Podcasts about central iowa

Mary Oliver's poetry has touched millions of readers. She passed away in 2019, but a new documentary tells her story. On this episode, we talk with filmmaker and former University of Iowa professor Sasha Waters about her film 'Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World.' She shares her experience working on the film and discusses Mary Oliver's legacy. The film is screening in Iowa City through Aug. 13, and will be released on PBS on Aug. 25. Then, we meet musician Ari Dubin, founder the Rolling Hills Music Festival. This new classical music festival looks to celebrate musicians in Central Iowa and takes place August 6-9 in Ames.

In this episode of Emotion Well, our host, Johanna Dunlevy speaks with her colleague, Raichel Burnett, EFR's Community-Based Services Manager. Raichel discusses becoming the legal guardian of her younger sister, preparing for motherhood, and how her life experiences have influenced her approach to leadership. She also shares how EFR's Community-Based Services team is making a difference through prevention, behavioral health promotion, and juvenile diversion programs that strengthen individuals, families, and communities.You can watch the podcast here on YouTube.Learn more about GiGi's Playhouse.Discover how EFR's Community-Based Services help people and communities in the Central Iowa area.Listen to a past Emotion Well podcast, Beyond the EAP: How EFR's Community Programs Create Lasting Impact.If you have EFR's Employee Assistance Program benefits, learn more about Legal Consultation services.

