Young talent is a precious commodity in any field, and once a year the Des Moines Business Record acknowledges the youthful leaders of Central Iowa by naming a new “Forty Under 40” class. The profiles below will introduce you to the 2006 honorees, who work as professionals and volunteers in a wide range of fields to improve their community. We’ll celebrate their accomplishments with a reception on March 28. It starts at 4:30 p.m. at the Polk County Convention Complex, and admission is $20.

Paul D. Bishop | Age 39
Executive director, Greater Iowa chapter, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation

The Greater Iowa chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation has received unprecedented recognition in the past four years, including outshining other JDRF chapters with accolades for fundraising and the creation of partnerships with local businesses.

Paul Bishop is a big part of the reason the Greater Iowa chapter raises more money for research per capita than any other chapter in the country and has one of JDRF’s highest efficiency ratings, raising $10 for every $1 spent on salary. As executive director of the local chapter, he spearheaded outreach efforts that raised more than $3.4 million for the charity in fiscal year 2005, an increase from the $1.9 million raised in 2002, the year he became the new executive director. Part of the fund-raising success comes from partnerships created with companies such as Hy-Vee Inc., Pella Corp., Nationwide Insurance, Qwest Communications International Inc., Business Publications Corp. and the Des Moines Register.

The Greater Iowa chapter’s performance is held in such esteem that Bishop was invited to be a presenter at a JDRF Canada session on best practices on corporate development and stewardship.

He serves on the board of directors for Community Health Charities of Iowa, a consortium of 19 of the state’s premier health-related charitable organizations, on the building committee for his church, the Lutheran Church of Hope, and on the Ride to Cure Leadership Committee. He is trained in Stephen Ministry, which pairs lay ministers with individuals in crises who need special understanding and care, and also is a volunteer for homeless shelters, Children and Families of Iowa and Greater Des Moines Habitat for Humanity. He is a church youth mentor and a member of the Young Executives Business Society.

Bishop is a 1989 graduate of Nebraska Wesleyan University at Lincoln with a degree in political science. Prior to joining the JDRF, he was president of his own consulting company, The Bishop Advantage, and managed political campaigns and lobbied on local, state and federal issues. He also has worked as a research assistant for the National Political Action Committee, as a staff assistant for U.S. Sen. J. Robert Kerrey of Nebraska, as a government relations representative for the American Society of Reproductive Medicine, and as director and manager of legislative affairs for the Iowa Medical Political Action Committee.

He and his wife, Susan, are the parents of three children: twin daughters Ella and Abby, 2½, and a son, Charlie, born in February.

Brian Bocken | Age 34
General manager, Quality Inn & Suites Events Center, and vice president of operations, Ackerman Investment Co.

At only 34, Brian Bocken is fully vested in the adult world of responsibility. He not only is general manager of the Quality Inn & Suites Event Center, but also oversees operations at all five Quality Inn hotels in Greater Des Moines. Add to that his professional responsibilities as vice president of operations for his family-run business in Fort Dodge, Ackerman Investment Co., a hospitality management company that operates six hotels and four restaurant/lounges, and it’s a wonder that he has any time left to serve his community.

Bocken, however, finds the time to serve as a board member for the Iowa chapter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and as a volunteer for the Central Iowa Muscular Dystrophy Association, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Iowa and the Make-A-Wish Foundation. He also volunteers at his church, St. Augustin Catholic Church, and at St. Augustin School.

He is actively involved in industry-related organizations, including the Iowa Lodging Association, the Iowa Hospitality Association and the Greater Des Moines Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Bocken studied food marketing at Iowa Central Community College in 1990-91, earned an associate of arts degree in hotel and restaurant management at Des Moines Area Community College in 1994, and completed the requirements to become a certified hotel administrator at the Educational Institute of American Lodging in 2004.

Bocken and his wife, Susan, have three sons: Sam, 8; Max, 4: and Ben, 2.

Executive Real Estate Services President Robert T. Myers, who nominated Bocken, said his strong character is most apparent in his commitment to his family. “Despite very challenging professional obligations, he remains actively involved with his three boys, coaching both Little League and football teams and participating in various other school and church events with them,” Myers said. “A true leader, Brian strives daily for excellence both personally and professionally.”

Brennan Buckley | Age 33
Vice president of marketing, Iowa Realty

Brennan Buckley has made a name for himself in the few months he’s worked for Iowa Realty as its vice president of marketing. Just ask Terry Manning, advertising manager for the state’s largest residential real estate company.

“I’ve held many different positions that have allowed me to work with and for a pretty diverse group of people, but I’ve never been fortunate enough to work for someone as capable at leading a team as Brennan,” Manning said. “He has a unique ability to keep his group of employees working together and enjoying work, while seemingly effortlessly providing his group direction that allows them to grow. He’s also displayed superb conflict resolution skills and is able to deliver necessary constructive criticism in a way that doesn’t hurt employees.”

The result, according to Manning, is the strengthening of a brand that already is dominant in Greater Des Moines.

Buckley graduated in 1995 from Iowa State University, where he majored in advertising (business track) and minored in Spanish, and he also completed an intensive Spanish language and cultural training course at the Center for Bilingual Multicultural Studies in Cuernavaca, Mexico, in 1994. He has worked for Iowa Realty since June 2005. Before that, he worked for The Integer Group, where he was the Group Leader of the Year in 2002; the former CMF&Z Advertising; and Relationship Marketing.

The Des Moines Advertising Professional of the Year award winner in 2002, he is active in the Advertising Professionals of Des Moines, where he has held numerous offices, including president in 2003-2004.

He volunteers his time for the Iowa Homeless Street Outreach Program, was a member of the board of directors of Iowa Homeless Youth Centers from 2001 to 2003, is a member of United Way of Central Iowa’s Leadership Circle and is his company’s liaison for the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve’s Toys for Tots campaign. He is a member of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church and a small-group leader there.

He and his wife, Sarah, are the parents of two children: son, Liam, 3, and daughter, Lucy, 1.

Christopher A. Burch | Age 35
Executive director, Endurance Sports Marketing Inc.

The 2,750 distance runners who wound their way through downtown Des Moines last October have Christopher A. Burch to thank for that opportunity to test their physical endurance. As executive director of Endurance Sorts Marketing Inc., Burch resurrected the fledgling Des Moines Marathon in 2005 and helped ensure its place annually on the city’s annual event calendar.

The marathon might not have happened without Burch’s “passion, perseverance and resolve,” according to Bob Mitchell, president and owner of Mitchell & Associates, a consulting firm that provides human resources services in Central Iowa. He took over the marathon after the previous owner had announced plans to cancel it, organized a 21-person race committee and more than 800 volunteers, raised more than $90,000 in sponsorship money and in-kind donations while managing more than $90,000 in athlete registration fees, worked with Des Moines city officials on street closures for the 26-mile course, brought more than 20 national vendors to a Health & Fitness Expo held in conjunction with the race, promoted the marathon and the state of Iowa both locally and nationally and made it, in Mitchell’s words, “a smashing success – for the participants, for the committee and for the Des Moines community.”

Physical fitness is important to Burch, who serves on the advisory committee for the Iowa Outdoor Wellness Adventure, an event the Downtown Events Group plans to sponsor, and the 801 Grand Power Climb, a 630-foot ascent to the top of Iowa’s tallest building sponsored by the Iowa chapter of the American Lung Association. But he’s interested in mental health as well, having started his professional career at Employee & Family Resources, first as a certified prevention specialist and later as account executive for the Employee Assistance Program.

He currently serves on the boards of directors for the Young Women’s Resource Center and the Ankeny Substance Abuse Project and is a volunteer for Living History Farms and Hoyt Sherman Place Theater. He is a member of the current Greater Des Moines Leadership Institute class and is a grant reviewer for the Edward Byrne Memorial State & Local Law Enforcement Assistance Bureau. In the past, he has been part of the State Speaker Bureau and has spoken on behalf of the State Drug Control Policy Methamphetamine Advisory Board.

Jay R. Byers | Age 35
Senior vice president of government relations and public policy, Greater Des Moines Partnership

For years, Jay Byers has been putting lobbyists and economic development officials in touch with his former boss, U.S. Rep. Leonard Boswell, a key member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and, therefore, a key contact for officials with the Greater Des Moines Partnership who see transportation infrastructure and economic development as inextricably linked.

Now, Byers is looking at those issues from a different vantage point. In February 2005, he was named the Partnership’s senior vice president of government relations and public policy after having served for nearly 10 years as director of Boswell’s Iowa office.

In his new position, Byers has overall responsibility for directing the identification and management of governmental and public policy issues of significance to the Partnership. This includes planning, directing and coordinating the Partnership’s activities and interactions with federal and state lawmakers and their staffs, local officials and their staffs, and regulatory agencies and key trade associations.

Prior to working for Boswell, Byers practiced law in Indianapolis, Ind. He also had been an adjunct professor for Simpson College’s political science department and William Penn University’s College for Working Adults.

Byers graduated with distinction in 1996 from the University of Iowa College of Law, where he was senior note and comment editor for the Journal of Corporation Law. He received his undergraduate degree, a bachelor of arts in political science from Simpson College, graduating magna cum laude in 1993.

