Strong Participation Marks Board Meeting - Monday Memo 5/18/20
May 18, 2020
ABI Board Holds May Meeting by Zoom
Holding meetings by Zoom (or WebEx or GoToMeeting, or some other web-based platform) seems to be the norm these days. For the first time ever, the ABI Board of Directors met by Zoom for its May meeting last week.
ABI Chair Cindy Dietz (Collins Aerospace, Cedar Rapids) convened the meeting last Wednesday morning at 11:00. The meeting enjoyed very strong participation by the board and board members gave reports of great interest. While board members were pragmatic about the conditions facing their companies, they were also optimistic about the weeks ahead. Thank you to Cindy and to all of you for your participation in last week’s meeting.
Foundation Entities’ Boards to Meet
Two ABI Foundation-related entities will hold board meetings this week. The ABI Foundation provides administrative support for Young Professionals of Iowa. The YPIowa Board of Directors will meet tomorrow.
And, the board of directors for one of the ABI Foundation’s flagship programs, Business Horizons, will meet Friday. Thank you to these leaders for their service.
CIRAS Board Meets Thursday
A valued ABI member-partner is Iowa State University's Center for Industrial Research and Service. CIRAS is a fabulous resource for Iowa manufacturers and businesses of all kinds. Over the years, many ABI leaders have also been involved in CIRAS and several are current members of the CIRAS Industry Advisory Board.
The board will meet Thursday by WebEx. Watch for news of any developments in next week's ABI Monday Memo.
20th Episode of Iowa Business Report Radio Program Broadcast; Bywater Featured
The Iowa Business Report radio program’s 20th edition was broadcast statewide over the weekend. ABI is proud to sponsor this terrific program. Click here to listen for yourself: http://iowabusinessreport.buzzsprout.com/. Links can also be found on the ABI website at https://www.iowaabi.org/news/iowa-business-report/. The show is produced by well-known Iowa broadcaster Jeff Stein.
This episode includes a neat feature about one of ABI’s founding members. Immediate Past ABI Chair David Bywater (Bankers Advertising/Tru Art, Iowa City) provides fascinating insights during an interview about his family’s company. It has changed a lot since it was founded in the 1800’s! Thanks, David, for sharing the cool story.
NAM Report Documents Coronavirus Manufacturing Impact
Today’s edition of the Monday Economic Report published by the National Association of Manufacturers is another sobering one. It includes several data points that document just how negatively the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted manufacturing.
As always, if you wish to see the report for yourself, reply to this memo and I’ll get it to you at once. In the meantime, I’m looking forward to future reports that will be able to provide some positive data.
Atlantic Bottling Wins Safety Award
Longtime ABI member Atlantic Coca-Cola Bottling Company was in the news last week. The company earned several awards from the Iowa-Illinois Safety Council (another ABI member).
Atlantic Bottling received the 2020 Hazard Control Recognition Award and five of the company’s locations were honored with IISC Presidents Awards. Hundreds of companies competed for these awards and congratulations to Atlantic Bottling for this achievement! Best wishes to everyone at the company, including former ABI Chairs Jim Tyler (Atlantic Coca-Cola Bottling Company, Atlantic) and Kirk Tyler (Atlantic Coca-Cola Bottling Company, Des Moines)!
In other company news, Kirk was recognized for his 42nd Anniversary of service to the company. And Jim was recognized for hiss service as a fighter pilot in World War II. Congratulations again, Jim and Kirk!
Dave Zrostlik Celebrates
Last Friday was a special day for a former ABI Chair. Former Chair David Zrostlik (Stellar Industries, Garner) marked his birthday Friday. Hope it was a great one, Dave; happy belated birthday wishes from ABI!
Strategic America Honored for Marketing Campaigns
Another longtime member was in the news last week. Strategic America won international awards for four separate marketing campaigns. Thousands of companies across the globe competed for the Hermes Awards won by SA. Congratulations to everyone at SA, including former ABI Board Member John Schreurs (Strategic America, West Des Moines)!