Matt Sigala, Director of Asset Management at SkySpecs, joins to discuss blade inspection data, repair vendor management, and carbon fiber repairs. Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly newsletter on all things wind technology. This episode is sponsored by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. Learn more about Weather Guard’s StrikeTape Wind Turbine LPS retrofit. Follow the show on YouTube, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary’s “Engineering with Rosie” YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us! Allen Hall 2025: Matt, welcome to the program. Greatly appreciate it. So Matt Sagala has not been on the Uptime Wind Energy podcast. Although he’s been asked for the last five or six years to be on, he has had other commitments. So now that he’s available to be on the podcast, we love having him here. Uh, if you don’t know Matt Sagala, Matt Sagala is a, a real special talent in wind. Very knowledgeable about repairs. He’s a composites person, but he, you know, it’s one thing to know composites and understand what that looks like, but also to run organizations that repair blades and manage blades and take care of large quantities of blades and do it very efficiently, where the assets are actually working and operating efficiently is hard to do. So, uh, [00:01:00] Matt is now with SkySpecs in a recent change from a, a large global wind operator, and he’s come over to SkySpecs as Director of Asset Management. So Matt, congratulations first. Appreciate  Matt Sigala: it. Appreciate it.  Allen Hall 2025: So that’s a, that’s a big title there. What does that all mean, Director of Asset Management at SkySpecs?  Matt Sigala: basically, it’s just the overview of your entire asset from the start of the inspections to the reviewing of, of the inspections, to creating the RFP, going out to blade budgets and repairs, uh, and then having the actual repair teams on site and us being able to help execute those repairs in a systematic way, um, without having to overload or, or burden your, your internal, uh, systems in-house. Allen Hall 2025: Because as an operator, there’s a lot on your plate.  Matt Sigala: Yes.  Allen Hall 2025: And a lot of operators don’t necessarily have blade teams internally. You came from an organization- Yeah … that did have a really good, still does have a really good blade organization.  Matt Sigala: Oh, amazing, yeah.  Allen Hall 2025: Yeah. Uh, that was unique, but a lot of operators in the United States or globally just don’t have [00:02:00] that resource. SkySpecs has developed that resource over the last couple of years of we’re blade experts, we have all the data coming in, but we can also help you downstream when it comes to maintaining and repairing blades, which is, is sort of a new feature for- Yeah … SkySpecs. Now that you’re there and you’re seeing all the data, all the, the,  the- the, data center, so to speak, of w- and you have access to blades globally, and you can put your fingers on it. What are you seeing out there in terms of blade health and, and going forward?  Matt Sigala: There’s a lot of work. There’s definitely a lot of work upcoming and into the future. Um, and you know, I think a lot of it could be risk-based with, with inspections, annual inspections, semi-an-annual inspections. I think that’s always the first line of defense on any blade management c- campaign. Um, and then, you know, coming behind that, I think that’s where our preferred vendor lists and, uh, you know, being comfortable with working with certain suppliers on certain type of repairs. Um, we feel that, you know, we have an edge on the industry, [00:03:00] uh, with the data set that we have in hand, plus being able to build a relationship with ISPs. And not only build a relationship with them, but be able to continuously give them mindful insight to their repairs from a year now to two years now. Because we’re the only ones really seeing those inspections and the repairs after they’ve been in operation for more than a year. It’s very rare that a, an ISP, uh, even on my side of the house when I was working with EDF, of being able to see a repair from year to year. Um, I think that’s, that’s, that’s pretty massive and- Yeah … a lot of value within that, so.  Allen Hall 2025: Oh, sure. Uh, you were one of the first ones when I met you years ago now, uh, that was a big proponent of more inspection. Yeah. That there are some blades in which you must inspect more.  Matt Sigala: Yes.  Allen Hall 2025: And here’s the reason why. Matt Sigala: Yeah.  Allen Hall 2025: Because you had thought through it a little bit and you’d come up with a plan. So you always had a plan. That’s one thing about Sagales, he always has a plan. You can ask him any question, he’s got a plan in relationship to blades. And you were the, you were the one that has said, “Hey, uh, there are certain blade types out there that we have seen that, well, you need to do a [00:04:00] little more inspection, and there are some others that it’s totally fine.” Yeah. A, a yearly inspection is, is, is fine. Well enough. And that SkySpecs data, now that you have access to it, is that also f- feeding back into your- Definitely … logic of that?  Matt Sigala: Yeah, yeah. How do you, how do you think about it? No, it’s, it’s, it’s opened my mind a lot kinda getting me out of just being in, like, the trenches of certain decisions and being able to see this whole data set as a whole now. Uh, and holistically, it’s like, all right, m- there’s just certain things that I kinda need to adjust on my end. Um, definitely letting a lot of things just play out for, uh, this repair season and, and how things are running, and then kinda looking to make some changes into, into ’27. Um, but the data set, it’s, it’s amazing. It’s, it’s almost over- overwhelming. Um, so just kinda going after- the low-hanging fruit as far as, like, the 62 twos, the 145s, and really understanding what those look like, uh, how we can help our customers  Allen Hall 2025: that’s a large part of the fleet in the States, but globally too. SkySpecs has made a lot of, uh, recent advancements into, uh, certain marketplaces outside the US. Mm-hmm. I won’t go into the specifics there, [00:05:00] but e- essentially, like, SkySpecs is becoming definitely more of a global company than a US-based company. Uh, and seeing turbines from outside the US, so you see a, a GE or a Vestas turbine operating in Germany or in the UK, and you see the same turbine in the States. They’re not- No … performing the same, are they? No. It’s a completely different- Same turbine.  Matt Sigala: Yeah, different wind regimes, erosion characteristics, crack propagation rates, everything. Even we were seeing major, you know, differences from the West Coast to, to central Iowa with the same type of platform. So you can only imagine, you know, start going from a, a larger scale on, on the globe,  Allen Hall 2025: So you’re ac- because you have access to the data now, does that change the way you think about Blade management. Matt Sigala: Yes. I-  Allen Hall 2025: in terms of when to, when to inspect, when to repair, or just leave it. Are you able to have clear definition of the variables that go into that equation?  Matt Sigala: Definitely so. and I think that’s the key to it. It’s, it’s, we- we’re really stepping away from that blanket approach of inspections where you [00:06:00] do have your baseline inspection, but after that you start getting into the granulars of, okay, you know, this site has X amount of the 622Ps or whatever they are, uh, we need to inspect more on, on a biannual or semi-annual inspection. Um, and then we have, you know, certain turbines, like you said, that we, we touch once a year and it’s kind of just, just let it go. But, um, no, it’s, it’s very site specific, um, on- Allen Hall 2025: That’s what I’m wondering … on- Is it how, how site specific is it? Very, very,  Matt Sigala: very site specific.  Allen Hall 2025: Really? Yeah. It’s- So like, uh, is Central Iowa is different than Central Kansas-  Matt Sigala: Eh Allen Hall 2025: in a sense, or is it more broader spread than that? It can  Matt Sigala: get a little bit broader spread, but then we start looking into s- serial numbers for manufacturers, issues. Okay, are we seeing a certain batch that was released out and it’s in, you know, the northern part of Iowa or half the park? And so that’s what we’re really getting down to now is like serial batch issues and, and trying to track that across the region. Allen Hall 2025: SkySpecs has been trying to use more AI over the last- Yes … six months to a year. Is that helping to sort through some of that data?  Matt Sigala: Yeah, it’s accelerating it. Uh, definitely it’s not like the, uh, [00:07:00] all end answer, but it’s definitely, it’s, it’s-  Allen Hall 2025: So you’re not just thumbing through Excel spreadsheets- Yeah, no and looking at them one by one, you can actually use some, a little bit of  Matt Sigala: AI to- A little bit … to sort it. Yeah, Yeah, sort it out, get a high, high res summary, and then being able to kind of like pinpoint where we wanna go from there on it and, and dive in. But still, you know, AI hallucinates and, and does its thing. Oh, sure. And so we, we just, we wanna tread carefully with it, but making sure it’s clean,  Allen Hall 2025: a sanity check, right? Yeah, exactly. While you’re there, a sanity check, like does that make sense? Exactly. Oh, okay. Exactly. Let’s, let’s scrape it again. Okay. So that’s a huge advantage, and I, I know on the repair vendor management side- Yeah which has been a, an effort over the last year or two from SkySpecs, is to, uh, work with the ISPs and make sure that they’re doing the repairs properly and they’re vetted and they’re trained. Yes. That’s been a big effort in- internally in SkySpecs for a little while. Bringing you on really ramps that up in terms of the, the horsepower that SkySpecs can apply to that. Yeah. Where are you going on that, uh, repair vendor management and the ISPs and the data that comes from, from [00:08:00] all of that side of the business, you know, opposite of the inspection side?  Matt Sigala: Yeah, so with RVM, you know, my end goal is, is to have a preferred vendor list of contractors within SkySpecs. And I’m more thinking of them as like a toolbox of not just it being a crescent wrench, it’s more of, okay, this ISP is good for bulk LEP installation. This ISP is good for Vestas wrinkles, you know, within the max cord. And, and so I think that’s where what I’m trying to, to map out now is, is kind of put everyone within their right socket place of, uh, where they belong in the toolbox- Sh- sh- sh- … and how I can be able to utilize them. And then actually from there, um, seeing what the bandwidth is. And I think that’s like the real catch is being able to get- The right teams on site quickly, you know, when, when you run into those situations, and safely.  Allen Hall 2025: Yeah, because it’s hard. If you call up an ISP and say, “Can you come fix my leading edge problem?” No. Pretty much the answer’s always yes. Yeah, yeah. Right? But you need a little bit of a sanity check there. Can they really do it when they got twel- 12 crews out right now? They only have 13, [00:09:00] so probably can’t do it right now. Yeah,  Matt Sigala: exactly.  Allen Hall 2025: That’s where SkySpecs can help sort that out a bit.  Matt Sigala: Yeah, you know, on the QAQC side of things with, like, LEP where you- do your 10 meters or 12 meters of, uh, LEP installation, and you’re trying to take a picture of 12 meters or, or 10 meters of, of LEP installation both, on both sides. And so the reports are subpar. I think that they’re good enough, but what I’d like to start implementing is being able to have a, a post-installation inspection after the turbines have been running for three days to a week. Let’s refly, you know, the leading edges and get an idea of how the actual installation quality was. Uh, ’cause I- in my opinion, you know, anything within the LEP that there’s a defect, it’s gonna pop up within that first two weeks of operation. Yeah. I think that’s something where we can capitalize on making the ISPs get back on that blade, fix it before they get offsite, and have prevent remob and, and such.  Allen Hall 2025: Ooh, that’s a good idea. Yeah. Because a lot of times they’re demobed, they’re down at the next wind farm- Yep … or maybe in another state, and it’s, like, too late to get them back there to, to touch up. To touch  Matt Sigala: up.  Allen Hall 2025: Exactly. To do [00:10:00] minor work usually. Yeah. Uh, it’s usually m- not major stuff. It tends to be minor stuff, but to catch it- Yeah is really important. So the Horizon system that, uh, an existing SkySpecs, uh, customer uses is, there’s a lot to it, right? Yeah, yeah. So there’s, there’s many branches to this tree. One of them is repair vendor management. Uh, obviously another one’s inspection and the, and one of those growth branches is solar. Matt Sigala: Yes.  Allen Hall 2025: Uh, what is the movement on solar within SkySpecs and repair vendor management? Is that something you guys are working on? Uh, and what, what is the plan for solar? Yes.  Matt Sigala: It’s the, the same approach as RVM, um, where, you know, solar-wise, we, we still wanna be able to, you know, step in and then be that middleman of being able to inspect, be able to get your asset back up and running with, our preferred vendors, you know, and, uh, just have a more smoother, systematic approach to, to the, the maintenance side of the solar s- side of things. I think [00:11:00] we’re, the blades, we got an early start on it from 2016, 2017 timeframe, so we’re, you know, well 10 years into this. Uh, and I think we’re at the point where, like, solar starts n- need to catch up, and I think SkySpecs has a, a big headstart on that.  Allen Hall 2025: Yeah. Just even on the inspection side, although, uh, solar inspections have been happening for quite a while- Yeah the, the quality has varied quite a bit.  Matt Sigala: Yeah. The, the amount of data, uh, that I’ve, I’ve been learning is it’s, it’s- … 2, 3X compared to, to, you know, what we’re pulling off off blades. Um, and so- Oh,  Allen Hall 2025: sure …  Matt Sigala: there’s t- tons more, you know, solar data that needs to be captured and, uh, processed.  Allen Hall 2025: Thermal imaging.  Matt Sigala: Thermal imaging. A bunch of  Allen Hall 2025: that, right,  Matt Sigala: inverters. Top of the panel, bottom of the panel. Right. Yeah. Um, so that’s where I’m seeing a lot more, uh, data management is needed on that side too. And, and  Allen Hall 2025: the, the vendor management of, of that tends to be a little more of l- the Wild West, in my opinion. Yes. ‘Cause the ISPs and wind, there’s a competency to it, and there’s a lot of training- Yeah to do those things. To be a composite repair technician, you generally have to take- Some training, be out in, in the real world working for a couple of years- Yep … before you become competent at it. Solar doesn’t tend to be that way.  Matt Sigala: No, [00:12:00] no. They’re very, they’re very John Wayne, I guess, like you said, the Wild West- Yeah of, of, of, of it. But, um- Yeah, it has to  Allen Hall 2025: move fast.  Matt Sigala: It does, and I think that’s where, you know, SkySpecs can really help step in, uh, and be that technical bridge between the financials and the technical, and being able to safely execute, you know, uh, replacements, repairs, et cetera on, uh, on the, the solar side of things.  Allen Hall 2025: Let me ask you a couple questions- Okay … about carbon fiber. Okay. Because I would be remiss to, to let you go without talking- … about carbon fiber, because it comes up a lot in discussions we have at Weather Guard- Yeah, definitely … with operators, be like, “I’ve got these carbon fiber blades. I don’t really have a good track record of repairing them.” Matt Sigala: Yes.  Allen Hall 2025: Or, the repair is complex and I really can’t find an ISP that knows what to do there. What are some of those repair inspection issues with carbon blades that may differ from your standard fiberglass blades that we’re all used to?  