He is active in his community, serving as co-founder and co-organizer of Indianola’s Sundays at Seven outdoor summer concert series, a “blue-ribbon director” of the Child Abuse Prevention Council of Warren County, a member of the Indianola YMCA Committee and a founding member of the Community Information Technology Access group. He is a member of Redeemer Lutheran Church and has served on its council and as a Sunday school teacher, and also is chairman of the Lutheran Lakeside Camp Staff Alumni Community. He served as a board member for the Warren County Leadership Institute from 1999 to 2002, and in 2001 participated in the Indianola Citizens Academy.

Byers and his wife, Katie, have two daughters: Sophie, 4, and Charlotte, 1 1/2.

Michelle M. Casper | Age 35
Assistant vice president and legal counsel, American Republic Insurance Co.

A typical day might find lawyer Michelle Casper involved in any number of activities to ensure that American Republic Insurance Co.’s operational departments are in compliance with state and federal law. As assistant vice president and legal counsel, a position she has held since 2005, Casper oversees such things as market conduct examinations, consumer and grievance complaint processes, underwriting and claims evaluations, privacy and security and e-commerce initiatives, and business acquisition investigations. Her responsibilities also include negotiating and preparing contracts, approving advertising compliance materials, and providing legal opinions, advice and guidance to the company’s directors, officers, employees and agents.

Casper also volunteers her time to improve her community. She has been involved with the Young Women’s Resource Center since 1999 and currently serves on its executive committee and program committee. A 2002 graduate of the Greater Des Moines Leadership Institute, she has served on that organization’s board of directors and as co-chair of the Youth Leadership Initiative since 2005.She is a member of the United Way of Central Iowa’s Emerging Leaders Initiative and a volunteer for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The Iowa chapter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society named her Woman of the Year in 2001, and she served as co-chair of the Man & Woman of the Year Committee from 2002 to 2003.

After graduating ith distinction from the University of Iowa College of Law in 1997, Casper started her law career with the Des Moines law firm of Wandro, Baer, Appel & Casper, where she practiced primarily in the area of commercial litigation.

While in law school, she was a member of the Iowa Law Review from 1995 to 1996 and chaired the Client Counseling Board from 1996 to 1997. She studied abroad at Oxford University in Oxford, England, in 1995.

She was admitted to the Iowa Bar and the U.S. District Court for the Northern and Southern Divisions of Iowa in 1997, and to the 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in 1998. She is a member of both the Polk County and Iowa State bar associations.

Mary Charlton | Age 29
Medical trend analyst, Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Iowa

Dr. Sheila Riggs, president and CEO of Delta Dental Plan of Minnesota and formerly the executive director of the Wellmark Foundation, calls Mary Charlton, medical trend analyst for Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Iowa, “one of those whiz kids.” “One of the major issues facing our economy is how to keep health costs low and employees healthy and productive,” Riggs said. “When Wellmark uses its databases to answer these questions for employer groups, Mary Charlton is there delivering the answer.”

Charlton identifies issues affecting current and future medical trends, identifies potential medical benefit savings ideas and supplies the analytics for the Six Sigma and LEAN projects undertaken by Wellmark. She outlines action steps during visits to large-group customers that will allow them to focus their wellness and health improvement efforts to reduce benefit expenses.

Charlton also is a student at the University of Iowa College of Public Health, where she has been working toward a Ph.D. in epidemiology since August 2003. Last year, she completed a summer program in Boston offered by Harvard University’s School of Public Health. She received a bachelor of science in nursing from the University of Iowa College of Nursing, graduating with honors in 1998, and a master of science in epidemiology in May 2002 from the University of Iowa College of Public Health.

She has been a member of United Way of Central Iowa’s Women’s Leadership Initiative for Early Childhood since 2003. She also is a member of the Iowa Board of Physicians Assistants, involved in Chrysalis Foundation and is a participant in The Des Moines Register’s Reader Advisory Board. She is treasurer of the Private Investment Club and a participant in the Over-the-Hill Soccer League.

As a student at the UI College of Nursing in 1996, she received the Eugene and Elsie Weyler Scholarship, which is awarded to an undergraduate who demonstrates a caring attitude and high moral character, and is involved in campus and community activities. She also received the E. Peter Isaacson Cancer Epidemiology Scholarship from the UI College of Public Health in 2001, and was admitted to Sigma Theta Tau, the honors society of nursing at UI College of Nursing, in 1998.

She is married to Steve Charlton.

Megan A. Claypool | Age 33
Legal counsel, AmerUs Life Insurance Group

By day, Megan Claypool remains busy as legal counsel for the three companies that make up AmerUs Life Insurance Group, a position she has held since March 2004 and one that involves everything from overseeing litigation nationwide to representing her company multi-district class-action lawsuits to providing legal support for administrators.

But Claypool still finds time to devote to community issues. One passion is the Young Women’s Resource Center, a Des Moines charity founded by the late Louise Noun that helps young women navigate the sometimes choppy waters of adolescence. A past president of YWRC, she is currently a member of its board of directors and executive committee, and is co-chair of the SIT ON IT! special event on April 21.

Claypool also is a member of United Way of Central Iowa’s Women’s Leadership Connection, a 2004 graduate of the Greater Des Moines Leadership Connection and a member of the advisory board for Drake University’s chapter of Kappa Alpha Theta, the nation’s first Greek letter fraternity for women.

As a student at the University of Iowa College of Law, where she graduated with high distinction in 1997, she was co-founder of the Journal of Gender, Race & Justice, as well as its senior note and comment editor. Her work there earned her an award from the National Association of Women Lawyers in 1997 in recognition of her academic achievement and contributions to the advancement of women in society and the legal profession.

Claypool and her husband, Adam, have two children, Kate, 6, and Finn, 3, and are expecting another baby in April.

Marianne Coppock | Age 26
Strategic partnerships manager, Jordan Creek Town Center

At one point, Marianne Coppock’s weekends were free. But that was no good. “I found myself getting antsy,” she said. “I was getting bored; I need to keep busy.”

Not a problem now. Coppock works full time as the strategic partnerships manager at Jordan Creek Town Center in West Des Moines during the week, spends one or two nights per week at her alma mater, Valley High School, working with radio broadcasting students, hosts a Saturday night radio show on Star 102.5 and attends classes as part of this year’s Greater Des Moines Leadership Institute. Throw in a good deal of volunteer work, and it’s definitely a full schedule.

Coppock received a degree in journalism and mass communication from Drake University, majoring in radio and television production and minoring in marketing and management. While still in school, she started working for the Des Moines Radio Group in marketing, promotions, non-traditional revenue sales and event coordination.

But in the summer of 2004 she got the chance to work at Jordan Creek Town Center as its grand opening drew near. Coppock made the move and made it work; she received a Maxi award from the International Council of Shopping Centers for her role on the grand-opening team. Since then, she also has been honored with that organization’s Maxi Merit award in the “revenue impact” category for helping create the shopping center’s strategic partnerships.

Coppock has volunteered for many organization and events, including Making Strides Against Breast Cancer, Christmas Wish, Holiday Wrapping Station, Lazerfest, Drive Thru Job Fair, Easter at Living History Farms, Human Flag 9/11, Kidsfest, Jolly Holiday Lights, Rebuilding Together and the Festival of Trees and Lights.

She worked on the annual Combat Hunger event for several years, as well as Fire in the Sky wintertime celebration and the Maxwell and Polly Open golf tournament.

This year, she’ll try to help Jordan Creek Town Center top last year’s results in the Little Houses, Big Dreams fund-raiser for Children and Families of Iowa. Partner companies build whimsical playhouses that anyone can bid on, and the 2005 event raised more than $55,000.

Maria Davis | Age 36
Sales agent, Iowa Realty/Triton Homes

To appreciate Maria Davis’ energy level, consider one of her goals: “I want to finish seven mini-triathlons in one year,” she said, a mini-triathlon consisting of a run of at least three miles, a one-mile swim and a bicycle ride of at least 15 miles. “I’ve been doing mini-triathlons since before my daughter was born,” Davis said. “I do a couple of them a year.”

When she’s not pushing herself athletically, Davis is a real estate agent with Iowa Realty, representing Triton Homes’ The Village at Johnston Station in Johnston. “My partner and I have 71 townhouses to sell there,” she said. “We just started selling in January, and our goal is to have the project filled by May, so we’re really pushing hard.”

Davis graduated from Dowling Catholic High School in West Des Moines and got a degree from Upper Iowa University in 1996 with a double major in marketing and management. She and her husband, Jeff, have a daughter, Sela, 6, and a son, Drake, 3.

David was an account executive at KDSM-TV from 1996 until her daughter was born, then she stayed home with the kids for five years. However, “I didn’t like not working,” she said. “When you don’t have a career, there’s a little bit of a void there.” So she started volunteering and hasn’t stopped.

Davis is currently a board member at the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and an ambassador for the West Des Moines Chamber of Commerce. Over the past few years, she has volunteered as a fund-raiser for Louisiana Foster Care, Orphaned Children and Displaced Families, and been an Iowa Democratic Party delegate, an assistant at the Des Moines Marathon and a member of the steering committee of the Festival of Trees and Lights. She continues to volunteer at the St. Francis of Assisi church and school.

Davis belongs to several professional organizations and also the Capital Striders Running Club; she completed the Chicago Marathon in 2000 and has participated in RAGBRAI for more than 20 years.

“My ultimate goal is to work for the city of West Des Moines,” she said. “My husband is in commercial real estate, and I want to help his business grow and better our community.”

