During today’s ribbon cutting, Chamber Ambassadors extended a warm welcome to Home Revisions, a construction company that is committed to their clients. Their motto? Protect and provide.
In August 2020, Home Revisions owner Nick Darland began the company with a vision to not only renovate homes, but to “transform the client experience within the construction industry.” Darland, who grew up in Grinnell, has since purchased a building on Penrose Street (formerly Ashing Machine & Tool) as the company’s headquarters, and now offers a subscription service that includes gutter cleaning, exterior inspections, and 10% off future remodeling projects.
Ultimately, says Darland, “we’re carpenters aspiring to be artists.” Darland and his team of two — Kolton and Kevin Werner — have done beautiful work on numerous historical and Victorian homes. Together, they’ve built a reputation for taking on complex, large-scale projects around the town of Grinnell, preserving charming features of older homes while introducing the functionality of modern ones.
Today, Darland continues to catch tea with one of his former clients every week, having spent time between August 2022 to May 2024 reconstructing her home — another nod to their client-centric approach to business. Meanwhile, HomeRevisions has maintained good working relationships with similar companies around Grinnell and has built an impressive clientele. HomeRevisions is a company with deep roots in the community, one that Darland has grown to appreciate since he has “found his way back home” to the Grinnell community.
For more information on Home Revisions’ work or their approach, visit their website homerevisionsiowa.com, email info@homerevisionsiowa.com or give them a call at 641-260-1079.
Pictured left to right:
Ambassadors met at the Grinnell Area Arts Council to learn more about their new photo exhibit Connections: Combining History & Art To Explore Grinnell's Past. The photo exhibit is in partnership with Drake Community Library and the Poweshiek History Preservation Project from Drake Community Library's digital archive.
Both Monica St Angelo of the Arts Council and Monique Shore of DCL wanted to share the photos that had been collected with a wider audience and start conversations & connections about both the similarities and differences of Grinnell over time. Tying in the fact this year was Edith Renfrow Smith's 110 year birthday as well as the Arts Council celebrating 15 years in their historic building it seemed like a wonderful time to create the exhibit. Photos in the exhibit came from the library existing archive collection but also from current and former Grinnell community members. The Arts Council is also working on a mural project that will be a continuation of this exhibit.
The photos and banners will be at the Grinnell Arts Center through August 10 and can be visited during their regular gallery hours Tues-Fri 11AM-5PM and Sat 10AM-12PM. After August 10 the banner portion of the exhibit will be moved to the Library, then potentially on Grinnell College's campus for a brief period before settling in at their new home the Grinnell Historical Museum.
Pictured L-R: Lisa Cirks- Cirks Financial Services, Monique Shore- Drake Community Library, Jeff Finch- Wes Finch Auto Plaza, Kailee Shermak- Grinnell College Intern for GAAC, Matt Moyer- Bayer Crop Science, Monica St. Angelo- Grinnell Area Arts Council, Trent Arment- MCG - Mahaska Communication Group, Donnette Ellis- Grinnell College Community Connections, Donna Fisher- UnityPoint Health - Grinnell Regional Medical Center, Sarah Smith- Grinnell College
Today Ambassadors celebrated Stepping Stones & Eagle's Nest Christian Bookstores grand reopening in their new location, 907 Main Street! Owner Mindy Uitermarkt shared that Stepping Stones has been open in Grinnell for 22 years this month and she’s excited to be able to continue to serve the community from the new location.
Stepping Stones Christian Bookstore offers a great selection of gifts and home decor. From greeting cards to Melissa and Doug toy line, baby gifts to jewelry, books, bibles and more are all available in store. If Mindy and her team doesn’t have it on the shelf, they’ll special order it for you! Their loyalty program earns shoppers points towards discounts and their summer sale catalog has some great savings for customers.
As part of their grand opening celebration, they’re drawing for door prizes all week. Pella author Erik Recker will be in store on Friday from 1:30-5:30 PM signing his new book “Dam Analogy! How to Fill Up, Stay Up And Impact The World Following A Few Simple Steps”.
Stepping Stones is open Monday-Friday 10 AM - 5:30 PM and Saturday 10 AM - 4 PM.
Pictured L-R: Jack Mathews - Our Grinnell, Jeff Finch - Wes Finch Auto Plaza, Charlie Isaacs - Theisen's, Rachael Kinnick - Grinnell Chamber, Cassie Wherry - Pioneer Bookshop, Grinnell College, Erin Bustin - Grinnell School of Music, Barb Briggs - Stepping Stones & Eagle's Nest Christian Bookstores, Hannah Vos - UnityPoint Home Hospice, Mindy Uitermarkt - Stepping Stones & Eagle's Nest Christian Bookstores, Donna Fischer - UnityPoint Health - Grinnell Regional Medical Center Foundation, Matt Moyer - Bayer Crop Science, Briana Gaunt - Community 1st Credit Union, Lisa Cirks - Cirks Financial Services, Stephanie Lair - UnityPoint Health - Grinnell Regional Medical Center, Donnette Ellis - Grinnell College Community Connections, Fran Conn, Marissa Ylagan - Grinnell Chamber
Ambassadors visited GreenState Credit Union Grinnell branch today to learn about the services they provide. Vice President/Branch Manager Brad German shared more about the growth GreenState has experienced particularly over the last 4 years but since their original start in Grinnell.
