An agreement was reached this morning that will allow Greater Des Moines’ two oldest names in formal wear to operate under common ownership. Mary Jo Harty, president of Skeffington’s Formal Wear, and business partner Susan Hagedorn, will buy the assets of Panache Inc., parent of Schaffer’s Bridal, from First National Bank Midwest. Harty and Hagedorn will drop a lawsuit they filed against the bank last month in which they charged that the lender had backed out of a previous agreement to sell Panache. While both businesses will operate as separate entities, Skeffington’s will provide formal wear for Schaffer’s, which will move from its present location in the Harmony Building at West Glen Town Center across the street to the lifestyle district’s Town Center East. The Harmony Building currently is owned by another bank. Town Center East is owned by West Glen. The change in business ownership resulted from the death last year of businessman Ed Boesen and the subsequent bank ownership of many of his businesses and properties, including Schaffer’s and the Harmony Building.

The Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) will attempt to separate fact from fiction in the debate over federal climate change legislation by gathering comments from stakeholders. An IUB spokesman said the agency wants to establish a formal record on the issue. It has held informal conversations with Iowa utilities, the Office of Consumer Advocate and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, among others. A spokesman for the Iowa Policy Project said the group sees the inquiry as an opportunity to gather independent analysis in the debate over the proposed American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009. Those interested are asked to respond to questions posted at https://eftiowa.gov by Aug. 14. They can reply to comments through Aug. 28.

The Iowa Finance Authority is seeking nominations for awards that will honor outstanding leadership in Iowa’s housing industry. Winners will be recognized at the 2009 HousingIowa Conference, “Affordable Housing: Iowa’s Roadmap to Recovery,” September 9-10 at the Des Moines Marriott Downtown. For more information go to https://iowafinanceauthority.iowa.gov/secure/2009HIC/Index.html.

The Iowa Dental Association will receive the 2009 Summit Award, the highest award given by the American Society of Association Executives & The Center for Association Leadership’s Associations Advance America Committee, for its Iowa Mission of Mercy last fall, in which 1,254 people received free dental care valued at more than $602,000. The award will be presented Sept. 29 in Washington, D.C.

Meredith Corp. will report fourth-quarter and fiscal 2009 results on July 29, prior to the opening of U.S. stock markets. A conference call will be held that day at 8:30 a.m. Iowa time to discuss the results. To listen, visit Meredith’s investor relations section at www.meredith.com prior to the start of the call. An archive version of the formal remarks and the audio portion of the webcast will be available on Meredith’s Web site.

For a second consecutive year, MidAmerican Energy Co. has pleased its customers more than any other large energy supplier in the Midwest, according to J.D. Power and Associates’ 2009 Electric Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Study, which evaluated the 121 largest utilities in the country. MidAmerican said in a news release that it ranked first in the Midwest in price, corporate citizenship, communications and customer service.