Jacqueline DiGiacinto | Age 30
Director of corporate and government relations, Drake University

As a teenager on the Northwest Side of Chicago, Jacqueline DiGiacinto was swept up in a burst of neighborhood activism. Led by her parents, a group of citizens launched a campaign to prevent the building of a fast-food restaurant at the end of their block. They got their way, and DiGiacinto got a taste for civic involvement.

As a student at Western Illinois University, she worked on the political campaign of Illinois Congresswoman Judy Biggert, and followed that with a substantial string of political posts. She worked in one capacity or another for the Illinois House Republican leader and the Illinois lieutenant governor, and on President George W. Bush’s 2000 campaign, including the historic Florida recount.

But when she took a job with a non-profit organization in Washington, D.C., she hated it. “I met a political consultant who was a Drake University alum and said he could get me back to the Midwest,” DiGiacinto said. So she moved to Des Moines to work for Sen. Charles Grassley, with no intention of sticking around here for long. “In no way did I want to make a life in Des Moines,” she said. That was five years ago, and now she sounds like she plans to stay.

After stints with the Greater Des Moines Partnership and AIB College of Business, DiGiacinto is now the director of corporate and government relations for Drake University. She’s also working on a master’s degree in adult development and leadership.

DiGicianto, 30, is a member of the Association of Professional Fundraisers, the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, the Drake Area Neighborhood Improvement Task Force, the Greater Des Moines Partnership Government Policy Council and the Transit 2030 Task Force. She’s also involved with the Big Brothers Big Sisters program and Circles of Support for Re-Entry, a group that works with people being released from incarceration.

But she doesn’t plan to run for public office, despite her extensive experience with the process. “I prefer being the person behind the scenes,” she said. “The strongest leaders have hard-working, intelligent people behind them, and I like to think I’m one of those hard-working, intelligent people.”

Monica Friedman | Age 37
Human resources director, Allied Insurance

Monica Friedman says her dad volunteered for “absolutely everything.” “He taught me that you should give back to the community you live in and make it a better place,” she said. “Now I’ve tried to lead by example for my kids.”

Friedman applies that mindset to an impressive range of community needs. She chairs the Greater Des Moines Partnership’s diversity committee, serves on the Partnership’s community development board and the Willkie House board, belongs to several school advisory committees in Norwalk and coaches kids’ sports. She also is taking part in this year’s Greater Des Moines Leadership Institute Community Leadership Program.

After graduating from the University of Iowa with a bachelor’s degree with highest distinction in business administration, Friedman went to work as a shoe buyer for Von Maur in West Des Moines. After four years, she became a personal lines underwriter for Allied Insurance. It might sound like a big career change, but Friedman says, “I had worked for Allied in underwriting for two summers during college, and one summer for Principal Casualty, so I knew what underwriting was about. I was recruited to Allied by someone I had worked with at Von Maur, and it was actually a great fit.”

She moved to Allied’s human resources department in 1997 and is now a senior human resources consultant and HR director for the company.

Friedman joined the Partnership’s diversity committee in 1999 when the organization asked Allied for a representative. “It’s probably one of the best things that ever happened to me,” she said. “It was the springboard to much of my community involvement.”

She sees 2006 as a big year for that committee. “Our focus this year is, how can we make connections with small businesses in the community,” she said. “We’ve done a great job of educating and celebrating the good things that are going on in the community, but we want to make sure we’re doing everything we can for companies that aren’t the size of Allied, Principal and Wells Fargo. There are great things smaller companies can be doing in support of diversity.”

Joseph Garcia | Age 35
Managing director, Marsh & McLennan Cos.

Joseph Garcia started his career in a finance job, but dealing strictly with numbers didn’t quite suit him. “The finance jobs I had seemed very repetitive, and I knew my personality couldn’t handle that,” Garcia said. “I wanted to have the ability to make an impact on a business in a quicker, bigger way.”

That drive carried him from a job at General Mills Inc. in Minneapolis to a short stint at Meredith Corp., a stay at GuideOne Insurance and now to Marsh & McLennan Cos., where Garcia is the managing director of Marsh Affinity Group Services. He oversees a staff of more than 100 people and an annual operating budget in excess of $25 million.

“I have to tell you, a lot of [my career advancement] has been a matter of being in the right place at the right time,” he said. “Positions above me kept opening up. It was luck or fate or all of the above.” Also, he said, “you can’t always find marketing people who understand financials, so that’s definitely a uniqueness that I have.”

Garcia grew up in West Des Moines and developed an interest in business at a young age. “I looked at it as a way to get ahead,” he says, “a way to advance myself and my family. My goal is to run a business someday.”

He also devotes much time and energy to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Iowa, where he serves as board chairman. “I had a younger cousin who was afflicted with muscular dystrophy,” Garcia said. “He was diagnosed 12 or 13 years ago, and he deteriorated in front of our eyes and passed away last fall. He was granted wish by Make-A-Wish, and that’s when another one of my relatives and I got involved with the organization.

“We’ve developed a vision for Make-A-Wish to create an endowment that would fund wishes for children in Iowa into perpetuity,” he said. “That’s what I really get jazzed up about. I wish I could take 20 of the most influential people in Iowa [to visit wish families], so they could understand the power in the process.”

Terry Gebard | Age 39
Principal, OPN Architects Inc.

When Terry Gebard was a kid, he watched and helped as his dad “essentially tore apart and rebuilt our entire home, stick by stick by stick.” As he observed the process, the boy decided that somehow, some way, he wanted to be involved in construction. Now, from Cedar Rapids to Des Moines and at many other Iowa locations, you can see that Gebard succeeded in that dream.

As an architect with OPN Architects Inc. since 1991, Gebard has designed projects such as the $11.5 million Principal Financial Group Inc. office building in Clive, a $15.7 million residence hall at Iowa State University, the $15 million Great America office building in downtown Cedar Rapids, and 15 Biaggi’s Ristorante Italiano restaurants across the United States.

As an ISU student, Gebard started out studying construction engineering. “One of the first classes I had was taught by a gentleman who had built roadways and bridges his entire life,” Gebard said. “He was telling stories about large projects that last five or 10 years; right there and then I realized my attention span is not that long. I decided architecture was the right direction for me, and I’ve never regretted it.”

Gebard received a bachelor of arts in architecture at Iowa State in 1988, then worked for the Bruggeman Design Group in Cedar Rapids as an intern architect until 1991. He joined OPN at that point and has remained with the company ever since, moving from Cedar Rapids to open the Des Moines office in 2001.

Among his major recent projects, Gebard designed the Dairy/Animal Science Education and Discovery Facility in Ames; the $22 million North High School addition and renovation in Des Moines; and an $18 million refrigerated warehouse in Boone for Fareway Stores Inc.

Gebard and his wife, Kersten, live in Johnston and have three daughters. He serves the community as a softball coach in the Johnston Youth League and a youth group leader at the Meredith Drive Reformed Church.

He has received a number of professional awards, including three from the Masonry Institute of Iowa and the Charles H. Weitz Award for Excellence for his work on the McLeodUSA Inc. office building in Des Moines.

Brian Green | Age 36
Partner, Brown Winick law firm

Brian Green wanted to name his daughter “Ryne” in honor of former Chicago Cubs star Ryne Sandberg, but his wife vetoed that idea. So they went with his second choice: “Addison,” in honor of the street where you find Wrigley Field. Clearly, a love of sports hasn’t vanished from Green’s life, even though he left TV sports broadcasting behind in college and switched to the study of law.

“I liked TV a lot,” Green said, “but what I really liked was sports. At one point, I felt like I had gone as far as my abilities could take me in TV, and I wanted do something different.”

He grew up as the son of a lawyer, thinking that profession was the one thing he did not want to do. “It didn’t look fun enough,” he said. But after receiving his undergraduate degree in broadcast journalism from the University of Kansas, Green went to Drake University School of Law with the idea of possibly becoming a sports agent. Then he found that he really liked business law.

Over the years, the Des Moines native has worked as a law clerk in the Iowa attorney general’s office and at the Iowa Division of Labor; as an associate general counsel at Krause Gentle Corp.; as an attorney at now-defunct Pingel & Templer L.C.; and now is a partner at Brown, Winick, Graves, Gross, Baskerville and Schoenebaum P.L.C.

Green specializes in business transactions, helps clients raise capital and represents the developers of three downtown housing projects, among other duties.

A graduate of the Greater Des Moines Leadership Institute, he serves as a board member for Royal Financial L.L.C. and the Iowa State Bar Association and also is the founder of the Brinks Social Club.

Brinks – the name comes from “breakfast” at one meeting, “drinks” at the next – has about 35 members and serves as a business and social network for young community leaders. It stages a major social event every other month, and its big annual fund-raising event will come in August, when the club hosts its third annual adult kickball tournament. Each year the proceeds go to a different charity.

Chaden Halfhill | Age 38
Owner, Silent Rivers Inc.

Last fall, the remodeling industry made it official: Chaden Halfhill has arrived. Professional Remodeler magazine gave his company, Silent Rivers Design Build, four gold awards and a National Best of the Best Design Award; and Qualified Remodeler magazine singled out Silent Rivers as the Best in Show winner in all project categories over $200,000 in value.

Not bad for a company that started from scratch in 1992.

Halfhill is a combination of artist and builder who has degrees in sculpture and architecture from Wesleyan University in Connecticut. He returned to his hometown of Des Moines and after a year of unemployment started Silent Rivers.