Matt Sigala: Uh, it really depends on where the carbon’s at. So if, you know, we’re talking about a spar cap, um, you know, with unidirectional fibers being- A pultrusion Pultrusion. [00:13:00] Um, you know, the, the repairs are, are becoming more and more trickier, uh, mostly when you start in- introducing oil ingestion to a lot of these turbines that have carbon. you know, we’re, we’re having to take a lot more steps in, in the repair process, in making sure that we’re executing the repair properly. And then another thing that w- you know, with the carbon that will– seems to be an issue, uh, on the procurement side is being able to order, uh, you know, the right GSM UD directional prepreg carbon and, and being able to get that in the, into the field, um, just because it requires freezers and, and everything else. There’s, there’s a couple more steps to, to the prepregs. But, Carbon loves lightning.  Allen Hall 2025: It does.  Matt Sigala: It’s, it’s unfortunate. Yeah. But, you know, it’s, it’s, it’s, uh, a, a whole different repair process, to be honest.  Allen Hall 2025: Well, that’s what I’m hearing- Yeah … is that a lot of operators don’t want to touch it, especially if it’s in a pultrusion form. Yes. If it is a hand layup carbon fiber structure, uh, from the OEM, that’s a little different than if I had this preformed, uh, all unidirectional-[00:14:00] Plank … y- Yeah, this kind of brick- Yeah … uh, of, of carbon. That’s hard to kinda grind into and get the layers back like you want to. Is it really repairable? I- and, and it’s in a sense, like is it repairable uptower or is it a downtower thing? Matt Sigala: Um, no. The majority of the repairs… So I like to think of it if you got your… You break your blade into three sections. You got your max chord, your midspan, and your tip. Yeah. Uh, midspan tip, we, we can get away with uptower carbon fiber repairs.  Allen Hall 2025: Okay.  Matt Sigala: they do require aviation skillset as far as- Yeah … um, hot bonders being able- Okay to pull your vacuums. And, and it’s… The big thing with the carbon prepreg is that you have to get above 80 C, and you’re more into the 140 C, 160 C, and you’re letting it heat soak for, for quite some time. Yeah. And that’s where you need those aviation style hot bonders and being able to get up there because alternately, it’s, it’s you’re having to soak the carbon at 80 C for six hours or eight hours, a little bit longer to, to get that full, full cook. Um, and so that’s why right now I think there’s only a [00:15:00] very few qualified vendors out there, um, to do the carbon fiber repairs. it’s, it’s something that’s trainable. It’s not black magic. Um- No … it’s, it just takes time. It’s a different technician skillset. You go from reading layers and seeing your biaxials and UDs when you’re, when you’re grinding, to the carbon fiber, it’s all one layer. It’s all black. Uh, so you, you’re, you’re more using y- uh, micrometer, and you’re, you’re taking your GSM of what your glass you’re gonna replace it with. You’re micing it. Okay, this is four thousandths or whatever, and then you ki- okay, now I’m like at 16 thousandths, X amount of layers, and now let’s go back. And so it’s, it’s, it just takes time. It’s a process. It takes  Allen Hall 2025: a lot more time-  Matt Sigala: Yeah …  Allen Hall 2025: for sure. A lot. It- does that then lend itself to more training and qualification verification on, on the skillsets that’s out on site? Which is one of the things that repair vendor management at SkySpecs does, right? Definitely. You, you’re, you’re- clocking each technician of what their skill set is. So if you see a guy out there that only has fiberglass repair, but they’re [00:16:00] working on a pultrusion repair, that’s sort of a red flag- Red flag,  Matt Sigala: yeah …  Allen Hall 2025: in SkySpecs,  Matt Sigala: right? Definitely. Yeah, definitely. Or not try- Well, understand the process, where they’re coming from. Did it, was it an approved re- repair plan? Um, and a lot of these sites too, like I said, where, you know, they can’t get prepregded carbon, so we’re, they’re using, you know, GSM 600 UD fiberglass on- Right … some of these repairs.  Allen Hall 2025: Yeah.  Matt Sigala: Um, which is not ideal. Not perfect. Yeah. Um, but, uh, if, if you gotta get the turbine up in operation, it’s understandable.  Allen Hall 2025: Oh, sure. Yeah. So what are the other big things that you’re seeing out there today? ‘Cause there’s a lot of work going on. There’s a lot of repower work going. A  Matt Sigala: lot of repower work. the whole 80/20, uh, right now, that’s kinda what I’m trying to understand is, uh- which companies are out there actually, uh, replacing blades, or is it just a gearbox generator, uh, repower, you know, where, where is the money need to be spent. Um, and then trying to understand, too, like the, uh, LEP, um, installations, VD- VG installations, uh, being able to get those on top of, uh, the repowers I think is, is a massive win.  Allen Hall 2025: [00:17:00] Yeah. I, I, we have seen a lot more, uh, leading edge repair over the last two years, uh, mostly c- because of the, the changes in the law. Also, VG’s going on. Mm-hmm. Which you didn’t necessarily see, especially like three or four years ago. Yeah. You would occasionally see it because operators know they get some more power. Matt Sigala: Yeah.  Allen Hall 2025: Are, you’re seeing more of that just to get to that 80 percentile threshold- Threshold … on, on, on the starting the tax credits over again Are you guys involved in, on some of the advice, uh- Yes … how to go do that? Because I know a lot of operators, like VGs make sense to me, but I don’t know anything about them. I’m not an aerodynamicist. Yeah. Just, Matt, does this make sense to go do? Is, is that some of the conversations you’ve been involved with?  Matt Sigala: Yeah, we’re getting there. Like I said, I’ve only been here for a month now, but, but- Oh, come  Allen Hall 2025: on …  Matt Sigala: yeah, the con- 30  Allen Hall 2025: days is plenty.  Matt Sigala: The, uh, the conversations are definitely there. and that’s something that we’re actually looking at in- in house and how we can partner up with, you know, s- certain assets out there that, that can, you know, feed a little bit more data into us. It’s creating like a, an aero packet of being able to- Mm … [00:18:00] install leading edge protection and then apply a VG, and then get yourself out of that neutral area and get you actually making the additional 1.4% energy or, you know- It’s a lot of money. Yeah, it is. In the- end, it’s, you know, times these massive fleets, it can add up pretty quickly.  Allen Hall 2025: What’s your feeling on instrumentation of blades today? Are, are there blades that you, yes, you must be putting some sort of instrumentation on it. I’m thinking about, uh, root inserts is a big problem. Yeah. There’s some cracks on certain blades that seem to be almost ubiquitous. And then, uh, there’s, there’s some blades that, you know, just seem to keep turning. Are, are you thinking about how SkySpecs gets data into the system? Are you starting to recommend, like, “Hey, uh, we definitely need to put some sensors out there to monitor this crack and just to watch it grow instead of yearly may not be enough”? Or, or is the drone inspection enough? Or you’re, are, are you thinking about vibration sensors? How, what are you thinking about in terms of blades? Yeah, there’s  Matt Sigala: definitely, definitely a need for, for sensors on certain [00:19:00]turbines. Um, I think at some point the visual inspections aren’t, aren’t enough, even on, uh, you know, quarterly. Um, I’d still feel that a, a visual inspection, uh, you know, 30, 40% of the story. Uh, and then after that, you know, you’re kinda having to either internal inspections or getting hands-on inspection type situation. But, um, it’s more the financials of going out and having to reinspect the blade. If you’re continuously inspecting the blade, it’s, it’s almost easier to have the sensors on. Uh, but it’s- The lack of data to put those sensors on to actually have, you know, good feedback is, it’s-  Allen Hall 2025: Well, that- that’s one of the things I was thinking about SkySpecs not long ago is because you touch so many blades- Yeah … it, it may make sense that SkySpecs maybe runs a couple of test sites. Like, we’re gonna put sensors on some of these blades to see how this crack progresses, because I’ve seen it in Illinois, in Kansas, in Oklahoma. If I, me, SkySpecs, have a data set that says, “This is how it progresses,” that could make sense. Yeah. Because you, what you would hate to see is, like, every [00:20:00] operator be doing the same thing over and over and over again. Exactly. Trying to learn the same lesson, where SkySpecs can be a focal point in that. Yeah. Matt Sigala: No, I think that’s, that’s, uh, something that we, we could be working towards. Um, it’s definitely, you know, not in, in the making right now, but, um, some of this, you know, data keeps coming towards us. It’s, it’s something that we wanna, you know, stay sticky with, so.  Allen Hall 2025: Yeah. And, uh, let’s, let’s go back to the, the repair vendor management side. Mm-hmm. Uh, I know talking to you before the move to SkySpecs that you had tracked Every technician in terms of their efficiency, the quality of the work, how they… And beyond that, like- Yeah … how they work with others. Do they show up on time?  Matt Sigala: Yeah.  Allen Hall 2025: Is that part of the thought process coming into the larger scale Horizon SkySpecs system is we need to be measuring things than just did they finish the turbine and move on? Matt Sigala: Exactly.  Allen Hall 2025: Is, is, is that gonna be, you see more of that, you think-  Sigala: Yeah …  Allen Hall 2025: over the next couple of  Matt Sigala: years? I think it’s, it’s gonna be very, you know, ad hoc with each individual customer on, on what type of, you know, data they wanna track, but it’s literally [00:21:00] just a switch within Horizon to turn that on if, if, uh-  Allen Hall 2025: Wow, I, I, if I’m an operator, I’m 100% turning that on. Matt Sigala: Yeah. No, and I think it’s more of, uh, it helps the ISPs because the technicians know that their names are actually tied to it rather than them just going in there and doing a report, and we kinda get to see who they are at the end of it, so.  Allen Hall 2025: Yeah.  Matt Sigala: Um- ‘ Allen Hall 2025: Cause there’s a big boon to technicians. Oh, massive. If you’re a good technician, man, you can get a lot of street credibility because you’ve demonstrated it time and time again, and you have a- Yeah a, a whole data set that says, “Hey, I know what I’m doing.” Mm-hmm. “You should be hiring me.”  Matt Sigala: Yeah.  Allen Hall 2025: That’s extremely valuable.  Matt Sigala: That’s something I, I push to the technicians even when I was on the other side of the house where, you know, doing interviews for hiring technicians. W- we’d ask, like, “Do you have a, a, a portfolio? Like, you’re asking for X amount of money, like, you should have something to show for.” Some pictures. Pictures, previous repairs, you know. Start, s- definitely recommending to the technicians to-  Allen Hall 2025: Yeah …  Matt Sigala: you know, build a portfolio for yourself ’cause it’s, it speaks more than a resume at times. It’s a  Allen Hall 2025: profession. Matt Sigala: It is, yeah. You  Allen Hall 2025: need to treat it as a profession. Yeah. It’s a  Matt Sigala: skill- It’s not  Allen Hall 2025: just a job …  Matt Sigala: yeah, a skilled trade, so.  Allen Hall 2025: It, [00:22:00] it, it really is, especially now as- Yeah … as we get into more carbon and complex blade designs, and everything’s just getting more advanced than ever. Yeah. You’d have to have that skill set. Matt Sigala: Yeah. And I think it takes at least a minimum of three years to become a, a good blade repair technician or any type of technician in general. Like, you know, first year you’re learning. Second year is imposter syndrome, and third year you’re finally kinda getting into the groove of things and, and making some decisions. So, um, and mostly, you know, hanging on a 5/16 cable, you know, 180 feet off the ground. Um, it, it takes a lotta, lotta training and development with those technicians, and just finding the right mindset right off the bat. It’s, like, the first thing that we look for.  Allen Hall 2025: So what are the things that operators should know going into this repair season and in towards, you know, inspection season, which will start in a couple of months? What should they be thinking about going forward here based on what you know now, now you’ve been on the data side of it?  Matt Sigala: There’s a lot of work coming. There’s a lot of work to be distributed out there, uh, across all of our, our customers. Um, [00:23:00] but there’s a, a massive lack of quality, uh, within the ISPs. Um, and like, like I said, I think it’s not due to the It’s like, I think majority of it’s due to the rapid expansion of, you know, the volume needed for, for repair teams, and it’s constantly growing each year. And, um, you know, these owners are being pushed a little bit harder to, to spin up these teams to, to get out there. Um, biggest thing is just, you know, taking care of the little steps, you know, making sure all your lines are drawn out on the blade. Like, that’s the stuff that I really see- … our engineers, you know, on, on the q- uh, quality side two or three. Um, marking is just, you know, minimal stuff to where it doesn’t paint the full picture of the repair on the blade report, and so that’s why we’re raising the flags. Um, it’s not that they’re just going out generally and doing bad repairs. It’s just, like, the little steps in between. I think that’s what we’re kinda, like, focusing on. other than that, just being safe. You know, these, these guys are, are, are, uh, like I said, hanging up on the, on those ropes or cables and, um, you know, making sure that, you know, they get home safe is, is w- our [00:24:00] biggest thing at the end of the day, too. It’s not only just getting the repairs done, but having the ROI, but it’s making sure that those technicians can, can have a, a safe job to come and go to and, uh, you know, be there, so. Allen Hall 2025: Well, it’s, I’m sure SkySpecs is thrilled to have you. At least everybody I’ve talked to at SkySpecs is thrilled to have you there, and it’s like y- you’re plugging in this really knowledgeable person into this massive data set. And when you combine those two, you know, it’s, it’s squared. It’s not double, you know? Yeah. It, it’s, it’s gonna really help SkySpecs out a lot, and I’m super happy for you. I think this is the right s- position for you to be, and eventually, like, you just gain so much knowledge. You-  Matt Sigala: Definitely.  Allen Hall 2025: You’re just one of those guys that you, you just think, “Man, Matt knows so much.” And if you haven’t talked to Matt Sagala, or you haven’t talked to SkySpecs, or maybe you are in SkySpecs, you’re in the Horizon system, and you just haven’t turned on the repair vendor management, now is the time to do that. Matt Sigala: Definitely.  Allen Hall 2025: Matt is a powerhouse here. He can help you, and the, and the whole team at SkySpecs. There’s a lot of people behind the scenes- Oh, [00:25:00] tons … that are- Yeah … are making this thing go. How do they get ahold of you, Matt? Do they go to LinkedIn or-  Matt Sigala: LinkedIn, yeah. Um, or I can, you know, drop my, my email address with you, and you can put it up there. But, uh, yeah, don’t hesitate. Reach out, or if you see me around- … um, you know, give me a call. Grab  Allen Hall 2025: him.  Matt Sigala: Yeah. Grab  Allen Hall 2025: me. If you see Matt, grab him. Yes, Matt, it’s so great to have you on the podcast. We’ve been trying so long to do this, so it’s, it’s great to have you here.  Matt Sigala: Likewise. No, this was fun. Greatly appreciate it.

