.floatimg-left-hort { float:left; } .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 12px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 12px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 12px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} Cory Hart has made quite an impact in his more than seven years at Casey’s General Stores Inc.

“(Casey’s) didn’t do much advertising at all when I first arrived here, actually almost no advertising,” Hart said.

The first thing Hart and the company did was develop an in-house advertising agency. Since then, as Casey’s corporate brand manager, Hart has helped grow the company’s brand by setting up and managing the entire advertising and brand development efforts of the company. And he’s done it by featuring one product America just can’t resist – pizza.

Hart chose Casey’s pizza to feature in promotions, and as a result, the company experienced double-digit percentage increases month-to-month in pizza sales as well as increases in the sales of other products. In recognition of his success and leadership, Casey’s promoted Hart to a management-team-level position, which was a rare move within the organization.

“It was very fulfilling,” Hart said of being promoted at a young age. “I’m the type of person that can never be settled into one thing. And I like challenges and it gave me a great challenge to move Casey’s General Stores into a positive direction with advertising.”

Outside of his work, Hart’s most rewarding community activity occurred in 2009, when he worked as the chair of Casey’s Honor Flight Committee to raise money and promote one of the “honor flights” that transported veterans to Washington, D.C.

“It was one of the greatest things ever,” Hart said. “I tell you what, you never realize how appreciative a group of people can be until we did this honor flight. These folks really truly appreciated it. They are the greatest generation ever, and it was our responsibility to get them to Washington, D.C.”

In addition, Hart has served as a board member of the American Advertising Federation and Central Iowans in Television and Radio, and is an active member of the American Marketing Association.

He also helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for St. Jude’s Children Research Hospital, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Muscular Dystrophy Association and Embrace Iowa.

Hart attributes his success to the advice of his parents to take calculated risks, and to his wide variety of experiences, and though he would like to at some point continue to advance at Casey’s, he still feels he has more to accomplish in his current role.