Michael Whalen

The question needs to be reframed in Washington. Not what do we need to do to get more jobs created, but how do we insure we are not stopping jobs from being created!

Biography

• President & CEO of Heart of America Group, which designs, builds and operates hotels, restaurants and commercial real estate. 


• Developed, owns and operates 27 restaurants and hotels in 10 metropolitan areas of six Midwestern states.


• Ran for Congress in Iowa’s 1st Congressional district in 2006 as the Republican candidate.


• Serves as Policy Chair for the National Center for Policy Analysis, a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy research organization that develops and promotes private, free-market alternatives to government regulation and control.


• Named Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young/Inc. Magazine.
  
  Serves as Business Hall of Fame Laureate, Quad City, Iowa.


• Received the Iowa Hospitality Award presented by the Iowa Division of Tourism.


• Named Restaurateur of the Year by the Iowa Hospitality Association.


• Received the U.S. Small Business Administration's Entrepreneurial Success Award.


• Founded Wildwood Hills Ranch, a 400-acre nonprofit camp for at-risk youth in St. Charles, Iowa.


• Founded KZZQ/99.5 FM Contemporary Christian Radio station in Des Moines, Iowa.


• Served as past president of both the Iowa Hospitality Association and the Iowa Young Presidents' Organization.


• Honors graduate of the University of Illinois and Harvard Law School.