VGM Group, Inc.’s Post

Last month, VGM’s Community Giving Committee donated $1,000 to the Veteran Flagpole Initiative (VFI), which aims to provide and install flagpoles for Iowa veterans. The VFI has grown considerably since it’s inception in 2021, and has a goal to provide flagpoles to at least one veteran in all 99 Iowa counties by the end of 2028. Two of the recipients in June were VGM employee owners, Chad Shepard and Jennifer Petalver, both of HOMELINK. Jennifer and Chad both spent four years of service in the Army, and now they can proudly display their veteran status with the symbol of the country they both aimed to protect and serve. Thank you for your service, Chad and Jennifer! To learn more about the Veteran Flagpole Initiative, go to www.veteranflagpoles.org. #VGMlove

It was graduation yesterday for 36 VGM employee owners as they all successfully completed VGM’s Language Learning Program. With many of our employees being native Spanish speakers, this six-month program was developed to cut down language barriers within the workplace. The program is open to both English and Spanish employees looking to learn the respective languages and allows participants to advance at their own pace through a combination of on-site and mobile learning, as well as live tutoring sessions.   Congratulations, employee owners! And thank you for Making a Difference within the company. To learn more about VGM’s Language Learning Program, watch the video below.

The Heartland Hype is still running strong at VGM! Many of VGM’s employee owners,186 of them to be exact, took time out of their workdays during Heartland to volunteer at the conference. And to celebrate their hard work and show appreciation for making this year’s Heartland one to remember, we threw a Country Night at the VGM Farm!   Employee owners gathered to enjoy BBQ, line dancing, and live music from Dry Run Creek (employee owner Jeff Kessler is a member!). It was the perfect way to put a cap on the 2024 Heartland Conference. Yeehaw!

Nick Dideriksen, director of business technology for Forbin’s managed IT services, and his wife Briley know a thing or two about child care in the Cedar Valley. They’ve transitioned from an in-home daycare to a center across the street from Briley’s work, and now to the VGM On-Site Child Care Center. The convenience of having their 3-year-old son Brooks at the same location where Nick works, along with the comparable cost and brand new facilities, made the decision a no-brainer.   “I’m in the office every day anyway, so at some level it just makes sense for me to bring Brooks along with me,” said Nick. “For the most part, the cost is comparable to what we were paying at another center, but VGM’s facility is brand new. It’s really tough to beat that.”   The VGM On-Site Campus Child Care Center is operated by Community United Child Care Centers (CUCCC). It is available to any children whose parent, legal guardian, grandparent, aunt, or uncle is an active VGM employee. To read more about Nick’s story, click this link: https://bit.ly/3Vu0l0U.

This Juneteenth, we commemorate this day of liberation and the commitment to unity and equality for all. Today, let’s educate ourselves on the significance of this day and elevate the voices that continue to inspire change.

VGM Group is committed to protecting data for our clients, their customers, and our employee owners. One way we do that is through System and Organization Controls (SOC). But for our team, SOC is more than just a box to check—it's a powerful tool to help create a culture of compliance and continuous improvement here at VGM. Check out the recent article in Compliance Today written by VGM's compliance experts, Renee Steffen, Dave Harberts, and Madison Kuester: https://bit.ly/3VpjlfY 

Happy Father’s Day from all of us at VGM!

That’s another Heartland Conference in the books! Thank you to all who came to VGM’s hometown of Waterloo, Iowa, for three days of education, networking, and incredible fun. Take a peek at the photos below for just a taste of what this year’s conference offered attendees.   Save the date for 2025 Heartland Conference - June 9-11!

To mark the beginning of Heartland Conference, VGM will light our building all week in Heartland colors. Still want to attend? No problem! You can register when you arrive to the Waterloo Convention Center!