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Economic Development

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Iowa supply managers see below-growth index

Creighton University’s monthly survey of business supply managers found Iowa’s index below growth neutral for a second straight month and the nine-state region fighting an economic slump. 

The September Mid-America Business Conditions survey found Iowa …

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Another Iowa business group reports weaker confidence

The Iowa Business Council’s third quarter survey found economic confidence has weakened among Iowa business leaders representing some of the largest employers in the state. 

That news comes a few days after a survey of the manufacturing-heavy Iowa Association of …

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Iowa ethanol industry warns of economic crisis due to RFS waivers

Radio Iowa: Ethanol industry leaders say there will be price, storage and political ramifications if President Donald Trump fails to act within the next two weeks and force oil refineries to blend more ethanol into gasoline. …

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IEDA offers grants for rehab or demolition of buildings

The Iowa Economic Development Authority has two new funds to help pay for the restoration or demolition of dilapidated state-owned buildings. The state has $3 million in the forgivable loans fund for rehabilitation work, and …

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NOTEBOOK: Workers leaving big cities for smaller ones, taking jobs with them

I was talking with Jackie Johansen, principal of Shattered Glass Development, about coworking space. She mentioned that it’s not just startups or one-person shops using the space but that there were corporate users as well. …

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Study: Nearly 120,000 working families in Iowa can’t make ends meet

The Iowa Policy Project has issued a report saying nearly 120,000 working households in Iowa don’t make enough money to support even a basic standard of living without public support beyond health insurance. 

“One in …

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IEDA receives $200,000 export grant from SBA

The U.S. Small Business Administration has awarded a $200,000 competitive grant to the Iowa Economic Development Authority for a program to support export growth among small businesses through the SBA’s State Trade Expansion Program (STEP). …

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ABI survey: Iowa business leaders’ confidence dips

The Iowa Association of Business and Industry’s fourth-quarter survey of its members found some fear that sales revenues were going to fall.

“The number of Iowa business leaders concerned about lower sales revenue next quarter stood out,” …

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Health benefit costs will grow by nearly 4% in 2020, according to early results from the Mercer National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans.

Iowans’ personal income grew by an annual rate of 2.3% in the second quarter, one of the lowest rates of growth in the country, according to new data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Overall, state …

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Iowa’s unemployment rate stays at 2.5%

Iowa’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stayed at 2.5% in August. That’s a tick higher than the 2.4% rate a year ago. “In August, we saw another increase in the number of working Iowans in the …