Forty Under 40 event shines light on future leaders

Ashley Hicks was one of 40 people honored Thursday night, Nov. 10, for doing good work and making the Quad Cities a better place. “It’s nice to be recognized for a lot of hard work. I think this shows the Quad Cities has a lot of future leaders,” said Ms. Hicks, director of development and […]

Ashley Hicks was one of 40 people honored Thursday night, Nov. 10, for doing good work and making the Quad Cities a better place. “It’s nice to be recognized for a lot of hard work. I think this shows the Quad Cities has a lot of future leaders,” said Ms. Hicks, director of development and events at the nonprofit group Hand in Hand, shortly after receiving her Forty Under 40 award. The awards were presented to a selected class of 40 Quad Cities leaders before a crowd of about 500 people at the Quad Cities Waterfront Convention Center in Bettendorf. 

The event – the Quad Cities Business Journal’s (QCBJ) inaugural Forty Under 40 award ceremony – recognized leaders under the age of 40 who have made a significant impact in their business and community early in their careers. The honorees, who were nominated by their co-worker and other colleagues, were selected by a non-partisan committee of Quad Cities business leaders.  During and after the ceremony, many of the honorees thanked their family members, co-workers and the community for helping them receive the award. They also pointed out that those people being honored have at least one thing in common: the goal of helping the Quad Cities. “Everybody here put in a lot of work for this, and they all want to see the Quad Cities grow,” Kevin Maynard, executive director of Quad City Arts, and one of the Forty Under 40 honorees, said shortly after the ceremony.

John Lohman, CEO and president of the Corridor Media Group (the QCBJ’s parent company), added that he was “both amazed and impressed” by the group of honorees. He said that judging by the event’s turnout, he believes the community also is impressed with the young leaders.  The Corridor Media Group originally made plans for about 175 people to attend the Thursday night event, and about 500 people were in attendance, he added. Mr. Lohman also made a new staff announcement about the QCBJ on Thursday. He told the crowd that Beth Clark, a veteran media executive and Quad Cities nonprofit leader, is joining the year-old team on Monday, Nov. 14, as the QCBJ’s new associate publisher.   In addition, the awards ceremony also was a fundraising event for the nonprofit United Way Quad Cities. Those funds were raised through a unique fundraiser tied to the honorees’ acceptance speeches. Mr. Lohman told the crowd that during the speeches, each honoree could give a speech of up to three words for free. After three words, each word would cost them $25 – or a flat fee of $500 for a one-minute speech. 

That money then was donated to the United Way. (About $8,000 was raised through the speeches, said Rene Gellerman, CEO of United Way Quad Cities, who was in attendance – and tasked with keeping track of the speeches’ word counts.) Several honorees spoke for one minute or far above the three-word speech limit. For instance, honoree Matthew De Bisschop, vice president, human resources at Ascentra Credit Union, Bettendorf, said “Who’s ready to give $500 to the United Way?” And then thanked his family, co-workers and community for the award. However, other honorees kept their thanks to a minimum. They included: 

• “Folks, thank you.” – Miles Brainard, community and economic development director for the City of Rock Island.
• “Follow your heart.” – Ms. Hicks.
• “Give second chances.” – Erica Lee, director of the Safer Foundation.
• “Make more art.” – Mr. Maynard.
• “Change your passwords.” – Jonathan Dreasler, director of RSM US LLP.

The Forty Under 40 inaugural class included: 

• Emily Adams, business development manager at Crawford Company.
• Miles Brainard, community and economic development director for the City of Rock Island.
• Megan Brown-Saldana, executive director of Lead(h)er.
• Janessa Calderon, executive director of the Greater Quad Cities Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
• Janelle Carter, first vice president of Treasury Management at Quad City Bank & Trust Co.
• Aaron Castle, financial advisor and portfolio manager director at Morgan Stanley
• Brian Crowley, commercial banking relationship manager at Great Southern Bank
• Jack Cullen, director of Downtown Rock Island at the Quad Cities Chamber
• Tyson Danner, executive director of River Music Experience
• Andrew Dasso, owner of Streamline Architects
• Matthew De Bisschop, vice president, Human Resources at Ascentra Credit Union
• Haley Degreve, communications specialist at John Deere & Founder of The Gray Matters
• Jonathan Dreasler, director of RSM US LLP
• Marc Engels, president of Mel Foster Insurance
• Alisha Espey, program director of Downtown Davenport for the Quad Cities Chamber.
• Kristin Glass-Berry, president of Total Solutions.
• Ashley Hicks, director of development and events, Hand in Hand.
• Michael Johnson, chief operating officer at Bush Construction.
• Erica Lee, director of the Safer Foundation.
• Andrew Lehman, tournament director of the John Deere Classic.
• Pierce Lohman, owner of Lohman Earth Works.
• Kevin Maynard, executive director of Quad Cities Arts.
• Christina McDonough, community transformation consultant for Scott County and city council member in the City of Princeton.
• Mallory Merritt, assistant city administrator and chief financial officer for the City of Davenport.
• Daisy Moran, assistant director, Office of Student Inclusion and Diversity at Augustana College.
• Jazmin Newton, attorney, owner, mediator at Newton Law PLC.
• Maria Ontiveros, nonprofit organization president and co-founder of Mercado on Fifth.
• Adam Pelzer, executive vice president and cashier at Northwest Bank & Trust Company.
• Melissa Pepper, chief strategy officer at Russell.
• Eric Reinsch, principal/client executive at IMEG Corp.
• Anamaria Rocha, executive director of Mercado on Fifth.
• Caitlin Russell, president of Russell.
• Brian Schoon, senior director at RSM US LLP.
• Aleeza Singh, senior financial advisor at Merrill.
• Kelly Thompson, vice president of Grantmaking and Community Initiatives for the Quad Cities Community Foundation.
• Annika Tunberg, vice president of Whitey’s Ice Cream.
• Jordan Voigt, president of Genesis Medical Center– Davenport.
• Chelsey Waterman, chief operating officer at QC MetroLINK.
• Laura Wittnebel, assistant race director/ business development coordinator at TBK Bank Quad Cities Marathon/ Mel Foster Co.
• Allison Wright, partner and shareholder at Pappas Wright, P.C.

The QCBJ’s Forty Under 40 was sponsored by Augustana College, Rock Island; Tri-City Electric Co., Davenport; and HNI Corp., Muscatine, Iowa.