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Economic Development

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Iowa City Press-Citizen: Defying Gov. Kim Reynolds, Mayor Bruce Teague today ordered Iowa City residents to help combat the spread of COVID-19 by wearing face coverings when in public places. Those who fail to comply could face a misdemeanor charge. The governor’s office had no immediate response to the order, though it previously said a similar order by Muscatine Mayor Diana Broderson was unenforceable because it conflicted with Reynolds’ statewide emergency declarations and public health guidance on COVID-19. Reynolds has encouraged but not required wearing masks in public places.

Corridor Business Journal: Iowans registered the second-highest number of new business entities in state history during the 2020 fiscal year, according to the Iowa secretary of state’s office. A total of 24,481 new businesses were registered …

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Iowa’s rural economy continues to lag into recessionary levels in July

Iowa’s economy continued to lag below neutral growth in July, in part because of fears of growing areas of drought in the state. Much of western Iowa is experiencing abnormally dry conditions as seen in …

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Hoyt Sherman Place tells improvements to be made with historic preservation tax credits

Hoyt Sherman Place plans to use $710,000 it received in historic tax credits from the state to restore historical significance to the second floor of the mansion, including the master bedroom, sitting parlor and children’s …

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Iowa’s unemployment rate at 8% in June

Iowa’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate slipped to 8% in June, down from 10.2% in May, Iowa Workforce Development reported today. Iowa’s unemployment rate in June 2019 was 3.7%. “Moving out of double-digit unemployment is a …

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Extended filing and delayed tax payment deadlines result in $500 million drop in state tax receipts

Iowa annual gross and net (gross tax receipts minus tax refunds issued) tax revenue calculated as a 365-day moving total. The time period depicted is June 30, 2017, through July 14, 2020. The graph shows …

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Economic Recovery Advisory Board’s Government Working Group to meet Wednesday

One of the working groups of the Governor’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board is scheduled to meet Wednesday. The Government Working Group is scheduled to meet from 10 a.m. to noon. It is one of seven …

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Small Business Recovery Grants through Greater Des Moines Partnership announced

UPDATE: This story adds communities that received grants that were not included in an earlier version.  
More than 250 Central Iowa businesses have been awarded grants through the Greater Des Moines Partnership’s Small Business Recovery Grant …

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Big losses in arts, entertainment lead to 3.5% drop in Iowa GDP

Iowa’s gross domestic product fell 3.5% in the first quarter of 2020, behind steep declines in arts, entertainment and recreation, as the state shut down in an attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus …

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Majority of SBA loan recipients failed to provide demographic information

Among the questions asked about the Small Business Administration’s forgivable loan program has been whether the aid is reaching minority business owners.

The short answer? It’s difficult to know.

That’s because 75% of the applicants …

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State awards $2.6M in Catalyst funding to rejuvenate Iowa downtowns

The Iowa Economic Development Authority awarded $2.6 million in Community Catalyst Building Remediation grants to 26 Iowa communities this week. The program was initiated in 2018 by IEDA, and designates $100,000 per community for redevelopment, …