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Fairfield chamber honors outstanding businesses and individuals at awards banquet
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
FAIRFIELD – The Fairfield Area Chamber of Commerce held its Annual Awards Banquet on Thursday, April 24 in the Fairfield Arts & Convention Center.
The event recognizes businesses and individuals who have gone above and beyond in their field. Master of ceremonies Joneane Parker not only introduced the award recipients to the stage that night, but also took the time to visit each one in the weeks and months leading up to the awards ceremony to learn about their company or profession.
“Learning about the history of these entities is fascinating,” Parker told The Union about the experience.
The following is a list of award winners, their sponsors, and nuggets of information Parker shared about each one:
DENISE HALL – Chamber Past President Award (Sponsored by Fairfield Real Estate)
Denise Hall was honored with the Chamber Past President Award for her service on the chamber’s board of directors. Parker said Hall is a “spark” who throws herself whole-heartedly into every initiative she undertakes, including planning and decorating for the awards banquet.
“She is a tireless worker, and such a heavy hitter,” Parker said.
BEHNER FUNERAL HOME – Business Improvement Award (Sponsored by Foss, Kuiken, Cochran, Hellings and Willman, P.C.)
Scott and Rachel Brown purchased Behner Funeral Home in the summer of 2023, becoming just the third family to own the business since its founding in the 1930s. Parker said the Browns have continued Behner’s great legacy while also updating the facility with new lighting and gathering spaces.
“People can sit in groupings that are conducive to talking and catching up with loved ones,” Parker said.
Parker also mentioned the couple’s generosity shown through its Give Back campaign, where they awarded $500 checks to local nonprofits that were selected in an online poll. Behner Funeral Home started the Give Back campaign in January and has continued it in the months since.
JEFF AND RACHEL ENGWALL – Agriculture Award (Sponsored by Jefferson County Farm Bureau)
Parker said award recipients Jeff and Rachel Engwall are wonderful people who are dedicated not just to farming but also to conservation and community service. Jeff’s grandfather Gilbert acquired the family farm in 1919, and passed it onto Jeff’s father, Paul. Rachel also grew up on a farm, and took over the farm after working with her dad, Maynard Hawk. Parker said the couple mostly grows corn and soybeans, but also maintains permanent hay ground on highly erodible areas.
“On less productive areas, they use the Conservation Reserve Program and have sewn prairie grass seeds and prairie flowers to help hold the soil in place,” Parker said.
HAVEDA – Best Kept Secret Award (Sponsored by Shelter Insurance)
Haveda Health & Wholeness is located on the west side of the Fairfield square. It is owned by Jonathan Fitzgerald, who flew in from the UK for the awards banquet, and managed by Paige Phipps. Parker said that when she visited the business she learned about its two full lines of Ayurvedic health and wholeness products.
“Their goal is to help people understand the practice of Ayurveda, which is 3,000 years old,” Parker said.
FAIRFIELD ARTS & CONVENTION CENTER – Tourism Award (Sponsored by Dexter Laundry)
This past year, almost 45,000 people went through the doors of the Fairfield Arts & Convention Center, and 60 percent of them were from outside Fairfield. Parker said that, in her discussions with FACC Executive Director Lindsay Bauer, she learned about theatrical productions she didn’t know about before, like the group of middle schoolers who wrote their own play and performed it in the Sondheim, as well as all the other programs the arts center has for children throughout the year.
DEXTER LAUNDRY – Manufacturer of the Year Award (Sponsored by Fairfield Manufacturers Association)
Dexter Laundry celebrated its 130th anniversary in 2024, and has grown tremendously in recent years by adding a brand-new laundry on West Burlington and by expanding its factory on West Grimes. The company was started in the small town of Dexter, Iowa, by William H. George. Parker said an interesting fact she learned through her research is that the company and the town got their names from a champion race horse named Dexter that was known for speed, power and efficiency, and most of all could “stay ahead of the competition.”
Parker said the company is known as a premier brand for its focus on reliability, and this has allowed it to gain a great reputation around the world, exporting to 75 countries.
FAIRFIELD TIRE & SERVICE – Service Business of the Year Award (Sponsored by Ottumwa Radio)
When Parker went to visit Fairfield Tire & Service, she met with owners Keith and Janice Hyde, who were busy serving customers. Though there was a whir of activity all around them, Parker said they were calm and welcoming.
“They’ve really worked hard to make the business what it is,” she said. “Their motto is ‘honesty is the best policy,’ and I think that shows in everything they’re doing.”
Parker said the Hydes want customers to learn about their vehicles so they can make informed choices about repairs, and Parker saw that in action during her visit.
Keith started the business with other partners in 1990, and the Hydes are passing the baton off to their son Josh to take over, who is now the vice president.
CARNEGIE MUSEUM FOUNDATION – Project of the Year Award (Sponsored by Pilot Grove Savings Bank)
The Carnegie Museum Foundation has undertaken a massive project to remodel the exterior of the museum in four phases. The remodeling projects have included fixing the exterior stairs that led to the second story, stabilizing the southwest corner after it had sunk into a wet spot, tuck-pointing the bricks and cleaning the parapet, and replacing 44 windows to restore the building to its 1892 appearance and make it more energy efficient.
MIRA’S CAFÉ – Restaurant of the Year Award (Sponsored by Behner Funeral Home)
Rahul and Pia Bharadwaj opened Mira’s Café in the former home of Revelations in the summer of 2023. They continued Revelations’ tradition of homemade pizzas, plus they added their own “Asian fusion” offerings such as dosas, naan, idli, thali and much more.