This week on The Green Grind, Kory and LeRoy sit down with Clayton Garrison, President of Norwalk Seasonal Services and Creative Nature, to discuss his entrepreneurial journey—from buying his first snowplow with a loan while working a full-time banking job to building multiple successful outdoor service businesses in Central Iowa. Clayton shares the lessons he's learned about growing with intention, creating efficient systems, hiring the right people, and making the transition from working in the business to leading the business. The conversation dives into leadership, the importance of processes, building a strong team, and why organization is one of the biggest competitive advantages any contractor can have.

Denny McDonnell is entering his third season as a Men's Basketball Assistant Coach at D3 Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa. McDonnell's extensive coaching career includes serving as the boy's assistant coach at North High School in Des Moines, Iowa and the girls' basketball coach at Valley High School in West Des Moines. He is also the founder of the 4VLegacy development basketball program in Central Iowa, a program dedicated to offering private instructional basketball skill development for young athletes aged 8-18.On this episode Mike & Denny discuss the challenges and rewards of coaching at both high school and college levels, particularly the significance of fostering authentic relationships with players to cultivate leadership and resilience. McDonnell shares insights into the evolution of player development and the critical role of effective communication in enhancing team culture. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @hoopheadspod for the latest updates on episodes, guests, and events from the Hoop Heads Pod.Make sure you're subscribed to the Hoop Heads Pod on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts and while you're there please leave us a 5 star rating and review. Your ratings help your friends and coaching colleagues find the show. If you really love what you're hearing recommend the Hoop Heads Pod to someone and get them to join you as a part of Hoop Heads Nation.You'll want to take some notes as you listen to this episode with Denny McDonnell, Men's Basketball Assistant Coach at Simpson College and the founder of the 4VLegacy Basketball Development Program.Website - https://simpsonathletics.com/sports/mbkb/index https://www.4vlegacy.com/Email - denny@4vlegacy.comInstagram - @4vlegacy/Visit our Sponsors!Give With HoopsGive With Hoops is a groundbreaking initiative that fuses basketball analytics with modern sponsorship. Built for teams who see data as opportunity, from AAU programs to college powerhouses. By tying on-court performance directly to community and sponsor engagement, Give With Hoops help programs raise more while deepening support from those who believe in the game.D3 Direct Recruiting PlaybookHoop Heads Listeners currently get 25% off!Your step-by-step guide to getting recruited as a college athlete at the NCAA Division 3 level. This course is designed by former D3 Athletes to take you from zero interest from college coaches to securing your first offer and putting you on the path to committing.The Coaching PortfolioYour first impression is everything when applying for a new coaching job. A professional coaching portfolio is the tool that highlights your coaching achievements and philosophies and, most of all, helps separate you and your abilities from the other applicants. Special Price of just $25 for all Hoop Heads Listeners.Wealth4CoachesEmpowering athletic coaches with financial education, strategic planning, and practical tools to build lasting wealth—on and off the court.If you listen to and love the Hoop Heads Podcast, please consider giving us a small tip that will help in our quest to become the #1 basketball coaching podcast. https://hoop-heads.captivate.fm/supportTwitter/X Podcast - @hoopheadspodMike - @hdstarthoopsJason - @jsunkleInstagram@hoopheadspodFacebookhttps://www.facebook.com/hoopheadspod/YouTubehttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDoVTtvpgwwOVL4QVswqMLQ

The Register's Chad Leistikow outlines how the layoffs at KXnO impact Hawk Central going forward before bringing on Tyler Tachman to discuss Iowa basketball's latest schedule addition (Virginia Tech) and the NBA Draft experience for first-rounder Bennett Stirtz. The last 70% of the show is Chad's sit-down interview with Iowa football assistant defensive line coach Jay Niemann, who provides insight into a potentially concerning position group.

