Hy-Vee awarded by NDC for Iowa Speedway success

To recognize Hy-Vee’s efforts in bringing back racing, entertainment and sold out crowds to Iowa Speedway this past year, the Newton Development Corporation presented the company with an award during its Salute to Business & Industry Luncheon on Oct. 13 inside the DMACC Conference Center.

Stacey Johnson, vice president of government relations at Hy-Vee, accepted the award and gave a brief presentation about the company, its history and all the growth it has seen over the past several years. Of course, one of the biggest topics to share was the past Hy-Vee IndyCar Race Weekend.

“One thing we really like to do is bring events back,” Johnson said. “So we had a lot of fun last year. We hope all of you had fun having all these people come to Newton. We had 8,000 additional seats that we brought to the Iowa Speedway, just for the race weekend. That was about 38,000 that couldcome and enjoy.”

In addition to the IndyCar races, visitors were treated to live music concerts from big name artists like Tim McGraw, Florida Georgia Line, Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton. Johnson said the event sold out both days. About 60 percent of tickets sold for race weekend were from outside the state, Johnson said.

“It was just such an incredible opportunity to highlight not only Iowa but Newton,” Johnson said. “So we’re really proud of the reach we had with this event.”

Over the weekend, Johnson said there were 3,100 stories published about the doubleheader IndyCar race. About 2,400 of those stories were broadcasted, the other 700 were through print. Johnson said 4.3 billion people were reached throughout all those media outlets.

Plans are already in place for next year. The next Hy-Vee IndyCar Race Weekend at Iowa Speedway will return July 21-23, 2023.

“More excitement coming your way,” Johnson said.

Hy-Vee is more than just a grocery store, Johnson said. In addition to its chain of supermarkets, Hy-Vee has a number of new initiatives and divisions under the company’s umbrella: RedBox RX, Hy-Vee Aisles Online, Hy-Vee Drugstore, Hy-Vee Fast & Fresh convenience stores and much more.

The company was founded in Iowa more than 90 years ago and has since constructed 304 stores in eight states, most of which are in the Midwest. Johnson said Hy-Vee continues to grow and is eyeing locations in the southeast. The Hy-Vee headquarters is located in Des Moines.

“A lot of exciting and neat things going on in Hy-Vee, and a lot of growth,” Johnson said. “We continue to grow but what really is important is what we do in our communities, and hopefully you’re seeing that here in Newton. We are very committed to giving back to our communities, our customers and those in need.”

Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext 560 or at cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com