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Economic Development

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July 18: Regional Regulatory Roundtable

Host: SBA Office of Advocacy
About: Join the Office of Advocacy for a roundtable discussion of federal regulatory issues affecting your small business. Advocacy is also inviting Iowa congressional offices and key federal agencies to …

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NOTEBOOK – One Good Read: Trade war fallout: Soybean prices plunge to a 10-year low

We’ve covered the importance of trade to Iowa in the last few months, including a piece by Managing Editor Perry Beeman that highlighted Iowa’s strong trade ties to China (where former Gov. Terry Branstad is the ambassador) …

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D.M. prepares to embrace long-sought chamber exec group

Greater Des Moines is ready for its close-up. 

Next week, chamber executives and economic development representatives from hundreds of cities across the United States and the world will begin arriving at Des Moines International Airport, …

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Limited housing prospects for minimum wage earners

A recent national report carried some startling numbers about affordable housing: None exists in any state, city, county or metropolitan area in the country for workers earning minimum wage and needing a two-bedroom apartment.

Say …

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A Closer Look: Steve Shaffer

Steve Shaffer joined Homesteaders Life Co. in 2014 as chief operating officer, as part of the West Des Moines-based company’s succession plan. That move brought Shaffer and his wife, both raised in Indiana, back to …

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Farm loan delinquencies are up, but still down

The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City reports that farm loan delinquencies were up in the fourth quarter of 2017 from the year-earlier period. The stats are only slightly troubling, reports Successful Farming, given that delinquencies …

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NOTEBOOK – One Good Read: Want to know where the economy is headed? Look at Des Moines.

The unemployment rate gets a lot of attention each week in business reports. After the high unemployment numbers of 10 years ago during the Great Recession, it feels good to see a low number. But …

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Des Moines to take another step forward in acquisition of superfund site

The city of Des Moines has wrestled with the Dico superfund site along the Raccoon River near Fleur Drive and Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway for better than two decades. So what happens when you …

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SBA backs $2.3M in Central Iowa business loans

The U.S. Small Business Administration will back $2.3 million in loans to businesses in Boone, Polk and Warren counties, according to a release from the SBA.

The businesses include restaurants, freight companies, an automobile repair …

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Survey: Iowa economy looks good; will there be anybody to hire?

Ninety percent of Iowa Business Council members anticipate higher sales in the next six months, as Iowa’s largest employers express continued optimism for the economy.

According to the IBC’s second-quarter economic survey released today, two-thirds of the …