The Grinnell branch has grown in staffing and services since its original launch in Grinnell over 20 years ago. In addition to personal and business banking services, they offer auto loans and mortgages and can have wealth management and insurance services available by appointment. They also offer bilingual services and can accommodate rural customers with remote loan and banking services. GreenState Credit Union as an organization has expanded in to the Des Moines Metro area and is growing out of state with location in Illinois and coming soon to Nebraska.
As a credit union, GreenState works to reinvest in their members and particularly in their community give back programs. Last year, GreenState gave $85,000 to Poweshiek County area initiatives, not including the funds that were matched as part of the Grinnell-Newburg School Foundation, BGM and Montezuma school Give & Grow programs. They’ve also made significant investments in the Central Park reconstruction, the Grinnell School of Music, and Grinnell Farm to Table over the last few years. If your organization is interested in applying for funding, visit their website https://www.greenstate.org/.../community-involvement.html
Pictured L-R: Rachael Kinnick - Grinnell Chamber, Matt Moyer - Bayer Crop Science, Carl Meck - GreenState Credit Union - Grinnell, Marissa Ylagan - Grinnell Chamber, Donna Fischer - UnityPoint Health - Grinnell Regional Medical Center Foundation, Rachel Arsenault - Ramsey-Weeks Inc. Real Estate, Fran Conn, Briana Gaunt - Community 1st Credit Union, Trent Arment - MCG - Mahaska Communication Group, Jack Mathew - Our Grinnell, Desiree Stayer - German Plumbing Heating and Cooling, Phil Grout - Hy-Vee, Brad German - GreenState Credit Union Grinnell, Stephanie Lair - UnityPoint Health - Grinnell Regional Medical Center
Today, Ambassadors met for coffee and treats at McNallys Foods. We discussed our must stop places in town where we take visitors. The list was huge and spanned activities for all ages and interests! It also wasn’t all encompassing of ALL the great things Grinnell has to offer but it was definitely a start!
Some downtown favorites were:
• McNally’s for coffee & lunch
• Grin City Bakery
• Central Park splash pad & playground
• Hotel Grinnell patio & scrabble
• Solera
• FRONTIER CAFE
Rainy day stops included:
• Grinnell College Athletics events
• Drake Community Library
• Shopping at Anna Kayte's Boutique & Beckman Gallery & Gifts
• West Side Family Restaurant
To get active people enjoyed going:
• Arbor Lake
• Lions Park
• Grinnell Mutual Aquatic Center
• Disk golf at Nyanza
• Skate park
It was great to hear the feedback Ambassadors get from their visitors about how much they love coming to Grinnell. Did you favorite place make the list? If not, let us know below!
Thanks to the Ambassadors that joined us; Fran Conn, Donnette Ellis - Grinnell College Community Connections, Jack Mathews - Our Grinnell, Dorothy Spriggs - Carriage House Bed & Breakfast, Hannah Vos - UnityPoint at Home, Jennifer McAlexander - JM Consulting & Hawkeye Lock & Security, Desiree German - German Plumbing Heating and Cooling, Brad German - GreenState Credit Union, Rachel Arseneault - Ramsey-Weeks Inc.
Today ambassadors met with Nobious Business Automation, led by CEO Jason Palmer. Nobious is a technology based company servicing clients throughout the United States, Canada and Saudi Arabia. Nobious has a mostly remote team in Iowa/Midwest as well as a team in New Delhi, India, Nobious also has a team of 4 Grinnell College Interns working specifically on an AI Team.
The core services offered by Nobious are their Parts & Materials Inventory System which uses barcoding technology allowing the clients to keep track off their full inventory. Nobious also offers a SMS/Text message based Safety Training App. This service is popular amongst large construction companies, their crew members are able to access this information through their personal device and get the training information needed to keep them informed and safe while on the job site. Lastly, Nobious has a time tracking system, this can be used to track a crews labor time but is also used to track equipment time while on the job to ensure proper invoicing for all time and effort put into the job.
Nobious takes pride in the customization they put into each system for a client, while they have packages as a starting point there is always an additional layer to ensure the product is working effectively for their end user.
Pictured L-R: Nathan Beck- Community 1st Credit Union, Matt Moyer- Bayer Crop Science, Brad German- GreenState Credit Union, Jason Palmer- Nobious Business Automation, Lisa Cirks- Cirks Financial Services, Erin Bustin- Grinnell School of Music, Rachael Kinnick- Grinnell Chamber, Jack Mathews- Our Grinnell, Trent Arment- MCG - Mahaska Communication Group
