Bronze515 opens in East Village

Bronze515 Custom Airbrush Tanning, which features gluten-free, vegan and paraben-free products, is now open at 300 E. Grand Ave., Suite 112, next to Zombie Burger inside Bloom Salon Studios in the East Village. Services are by appointment only. Hours are 5:30-10 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 5:30-8:30 p.m. Friday; 8 a.m. to noon Saturday; and 3-6 p.m. Sunday. Call 515-570-1660 or visit www.bronze.515.com.

Clive food pantry

A new food pantry is set to open in Clive this August. Clive Community Services and DMARC Pantry will be located south of the Cobblestone 9 Theaters at 2190 Northwest 82nd St., Suite A. Clive residents will need to bring a valid ID for each family member receiving food. Acceptable forms of ID are a school ID, Title 19 card, medical card, health insurance card, birth certificate, court document or document from the state of Iowa or Polk County Human Services or a passport.

Sale of Palmer Group

Palmer Group, a Des Moines-area employment agency founded by Austin Palmer in 1998, announced the formation and sale of its employment business to the Palmer Group Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). The firm was previously owned by Austin and Stacie Palmer and currently employs 65 employment professionals and hundreds of temporary and contract employees, providing clients with a range of employment services. Austin Palmer remains as president. The ESOP provides employees with the opportunity to earn stock in the company and is designed as a long-term retirement benefit for all employee owners. The company said the transaction will reinforce Palmer Group’s commitment to local ownership and strengthen its ties to Des Moines and the central Iowa community.

Move over

A new moving service named Move 24-7 is starting up in Des Moines, and it’s a little different than what people are accustomed to. The new company aims to give customers the flexibility and freedom to move household items, big or small, from one location to another by using web and mobile apps to access an “army” of movers “with trucks, trailers and strong arms” throughout the community. The company’s model is similar to Uber; it uses a network of movers within the community to enable people with things to move from one part of town to another.  Besides residential moving purposes, Move 24/7 can be utilized to move the offices of a business, to pick up items purchased from retail stores, or even to move items purchased on Craigslist or other classified ad services. The company aims to be “on demand” and accessible as needed; it also aims at being less expensive than traditional moving services. The new service can be found at www.move247.net.

Yesway

A new chain of gas stations named Yesway will soon be entering central Iowa. BW Gas & Convenience Holdings LLC, an affiliate of Brookwood Financial Partners LLC, recently announced its plans to acquire 21 Iowa convenience stores from Kum & Go. It also plans to have 31 locations operational in Iowa and will spend more than $6.5 million to remodel the buildings. The initial three stores will be purchased in Mason City this week, and the next 18 will follow over the next month.

Waukee is growing

The city of Waukee just wrapped up its fiscal year, and according to officials, for the third consecutive year the suburb tallied a record number of building permits. Waukee’s desirable quality of life, sense of community and availability of developable land were cited as contributing factors to the growth. From July 1, 2015, to June 30, 2016, the city issued 1,054 building permits with a valuation totaling $180.8 million. The number surpasses last year’s record of 815 permits with a total valuation of $131 million. More than half the total dollar value that was totaled by permits in the fiscal year of 2016 permits was attributed to single-family home construction. CV