The restaurant’s menu is entirely vegan. Rahul had Type II diabetes for nine years, but after Pia got a book called “Reversing Diabetes in 21 Days,” he followed the book’s advice and switched to a vegan diet, as did Pia. They both reported losing 40 pounds after making the changes recommended in the book.
Parker said Rahul began experimenting with cooking, trying to mimic the flavors of the family’s meat dishes but with vegan ingredients, and that’s how many items on the menu were born.
“The food is very clean food, non-GMO, organic and is as unprocessed as possible,” Parker said. “Their food looks good, smells good and is really tantalizing to the tastebuds.”
OVERLAND SHEEPSKIN – Retailer of the Year Award (Sponsored by Washington State Bank)
Overland Sheepskin is headquartered in Fairfield, which the business has called home since 1982. Jim Leahy started the business in 1973 in Taos, New Mexico, and today it boasts 19 stores, concentrated in ski towns in the Rocky Mountains, but which also stretch from California to its most recent store addition in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
“They sell wonderfully crafted home accents made from the finest sheepskin wool and other natural materials,” Parker said. “But the small family atmosphere is really their hallmark. I heard over and over that the owners ‘treat us like family.’”
In December 2024, the company announced that it had acquired the building housing True Value on West Burlington Avenue, and that it would use it as a warehouse once it took possession in May 2025.
ADELA’S – Rising Star Award (Sponsored by Jefferson County Health Center)
Mandy Hunter acquired Adela’s from its previous owner Kara Waugh in the early part of 2023. She has maintained the business name, which founder Dorian Atwood named after her mother, Adela.
“She’s kept that cozy cottage feeling and has added things, like a line of tuxedos and formal wear,” Parker said about Hunter taking over the business. “Just before prom, young men were coming in to shop to pick up their formal wear, and she would not let them out without trying it on.”
Parker said Hunter has revamped the children’s room, added Red Door Decorating, and will add a line of apparel in the fall.
MORAE METCALF – Young Professional of the Year Award (Sponsored by Cambridge Investment Research, Inc.)
Morae Metcalf has worked at Cambridge Investment Research for 13 years, during which she has advanced to become vice president of human resources and training.
“She heads the team that does executive initiatives in talent acquisition, total rewards, employee engagement, performance management and more,” Parker said. “With 900 associates, it’s a big job.”
Metcalf was named Cambridge’s Rising Star in 2024, and in 2023 was one of two associates to win the Spirit of Cambridge Award. Outside of work, Metcalf is vice president of the Cambridge Little Achievers Board of Directors, president of the Fairfield Schools Education Foundation, and is a youth baseball coach.
IOWA STATE BANK – Economic Impact Award (Sponsored by First MainStreet Insurance)
Iowa State Bank celebrated its 90th anniversary in 2024. The bank was born from the merger of two banks, Iowa State Savings Bank and Iowa Loan and Trust Company. The bank moved from its former location on North Court Street into its new building at 55 S. Fourth St. The bank opened a branch in Ottumwa in 2022, and will open a branch in Centerville this year.
“I talked with Aaron Kness and Alissa Ward, and they told me that customers and community come first,” Parker said about her meeting with the bank’s president and VP of human resources and marketing, respectively. “There are non-negotiables they live by in dealing with customers, and that’s respect and courtesy. They’re fair and honest, and always do their jobs to the best of their ability.”
TYMPEST HORA – Entrepreneurial Spirit Award (Sponsored by Agri-Industrial Plastics)
Parker said that when Tympest Hora was 13 years old, she announced that she would one day own her own dance studio. And she was right. Hora studied performing arts with a dance emphasis at Iowa State University, where she was elected president of the dance company Orchesis I. She founded High Temperature Dance Academy in Fairfield, and in 2022 moved to the west side of the Fairfield square.
After buying the historic building on the corner of Burlington and Main, Hora had grown her business to four studios and 190 students.
“But she didn’t stop there,” Parker said. “The building next door became available, and she knew that she had to do it, so they bought it and expanded to five studios with 225 students, 12 instructors and two office managers.”
CHRISTIAN RASMUSSEN – Student Employee of the Year (Sponsored by Indian Hills Community College)
Christian Rasmussen is a senior at Fairfield High School and has worked at The Well in Fairfield since 2022, making him the longest tenured student employee.
“He enjoys every day there and likes getting to help people,” Parker said. “His manager had such glowing things to say about him, saying ‘he revives my faith in the future,’ and that he comes to work with a smile and to spread joy.”
Rasmussen received a pleasant surprise that evening when Indian Hills Community College representative Kelly Prickett announced he would receive a $1,200 college scholarship from IHCC.
KESSEL’S CONOCO STATION – Legacy Award (Sponsored by AERON Lifestyle Technologies)
Steve Kessel is the third generation of Kessels to own and operate Kessel’s Conoco Station on the corner of West Burlington and South Fourth. The business has been owned by the same family since 1946 when it was founded by Steve’s father George and grandfather Clarence.
Parker said that competition among gas stations was especially fierce in those few decades after the war, and noted that Fairfield boasted 24 gas stations in the 1960s.
“In order to set itself apart, Kessel’s Conoco sold four levels of gasoline,” Parker said. “Then there were the gas wars, where stations would try to vie for customers by lowering their prices, but George had to check with Conoco headquarters first.”
Parker said the cheapest gas during the height of these gas wars was just under 20 cents per gallon. Kessel’s Conoco also offered other promotions like for its 25th anniversary in 1971 when any customer who bought 10 gallons of gas received a free pound of bacon from the grocery store Handy Pantry.
Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com