Since then, he has built the company to 13 employees while gaining recognition as a remodeler with something special to offer. Qualified Remodeler wrote: “From the start, Halfhill focused his business on decks and outdoor structures — using his sculpture background to add design elements into exterior applications. Soon enough, interior projects were being referred to him and he couldn’t resist.”

Last summer, Silent Rivers received the Iowa Remodeler of the Year award at the Chrysalis Awards for Remodeling Excellence in Atlanta, and also was named Midwest Remodeler of the Year, one of just four regional honors handed out.

Halfhill also has shown his artwork in a number of solo and group exhibitions in Des Moines, around Iowa and elsewhere. And he has shared his talent with students by working with Partners Unlimited – where he serves on the board of directors — and helping create the Iowa Mosaic Mural sponsored by Iowa’s Mosaic Diversity Conference Committee.

“I have always believed,” he once told the Business Record, “that architecture and sculpture are very similar and designing a space is as much about the ideas as about the making of the space.”

Halfhill is a member of the Home Builders Association of Iowa board of directors; the Remodelers Council of Greater Des Moines; the Center on Sustainable Communities, of which he is a founding member; and has volunteered for VSA arts of Iowa.

He and his wife, Cosette Boone, have a 3-year-old daughter, Sage, and live in Clive.

Seth Hall | Age 29
Sales executive, Businessolver Inc.

Seth Hall admits he has a soft spot for children in need and says, “I get all torn up when I start talking about it.”

That passion has been a driving force behind his involvement in Variety – The Children’s Charity of Iowa. He has been a vice president, and as the current president, he helped the organization collect a record-setting $3.6 million through its recent telethon, maintaining the chapter’s status as one of the biggest and most successful worldwide in terms of volunteers and funds raised.

A native of Louisville, Ky., Hall earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the Miami University in Ohio, where he met his wife, Kristin, an Iowa native. He moved to Greater Des Moines seven years ago and never looked back, he said.

He spent less than a year as an employee liaison for Krause Gentle Corp. before joining Businessolver Inc. in 2000 as a client services manager. He implemented online health benefit enrollment and eligibility databases and proposed and implemented various goals, tools and resources for clients.

Hall was promoted to sales executive in 2004 and has helped the company increase its revenue by 30 to 50 percent annually. He maintains and oversees the development of the company’s marketing program, develops relationships with clients throughout the Midwest, develops broker partner relationships across the United States and in Canada and promotes health benefit enrollment and eligibility to existing broker partners in both countries.

In addition to his involvement with Variety, Hall is a past president and past vice president of Toastmasters International’s Regency club and is a member of the Greater Des Moines Young Professionals Connection. He is also an Eagle Scout and alumni member of Kappa Sigma fraternity.

He and his wife have a daughter, Ashley, who was born in May. “She’s awesome,” he said.

Chris Haviland | Age 33
Sales and business development, Group Benefits Ltd.

Chris Haviland “has always exhibited the traits of a leader,” according to Ben Hildebrand, vice president of marketing, public affairs and member services for the Iowa Bankers Association. Through both his professional and volunteer work, he’s made good use of those leadership skills.

Hildebrand, in a nomination letter, said Haviland is an up-and-comer in the business community who has been a committed volunteer for numerous organizations. He has served on the board of the Des Moines AM Rotary Club and Link Associates, volunteered with the Make-A-With Foundation of Iowa and the YMCA of Greater Des Moines and coached for the West Des Moines Soccer Club.

Haviland “does not volunteer to build a resume,” Hildebrand wrote. “Chris Haviland invests the time necessary to help a non-profit organization move forward.”

Haviland graduated from the University of Northern Iowa in 1996, double-majoring in political science and public administration with an emphasis on personnel. He spent his first three years out of school working in human resources, first for Johnson & Higgins/Kirke-Van Orsdel and then for Kirke-Van Orsdel/Seabury & Smith.

He was a corporate recruiter for five years with ADP National Account Services and then worked as an account manager for ProStaff Accounting Professionals. He became director of sales for Outcomes Pharmaceutical Health Care, generating $85,000 in revenues in his first 18 months, and then joined Coventry Health Care of Iowa as an account executive.

Haviland left Coventry in November to join Group Benefits Ltd., where he works in sales and business development, obtaining and retaining group health insurance clients and working on special projects related to local, state and national business deals.

He is a 2001 graduate of the Greater Des Moines Leadership Institute and continues to be involved with the organization, serving on the board of governors, executive board and the Fundraising Committee. He was chair of its Community Leadership Program in 2004-05.

“It’s intrigued me as far as what they’re doing to bring together people who are already considered leaders in their organizations into a common forum and allowing them to network to in order to have the resources needed to create a better Des Moines,” Haviland said. “The professional side allowed me to open some doors.”

Haviland and his wife, Stacey, have a 2-year-old son, Lucas.

Lance Henning | Age 39
Executive director, Greater Des Moines Habitat for Humanity Inc.

Lance Henning entered the Peace Corps for the adventure, he said, but after two years spent building schools, teachers’ houses and water systems in Belize he found it to be “one of the most important things I ever did that changed my focus as a person.”

That experience makes it easier to understand why, after earning a bachelor’s degree in construction engineering and a master’s degree in environmental engineering and spending six years as an environmental engineer, he left it all behind for non-profit work.

“I felt I was led and felt it was something God was doing in my life,” Henning said. He participated in a “spiritual gift study” that identified his passion for helping people in a tangible way. “I said that my dream job was working for Habitat for Humanity.”

Henning left his job as an environmental engineer with the Midwest Research Institute in Kansas City, Mo., and became executive director of that city’s Habitat chapter in 1998.

He returned to his home state in 2003 when the position of executive director of Greater Des Moines Habitat for Humanity opened up in 2003. In just over two years, Henning has led the organization through “unparalleled” growth, according to Dan Clute, vice president of Citi Cards and a member of the Habitat board of directors. In 2004 and 2005, Habitat built 17 homes in Greater Des Moines and will build 13 homes in 2006. Those three years combined will exceed the previous 17 in total output. In addition, revenues have increased by 62 percent.

“I think it’s a lot of little positive items – the board, other staff, volunteers, the community at large and the sponsors – coming together,” Henning said. “And all those positives turn around to allow us to take some leaps.

Henning has become heavily involved in the community during his short time in Greater Des Moines. He has been involved with the Polk County Human Services Planning Alliance and the Polk County Housing Continuum. He is a graduate of the Greater Des Moines Leadership Institute and is a youth softball coach.

He and his wife, Joleen, have two daughters, Moriah and Savanna.

Mashal Husain | Age 34
Manager of strategic planning and business development, Blank Children’s Hospital

As the daughter of Pakistani expatriates, Mashal Husain was raised in Pakistan, Tanzania, Thailand and the Philippines, experiences that not only introduced her to numerous languages and cultures, but also forced her to embrace change and build relationships, which today she considers her greatest skills.

“With this ‘nomadic’ upbringing, I learned the importance of communicating well with those around me, understanding different perspectives and making friends quickly,” Husain said. “I have thrived in this diversity and always viewed these unique experiences as opportunities rather than challenges.”

She has coupled those skills with an academic background that Stephen Stephenson, executive vice president of Blank Children’s Hospital, calls “exemplary.”

“Mashal has had excellent preparation for future leadership positions,” Stephenson wrote in a nomination letter. “Her talents will ultimately make her a very influential leader in business and the community.”

Husain earned a bachelor of arts from the University of Texas, studying psychology and Spanish, and later received a master of health administration degree from Cornell University, where she earned the Sloan Faculty Award for outstanding achievement.

She completed a post-graduate fellowship in hospital administration at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago from 1996 to 1997 and continued with the hospital until 1999, serving as assistant to the executive vice president and chief operating officer and later as manager of its urology center.

Husain moved to Des Moines six years ago and has spent the past five years with Blank Children’s Hospital, where she has formulated a strategy for physician outreach and developed a plan for expansion and recruitment in various pediatric subspecialties. In addition, she was appointed project coordinator for the visioning, planning and implementation the ambulatory care facility of Blank’s parent organization, Iowa Health-Des Moines.

She volunteers with United Way of Central Iowa, serving on the Women’s Leadership Initiative on Early Childhood Education, as well as the National Kidney Foundation, Blank Children’s Hospital’s Festival of Trees and Lights and Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa, serving on the board of directors since 2004. She is a 2005 graduate of the Greater Des Moines Leadership Institute and also championed local relief efforts following the October 2005 earthquake in Pakistan.

Husain and her husband, Fawad Zafar, have a son, Fez Zafar, 4.

Joel Jackman | Age 35
Vice president, Paragon IT Professionals

Joel Jackman was just 27 when he and his brother, Craig, founded Paragon IT Professionals. Nine years later, the company has become one of the largest and fastest-growing information technology executive search and consulting companies in Iowa.

“When we first started, business was booming,” Jackman said. “We had more work than we could handle and realized we might have grown a little too fast. So we pared back and focused on quality versus quantity.”

That strategy has served Paragon well in its short history. The company has experienced a 2,000 percent growth in revenue since its inception and has expanded from a two-man operation to include 15 internal employees and 60 consultants.

