WAHLERT, Teresa

Teresa Wahlert.

WAHLERT, Teresa. (Dubuque, IA-- ). Wahlert held a Master of Science in Business degree as a Sloan Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She received a Master in Business Administration from Creighton University and a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from St. Mary’s at Notre Dame.

Wahlert began her career as an assistant analyst in Data Systems for Northwestern Bell in Omaha in 1970 holding a variety of positions in Data Systems and Accounting. In 1981, she became District Manager-Finance at AT&T headquarters in New York. She returned to Omaha in 1983 as the General Finance Manager. In 1986, Wahlert became Assistant Vice President-Finance for U.S. West.

Wahlert served as Regional Vice President and Arizona’s Vice President of Policy and Law for Qwest Services Corporation. In Arizona, she directed the transition to digital switching in the state, the start of alternative form of regulation, and the improvement in service quality benchmarks.

On January 1, 1995, Wahlert became the first female to head the firm's Iowa operations which employed 2,300 people and had 750,000 customers. She directed the Company’s legislative efforts that resulted in the passage of two major bills in North Dakota and eight major bills in Iowa, dealing with regulations. She retired from Qwest in August, 2002 after thirty-two years of service that included positions as Vice President for U.S. West in both Iowa and North Dakota.

Wahlert's resume included being President and Chief Executive Officer of the Greater Des Moines Partnership. Her responsibilities included operational oversight of the Partnership’s $7 million annual budget and maintaining alliances with business, education and governmental groups throughout the community.

In February 2004, Teresa Wahlert was named President and Chief Operating Officer of Mid-America Group, a regional real estate, investment and development firm.

Wahlert was a member of the University of Iowa Henry B. Tippie College Board of Visitors; Wells Fargo of Iowa Community Board; and Greater Des Moines Partnership Board of Directors. She served as the 2000 Chairperson of the Greater Des Moines Partnership. She was named a Business Record Female Business Woman of the Year (2003); Business Record Woman of Influence (2004); inductee into the Iowa Business Hall of Fame (2004); and was featured in the book, “Success on Our Own Terms.”

On December 8, 2010 Governor Terry Branstad announced Teresa Wahlert would be the head of Iowa Workforce Development in the Branstad/Reynolds administration. (1) Iowa Workforce Development was formed in 1996 to provide Iowa businesses and employees with a broad organization of services and education.

In January 2015 she suddenly resigned amid allegations from state legislators that she tilted unemployment rulings toward business and exerted influence over judges who decide unemployment benefits cases. (2) Susan Ackerman sued in January 2015, made eight allegations including retaliation, defamation, emotional stress, breach of contract and wrongful discharge. She appealed to the Supreme Court after a judge dismissed the wrongful discharge allegation. The judge concluded that state employees under contract have avenues to address their grievances through the contract and cannot seek monetary damages in a lawsuit. But the state’s highest court ruled for the first time in Iowa that workers under contract have the same right to file a lawsuit as any other worker. (3)

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Source:

1. http://www.easterniowagovernment.com/2010/12/08/branstad-chooses-wahlert-to-head-job-development-office/

2. "Iowa Workforce Development Director Suddenly Retires," KWWL News Release. January 11, 2015

3. Pitt, David, "Iowa Supreme Court Says Workforce Development Judges can Sue for Wrongful Discharge," Des Moines Register, Online: https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2018/06/15/iowa-workforce-development-judges-iowa-supreme-court-allows-lawsuits/706702002/