In the News

A new collaborative campaign to showcase the vibrant Downtown Iowa City Cultural & Entertainment District, called X Marks the Arts, launched on Wednesday, according to a press release from the Iowa City Downtown District.

X Marks the Arts celebrates Iowa’s collection of arts and cultural venues through different creative mediums, including street banners, sidewalk art installations, a weekly newsletter, and promotional videos. The campaign aims to bolster awareness within the Iowa City community and attract audiences from surrounding cities and out-of-state metro areas.

The Iowa City Downtown District (ICDD) is presenting a unique First Round event at FilmScene at the Chauncey on Wednesday, March 27, at 5 p.m. to celebrate Downtown Iowa City’s Cultural & Entertainment District, and the Iowa City community is invited.

ICDD staff and arts and culture leaders, along with University of Iowa partners, have been working as a committee on a new marketing campaign that will launch at the event and further promote Iowa City’s Cultural & Entertainment District, and the gathering will give community members the opportunity to meet the creative minds behind Iowa City’s creative community.

The Iowa landscape, and particularly the Corridor, is peppered with a rich mix of legacy businesses that play a significant role in the state’s economy.

Many of these companies have remained locally- or family-owned for generations, while others have been bought and sold several times since their founding. Whether facing transitions or not, many are asking questions about the state of their brand and how well it’s connecting to audiences and telling their story.

Iowa’s Peace Tree Brewing started thinking about a brand refresh about three years ago and had originally planned to launch it during the company’s 10th anniversary year, but the pandemic made the brewery pivot quickly to other important needs.

CEO and Founder Melinda Pradarelli is a Cedar Rapids native who has seen her passion for creating a full-service agency come to life.

“It’s been an amazing five years,” she said. “Our vision has always been to create a full-service, personalized agency that is focused on building a culture people want to work for, delivering services and creativity that drive companies and organizations forward, and leans into the community that has helped shape us.”

Just as DNA has been a game-changer in helping to solve cold cases, marketing is proving to be a secret ingredient in the pursuit to solve Iowa native Laura Van Wyhe’s 25-year-old death. After attempting to push the case forward through local legal channels resulted in a dead end, nationally recognized attorney Anne Champion called Meld.

Meld Marketing will mark its fifth anniversary in July 2021. The company has plenty to celebrate, having been named among the top 25 fastest growing companies in the Corridor, one of the Coolest Places, and Best of the Corridor.

The CBJ’s annual Fastest Growing Companies event identifies and honors the region’s most dynamic companies that have made significant contributions to the strength of the local economy. Honorees are ranked according to revenue growth over a two-year period; both dollar and percentage increases are taken into account.

Coolest Places to Work identifies and honors local companies that have created the most engaging and rewarding work environments. Self-nominated companies in Kirkwood’s seven-county region are selected based on a Worker Satisfaction Survey.

In the race between the tortoise and the hare, it’s fair to say the owners of Iowa City’s Oasis Falafel restaurant would be Team Turtle.

The name ‘W.A.L.K.’ has been chosen for a private dog-themed community activities center aiming to open next year in Iowa City.