Jackman handles Paragon’s operations and assists specific clients such as Wells Fargo Financial and FBL Financial Group Inc. with their IT needs. He led the company’s expansion efforts with the opening of its Omaha office one year ago and now oversees that office’s operations.

A major part of Paragon’s corporate culture revolves around community involvement and charitable giving, which earned the company “Community Champion” honors from the Greater Des Moines Partnership in 2005. Jackman assisted in the creation and development of Friends of Friends, the company’s annual charity event that has raised more than $100,000 in three years. Funds from the first three years have supported the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and this year’s event, to be held April 7, will benefit ChildServe.

“The motivation within Joel and the company revolves around family and community, and with those values firmly in place, the company continues to achieve its business goals every year,” John Myers, Paragon’s director of marketing and communications, wrote in a nomination letter.

Jackman’s community involvement extends beyond Paragon’s walls. He has been involved with the YMCA of Greater Des Moines for several years and was appointed to its board of directors in 2004. As a team captain for the Y’s Partnership with Youth campaign, his group raised more than $125,000. He also coaches baseball in the Raccoon River Little League and is a volunteer teacher for Junior Achievement.

Jackman and his wife, Tracey, have two children, Chase, 7, and Josie, 5.

Sheila Kinman | Age 32
Director of development, Children & Families of Iowa

At Children & Families of Iowa, Sheila Kinman interacts with a variety of individuals daily, whether it’s a client receiving the organization’s services or a major donor. With each, “she does an incredible job of knowing and understanding what’s important to each of those individuals,” said Sharon Krause, president of the Children & Families of Iowa Foundation and business development director for Kum & Go L.C.

Kinman, a native of Parkersburg, earned a degree in communications and public relations from the University of Northern Iowa in 1996. She envisioned a future in non-profit work that began with Junior Achievement of Black Hawk Land Inc., first as an intern and then as a program manager.

From 1999 to 2003, Kinman worked for United Way of Central Iowa, where as a campaign division manager, she raised more than $5.6 million for the community and coordinated more than 150 company campaign accounts. She joined Children & Families of Iowa in 2004 and said she finds great reward in hearing of the organization’s success stories.

“At the end of the day, I feel like my job is making an impact on our community and others, and that’s extremely rewarding,” Kinman said.

Krause said Kinman brought a fresh new perspective to the organization following her work with United Way. She is most impressed by her maturity and professionalism and the respectful way in which she manages her staff.

Kinman is a 2002 graduate of the Greater Des Moines Leadership Institute, teaches an adult Bible study class and Sunday school, prepares and serves meals for the homeless through Churches United Shelter, is active in the Association of Fundraising Professionals and is a volunteer teacher for Junior Achievement.

She and her husband, Eric, have also become entrepreneurs, having bought Stark Gardens, located south of Norwalk, one year ago. The Kinmans operate the business nine months out of the year, entirely on their own, selling more than 900 varieties of hostas through farmers markets and mail orders.

“I’ve certainly learned to multitask,” she said. “And it has broadened by view of what it’s like being a small business owner. Getting a start can be difficult, but overcoming those challenges is rewarding.”

Robert Knudsen | Age 36
Vice president of sales and marketing, Iowa Paint Manufacturing Co. Inc./PPG Industries Inc.

As vice president of sales and marketing for Iowa Paint Manufacturing Co. Inc./PPG Industries Inc., Robert Knudsen manages store operations throughout the entire Midwest, is responsible for more than $100 million in sales and has developed and introduced more than 43 new products.

“His excellent sales ability, drive for excellence and thirst for knowledge are what has led him to become a vice president at such a young age,” Tony Schmalz, director of store operations for IPM Group Inc./PPG Industries, wrote in nominating Knudsen.

A 1992 graduate of Northern Illinois University, Knudsen spent his first four years out of college with Sherwin-Williams Co. as a sales representative and then as a branch manager. As a territory manager for Orthovita, he established 240 accounts in a start-up territory and produced more than $500,000 in sales in his first year. He was a regional sales manager for Duron Paints & Wallcoverings, managing a $5.5 million district. He has won numerous awards for sales achievements.

Knudsen joined IPM in 1999 as a regional manager and was promoted to director of sales and marketing and then vice president of sales and marketing. He has led the company through three acquisitions in the past five years, including its acquisition in December by PPG Industries Inc.

“Never satisfied with ‘status-quo,’ Rob has worked diligently to grow sales, assist the team to be ‘A’ players and develop creative programs for IPM,” Schmalz wrote. “Rob is constantly coaching, teaching and training our employees to be better leaders.”

Knudsen’s leadership is evident through his development of “Picture It Painted,” a volunteer program that assists communities in which IPM is involved. He has volunteered time and materials toward house painting projects, including several homes for Habitat for Humanity.

He is a board member for Variety – The Children’s Charity of Iowa and the Iowa Architectural Foundation and is a volunteer for Junior Achievement of Central Iowa and Iowa Paint’s United Way campaign. He is involved in this year’s United Way Emerging Leaders Initiative and the Des Moines AM Rotary Club.

Knudsen and his wife, Lynn, have four children: Robert Jr., 8, Michael, 6, Elisabeth, 4, and Thomas, 2.

Matt McGarvey | Age 33
Senior program manager, The Wellmark Foundation

Iowa is always struggling to keep its best and brightest young professionals and, according to Sheila Riggs, “Matt (McGarvey) should be one of those keepers.”

“Matt has a tenacity like I’ve never seen and there’s such a proper motive to his actions,” said Riggs, president and CEO of Delta Dental Plan of Minnesota and a former executive director of The Wellmark Foundation. “He just really cares about the health and well-being of Iowans and, whether it’s in his professional or personal life, he exudes that kind of integrity about what drives him.”

McGarvey earned a bachelor of arts degree in urban studies from Central College and a master’s degree in public administration from Drake University. He spent his first three years out of college working on an alternative fuels program for the state of Iowa before getting into fund raising with The Mercy Foundation, where he spent the next seven years.

He joined The Wellmark Foundation in June 2003, and as senior program manager, he strategically guides Wellmark’s philanthropic efforts throughout Iowa and South Dakota. His expertise is also sought after by many non-profit organizations, which has led to him serving as a site reviewer for United Way of Central Iowa and as a volunteer grant review member for the Iowa Council of Foundations and the Central Iowa Funders Forum.

“I just love this work,” he said. “The foundations have money, but it’s not real until it’s attached to a project, and those projects and plans are wonderful if they have the resources. It’s great work, it’s rewarding, I just love it.”

McGarvey was recently appointed to the board of directors of the Ankeny Public Library Foundation but spent much of his civic involvement time in 2005 working with the Iowa chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics on the formal development of and fund raising for Reach Out and Read Iowa, a program designed to encourage parents to teach their children a love of reading before they go to school.

“Everybody wins and it’s just a really neat concept,” he said.

McGarvey and his wife, Kara, have a 5-year-old daughter, Karlin, and a 2-year-old son, Fletcher.

Tom Moreland | Age 27 
Founder and CEO, Iowa Hospice

Working for two summers at an AIDS hospice in San Francisco while he was in college gave Tom Moreland a perspective on death – and compassion – that few people gain in a lifetime, let alone by the time they’re in their mid-20s.

The 27-year-old Iowa City native last year founded Iowa Hospice, a Johnston-based for-profit company that now serves 24 Iowa counties. Specializing in providing in-home hospice care to nursing home residents, Iowa Hospice has in less than a year served 176 terminally ill patients.

“It has grown faster than I could ever have imagined,” Moreland said. “I of course did my research and estimated the need, but I definitely underestimated the need. In November, we opened the Panora office, and it already has 20 patients. Everywhere we go, we’ve been received with open arms. There’s just a need for the service, unfortunately.”

In less than a year, Iowa Hospice has grown to a staff of more than 40, including six full-time employees who specialize in educating families about in-home hospice care.

Moreland’s objective is to change the face of hospice care throughout Iowa, by giving people an alternative to the hospice programs provided at inpatient care facilities.

A devout Catholic, Moreland credits his success to the power of prayer and the abilities of an exceptional staff.

“It’s not because of anything I’ve done,” he said. “If we hadn’t given amazing care, we wouldn’t have grown.”

Before starting Iowa Hospice, Moreland turned around a failing hospice program in Richmond, Va.

Moreland said his father, Iowa City developer John Moreland, “taught me how to work hard and grow a business. But I was then able to bring that over to the human services side. I call him weekly for guidance. He started his business at about the same age. Now, he sees things in a whole different perspective.”

During his free time, Moreland likes to cook dinner once a month for families at St. Joseph’s Homeless Family Shelter, and has also volunteered regularly at House of Mercy. He also serves as treasurer of the 20/30 Society, a group of young professionals dedicated to pooling their charitable giving to support non-profit organizations and initiatives that help attract and retain young people in Greater Des Moines.

“I stay busy,” he said. “I’m not married, I don’t have kids, so I definitely have time to give back. Especially when you’re in hospice, you see the importance of living every day to the fullest.”

Rush Nigut | Age 37 
Shareholder, Sullivan & Ward P.C.

Whether it’s counseling corporate clients about patent and technology law, developing a strategic plan for the Rotary Club of Des Moines, managing his growing real estate investment company or coaching his son’s Little League team, Rush Nigut demonstrates the same dedication and generosity.

