.
Throughout my career, I have been fortunate to have held wonderful jobs and I have enjoyed them all. But not until joining ABI did I find the best bosses I have had, the best crew, and the most important purpose there is… helping Iowa companies (and through them, their employees, their families, their customers, and their communities) succeed. YOUR work in serving your customers and paying your employees is what Iowa business is all about. The economic opportunity you provide makes everything else possible – it all starts with you and I am a true believer in you and your companies.
THANK YOU for letting me be a part of helping you build ABI into what it is today. Thanks to you, to ABI Chair Chad Reece, to the ABI staff, and to new ABI President Nicole Crain, I know even bigger things are ahead.