If there's one thing church leaders should be obsessed with, it's the front door. In this special compilation episode, we’ve pulled together four conversations from leading churches and ministry organizations that are seeing success in helping first-time guests move from curious visitors to fully engaged disciples. The challenge facing churches today is different than it was even a few years ago. Guests are arriving with different motivations, different expectations, and different questions. Churches that continue using yesterday's assimilation strategies may unintentionally lose people God is already drawing. Don’t miss the four critical lessons every church should consider as they prepare for the fall ministry season. From changing guest motivations to intentional follow-up systems, discipleship pathways, and data-driven care, each conversation offers practical insights that can help churches better connect with the people walking through their doors. People Are Coming to Church Looking for God Greg Curtis shares a remarkable shift he's seeing among first-time guests, particularly younger adults. Where people once came primarily looking for community, support, or practical life help, many are now arriving already searching for God. In some cases, they've already begun reading Scripture, exploring faith, or experiencing spiritual curiosity before ever attending a service. This means churches must be prepared to engage people with greater intentionality from the moment they arrive. Key Takeaway // Many first-time guests are no longer casually checking out church. They're arriving with genuine questions about God and faith, often after beginning a spiritual journey on their own. Churches must be prepared to meet that curiosity with intentional next steps. Listen to the Full Episode // They’re Looking for God … Don’t Miss Them: Fixing Your Church’s Assimilation Problem with Greg Curtis & Tommy Carreras (March 26, 2026) Follow-Up Can't Be Left to Chance John Sellers explains how Journey Church creates a clear and repeatable process for helping guests take their next step. Through intentional touchpoints—including a welcoming first interaction, relational next-step environments, and a six-week follow-up process involving texts, emails, phone calls, and personal invitations—the church ensures guests don't simply attend once and disappear. Consistent follow-up may not be flashy, but it remains one of the most effective growth strategies churches can implement. Key Takeaway // Fast-growing churches rarely rely on a single welcome interaction. They build systems that encourage guests to take multiple steps over several weeks, increasing the likelihood that visitors become connected participants. Listen to the Full Episode // From Guests to Baptisms: Building Clear Next Steps with John Sellers (November 13, 2025) A Clear Pathway Helps People Keep Moving Ashley Lentz outlines Lutheran Church of Hope's discipleship pathway, which helps leaders identify where people are spiritually and what their next step should be. Rather than treating every attendee the same, the church intentionally helps people move from seeker to believer, from believer to follower, and ultimately into servant leadership. The framework creates clarity for both staff and volunteers while helping people continue growing long after their first visit. Key Takeaway // People are far more likely to stay engaged when churches provide a defined pathway for spiritual growth. Clarity helps both guests and leaders understand what comes next. Listen to the Full Episode // Clarity Is Kindness: Simplifying Next Steps in a Growing Church with Ashley Lentz (September 18, 2025) Data Is a Tool for Shepherding, Not Just Administration Ronee de Leon of TouchPoint challenges churches to view their database as more than a record-keeping system. Using her framework of Conviction, Collection, Clarity, and Care, she explains how churches can use data to proactively identify opportunities for discipleship and connection. Effective data practices ensure people do not fall through the cracks and allow churches to provide personalized care at scale. Key Takeaway // Churches cannot effectively shepherd hundreds—or thousands—of people through memory alone. Healthy systems and meaningful data help leaders identify opportunities for connection, care, and discipleship before people drift away. Listen to the Full Episode // From Data to Discipleship: The Four Cs Every Church Needs with Ronee de Leon (April 30, 2026) This episode serves as a timely challenge for church leaders preparing for the months ahead. As more spiritually curious people walk through church doors, the question isn't whether guests are coming. It's whether our systems, pathways, and follow-up processes are prepared to help them stay. The churches seeing the greatest impact are not leaving assimilation to chance. They're intentionally creating environments where people can move from a first visit to a life transformed by Jesus. Thank You for Tuning In! There are a lot of podcasts you could be tuning into today, but you chose unSeminary, and I'm grateful for that. If you enjoyed today's show, please share it by using the social media buttons you see at the left hand side of this page. Also, kindly consider taking the 60-seconds it takes to leave an honest review and rating for the podcast on iTunes, they're extremely helpful when it comes to the ranking of the show and you can bet that I read every single one of them personally! Episode Transcript Rich Birch — Friends, Rich here from the unSeminary Podcast. Thanks so much for tuning in. We’ve got a very special compilation episode for you.Rich Birch — Listen, I have heard echoes of similar things happening over the last year or so on the podcast, so we’re pulling together these episodes because I want to point out to you critical lessons for your church, particularly here in the summertime, as you think about what are some things that we should be reloading for this fall. Listen, friends, you know, and I know that you and I are a part of the local church and the local church is the only organization in the world that exists for people that are not here yet. You and I should be fanatically focused on the front door.Rich Birch — We should be first-time-guest-obsessed. And on today’s episode, I want to peek in on four discussions that talk about changing dynamics when it comes to connecting with first time guests. And no conversation around this whole area of assimilation would be complete without talking to and listening to Greg Curtis. Rich Birch — If you do not know Greg, where have you been? He’s been at Eastside Church for the last decade running their assimilation work. And he’s really seeing some interesting shifts in particularly young adults when it comes that I keep seeing across the country. And in this clip, he’s going to open up and tell you about a subtle shift that he has seen and some of the changes they’ve made around assimilating people when they come in.Rich Birch — Now, today’s conversation, we’re going to really frame around Greg’s three part model. We talk about the screen to the seat, the seat to the circle, and then the circle to the street. We want you to understand that how we’re connecting with guests today is different than what it looked like five years ago.Rich Birch — It’s definitely different than what it looked like pre-COVID. So let’s listen in first and see if we can catch what Greg is seeing and think about the dynamics that you’re seeing at your church. Listen in to what Greg’s got to say… [Clip 1 Begins]Rich Birch — People get assimilated, get connected. What have you noticed maybe something that’s maybe different in the way people are engaging right now that’s different than maybe even a year or two ago?Greg Curtis — A crescendo over the last two years has been remarkable in its shift towards—this is going to sound crazy because we’re talking to churches—they’re wanting God now. And what I mean by that is prior, we were having to sell the benefits of following Jesus – most growing churches, which there are. And I think it was a compelling thing to share with the culture.Greg Curtis — And so people were coming to church to find community, to find help with parenting, to find support in marriage or to, you know, a variety of different things. And so the draw and what was causing people to engage with church was really, what help in my life? How can I increase the quality of my life? Maybe even get some pretty powerful pain points addressed. Greg Curtis — This has shifted. I’ll put it in the terms of our young adult pastor. His name is Charles. He came to me. He said, Greg, prior to two, three years ago, maybe not even that long, he said young adults were coming, 80% of them to find friends and community, and about 20% to find God.Greg Curtis — He goes, it’s flipped. It’s flipped. Now it’s 80% God and 20% community.Greg Curtis — And that has expressed itself in some remarkable ways. I’ll just throw two out. At the end of last year, I was covering somebody, a pastor who was going to baptize somebody after the service. He had to be gone. So I said, yeah, I’ll cover it. So in our context, I’ll meet that person ahead of time and kind of show them where to sit in the service, when to come out, where the baptistry is, et cetera.Greg Curtis — And I met her. She was 28 years old, named Connie. And I said, as we’re walking through the baptistry, so, you know, I asked these typical questions: how long have you been coming to Eastside, which is my church?Greg Curtis — And she says, oh, I’ve never been to Eastside. I was like, oh, so you’re from our online campus. And she goes, no, I’ve never really heard of Eastside.Greg Curtis — And I said, well, what’s led you to be baptized today? And this was her story. She goes, I grew up in a very non-religious home, and I’ve never been to church. And I vowed I’d never even date a religious person. But I had some friends, three months ago, that invited me to watch The Chosen with them. I didn’t want to.Greg Curtis — I was mad at myself for getting engaged after the first episode, kept watching, decided to buy myself a Bible two months ago. I started reading the Old Testament and New Testament concurrently and decided I love Jesus and I want to follow Him, and I could tell what I needed to do was get baptized. But, get this, I’m the game day operations coordinator for the NFL. So I work on Sundays, and I just Googled who would baptize me on a Saturday. And your form came up, and I filled it out. So here I am.Rich Birch — Wow. That’s amazing. Greg Curtis — Yeah. And I’ll tell you what, she didn’t know, Rich, that this baptism was going to be in front of other people until we were in the water and the whole church was looking at her. Rich Birch — Wow. That’s incredible.Greg Curtis — The questions she had, we’ve remained in touch. The questions she asks are so precious. But I’m telling you, I’ve had a few of those that are similar. That one’s pretty dramatic, but are very similar. No background at all. They’re coming because they’re having a God moment before they get to us.Rich Birch — Yeah. Greg Curtis — And that’s a big shift because God is doing something literally worldwide and in our culture right now that they’re coming to us to find God, and they’re already encountering him in some way, and they need help with that and want it. And that’s a huge shift. [Clip 1 Ends]Rich Birch — Fantastic. Listen, if 80% of the guests are arriving at your church with a God question burning in their heart, the first 60 minutes, what we do every single weekend is critically important. I have seen this over my career.Rich Birch — Listen, I had recently one of those birthdays with a zero on the end. And I can tell you, as someone who’s been three decades into ministry experience, there was a time where people stumbled into our churches. And that’s just frankly not happening anymore.Rich Birch — People are arriving with real questions. And we might have been able to, in a previous generation, entertain them or try to diffuse this idea that we ain’t your mama’s church. But that isn’t where people are at anymore. Rich Birch — They’re coming with real live questions in their heart. They’re not stumbling into your church on Sunday morning because they don’t know what’s going on there. They’re coming looking for real questions.Rich Birch — And you and I, our processes, what we do on Sunday morning has got to meet that intensity. We can’t just hand them a coffee mug and say, we’ll see you next week. We’ve got to follow them up with some fervor and excitement and frankly a bit more intensity than what most churches are doing. Rich Birch — I love this conversation that’s coming up with John Sellers. He’s executive pastor of locations at Journey Church in Central Florida—three campuses with a fourth on the way—and is one of the most consistently fastest-growing churches in the country. Now, listen to what John talks about when he talks about the follow-up process, that they aren’t just leaving it to chance. They are working with intention to move these first time guests and get them plugged in. Rich Birch — The question I have for you is, is this the kind of intensity that you’re following up your first time guests with? Let’s listen in. [Clip 2 Begins]John Sellers — So at our church, every location has a tent. It’s a new here tent. And so the first step that we’re communicating, the clear step on that first or second week is: stop by the tent.John Sellers — Like, I know that’s a big step and we have to remind our serve team. And behind the curtain, that seems simple to us, but like to a new person at a church, even going to a tent or making themselves known by filling out a Connect card, even if it’s digital, like that’s a big step for somebody. John Sellers — And so a lot of our communication’s go to the tent. We’d love to meet you. We’ve got a gift card for you just to celebrate the step of faith you took to be here today. And so once they take that step, it starts us being able to follow up through text messages, emails, phone calls, and really encouraging them to step into our Next Steps class.John Sellers — And so when they step into our Next Steps class, one of the things we’re even constantly trying to think through what we call it because “class” probably isn’t the best way to describe it. And we’re actually revamping it right now. John Sellers — But for us, even that Next Steps class is a round table. It’s relational. It’s getting them around our Next Steps team that wants to hear their story. You know, what brought you through the doors? Wants to begin to hear about maybe what’s on their heart? Where are they at? What’s their next faith step?John Sellers — And so those are the first couple of weeks. If we can encourage them to stop by the tent, that allows us to stay in contact with them relationally. And then the next step would be go to one of our Next Steps classes after a service.Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s good. Can we pull apart a bit of the detail there? Just because I know people are wondering this because I get these questions.Rich Birch — So it sounds like when you arrive at the New Year tent, there’s a gift card there. Where’s that gift card for? What is the value of that? And why a gift card? Talk to us about that.John Sellers — Yes. So for now, and we’ve experimented, we’ll change this up like constantly. But right now it’s for a local coffee shop. And it’s literally a $5 gift card. It’s just a thank you to say thank you for coming. John Sellers — It’s a little gift bag. It’s got information about our church, obviously. And it’s just a step. The way we phrase it is we know it’s a big step of faith you took to be here today. And so we just want to celebrate the fact that you made it in the room. And so that’s what it is – $5. John Sellers — On big events, we’ll do a Journey Church cup and make it a little more substantial. But it’s just a $5 gift card to a local coffee shop.Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s great. And I love the thinking behind that, friends, that are listening in, is sometimes what I see churches do, they’ll be like, hey, if you want to get connected, or if you’ve got interested about your Next Steps, or if you’re wondering where to go, drop by the tent outside. People are not asking that question when they first come.Rich Birch — We’ve got to take a celebratory step. And I like what you’re saying. I love that language of we want to celebrate the faith step by being here today. And we want to give you a gift in exchange for that. People will do that for a $5 gift card, or a coffee mug, or whatever. That’s good.Rich Birch — And then the other thing that caught my attention you said was, you said: and we follow up with texts and emails. Talk about how many of that, what’s that communication process look like? There’s another area where I see churches drop the ball all the time.John Sellers — Sure, it’s a variety. There’s a workflow that we use through our database system planning center that is owned by our Weekend Experience team members. But basically, it starts with an email from our lead pastor with a short video for them to watch, a message directly from him.John Sellers — It includes a text message or phone call from the location pastors within two weeks. It includes other text messages and emails. So it lasts about six weeks. And it’s more information about how to take steps at our church. John Sellers — And so some of its vision, a lot of it is geared towards stepping into the Next Steps class. But yes, it’s multiple, and it’s a variety. And it’s over the span of six weeks. And then we even have, you know, workflows built out that, you know, if somebody goes through that six-week process without taking the next step, that periodically we’ll check back in with them. [Clip 2 Ends]Rich Birch — Boring stuff grows churches. I’ve said it before. I’m going to keep saying it.Rich Birch — A monthly Next Steps cadence or New Year cadence, whatever you call it at your church, a $5 gift card may not be exciting, but it’s the kind of thing that we see time and time again at fast-growing churches. But the question is, what happens after week six? Where do we take people beyond this initial connection?Rich Birch — In fact, I’ve seen in some churches that have done extensive studies on this. If people do not get plugged in in the first 100 days, they might come, they might even come back. But if they don’t take a significant step, that is get on a team or in a group in those first 100 days, they will just not connect to your church. Rich Birch — So I want to peek in on a conversation we had with Ashley Lentz. She’s the Connections Pastor at a fantastic church, Lutheran Church of Hope, a multi-site church with seven campuses in Central Iowa. There’s 7,000 people at their one location every single weekend.Rich Birch — And she really takes the longer arc view. Where do we go? It’s really, going back to what Greg talked about, there’s this kind of seat to circle, and then there’s the circle to street. That’s what this conversation is all about. How do we get these people who have taken these first few steps, what are we doing to get them actually plugged in? Let’s listen in to what Ashley has to say. Rich Birch — There’s so much we can learn here. And again, I want you to be thinking about when you think about this fall at your church, are there some things you should be adjusting as we go into the fall? [Clip 3 Begins]Ashley Lentz — One of the tools that we use, and it is very much an internal tool is what I would call it. We call it the Hope Circle. And it is what I would call a discipleship tool or a discipleship pathway.Ashley Lentz — And if I were to say that to our congregation members, they would really have no idea what I’m talking about. It is very internal. But it’s helpful to identify where people are on this Hope Circle.Ashley Lentz — And so the circle starts with being a seeker. At a church our size, we have people every weekend who have zero idea what the church thing is about. They’ve maybe never been introduced to Jesus. Someone just invited them to church. They maybe knew they needed church and walked in the door, but have no idea what to expect. And so they are seeking something that has been missing in their life.Ashley Lentz — And so helping people identify if that’s where you are, here are kind of the very preliminary places that would be helpful for you to start plugging in. As we move around that circle, we get to believers, people who are like, okay, I’m bought into the Jesus thing. I’ve heard the message, I believe, now what? I wanna understand this better. I believe in Jesus. I believe in God. I’m here for it, but I don’t really know the things. Ashley Lentz — So where do we go from there and how do we help them then move into being super excited about Jesus? I don’t just believe, I’m on fire for Jesus. I’m a follower, right? I am all in, my life looks different. I’ve been transformed. How do I follow him? Ashley Lentz — And then how do you serve people in that arena too? Because that’s gonna look different than somebody who’s come in as a seeker looking for Jesus and somebody who’s on fire for Jesus.Ashley Lentz — So how do we move them around the circle? So it’s seeker, believer, follower, and then kind of the last part of our circle is servant leader. How do we move them then into serving and letting the transformed nature of the gospel pour out of them into the world around us?Ashley Lentz — And I would say our secret sauce here at Hope is we love volunteers. Like as we move people around the Hope Circle, I and my colleagues, we want to equip people to lead. So being a servant leader inside these walls, but also outside these walls is really like, that’s what’s attractional to people is letting them know like you’re on fire for Jesus, go tell everyone about it and serve in the arena you find yourself in, whether in the church or outside the church. [Clip 3 Ends]Rich Birch — A pathway you can’t measure is a pathway you cannot improve. Friends, you’ve got a brain problem. Over 200 people, you simply cannot track where people are at in the processes we have talked about before.Rich Birch — Your mind literally cannot hold in place where all of these people are at in their process. And so underneath everything we’ve talked about today, you need a robust approach to data. Rich Birch — Listen, your church database is a care mechanism. It’s just a way we make sure people do not fall through the cracks. And so everything that we’ve talked about in today’s episode needs a robust approach to data and the way you handle data to move people just from a broad, kind of like they’re attending all the way through to caring, ensuring that they are plugged in. So I wanna peek into one final conversation. Rich Birch — Ronee de Leon, she’s the executive director of Partner Church Success at Touchpoint. But outside of that, she’s formerly on staff at a large multi-site church in Columbus, Ohio. And Touchpoint sits across hundreds of churches and Ronee sees the patterns.Rich Birch — Listen, what I want you to listen to carefully here is these four Cs that she talks about. Conviction, collection, clarity, care. And ask your question, are you doing this with your data?Rich Birch — Does your data structure actually allow you to move people along in a way that ensures that we’re actually getting them plugged in? Friends, I don’t want you to miss the opportunity that God’s bringing your way. And this conversation could help you think differently about that, particularly in the next couple of months. [Clip 4 Begins]Ronee de Leon — Let’s alliterate some more. Like I said, I was on church staff for a long time. Rich Birch — Yes, exactly.Ronee de Leon — And it does become memorable, right? So this is a really simple framework that really is more stages. It’s a progression. But even though it’s simple, whether they know it or not, every church is in one of these stages when it comes to data-driven discipleship. Ronee de Leon — And so four kind of Cs of this or stages are conviction, collection, clarity, and care. And I’ll just give a brief description of each of those and then we can go dive in a little bit deeper.Ronee de Leon — But conviction, really the question that we’re answering here is, do you truly believe this matters even when it’s not easy? So leaders believe that shepherding is important, but do we wanna move into doing it proactively? And are we comfortable using data as a tool to do that well? So that’s kind of the conviction piece. Do you really believe that this matters? Ronee de Leon — Collection then, are you committed to consistently gathering the data that’s needed? Not just once, but as a rhythm. It’s hard work, but it is a worthy cause, a valiant effort. Ronee de Leon — Let’s move to clarity real quick. Again, the question we’re answering is, now that you have the data, do you have the insight? Do you really see what it’s telling you? And what are we doing with it?Ronee de Leon — And then the last one here, of course, is where we’re acting on the insights to connect with our people. Will you actually act on the insights and shepherd people or will it stay theoretical? That’s kind of where we’re headed with this. [Clip 4 Ends] Rich Birch — We started this off today talking about how we see this pattern happening across the church. And I think these four episodes really hang incredibly together. Greg Curtis, he really named the moment that we’re in. I really do think that we’re seeing something that is generationally important. And I do not want your church to miss it. Rich Birch — John Sellers, I thought gave a really clear discussion around how we move these people that are arriving. How do we get them to take those first steps and get plugged in? Rich Birch — Then Ashley Lentz, she unpacked what it looked like to go from the seat to the circle, to the circle to the street pathway. What are we doing to actually get people to plug in deep in our community?Rich Birch — And then finally, Ronee brought it home, giving us a measurement layer to really bring the whole thing together with some honesty and truth. Rich Birch — Listen, this is the question: if I was sitting across from you and your staff this week, if I was in your staff meeting, the question I would simply ask is this, which of these four pieces is the weakest in our church as we approach this fall? And what’s the smallest move we could make in the next 30 days to improve where we need to in these areas? Rich Birch — We’ve got links to all of these show notes before. Please stay tuned. We’ve got incredible episodes coming up all summer long and all fall long here at unSeminary. Rich Birch — We’re on a mission to help 100 churches like yours grow by a thousand people by talking about stuff they don’t talk about in seminary. Rich Birch — Thanks so much for being here, friends. We’ll see you next week. Take care.