“Rush is welcome relief from the persona of money-hungry lawyers,” wrote Kenneth Deever Jr., founder of The Rooftop Foundation. Nigut helped Deever develop the idea of starting the foundation to formalize the annual shopping tour Deever provides for 125 children of low-income families. In addition to donating his legal services, Nigut serves on the foundation’s board and is currently assisting in planning the organization’s annual golf tournament.

A 1994 graduate of the Drake University School of Law, Nigut started his own law firm with two partners when he was 28, and within three years had increased the firm’s roster of corporate counsel business clients from two to nearly 30.

He joined Sullivan & Ward P.C. in December 2000 to concentrate on expanding his business law practice, and within three years was named a shareholder of the firm. He currently serves as outside general counsel to 65 businesses, including technology companies, general contractors, manufacturers and retailers. He also serves as a trial counsel in contract, trade secret and patent infringement disputes.

“Rush is hard-working, innovative and detail-oriented in his approach to the practice of law and has developed a large client base through relationship building,” wrote Jennifer Jaskolka-Brown, a colleague whom he mentored at Sullivan & Ward. “Even though I was a newly minted attorney and learning protocol and procedure, Rush was respectful, even-handed, which made my integration into the practice of law much less intimidating.”

Outside of the practice of law, Nigut is a managing member of Saddlerock Holdings LLC, a real estate investment company. He is also an angel investor and adviser to a local firm that designs Web sites for lawyers across the Midwest.

In the community, Nigut has been a member since 2001 of the Rotary Club of Des Moines, where he currently serves as a member of its strategic planning committee. He volunteers as a coach of his son’s team in the Raccoon Valley Little League and also regularly judges junior and senior high school mock trial competitions. He is also a frequent lecturer for continuing legal education classes in the areas of business, e-commerce and employment law.

Benjamin F. Renzo | Age 34 
Founder and president, LWBJ Wealth Resources, Arlis LLC, Premier Wealth Management LLC; founder and vice president, United Medical Liability Insurance Co.

Forming a successful wealth management organization would be a notable accomplishment for anyone. Combine that with founding and leading three related financial enterprises while raising millions of dollars for a new hospital and developing a charitable foundation, and then you must be talking about Ben Renzo.

At 34, Renzo has within the space of three years founded three successful financial services companies: LWBJ Wealth Resources LLC, Arlis LLC and Premier Wealth Management LLC. Last year, he also launched United Medical Liability Insurance Co., a reinsurance and medical malpractice insurance carrier for Iowa physicians.

Renzo, who is a director of the Iowa Health Foundation and serves on its finance committee, also helped secure and structure charitable gifts exceeding $15 million for the proposed Michael J. Myers Hospital in West Des Moines.

He recently developed a new charitable foundation, the Stars Foundation. As its president, Renzo works to extend opportunities and support for at-risk children in Iowa.

“Ben is a proven leader, both personally and professionally,” wrote Jamie Myers, president of Regency Homes, in one of several nominating letters submitted on his behalf.

Within the past three years, Renzo has expanded the client base at LWBJ Wealth Resources, which offers sophisticated wealth planning and asset protection for high-net-worth individuals, to include two professional football players and several professional basketball prospects.

Through LWBJ Wealth Resources, Renzo in 2004 launched Arlis LLC, whose financial services product is tailored to physicians and other business owners.

Renzo recently structured a new medical malpractice insurance carrier, United Medical Liability Insurance Co., to assist Iowa physicians in addressing the need for premium stabilization, capacity and enhanced risk management techniques.

As a volunteer for the Muscular Dystrophy Association Celebrity Golf Tournament, he recruited celebrities to attend the event, and as an Iowa Mentor works with at-risk youths in coordination with the Polk County courts.

“Ben brings energy to all of his business and volunteer work that is contagious,” wrote Dennis Linderbaum, president of the Iowa Health Foundation. “He has already had an impact in the business world as well as with the charities where he volunteers.”

Nannette Rodriguez | Age 31 
Founder, principal and executive creative director, Vivamedia Inc.

As Greater Des Moines’ Latino population continues to grow, Nannette Rodriguez is building bridges as both an entrepreneur and community leader to help both Latino and non-Latino businesses profit from that growth.

Rodriguez, who 10 years ago founded Vivamedia Inc., a full-service multilingual advertising agency, has found that assisting Central Iowa companies in reaching out to the Latino market is becoming an increasingly important part of the business. Her agency, which now employs five people, provides graphic and interactive design, language translation, corporate identity and specialty services to more than 30 national and international clients.

“We’re positioning ourselves to help mainstream companies market themselves better to minorities,” she said. “We’re basically trying to prepare and enlighten some of our Iowa-based businesses that this is an incredibly viable market, and if they reach them early and well, it will be very profitable.”

At the same time, Rodriguez serves as president of Alianza, a Greater Des Moines Partnership affiliate group focused on networking and educational events to bring Hispanic and non-Hispanic businesses closer together. In its first year and a half of existence, the organization has hosted monthly business workshops and a Latino trade fair, and is now developing additional initiatives for its members.

To accommodate the schedules of many Alianza members who own blue-collar businesses, such as restaurants and automotive repair shops, the group plans to sponsor Pachanga Nights, a series of business networking events to be held at Alianza members’ businesses.

In another initiative, Alianza will collaborate with the African American Business Alliance to form a procurement program tailored to minority-owned businesses.

Alianza also plans to nominate some of its members to participate in the New Iowa Entrepreneurial Program that’s being launched by the Des Moines Higher Education Collaborative at the John and Mary Pappajohn Education Center.

Last year Rodriguez was recognized as the state’s 2005 Outstanding Latina Entrepreneur by the Iowa Division of Latino Affairs. She also received the Anna Maria Arias Memorial Business Fund Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence from Wells Fargo & Co. and Latina Style magazine. Rodriguez has also been recognized within the advertising and design industry with several professional awards.

Paul Rupprecht | Age 35  
Vice president  marketing, R&R Realty Group

As Paul Rupprecht markets office and retail spaces to business executives across the country, he knows he’s representing more than R&R Realty Group.

“My highest responsibility for R&R is the attraction and retention of businesses for not only R&R but also for the Greater Des Moines area,” said Rupprecht, vice president of marketing for the family-owned real estate group. He’s responsible for much of the overall marketing and leasing efforts of the company, whose portfolio consists of nearly 4 million square feet of commercial space.

Interacting with business leaders throughout Central Iowa is not only the most enjoyable aspect of his work, Rupprecht said, but also provides a means for promoting his favorite charitable cause: United Way of Central Iowa. He has served as an annual campaign fund raiser and calling executive for United Way’s key firm division for the past several years.

“I’ve got a great advantage in the work that I do in developing relationships with business leaders in the community,” he said, “and I can talk to them about how United Way can help better the community.”

Rupprecht serves on the board of directors of the West Des Moines Chamber of Commerce. He has also served on the West Des Moines Education Advisory Council, as well as an advisory committee that surveyed West Des Moines residents to ascertain their opinions regarding construction of a performing arts and community center. He puts his fund-raising skills to work for St. Francis of Assisi School, and also coaches YMCA youth basketball.

With R&R, one of Rupprecht’s key responsibilities is marketing and leasing Country Club Office Plaza on Jordan Creek Parkway. The project already encompasses more than 1 million square feet of completed office and retail space, with approximately 400,000 additional square feet planned.

The newest development he’s working on is Paragon Office Park and Retail Plaza, a 280-acre site in Urbandale, where a 170,000-square-foot building was recently completed for Citigroup Inc.

Having worked in the family-owned business since its inception, Rupprecht has dealt with many aspects of real estate. “I’ve done everything from cleaning office space to construction management and marketing, to being a shareholder and serving on the board of directors,” he said.

Jeff Russell | Age 33
Chief information officer and vice president of strategic development, The Members Group

Even as a young adult starting out in his career, Jeff Russell demonstrated leadership skills beyond his years, according to Steve Churchill, who met Russell through partisan politics. Churchill was a state representative at the time, and Russell was the president of the Bull Moose Club, a group of Republicans under the age of 40.

“Jeff became president of the club at an early age, and he really helped to put the club on the map as a strong force in the community,” said Churchill, who now works as vice president of development and alumni relations for Des Moines University. “He’s been a leader ever since I’ve known him – a mature, energetic, focused person who you can trust.”

In 1996, at age 24, Russell competed in a close race for a seat representing District 72 in the Iowa House of Representatives. Although Russell did not win the election, Churchill said, he impressed a lot of people with his organization, determination and philosophy.

Russell has applied the same drive and energy he displayed in the political arena to his job at The Members Group, a company that provides products and services to credit unions throughout the United States and Canada.

Russell joined The Members Group soon after earning his bachelor’s degree from Drake University. In his first five years working there, he was promoted several times, from market research coordinator to marketing coordinator to director of communications and marketing, and finally to chief information officer. He is the first technology officer in the company’s history.

Justin Hupfer, the vice president of government affairs for the Iowa Credit Union League, works closely with Russell at The Members Group, and he also spent three weeks traveling with him a few years ago on a Rotary International exchange trip for young professionals. Whether he’s in the work setting or in the community, Hupfer said, Russell carries himself as a leader.

“He is very respected, thoughtful and detail-oriented,” Hupfer said. “Jeff is someone you can trust to take a project from start to finish. You can count on him to get things done and be efficient in doing it.”

Jeff and his wife, Lisa, have two children: Ben, 5, and Alex, 2. They are expecting their third child in May.

