Biz Buzz shares business tidbits from across the tri-states. This edition highlights recent developments in Dubuque and Maquoketa, Iowa.

Classy & Chic Boutique has relocated from its two former locations in the Millwork District and at Kennedy Mall to a newly renovated Asbury Plaza location at 2651 Northwest Arterial in Dubuque.

Owner Donna Weber says she moved her store, which sells women’s clothing, footwear and accessories, because the Millwork District location is being redeveloped into apartments.

“I needed more space if I was going to combine the two. We’ve totally redone the whole store,” she said. “It has a whole new look and facelift. We had (artist Mercedes Pfab) from Captured on Canvas paint a mural of flowers on the wall, which really kind of sets the store apart … In our first week of being open again, we’ve seen a lot more traffic — lots of new customers that didn’t even know (us from our) two locations previously.”

Weber said the boutique has kept all seven of its consignment arrangements, combining them into one location. Shoppers will still be able to enjoy all the same local products that have historically found a distributor in Classy and Chic Boutique.

“We like to keep it within the community,” Weber said.

The store’s hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.

On Saturday, May 17, Classy & Chic will celebrate its grand opening officially with discounts and prizes.

More details can be found at facebook.com/ClassyChicBout1.

RISE Counseling comes to Maquoketa

RISE Counseling and Consulting, PLLC has opened a new office in Maquoketa, Iowa, becoming the sixth location of the rapidly growing business.

Melissa Paulsen is the founding therapist.

“We started in Anamosa, Iowa — we opened in January of 2022,” Paulsen told the Telegraph Herald. “We expanded to Cascade, Iowa, in January of 2023. Then, the same week, actually, the Anamosa office moved to a bigger spot because we had outgrown our current spot. Later (in 2023), DeWitt opened, and then last year, we opened Dyersville and Elkader in the summer. This year we’re opening Maquoketa and then we have another office that we’re going to be announcing next month. There are a few more in the works for the fall.”

The business now employs more than 30 people in the region, with plans to hire more local personnel for each office. Maquoketa already has one dedicated local therapist with a background in children’s services, but Paulsen wants to add a couple more licensed mental health counselors or social workers, plus a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner able to prescribe medicine.

“We’re grateful for the one therapist we have but, based on the referrals we’ve already gotten … we anticipate, Tanya (Glennon) is going to fill up very, very quickly,” Paulsen said.

For the moment, remote employees are able to address the demand for services through telehealth appointments, but Paulsen knows her clients prefer an in-person connection.

“All (of our clients) are in rural communities that really have a need,” Paulsen said. “I didn’t know serving them all was going to become my mission and my vision when I opened RISE, but it has definitely become our goal. It’s such a hard thing, in a rural community, to find someone with such a specific degree — someone who has that license and wants to live and work in that community. That, if anything, is what makes us different (among therapists). …There’s a need … especially for kids having to get out of school and drive really far to the nearest large town for a therapy appointment. Everyone’s missing too much school and work in that (situation).”

Paulsen says a backyard care option unlocks the ability for many families to get private and confidential care consistently, with better end results.

“Thirty to 40 years ago, you were going to therapy for a mental breakdown,” Paulsen said. “That doesn’t have to be the case anymore. If it was an engine repair then, it’s an oil change now. It can be something minor that is affecting your life that you want to talk about. It doesn’t have to be once a week, just a tune up every once in a while.”

For more information or to schedule an appointment, visit risecounselingandconsulting.com/getting-started.

Papi’s Café opens in DubuqueA new Colombian cafe in Dubuque is offering authentic flavors and dishes.

Papi’s Cafe opened recently at 1052 Locust St. in a space remodeled by the co-owners, Sam and Alejandra Janecke.

Alejandra is originally from Colombia, and the couple met in Dubuque, where the two were both students at Emmaus University.

Sam works as a firefighter and is a coworker of the landlord. He acted as handyman, helping to install a brand-new commercial kitchen and ventilation system.

“I was finally finishing my career as a stay-at-home mom,” Alejandra explained. “My littlest started school, so we kind of started talking about what I would be doing with my time, and this just dropped into our lap and we pursued it. We (liked the thought of) having a piece of Latin American culture in Dubuque. Lots of the culture that exists here already is Mexican, so we looked into bringing some Colombian influence into Dubuque and reaching out to more Latins.”

Alejandra says Papi’s Cafe sells several food items she’s never found elsewhere in Dubuque, including its signature empanadas with a meat and potato filling that features a recipe passed down from Alejandra’s mother. Other authentic treats include arepitas (cheese-filled bread) and pasteles de Gloria (puff pastries filled with guava and cream cheese or arequipe).

“Most recipes we had to experiment on a lot because you can’t find the same ingredients (here) as you would find in Colombia,” Alejandra said. “So we’ve had to tweak them to whatever we would find here.”

Sam says certain coffees and several types of cheese that are heavily called for in their recipes have been impacted by tariffs.

For instance, the Colombian yuca root is often prepared as a flour and used to create the dough for several dishes.

Sam’s favorite food is yuca fries, made of the root instead of potatoes.

“Like a potato but they just have a slightly different flavor and a little bit different texture which I really, really enjoy,” he said. “That we have to import — so there’s definitely some things not easily found in the U.S.”

“We also have a lot of drinks besides our coffee,” Alejandra said. “We have coconut limeade, mint limeade and sugarcane limeade. We offer freshly squeezed orange juice, and that’s been very popular so far.”

The space’s previous tenant, Habits Coffee & Mini Donut Co., made mini donuts. Alejandra and Sam have opted for a Colombian spin on that, with toppings ranging from cinnamon sugar — “churro” flavor as Sam describes it, guava (a tropical fruit paste), arequipe (a caramelized condensed milk) or typical powdered donuts.

The business is named in tribute to Alejandra’s father, Angel Mora, who passed away a few years after moving to be with his daughter in Dubuque.

“He was very close to us,” Alejandra said. “He loved to eat — he loved food. He was always experimenting, making new sauces and deciding which ones he liked better, going to new places around town. (Sam and I) both lived here longer than he did but he knew more of the restaurants and places.”

Alejandra’s mother, Esperanza de Mora, lives with the couple and works in the kitchen of Papi’s Cafe.

“It was always one of his dreams to be able to open a place like this and do food,” Sam said of Papi. “He loved cooking, and the sharing of it with friends and family. He was a man with a very loving heart and spirit. Kind of larger than life — he always made people feel at home and welcome. What we’re trying to do is capture some of his essence and replicate that here, in memory of Papi. That’s what we called him.”

Papi’s Cafe is open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday and 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday. It is closed on Sunday. For more information or to order online, visit www.atpapis.com.