This episode features Jane Reasoner and Abbey Eckberg of Confluence discussing new research on the potential for missing middle housing in Central Iowa. Get session descriptions and slides speakers shared at https://www.pchtf.org/post/reflections-on-housing-matters-symposium-2026

In this episode of the ShopNotes Podcast, Phil, Logan, and John cover everything from vintage woodworking tools to the surprisingly competitive gas station scene in the Midwest. We kick things off with listener comments about the upcoming "Domino Killer" joinery tools, Kreg's woodworking-focused approach to tool development, and the ongoing debate between premium and budget woodworking equipment. Then Phil shares the ups and downs of rebuilding his vintage Delta/Rockwell drill press—including seized bearings, stubborn chucks, hydraulic presses, and why old machines aren't always as easy to restore as YouTube makes them look. Plus, we somehow spend a significant amount of time discussing Casey's, QuickStar, QuickTrip, breakfast pizza, and the convenience-store culture of Iowa. Vintage Delta/Rockwell drill press restoration Woodworking tool repairs and maintenance Kreg vs Festool discussions Grizzly Makers Challenge Woodworking side-business opportunities Router table storage projects Custom furniture design process Church door construction and installation Used woodworking tools and machine restoration Midwest gas station culture Have a question, comment, or smart remark? Email us at woodsmith@woodsmith.com or leave a comment below.

We saw the grain markets along with crude oil, live cattle and lean hogs under pressure on Wednesday as the markets searched for direction ahead of the holiday weekend. Gold did rally and that is one of many items that Mike Zuzolo with Global Commodity Analytics is watching for the broader market picture. We look at charts across gold, corn and cattle on today's show. Find more online at https://www.globalcommresearch.com. Also in Segment Two of today's show, we get agronomic update from BASF Technical Services Representative Mark Storr from Central Iowa who shares details on spring planting season and why fungicide timing is crucial during the early growing season.

When it comes to selling a home, most people only think about what buyers want. But what about the seller? Every seller has different priorities, and the right approach depends on what matters most to you. On WHO Morning News with Jeff Angelo, I explain the three seller programs my team offers, each one designed around a different goal: price, certainty, or convenience. Watch my video to find out which one fits your situation.

On episode 74 of the Innovators Podcast, Annabelle Wadle, a Communications and Marketing Intern at the Iowa State University Research Park, sits down with Ryan Ryherd, Founder of Central Iowa Sod. In this episode, we discuss Ryan's start with entrepreneurship and how CYstarters has grown his business. Thank you for listening!

ISU Professor Dr. Chad Hart talks with us about the impact of recent events on farm economics. The Iowa Pork Producers' Public Policy Director, Harrison Furlow, joins as we continue to reflect on the state legislative session and the Iowa Farm Act. Iowa State Extension field agronomist Meaghan Anderson drops by with info on Central Iowa. And Don Roose has some big information in our market analysis segments.

[00:00:26] On this day in Iowa weather history: 7 tornadoes touched down in Iowa on May 7, 1964, causing significant damage and injuries in northeastern Iowa [00:00:59] 7-day forecast: Quiet, seasonal stretch ahead with temps in the 60s–70s; minimal rainfall statewide (up to 1/4" in southeast Iowa Saturday night) [00:01:39] Field work update: Central Iowa behind due to wet spring; northwest Iowa drier and further along, but dealing with drought conditions and freeze damage to early-planted soybeans [00:02:51] Frost outlook: No significant frost expected; coldest nights are Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday with lows in the mid-30s in northern Iowa [00:04:21] Extended outlook (8–14 days): Warmer-than-average temperatures expected May 12–16; near-normal rainfall [00:05:12] Monthly May outlook: Leaning warm for the second half of the month; overall lean dry for May following the 6th wettest April on record in 154 years [00:07:20] Past week's weather notables: Lake Park recorded 3.79" of rain; statewide temps ran 3.2°F below average; high of 86°F in Davenport, low of 23°F at Spencer Municipal Airport; 70 stations hit 32°F or below [00:09:01] Specialty crop impacts: Wilson's Orchard (near Des Moines) running frost protection on strawberries and apples; king blossoms blackened by a drop to 24°F; lower-than-expected apple fruit set possibly due to poor pollination conditions [00:11:51] Grape damage: Randall Vos reports significantly worse frost damage to grapes in eastern Iowa vs. western Iowa; topography played a major role [00:12:32] Thrips update: Western flower thrips confirmed in apple blossoms in western Iowa; high onion thrips numbers also reported; possible link to warm, dry winter under investigation [00:16:07] Planting recommendations: Good window opening for melon transplants, winter squash, zucchini, cucurbits, and possibly basil; wait another 1–2 weeks for peppers [00:17:43] Low tunnel flower report ahead of Mother's Day: Iceland poppies and dianthus blooming reliably [00:19:23] Pest alert: Flea beetles already present in Iowa — earlier than the VDIFN forecasting tool indicated; Dan plans to follow up with UW Extension on proper tool usage summary generated using claude.ai

Coming out of Iowa's spring football practices, the Register's Chad Leistikow and Tyler Tachman rank the team's position groups, one through nine, to provide context about where the 2026 Hawkeyes should be strong and where they could suffer. Chad and Tyler have completely different rankings 1 through 4, but then become more aligned when getting to the team's biggest weaknesses.

What if the most stressful part of selling your home didn't have to be stressful at all? For most sellers, it's not finding a buyer that causes anxiety. It's getting through the inspection period and wondering what's going to come up. That's why we offer a Certified Pre-Owned Home Program where your home is pre-inspected and fully vetted before it ever hits the market, so you're in control of what gets addressed and how. It turns the inspection from a deal-breaker into a breeze. Watch my video to see how this program works and why it's one of the smartest things a seller in Central Iowa can do.

Chad Husman from Stalcup Ag Services gives us a boots on the ground update after some strong storms went through Northwest Iowa last night. We look at growing conditions in Central Iowa with ISU Extension agronomist Meaghan Anderson and get a peek at the DMACC Agribusiness farm from Travis Lautner. US Commodities' Don Roose has today's market rundown!