Keith Snow | Age 39 
President and owner, BWB Marketing Services

The same energy that Keith Snow devotes to his clients as the owner of a growing marketing firm is also evident in the dedication he provides to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Iowa, say those who have nominated him for recognition as a member of the 2006 Forty Under 40 class.

Snow “has dedicated countless hours of time to the annual fundraising dinner and auction for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and has taken the event to a new level,” wrote Joe Garcia, the organization’s board chairman. The event has netted the foundation well into the six-figure range in each of the past several years that Snow has been involved with it, he said.

“There are very few individuals that I have met during my career who have the level of passion, dedication and commitment as Keith,” Garcia wrote. “Whether it is working on a project for a major client, or volunteering time for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Iowa, there is only one level of effort given – the very best.”

Snow launched BWB Marketing Services in Ankeny after having worked for 10 years as a marketing database professional. A Simpson College graduate with a degree in computer science and management, Snow began his career in computers and transitioned into marketing when he joined GuideOne Insurance in 1997. He later worked for Strategic America as director of e-business and database marketing.

“During the course of our relationship, I have watched Keith emerge as the effective young leader he is today,” wrote Mike Schreurs, CEO of Strategic America, a Clive-based integrated marketing communications firm.. “His focused, diligent efforts, both professionally and personally, result in the success of others who seek his help.”

While with Strategic America, Snow co-developed the Strategic Market Planner, an Internet-based marketing technology application that allows organizations to house, distribute and execute all of their marketing and sales initiatives through a single Web-based tool kit, saving clients millions of dollars.

Through his work at BWB Marketing Services, he has received two Direct Marketing Association International Echo Awards, the highest professional honor bestowed on direct marketers. His company, which has increased its gross billings by 40 percent each of the past two years, counts among its clients GuideOne Insurance, Strategic America, Huxley Communications and Marsh & McLennan Cos.

Kevin Snyder | Age 35
Senior manager, McGowen, Hurst, Clark & Smith P.C. 

Under the “achievements” section of his resume, Kevin Snyder lists “Greatest Dad Ever,” a title bestowed on him by his children, 15-year-old Brittany and 6-year-old Jake.

“This special recognition may not mean a lot outside the Synder household, but it means more to me than any other award, recognition or achievement I have ever received,” Snyder noted in his curriculum vitae. “In the interest of full disclosure,” wrote Snyder, a certified public accountant, “I believe they have each retracted this award in light of subsequent punishments, but the recognition was nice at the time.”

For Snyder, a senior manager at McGowen, Hurst, Clark & Smith P.C., his accomplishments extend well beyond his family to leadership roles both at his firm and within the community.

“I think I have a lot of abilities that can help out a lot of organizations and community events,” he said. “I want my kids to grow up here and have a great community. So my involvement does two things: It makes it a better place for them, and it shows them the importance of giving back to the community.”

Promoted to his current position in July 2005, Snyder manages a team of 10 accountants in McGowen Hurst’s tax and accounting department and is responsible for the firm’s continuing education programs. He is a graduate of Iowa State University with a bachelor’s degree in accounting.

Snyder has served on the board of The Home Connection, formerly the Des Moines Coalition for the Homeless, for the past five years and is currently the board’s president. The transitional housing program provides 21 homes for homeless families with children under the age of 18,

“They can stay with us for up to two years, provided they are working on specific goals to change their current situation,” Snyder said. “Since 1989, we have placed 125 families with an 85 percent success rate.”

As treasurer of the Brinks Club, a breakfast networking group for business professionals, Snyder has become involved with a number of charitable and community organizations, including ChildServe, the Leukemia Lymphoma Society, March of Dimes and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Iowa. Last year the Brinks Annual Charity Kickball Tournament raised $1,000 for the National Kidney Foundation.

Snyder also volunteers for Lutheran Church of Hope, which he is assisting in its transition to a new accounting software program and is working on its $15 million building expansion project. He also coaches West Des Moines Little League and soccer.

Behnaz Soulati | Age 36 
Shareholder, Davis, Brown, Koehn, Shors & Roberts P.C.

Her professors told her that because she was blind, she wouldn’t be able to earn a degree in computer science. She was told she wouldn’t be able to travel abroad to lecture at a foreign university. She was told she’d never be able to complete a law degree in three years. Behnaz Soulati wasn’t about to buy any of that.

Soulati, who graduated — within three years and with distinction — from the University of Iowa College of Law in 1999, in January was named a shareholder of her firm, Davis Brown, Koehn, Shors & Roberts P.C.

Soulati, who grew up in Iran, was 17 when she was blinded during a 1987 Iraqi air raid on her hometown. After recovering from her injuries, she immigrated with her family to the United States, and a year later was learning how to cope with her blindness at the Iowa Department for the Blind in Des Moines.

Five years later, she graduated from U of I with a bachelor of arts with highest distinction in computer science. She went on to earn a master’s degree in French literature, and while spending a year teaching in France, she applied to the U of I’s law school and was accepted.

“I say just never give up,” said Soulati. “Just having wonderful family and friends around you for support — don’t ever give up and just stay positive. I think that’s what has helped me the most.”

During each period of her life, “I had to teach myself and others the different methods that I use to accomplish my tasks,” said Soulati, who worked as a law clerk for the 7th Judicial District of Iowa before joining the Davis firm six years ago.

“In my day-to-day work as an attorney, I work with computers using speech synthesizers, as well as scanners, Braille and live readers to complete my work,” she said.

“I really like interacting with people,” she said. “That’s why I like litigation; I learn a lot and they (the attorneys and judges she deals with) learn a lot. The more and more you do it (function as a blind person), the more people get used to it.”

Soulati also takes on a number of pro bono cases each year, and is active in a dozen legal associations, among them the American Blind Lawyers Bar Association, the Young Lawyers Division of the Iowa State Bar Association, and as a board member of the Polk County Women Attorneys and the Iowa Organization of Women Attorneys.

“She’s a pleasure to work with,” said Bruce Campbell, president of the Davis law firm. “She has a great attitude. She is just an excellent attorney.”

Krista Tanner | Age 32
Shareholder, Dickinson, Mackaman, Tyler & Hagen P.C.

Krista Tanner brings creativity and a zest for helping others to the legal profession.

Tanner earned a bachelor’s degree in Russian and history from the University of Northern Iowa and law degree from Drake University. She started working for Dickinson, Mackaman, Tyler & Hagen as a law clerk in 1999 and was hired by the firm as an associate in 2000. In January, she was promoted to shareholder. Bret Dublinske, an attorney with the Dickinson firm, has worked closely with Tanner on many cases and has been impressed with her tenacity.

“She came here and jumped into the difficult and often male-dominated field of utilities law, where she has performed above and beyond expectations time and again on my most challenging projects,” Dublinske wrote in a “Forty Under 40” nomination letter.

He added that Tanner shows “grace with clients, respect with opposing counsel and adjudicators, and calm under the most strenuous deadlines,” and that she takes an active interest in the firm and its role in the community.

Tanner’s strong belief in giving back to her community is evident in both her professional and her volunteer work. Recently, the Dickinson firm received a 2005 Pro Bono Award from the Volunteer Lawyers Project, partly based on Tanner’s more than 200 hours of volunteer legal assistance.

Tanner strives to maintain a healthy balance between pursuing her career and spending time with her two young children. She was instrumental in implementing the firm’s Alternative Work Arrangement program that allows attorneys, especially young parents, to find a satisfying balance between work and family.

“She has shown courage and creativity in seeking solutions to issues in our profession,” Dublinske said.

She is a the president-elect of Polk County Women Attorneys, and was responsible for starting the group’s annual basket auction five years ago, which raises money for the Young Women’s Resource Center. She also participates in the 21st Century Forum and serves as a board member and volunteer for the Polk County Volunteer Lawyers Project.

Since 1999, Tanner has been a mentor through Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Iowa. “It is evident that Krista knows the value of helping others,” said Althea Holcomb, CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Iowa.

Tanner and her husband, Dean, live in Clive with their two daughters: Ava, 3, and Audrey, 1.

Greg Weber | Age 37
Vice president, Business Capital Corp.

Greg Weber’s entrepreneurial nature first revealed itself during college. While studying to be an accountant, he started two micro-businesses: a T-shirt printing company and an incentive marketing company.

After graduating from the University of Northern Iowa, Weber spent seven years working in public accounting. In 1998, he left that profession to join Business Capital Corp. in its business valuation division.

“I wanted to be able to help business owners more directly,” Weber said. “Family businesses are such an important part of these people’s lives and of our economy.”

Weber is now a full partner and shareholder at BCC. Owning part of a business feeds his entrepreneurial side, and he enjoys developing relationships with business owners and helping them plan for the future. His work ranges from helping companies with financial difficulties restructure their operations to become profitable to assisting a company’s managers with buying out the company they work for so it can continue under local ownership.

Steve Jacobs, the president of BCC, has been very pleased with Weber’s job performance and ability to increase the company’s valuation revenues by more than 20 percent each year.

“He is very thorough in his approach to valuation, very cognizant of what the customer wants and diligent in everything that he does,” Jacobs said. “He is a great partner and a great person, and he really takes care of our firm’s clients.”

Whatever activity Weber takes on, he typically ends up in a leadership role, Jacobs said. Outside work, Weber is a past president and current membership chairman of the Iowa chapter of the American Society of Appraisers and a member of the finance council at his church, St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in West Des Moines. He volunteered his time and financial expertise to the church when it was completing its successful capital campaign to build a school in 2004.

