Stephanie Keltner
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The Corridor Business Journal's Annual "40 Under 40"

The CBJ's "40 Under 40" awards are presented to leaders who are making a positive impact in the Corridor (Cedar Rapids/Iowa City) area in Iowa. As part of my internship experience there, I was tasked with interviewing three of the award recipients and preparing profile pieces to be featured in the event materials and announcements.

Amy Weber, 39
Managing Director, Technisource

      She’s a leader. In addition to being the Managing Director at Technisource (a SFN Group), “creating strategic technical solutions for local businesses,” Amy Weber spends time organizing charitable events in her community, as well as holding positions on multiple leadership organizations and committees over the years. Weber does all this on top of her role as a wife to husband Brian Weber and mother to their two children, Cole, 8, and Lauren, 3.

      In the sixteen years that she has been working in the Corridor, she has received the Office of the Year Award twice, has been a President’s Club recipient for thirteen years and has been selected by Technisource’s CEO to sit on the company’s Core Values Committee as well as SNF’s Group Leaders of Tomorrow program.  

      One of her biggest honors however, was awarded this year: the President’s Cup for extraordinary contribution and achievement. “It was a great honor because it was an honor that was reviewed against individuals nationwide,” she explains. Only a select few individuals in SFN Group receive this prestigious award.

​      Her work associates are not the only ones who think highly of Weber. Michelle hand, Volunteer Coordinator at Echo Hill Elementary School, where Weber frequently donates her time and energy, describes Weber as, “An extremely self-directed individual,” and continues, “Amy is always willing to donate her time to our students without asking for anything in return,”. Weber also volunteers with the Professional Technical Diversity Network and the Cedar Rapids Junior League. She encourages everyone to “Get involved with something you are passionate about. Even if you’re a novice, you can always learn from others.”​

Dave Thielen, 39
Executive Director, YMCA of the Cedar Rapids Metropolitan Area

      When asked the best part of his job, Dave Thielen’s answer is immediate. “Being able to help people, knowing that I can make an impact towards people of all ages in the community. Whether it’s that toddler learning how to swim or that teenager going to camp and learning, or a senior trying to get back into shape, the whole family can be served.”

      Thielen has been working at the Cedar Rapids Metropolitan YMCA since 2008, his duties including serving as the Membership Director for District 43 on the Association of YMCA Professionals Board of Directors and being involved in other organizations through the YMCA such as the Annual Golf Campaign Golf Outing Committee, and the YMCA’s Activate America initiative.  “It’s in the YMCA mission to serve all, to help everyone, and that’s kind of the driving force. We’re not exclusive, were not out to make money. Were out to help everyone we can.”

      Thielen’s passion for helping people extends beyond his day job. His time away from work is dedicated to the Service Committee of the Marion/East Cedar Rapids Rotary Club on which he is Vice Chairman, as well as various other volunteer projects such as Shoes for Kids, Highway cleanup, helping out at the Cedar Valley Humane Society and participating in the Big Brother/Big Sisters program. Thielen explains, “It’s rewarding to know everything that you can do and everyone you can help.” A family member describes Thielen as, “A family and community oriented individual who always puts others before himself and wants to make a difference for those he serves at the YMCA and in the community.”

John R. Slump, 26
Co-Founder and CFO Corvida Medical (aka J&J Solutions)

      It was a result of an unfortunate situation that led John Slump to co-found Corvida Medical with partner Jared Garfield in 2008. Quoted from his nomination letter, Slump explains, “When my sister was diagnosed with melanoma, we learned that healthcare workers were being exposed to the chemotherapy drugs used to treat cancer patients which puts them at risk for contracting cancer, amongst other problems.”

      As a result of this experience, Slump and his partner invented a medical device to provide both healthcare workers and hospital visitors protection from exposure to dangerous drugs that could negatively affect his or her own health. To date, Slump and his partner have managed to raise millions of dollars in private, state and federal proceeds and have big plans for the future. Slump says Corvida Medical aspires to commercialize the innovative medical devices on a global scale and that this is “Just the beginning,” for the emerging growth company.
​

      When he’s not working at Corvida, Slump spends time with the “love of his life,” Lauren,  and their young son, Jonathan, or can be found helping the community through programs such as Habitat for Humanity, The American Cancer Society, and Table to Table. Slump also spends time talking with students across Iowa through programs geared towards middle and high school students such as “Be Your Own Boss Day” as well as classes at The University of Iowa, Drake, and other collegiate-level programs such as the “Okoboji Entrepreneurial Institute.” Slump encourages aspiring entrepreneurs to be “relentlessly perseverant” but to “Recognize you don’t know all the answers,” and to “Surround yourself with the best team of people you can find.” ​

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© 2019 Stephanie Keltner
All images on stephaniekeltner.com are owned, free stock photos, or are used under Creative Commons licensing.
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