Slow moving government spurs trucking executive into forming Block by Block to raise private and public funding to help Cedar Rapids recover from the Iowa floods of 2008—Ahern to aid in fundraising.
Phoenix, AZ—For nearly a month during the summer of 2008, the rivers flowing through eastern Iowa rose above their banks and flooded several Iowa towns; dubbing it as many would call it, “Iowa’s Katrina.” Hit hardest was the working community of Cedar Rapids, IA whose infrastructure and residential areas were all but destroyed.
Fast forward two years and not much has changed, homes still lay in shambles and are uninhabitable– leaving once thriving neighborhoods empty and on the verge of ghost town status.
On a recent business trip to Cedar Rapids, Andy Ahern, CEO of Ahern & Associates, LLC witnessed first-hand, the lingering devastation still plaguing the local residents and toured the area with John M. Smith, Chairman and owner of CRST International, Inc.
Unhappy with the subsidized rebuilding efforts, Smith helped form Block by Block, which takes a solutions based approach to identifying and aiding neighborhoods that wish to come back to life. Block by Block successfully reached its 2009 goal of rehabilitating eight residential blocks, with plans for sixteen additional blocks by the end of 2010.
Ahern has recently joined forces with Smith and Block by Block through personal contributions and by undertaking his own fund raising campaign targeting his extensive network of contacts within the trucking and logistics industries.
Ahern comments on Smiths efforts, “John has really taken a proactive approach to rebuilding his local community and I’m calling upon all of my colleagues within the transportation industry to join me in supporting Block by Block’s efforts.”
For additional information, please visit http://www.BlockbyBlockCR.org or send contributions directly to:
Block By Block
c/o Affordable Housing Network, Inc.
5400 Kirkwood Blvd.
Cedar Rapids, IA 52404
About Ahern & Associates, Ltd.:
Ahern and Associates is North America’s leading trucking and transportation management consulting firm. The skilled consultants at Ahern and Associates specialize in mergers and acquisitions of trucking and logistics companies as well as the restructuring and evaluation of existing carriers that seek to increase operating efficiency and improve profitability. Since 1987, Ahern and Associates has aided hundreds of buyers in the acquisition of trucking and logistics companies throughout the U.S. and Canada as well as assisting many transportation and logistics companies in reducing their overall operating costs and increasing their profitability. For more information, please call 602-242-1030 or visit http://www.Ahern-Ltd.com
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Business contact:
A.W. Ahern
602-242-1030
Media contact:
Jason W. Jantzen
Phoenix Marketing Associates
http://www.PhoenixMarketingAssociates.com
602-282-0202