“It’s important for people to give back to the community, so I’ve tried to do that both on a personal and a professional level by helping companies stay in business,” Weber said.

Weber and his wife, Tracey, have two children: Nathan, 9, and Alyssa, 7.

Andrea Westmeyer | Age 39
President, Relationship Marketing Inc.

Five years ago, Relationship Marketing Inc. CEO and founder Jim Lewis asked employee Andrea Westmeyer to pack up and move to New York City to help manage and expand the company’s client base in the Northeast. Though adapting to a new life in Manhattan would be overwhelming for many people, Lewis said Westmeyer “flourished in the change.”

“Her Midwest work ethic and values were a breath of fresh air to an exceptionally fast-paced and complex business environment that she navigated with great savvy to produce extraordinary results for her clients,” Lewis said.

In late 2004, Westmeyer came back to Des Moines and was promoted to president of Relationship Marketing. Under her leadership, the company had a record year in 2005. Lewis said Westmeyer’s experiences on the East Coast, which he jocularly calls “her New York M.B.A.,” taught her a great deal about the relationship marketing industry and the company’s clients, and all employees have benefited from her new insight.

“She’s taught us how to make our agency more customer-centric using what she learned with her firsthand experience,” Lewis said. “She is one of the hardest-working individuals I know, and she pushes the employees to work a lot smarter. I trace that back to her New York experience, where you don’t have time to be mediocre.”

Westmeyer, who received a bachelor’s degree in journalism and public relations from Wartburg College, is a talented vocalist and flutist and has performed in productions at Carnegie Hall in New York City and Dvorak Hall in the Czech Republic. She is active in the Iowa chapter of the American Marketing Association and volunteers with several local organizations, including the Salisbury House Foundation, Drake University Friends of the Fine Arts and Faith Lutheran Church.

“I think she has done a good job of keeping a balance with her roots and her goals of where she wants to be,” Lewis said. “She is very faith-based in the way she approaches her life, and I think a lot of people, especially when you go ‘into the belly of the beast’ in New York City, you lose your focus on values. That was not how it was in her case. She has always remained focused not just on business, but worship and play.”

Mara White | Age 33
Public relations supervisor, Flynn Wright

Mara White intended to move to Denver after graduating from the University of Iowa, but Des Moines is as far west as she got. After 12 years here, she can’t imagine life any other way.

White was raised in Louisville, Ky., and was the third generation in her family to attend the University of Iowa, where she majored in English with an emphasis on public relations and communications and theater arts. She started her career in public relations working for Special Olympics Iowa, and has become a seasoned communications professional through various positions in Central Iowa in both corporate and agency settings.

In August 2004, White came to Flynn Wright to manage its internal and external public relations. Under her leadership, the agency’s public relations department has grown significantly, according to President and CEO Andrew Flynn. In a letter nominating White for this year’s Forty Under 40 class, Flynn wrote that he has been impressed by White’s “positive ‘can-do’ attitude, progressive approach to her job, the people she interacts with, and life itself.”

White thrives in the agency’s team environment and draws energy from working collaboratively with her peers.

“It’s an overall philosophy of working in a team to really make a difference,” White said. “It’s a very energetic process and environment when you’re part of that team, and it can get really exciting.”

Last fall, White gave birth to her first child. As much as she loved spending time with her newborn daughter on maternity leave, she said it was never a question with her whether she would return to work.

“I love being a mom, but what I do here at work is such a big part of me that I was really anxious to get back here and get in the swing of things,” she said.

Outside work, White holds leadership roles in the Advertising Professionals of Greater Des Moines and the Central Iowa chapter of the Public Relations Society of America and is active in several community betterment projects and faith-based initiatives. She serves on the board of Tifereth Israel Synagogue, and she hopes her involvement there helps build a stronger Jewish community for her children.

White is married to Jeff White. She has a 6-month-old daughter, Sari, and a 7-year-old stepson, Ben.

Eric Wilson | Age 37
President, American Trust & Savings Bank in Central Iowa

Despite the job demands imposed on him over the past decade as he has worked to establish a successful career in banking, Eric Wilson has never lost sight of the importance of supporting children.

Wilson, who was raised in Des Moines, received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Iowa State University and a master’s in religious studies and human development from Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Ky. During graduate school, he was a treasurer and chief financial officer of a non-profit organization that hosted an annual music festival and worked for children’s day-care centers. After college, he worked in Kentucky as a director of child-care centers.

In the fall of 1994 when Wilson moved back to Des Moines, he struggled to make a living working in early-childhood education in his home state. At the time, Kentucky was one of the top states in the country in terms of funding early-childhood education, while Iowa ranked toward the bottom of the list for its funding. So Wilson decided to find a job using his finance background, and he’s been in banking since then.

Wilson has worked for regional, national and locally owned and operated community banks, taking on more responsibilities with each new position. He joined Dubuque-based American Trust & Savings Bank in January 2005 with the responsibility of opening an office in West Des Moines. That branch officially opened last August, and Wilson expects to open other offices in Greater Des Moines over the next 12 to 18 months.

Despite a busy schedule, Wilson serves as a board member and facilities co-chairman for Iowa Homeless Youth Centers. He also volunteers for various events for the March of Dimes and coaches youth sports in Grimes, where he lives with his family.

“Working with kids is certainly where my passion has always been, and that’s where my focus has been in the community,” White said.

Greg Jaudon, the associate director of Iowa Homeless Youth Centers, said White brings an incredible level of enthusiasm to board meetings, and he challenges other board members to come to meetings with good ideas and to be prepared to roll up their sleeves to help.

“He’s not just a ‘come-to-a-meeting-once-a-month’ kind of guy, Jaudon said. “He’s there for us when we need him, and he takes an active interest in everything we do.”

Brock Wolff | Age 39
CEO, Orchard Place

Brock Wolff’s law school professors encouraged him to pursue a career in criminal defense, but his “internal compass” led him down a different path.

After Wolff’s second year at the University of South Dakota School of Law, he did a clerkship in Ohio focusing on criminal defense. He quickly learned that what had sounded like his ideal job in the classroom was much different in a real-world setting. When assigned to represent an alleged child molester who had admitted his guilt on tape, Wolff re-evaluated what he wanted to do with his life.

“That case actually tormented me,” Wolff said. “My professors said, ‘Give it a chance. It will be worth it when you get those innocent people off.’ But I only wanted to defend the innocent ones.”

When he returned to campus after finishing his clerkship, Wolff learned of a job opening for a director of legal services for a mental health center in Sioux Falls. He was hired and worked there six years before he and his wife moved to Ohio to be closer to his family. In Ohio, he spent a couple of years working as an executive director of a hospital and physician-owned health insurance plan before becoming a CEO of a behavioral health and drug and alcohol center.

“I missed working with kids and working in mental health,” he said. “I wanted to get back into helping people.”

In October 2004, Wolff moved to Iowa to become president and CEO of Orchard Place, a community mental health center that serves more than 5,000 children each year. In a relatively short time, Wolff has already made Orchard Place a stronger organization, according to Nancy Bobo, its vice president of development and marketing.

“He has reinvigorated the staff, enhanced internal and external communications and our legislative efforts, revitalized the board and demonstrated a profound compassion for the children we serve,” Bobo wrote in a “Forty Under 40” nominating letter.

Wolff and his wife, Kim, live near Winterset with their two children: Caitlyn, 7, and Brandon, 4. He is active in his church and credits his success to his faith.

“I truly feel like this is God’s plan for me and I’m supposed to be here right now in this job where I’m at,” he said. “It’s one of those things where you know the stars are aligned, and I couldn’t be happier.”

Bill Wright | Age 35
Managing director for transaction services, Terrus Real Estate Group

Bill Wright strongly believes that in business or play, people will always migrate to people who are positive, and he strives to keep a positive outlook on whatever he does, whether it’s vacuuming at home or leading a business meeting.

Wright, who was born in Denison, graduated from Simpson College with a degree in business management. When he left college, he intended to work in banking, but after working at a local bank for a couple of months, he decided that banking did not fulfill his entrepreneurial desires. He shifted gears to become a property research manager, then joined Pacific Realty Group, an affiliate of Grubb and Ellis that later merger with Coldwell Banker/MidAmerica Group Ltd.

In September 2004, he joined Terrus Real Estate Group in a newly created position to run a third-party brokerage for the company. He handles all facets of sales and leasing for office buildings and retail centers, with a focus on retail centers in medium-sized communities in Iowa like Norwalk, where he has lived for the past eight years. He was recently named Norwalk’s 2005 Citizen of the Year for his personal and professional involvement in the community.

Wright believes that “you get back from your community what you put into it,” and he is active in several local non-profit organizations and coaches youth sports. He serves on the board of directors for the South Suburban YMCA and recently chaired its successful Partner With Youth campaign. He also supports the North Central States chapter of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of America as a board member and volunteer.

“I do things that inspire me, and I try to bring an enthusiasm to these things,” Wright said. “I think that if you’re enthusiastic and you bring a youthful exuberance and passion to what you’re doing, people will want to get involved with whatever you’re working on. It makes for a greater level of success and makes life more enjoyable.”

He and his wife, Maribeth, have three children: Grant, 10, Jackson, 8, and Kennedi, 5.