Wondering when's the best time to sell your home in Central Iowa this year? With interest rates making headlines, it's easy to feel hesitant. Most people don't realize that selling in the right month can boost your home's value. In this video, I'll show the key months in 2026 and why timing can get you top dollar. If you wait past that window, you could miss out on that growth. Click here to see when your home could earn the most this year.

In light of the incredible development of an arrest last week in the 15yr old cold case of local realtor Ashley Okland, who was murdered in 2011 at a West Des Moines Open House. SIMON talks to GREG WILEY from Crime Stoppers of Central Iowa about how citizens can help solve crimes while staying anonymous. Tipsters can remain COMPLETELY ANONYMOUS and can be submitted via 3 ways - calling the tip line, submitting tips online or by using their app. *DETAILS FOR EACH BELOW* 1) Anonymously CALL THE TIP LINE - (515) 223-1400 OR 800-452-1111 2.) ONLINE TIP SUBMISSIONS at Crimestoppersofcentraliowa.com OR p3tips.com 3.) DOWNLOAD & SUBMIT via their APP - P3TIPS Cash rewards, up to $5,000, are provided via an assigned number system that is given to the anonymous tipster, when that number is given/verified at the bank they simply hand over the cash reward in an envelope and walk away. SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING. EVEN ANONYMOUSLY. IT'S JUST THAT SIMPLE.

Help. Hope. Honor. HELP Crime Stoppers of Central Iowa by reporting what you know - anonymously - via their tip line, website or app. HOPE for the endless lines at airports and some relief for unpaid TSA employees is coming as President Trump sent ICE agents to airports across the country today to help ease the burden while the current government shutdown continues. HONOR was shown over the weekend for the lives of our two most recent military losses. SIMON and MRS. C attended the visitations and funeral services for Major Jeff O'brien and Sgt Declan Coady who were killed in action during the explosion on March 1st in Kuwait by Iranian drone attacks. They share their thoughts after witnessing the community coming together in support of the families of these fallen heroes.

On this three-segment show of Hawk Central, the Register's Chad Leistikow is joined by Iowa men's basketball beat writer Tyler Tachman, who previews the first-round matchup with Clemson and we buy or sell Iowa's chances as a Sweet 16 team. On the women's side, Chad and beat writer Dargan Southard look at the Hawkeyes' surprising tournament-tested stature for being a young team and wonder: If the game's on the line, who gets the last shot? It's NCAA Wrestling Championships week, too, in Cleveland. Eli McKown joins Chad to preview the paths of Iowa's nine NCAA qualifiers.

In this episode of Even Better, host Sinikka Waugh is joined by Catherine Schut for a heartfelt conversation about building genuine human connection through the simple beauty of flowers. Catherine shares how her local flower farm has become a gathering place for community, bringing together fellow small‑business owners, loyal customers, and neighbors through shared experiences and small acts of kindness. Together, they explore the many ways flowers help us connect: supporting clients and colleagues, celebrating meaningful milestones, offering comfort to friends and family, or creating quiet moments of self‑care. Catherine also reflects on how spending time with nature invites us to slow down, get creative, and express emotions we sometimes struggle to put into words. Whether you love flowers or simply appreciate the power of presence, this conversation offers a gentle reminder that beauty grows connection, and connection strengthens community. Catherine Schut, founder/owner of Hive and Petal - a boutique beekeeping flower farm focused on growing seasonal, unique flowers in Central Iowa. Personal beliefs of the farm: organically inspired practices & creating an environment where ALL can thrive.   Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/hiveandpetal LinkedIn URLhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/hiveandpetal Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/hiveandpetal Other...www.hiveandpetal.com

At Hilltop, we believe following Jesus is about More Than Sunday. We are called to live out our faith every day of the week. In this collection, called Brick by Brick, Pastor Brandon shares our heart to see Central Iowa transformed by the love of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit. It takes each of us following after Him, building this house together. Join our Pastor for the second sermon, “The Home.” If you'd like to learn more about our church or how you can be involved, you can do so at www.thisishilltop.church

Listen to the SF Daily podcast for today, March 5, 2026, with host Lorrie Boyer. These quick and informative episodes cover the commodity markets, weather, and the big things happening in agriculture each morning. Grain futures are stable due to strong energy prices and lower South American crop estimates. USDA projects a decline in corn acres, potentially leading to higher prices. Ethanol production fell to 1.095 million barrels per day, with inventories reaching 26.313 million barrels. Livestock values are correcting, supported by a tight US cattle inventory. China's pork production reached 15.7 million metric tons in Q4 2025, causing prices to drop. Severe thunderstorms are forecasted for Central Iowa, with potential for large hail and tornadoes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

At Hilltop, we believe following Jesus is about More Than Sunday. We are called to live out our faith every day of the week. In this collection, called Brick by Brick, Pastor Brandon shares our heart to see Central Iowa transformed by the love of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit. It takes each of us following after Him, building this house together. Join our Pastor for the first sermon, “The House.” If you'd like to learn more about our church or how you can be involved, you can do so at www.thisishilltop.church

Listen to the SF Daily podcast for today, February 11, 2026, with host Lorrie Boyer. These quick and informative episodes cover the commodity markets, weather, and the big things happening in agriculture each morning. The USDA's February WASDE report showed modest adjustments to domestic balance sheets, with traders skeptical about increased Chinese soybean purchases. Corn stockpiles are projected at 2.1207 billion bushels, up from 2.2127 billion, with exports at 3.3 billion bushels. Wheat inventories are expected to end at 931 million bushels. Beef prices were down, with Choice down 21 cents and Select down 45 cents. Light rain and snow are forecast for parts of Central Iowa, with potential for isolated slick spots. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's the day after the gubernatorial debate, hosted by Iowa Moms for Liberty, and Simon has the rundown of who was there, who wasn't, who did well, who exceeded expectations and who over delivered. Who did Simon think won overall? He tells us as well as opening up the phone calls for listener's opinions. Also, President Trump was in here in Central Iowa yesterday. Before his rally he made a surprise visit to THE IOWA MACHINE SHED. Simon talks to MIKE WHALEN, owner of the Machine Shed, about the honor of hosting the President at his restaurant, including the surprising initial phone call from the White House.

Chad Leistikow hosts a Tuesday edition of the Hawk Central Hour, and women's basketball leads the conversation after the Hawkeyes' 91-70 rout of No. 11 Ohio State and the career-ending injury to guard Taylor McCabe. Chad and Register teammate Dargan Southard analyze the (Addie) Deal going forward and more. Chad and Tyler Tachman follow up by breaking down the "bye week" for the Iowa men and look ahead to Wednesday's game against USC.

Who said Iowa football season was over? The transfer portal has fully kicked in, and the Hawkeyes have a little bit of movement out and some early movement into the program. The Register's Chad Leistikow is joined by Tyler Tachman to recap the takeaways of the ReliaQuest Bowl while looking ahead to the offseason that has already begun. Chad and Tyler also revisit Iowa's big basketball win over UCLA, and Dargan Southard joins Chad to discuss the latest happenings with Iowa women's basketball.

The Iowa football team is headed to the ReliaQuest Bowl in Tampa, Florida, and the Register's Chad Leistikow hosts a robust, 73-minute show providing an early preview of the Hawkeyes vs. Vanderbilt matchup. We preview Iowa vs. Iowa State basketball on the women's side with Dargan Southard and the men with Tyler Tachman. To finish, Chad sits down exclusively with Iowa football GM Tyler Barnes to discuss the Hawkeyes' recruiting class of 2026 and transfer-portal plans.

Today on Forefront 360, Cody interviews Matthew J. Andrews. Matthew J. Andrews is primarily a poet, although he dabbles in prose. In his work, Matthew examines the intersection of the spiritual and the secular, the wrestling match between belief and doubt, and the challenges of practicing an ancient faith in a modern world. His writing also explores the many faces of the natural world and the sacredness of small moments, among other things. He is a native Californian now living in Central Iowa.  When he is not writing, Matthew is a professional private investigator, a voracious reader, an amateur chef, a wannabe outdoorsman, a sometimes runner, a doting husband, and a competent father of two. 

0000019a-a67f-d443-affb-b77f0b3b0000https://www.wvik.org/podcast/good-morning-from-wvik-news/2025-11-21/new-central-iowa-water-quality-report-has-implications-statewideBrady JohnsonNew central Iowa water quality report has implications statewide

Send us a textCISS donations: https://secure.qgiv.com/for/cissgeneralfunddonationsCISS upcoming events: https://centraliowashelter.org/events/Support the show

Bryan is an avid kayaker and camper who lives in Central Iowa. Bryan spends as much of his free time as possible enjoying the great outdoors. Unfortunately, he had an experience, in May or June of 2016, that tarnished his love of being in the great outdoors. When he had that experience, he and 13 of his friends were kayaking down the Middle Racoon River. Some of them were very experienced at kayaking, others were novices. The group was approaching a place in the river that could be dangerous for novice kayakers, so Bryan and his good friend, Mark, decided to paddle ahead so they could stand on a sandbar that would allow them to watch the novices navigate that dangerous stretch of the river. Before Bryan and Mark made it to that sandbar, however, a rock the size of a softball hit the water inches from Mark's kayak. What happened next forever changed how Bryan and his friends look at the great outdoors. We hope you'll tune in and listen to Bryan chronicle what happened that day. If you do, you'll understand why Bryan feels angst when he thinks about what happened.If you've had at least one Sasquatch sighting and would like to be a guest on the show, please go to BigfootEyewitness.com and let me know. I'd love to hear from you.If you'd like to help support the show, by buying your own Bigfoot Eyewitness t-shirt or sweatshirt, please visit the Bigfoot Eyewitness Show Store, by going to https://Dogman-Encounters.MyShopify.comI produce 4 other shows that are available on your favorite podcast app. If you haven't checked them out, here are links to all 4 channels on the Spreaker App...My Bigfoot Sighting https://www.spreaker.com/show/my-bigfoot-sighting Dogman Tales https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/dogman-tales--6640134Dogman Encounters https://www.spreaker.com/show/dogman-encounters-radio_2 My Paranormal Experience https://www.spreaker.com/show/my-paranormal-experience Thanks, as always, for listening!

Jay is driving Central Iowa for the broadcast today and makes observations he says he has never seen before.

