NOVEMBER 2011
cvbusinessmonthly.com
CEDAR VALLEY BUSINESS MONTHLY
THE COURIER
PAGE 11
Ryan Bingman Grundy Center transplant gets involved with community By JOSH NELSON newsroom@wcfcourier.com
GRUNDY CENTER — Look at all the boards, community groups and organizations in Grundy County, and you’ll see one name come up a lot. That is because Ryan Bingman, a 34-year-old Grundy Center transplant, is a person in demand. Aside from his job as director of operations at the Grundy County Memorial Hospital, Bingman is the incoming president of the town’s Kiwanis Club. He is helping iron out the city’s long-term strategic plan as a member of the Grundy County Development Alliance board. But Bingman, a native of Madrid, Iowa, said he’s only doing his part to make Grundy Center a good place to live. “I don’t feel like it’s anything special what I’m doing,” he said. Bingman joined the hospital staff in 2007. He left a job as landscape and grounds maintenance manager at Monmouth College in Illinois. When he got to Grundy Center, he jumped headfirst into community improvement. His activities varied from organizing Easter egg hunts to overseeing an $18.5 million construction project that added inpatient facilities and a medical office park to the hospital grounds. Longtime residents appreciate the effort. “He’s a young family man and has a lot on his plate, but he’s always willing to step up and volunteer,” said Rich Riesberg, Grundy Center city clerk.
■ NAME: Ryan Bingman ■ AGE: 34 ■ OCCUPATION: Director of operations, Grundy Center Memorial Hospital ■ VOLUNTEER ACTIVITIES: President-elect, Grundy Center Kiwanis; member, Grundy Center Communitywide Strategic Planning; board member, Grundy County Development Alliance ■ EDUCATION: Iowa State University, B.A., landscape architecture ■ FAMILY: Wife Brandy, sons Evan, 4, and Samuel, 7 ■ A MOMENT IN YOUR PAST THAT HELPED SHAPE YOU: Seeing his parents being involved in their lives through sports events and other community events. ■ A MENTOR AND WHY: His parents, because they “pushed me to be the best that I could.”
Riesberg, also the Kiwanis Club secretary, said getting young professionals or families like Bingman’s involved in the community is necessary to making the town stable. Bingman’s many activities also helped land him a spot on the town’s strategic planning committee, Riesberg said. Bingman said he is glad to have that strong connection to the town. He chose Grundy Center for its family-friendly, smalltown atmosphere. “It seemed like people were just proud of community when we were looking around,” he said. “It seemed like a nice fit. It is a nice
RICK CHASE / Courier Staff Photographer
Ryan Bingman in downtown Cedar Falls. fit.” Pamela Delagardelle, the hospital’s chief executive officer, said Bingman has taken a leadership role in the hospital’s expansion projects. He helped bring staffing levels at the facility from 90 to 210 in that time. He also has been instrumental in getting numerous awards from hospital groups and Grundy Center for its performance, Delagardelle said.
“He’s the neatest young man,” she said. Bingman made sure stakeholders, like doctors and nurses, had input on how the new hospital wings would function. He also managed to get the project finished on budget and on time, which two previous building projects failed to do. “It was a much more efficient and focused project under his
leadership and direction,” Delagardelle said. Bingman said his parents were highly involved in the community when he was growing up, which set the stage for his volunteerism also. “Everybody goes back to the ‘my parents’ thing, but both my parents — my mom and dad were very active in our lives growing up,” he said.