Each year, the Corridor Business Journal shines a spotlight on young professionals who have made a meaningful impact on the region early in their careers.
This year, we are proud to introduce you to the 19th class of Forty Under 40 honorees. In this post, you’ll find three of the executive leaders being honored.
Jackson Barrigar
President | Acme Electric Company
Age: 34
Family: Mother, Diann; father, Don; sisters, Jessica and Victoria
Residence: Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Hometown: Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Education: Dunwoody College of Technology
Best advice you ever received?
Being wrong is okay, being too scared to try is not.
What do you consider your “big break” in your career, so far?
In 2021, being appointed as the third generation president of Acme Electric Company. Knowing that my sisters (Jessica & Victoria) and I have earned the trust to lead our family’s business into its next chapter.
What’s the biggest issue facing the Corridor, and why? Talent retention. As the previous generation continues to retire, finding qualified replacements will only get more competitive in the years to come. Meaning we in the Corridor need to continue to promote the great professional opportunities and the lifestyle that living in Eastern Iowa presents to make sure we keep those invested in helping grow our businesses and bettering our communities.
If you had $1 million to give, what causes would you support?
The Imagine for Youth Foundation, this organization is run by great people I am proud to call friends with the goal of helping financially disadvantaged kids thrive academically and athletically by providing them with necessary supplies, resources, and equipment to achieve a healthy, active and educated life.
What are your passions outside of the workplace? If I am not at work, I am usually on the golf course when the sun is shining, spending time at home with my fiancé and our two dogs, having a few cold beverages with friends, or spending time with my family (even though all we do is talk shop).
What’s something people should know about your generation in the workplace?
Our generation wants to feel like we have purpose and are making a difference, it’s not about immediate gratification, but we want to be able to show progress towards our goals each day.
Carl Kirpes
President | KT Pacer
Age: 33
Family: Wife, Nicole Kirpes
Residence: Marion, Iowa
Hometown: Cumming, Iowa
Education: Bachelor of Science in Industrial & Manufacturing Systems Engineering
Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering
Master of Science in Systems Engineering
Doctorate in Industrial Engineering, Iowa State University
MBA, University of Iowa
Best advice you ever received? Write down the advice and observations of the leaders I admired, as well as write down observations of the leaders whom I did not aspire to be like. As I developed as a leader, I could reference that information to become the type of leader I desired to be.
What do you consider your “big break” in your career, so far? Early in my career at GENESYS Systems Integrator, the VP of operations retired. The CEO, CFO, and president saw that I had been largely serving as the interim VP of ops for the prior six months and felt I’d be the best fit for the role. That opportunity was a springboard for my career in leading people and organizations.
What’s the biggest issue facing the Corridor, and why? The biggest issue facing the Corridor is marketing/awareness of how great the Corridor is as a place to live and work. We have great outdoor activities, including hiking and biking trails; waterways that are fantastic for kayaking/tubing; affordable housing/cost of living; and great places to work.
What are your passions outside of the workplace? Spending time with my wife Nicole and our dog outdoors (hiking, biking, kayaking), serving on boards, working out, playing board games and reading and listening to business books.
What’s something people should know about your generation in the workplace? I’d recommend that people evaluate each individual on their own merits regardless of their personal experiences that may have created a generational bias/stereotype.
Mollie Thomsen
COO, Registered Principal and Wealth Advisor | United Iowa Financial
Age: 37
Family: Husband, Jake Thomsen; daughter, Reece Thomsen; dogs, Chip and Teddy
Residence: Kalona, Iowa
Hometown: Panora, Iowa
Education: University of Iowa – Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance
Who do you consider your local mentors? Heather Koch, KDK Sales & Equipment; Mark Law, chief investment officer, United Iowa Financial; Eli Wynes, chief financial officer, United Iowa Financial
Best advice you ever received? “Work your tail off and do right by people….the rest will figure itself out.”
I built my entire career on that phrase alone, and it’s one of the concepts I reiterate the most to the professionals I’ve mentored. It’s certainly no earth-shattering concept, but it’s the simplicity of it that makes it so effective.
What do you consider your “big break” in your career, so far? 10 years ago, one of the advisors I was assisting approached me to buy her book of business so she could focus on raising her children. Wealth management is an extremely tough business, especially for a young (introverted) female, and while it was a huge risk both personally and financially, my colleague saw how hard I worked and how much I cared about people. Her belief in what I had to offer has made all the difference.
What would most people be surprised to learn about you? I can spin a basketball on my finger!
If you had $1 million to give, what causes would you support? Girls, Inc., Iowa Women’s Foundation, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Habitat for Humanity
What’s something people should know about your generation in the workplace? We’re very adaptable, and our minds are conditioned to find new ways to accomplish our work more efficiently. A lot of us grew up interacting with technology as it was being developed, so we’re unafraid to experiment with different systems/interfaces/devices, learning how they work and figuring out how best to incorporate technology into our work habits.
The class of 2023 will be honored Oct. 19 at a ceremony sponsored by the University of Iowa’s Tippie College of Business and Cedar Ridge Distillery at the DoubleTree by Hilton in downtown Cedar Rapids. Tickets are available until Oct. 11.