A tough task awaits the Hawkeyes against No. 12 Indiana this Saturday at Kinnick Stadium. The Register's Tyler Tachman and Chad Leistikow get your set for this Homecoming matchup with our five big questions about the game while also discussing the Ferentz vs. Cignetti angle and debate who Iowa's best defensive player might be.

Guest Scott Matter describes the Dream Team as a five-month cycling program for teenagers in Central Iowa that provides a unique opportunity for teenagers to build relationships, achieve personal growth, and learn from adult mentors. The program shows youth that BIG goals can be attained with sufficient planning and preparation. Beginning in March, the teens and mentors begin preparing and training for the late July 400-500-mile week-long bike ride across Iowa called RAGBRAI. Find out how you can get involved by participating, volunteering or donating at www.dreamteamdesmoines.org. Catch up on the latest stories by tuning in to the Dream Team podcast: Moving Forward. We would love it if you would consider supporting Bike Talk with Dave by rating, reviewing and sharing on your favorite podcast platform. We'd invite you to support the show financially at www.buymeacoffee.com or on Venmo @David-Mable. You'll receive a Bike Talk with Dave sticker!Follow Bike Talk with Dave on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/biketalkwithdave/ and Facebook so you don't miss any of the fun, and you can now find every episode on your computer at www.biketalk.bike. And now available on YouTube on the Bike Talk with Dave YouTube channel!And if you need any digital media work: photography, videography and editing, podcast production and editing, look no further than Mable Media. Connect at www.mablemedia.net to help grow your brand and connect with your audience!

We get you set for Saturday's Iowa-Iowa State showdown, as host Chad Leistikow previews the game from Iowa State's side with the Register's Travis Hines and from Iowa's side with the Register's Tyler Tachman. Chad and Tyler finish the show with their game predictions.

Listen to the SF Daily podcast for today, September 03, 2025, with host Lorrie Boyer. These quick and informative episodes cover the commodity markets, weather, and the big things happening in agriculture each morning. US corn and soybean crops are seeing a decline in ratings due to both normal maturity and disease. Market bulls are struggling to support yield estimates, including those from the USDA. US trade talks have stalled, and the export market has slowed. Soybean crush in the US increased by 5.9% year-over-year, with 6.14 million tons crushed in July. Cattle prices remain strong, but futures could weaken. Severe weather threats include large hail and damaging winds in Central Iowa, with more showers expected in central Nebraska and north-central Kansas. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Iowa football regular season is 10 days away, and the Register's Chad Leistikow and Tyler Tachman look at the Hawkeyes' schedule of opportunity and challenge. We also look at bold predictions for the upcoming season. In the final segment, Dargan Southard joins Chad to discuss the Iowa women's basketball official visit ahead for mega-prospect McKenna Woliczko.

David Ray Griffin - Crooked Agenda: 9-11 Deception, Al-Qaeda, Afghanistan. Speaking at Drake University in Des Moines, IA on 4/23/2010 Sponsored by 911 Truth of Central Iowa www.ia911truth.orgCopyright Disclaimer: - Under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for FAIR USE for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statutes that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational, or personal use tips the balance in favor of FAIR USE.

In this episode, Anna Claussen (Voices for Rural Resilience) and Ash Hanson (Department of Public Transformation) talk with Central Iowa muralist and organizer Siriaco “Siricasso” Garcia about the power of art to bring visibility to diversity in rural communities. Siricasso shares how he turned to the canvas to process personal hardship and express experiences too often judged or silenced because, as he says, “the canvas always talks back.” His vibrant work highlights the beauty, resilience, and rich diversity of rural Iowa in bold and healing ways -- with projects like “Middle of Nowhere Festival”-- and challenges systems of oppression by encouraging us to claim our stories as our own brand -- creating space for others to feel seen, connected, and not alone.

Welcome to Episode 193 of The Spokesman Speaks podcast. Central Iowa's water quality challenges are making headlines. In this episode, we discuss those challenges and the progress that's being made in protecting water quality with Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig and Iowa State University researcher Dr. Mike Castellano.  Resources mentioned in this episode:  ConservationCountsIowa.com CleanWaterIowa.org N-FACT nitrogen fertilizer application consultation tool

In this episode of the Ag Tribes Report, host Vance Crowe is joined by Jason Hanson, a former USDA NRCS employee who has transitioned to sustainable farming in North Carolina. The discussion delves into the challenges of modern farming, including the oversupply in the corn market and the impact of electric vehicles on ethanol demand. Jason provides insights into the struggles of small farmers and the complexities of agricultural policies.The episode also covers significant agricultural news, including Central Iowa's nitrate contamination crisis and the Trump administration's decision to rescind the roadless rule, opening millions of acres to logging. Jason and Vance discuss the implications of these issues, exploring the balance between environmental conservation and economic development. The conversation extends to the role of nonprofits in agriculture and the potential for innovative solutions outside of government intervention. The episode concludes with a discussion on the Bitcoin land price report and Jason's views on the future of agriculture and land management.

Welcome back to The Green Grind Podcast! In this episode of The Green Grind, Kory and LeRoy sit down with Adam Jones, owner of Warren Lawns based in Central Iowa. Adam shares how he transitioned from full-time ministry to launching his lawn care company with a focus on fertilization, weed and pest control. He explains how staying focused, keeping things simple, and delivering exceptional customer experience helped him grow a successful business without getting distracted by every opportunity that came his way. From building a brand known for top-tier service to navigating the noise of social media advice, Adam delivers real, relatable insight for anyone trying to grow their company with purpose. Whether you're just starting out or looking to scale smart, this episode is packed with valuable lessons on focus, execution, and long-term thinking. Powered by Jobber and Protiv!  Free Trial and 20% off Jobber for 6 months: go.getjobber.com/ballardinc Need a website? Use the code GreenGrind to get your first month for $1.  https://www.greenfrogwebdesign.com/koryballard

Listen to the SF Daily podcast for today, May 14, 2025, with host Lorrie Boyer. These quick and informative episodes cover the commodity markets, weather, and the big things happening in agriculture each morning. Weather conditions are mixed, with favoring planting in the west and there being wet in the east. Soybean demand could drop by 20% if US-China trade doesn't improve by late summer. Weekly ethanol production is expected to decline slightly, and corn production is forecasted at 15.82 billion bushels. Livestock markets were cautious, with box beef prices mixed. Thunderstorms were possible in Central Iowa, and high winds are forecasted for South Dakota Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is the 7th year for the Central Iowa Business Conference and here to talk about what to expect at the May 22nd event is Gina Wright the Vice President of the Urbandale Chamber of Commerce.  This is your invitation to join  hundreds of business professionals designed to help you "Lead, Shift and Transform".  The event is not only for folks in Central Iowa but from across the Midwest and the registration fee is only $325 for a full day of inspiration. You can register here.  Now, meet Gina. Thanks for listening! The award winning Insight on Business the News Hour with Michael Libbie is the only weekday business news podcast in the Midwest. The national, regional and some local business news along with long-form business interviews can be heard Monday - Friday. You can subscribe on  PlayerFM, Podbean, iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or TuneIn Radio. And you can catch The Business News Hour Week in Review each Sunday Noon Central on News/Talk 1540 KXEL. The Business News Hour is a production of Insight Advertising, Marketing & Communications. You can follow us on Twitter @IoB_NewsHour...and on Threads @Insight_On_Business.

So, here is the question that begs to be answered: Does, as President Trump said, the U.S. subsidize Canada to the tune of $200 billion a year?  Stick with us, we have an answer. This is the Business News Headlines for Thursday the 8th day of May and thanks for being here. In other news, Markets moved up today largely on the news of a U.S. and United Kingdom trade deal…and we'll break that down. Even though the 10 year treasury hasn't climbed above 5% the mortgage rate on a 30 year fixed is still elevated. The number of Americans filing for unemployment claims has fallen and we'll share the numbers. The Wall Street Report and the top ten job opportunities for graduates as reported by LinkedIn.  For the conversation you'll hear from Gina Wright the Vice President of the Urbandale, Iowa Chamber of Commerce and the upcoming Central Iowa Business Conference that isn't only for Central Iowa….let's go! Thanks for listening! The award winning Insight on Business the News Hour with Michael Libbie is the only weekday business news podcast in the Midwest. The national, regional and some local business news along with long-form business interviews can be heard Monday - Friday. You can subscribe on  PlayerFM, Podbean, iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or TuneIn Radio. And you can catch The Business News Hour Week in Review each Sunday Noon Central on News/Talk 1540 KXEL. The Business News Hour is a production of Insight Advertising, Marketing & Communications. You can follow us on Twitter @IoB_NewsHour...and on Threads @Insight_On_Business.

MORE THAN MORE | Dylan sits down with our 2024 More Than More Award winner, Nichole Johnson, Director of Client Experience for Megan Mitchum + Co. Nichole joined forces with Megan in 2015, bringing a background in family services and a passion for helping others. She's known for meeting clients where they're at and taking the time to truly understand their stories. She shares how that same heart for service fuels both her work in real estate and her volunteer efforts with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Iowa.   Speakers: Dylan de Bruin, Co-Broker/Co-Owner Nichole Johnson, Director of Client Experience for Megan Mitchum + Co.   Subscribe to the More Than More Podcast for new weekly episodes as we discuss building meaningful and impactful businesses, careers, and lives through real estate.   Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube  

Welcome back to The Green Grind Podcast! This week Kory and LeRoy sit down with Evan Breuer, Founder & CEO of Executive Outdoor Solutions, formerly known as Evan's Almighty Lawn Care. Since starting in 2013, Evan has grown his company into one of the most trusted outdoor service providers in Central Iowa. Known for its attention to detail, exceptional customer service, and a highly satisfied client base, Executive Outdoor Solutions has set a standard in the industry. In this episode, Evan shares how he transformed his small business into a thriving enterprise, the challenges he's faced along the way, and the strategies he's used to overcome them. Whether you're looking for inspiration to grow your own business or insights into how to enhance your customer relationships, this episode is packed with valuable advice. Tune in to hear Evan's story and his tips for building a trusted brand in the green industry! Powered by Jobber and Protiv!  Free Trial and 20% off Jobber for 6 months: go.getjobber.com/ballardinc Need a website? Use the code GreenGrind to get your first month for $1. Green Frog Web Design guarantees to have your website live in 3 weeks from the projected start date or its FREE for a year. https://www.greenfrogwebdesign.com/koryballard