Principal Financial Group Inc. has been selected to be Community Health Systems Inc.’s (CHS) defined contribution and nonqualified plan service provider. The plan serves nearly 80,000 participants, with assets in the first year that will total more than $1.4 billion. The contract became effective Jan. 1. Tennessee-based CHS owns, operates or leases more than 118 hospitals in 29 states.

Hubbell Realty Co. announced today that it has taken over 21 home sites at Waukee’s Williams Pointe, a residential project originally launched by the now-shuttered Regency Homes. Hubbell will begin construction of four homes that will be priced in the $160,000 range, the company said in a news release. Hubbell acquired the properties from Valley Bank. Bankers Trust Co. also obtained properties in the development after Regency defaulted on loans.

First National Bank Midwest has put its West Des Moines building at 6205 Mills Civic Parkway up for sale but has no plans to close the branch, said Paul Swenson, market president. “We built it (in 2005) with the intent to grow into it, and certainly with the current economy, any significant growth is not going to come about in the foreseeable future,” he said. The Oskaloosa-based bank plans to either lease back space in the 21,000-square-foot building from a buyer or move to a smaller leased space. The bank closed its Ankeny branch, which was in leased space, on Nov. 29 due to the poor economy, Swenson said. The bank had a net loss of $784,000 in the third quarter and expects a loss for the fourth quarter as well.

Heska Corp., which manufactures veterinary products, has announced layoffs of about 10 percent of its work force at plants in Des Moines and Loveland, Colo., the Loveland Reporter-Herald reported. The company employs 125 workers in Des Moines and 150 at the Colorado plant. The newspaper said company officials would not say how many people will lose their jobs at each location. Corporate offices are in Loveland, and a manufacturing plant is in Des Moines. Heska tried to avoid layoffs by eliminating expenses, including freezing salaries during the third quarter of 2008, cutting management bonuses for 2008 and eliminating the 401(k) match of 25 cents to the dollar for 2009, the newspaper said.

Barrie Christman, chairman of Principal Bank, a subsidiary of Principal Financial Group Inc., has been appointed to the Federal Reserve Board’s Thrift Institutions Advisory Council. The 12-member council meets three times each year with the Federal Reserve Board of Governors to discuss developments relating to thrift institutions, the housing industry, mortgage finance and regulatory issues. Christman will serve a two-year term that began Jan. 1.

U.S. life insurers lost $77 billion in surplus last year from investment declines and costs guaranteeing retirement products, reversing six years of gains, Bloomberg reported. This could create a need for the companies to raise capital and cause the industry to consolidate, according to the study released by consulting firm Conning & Co. Prudential Financial Inc. and MetLife Inc. were the hardest hit. To help deal with the loss, insurers cut jobs, asked regulators to ease reserve standards and applied for government aid in the fourth quarter. Des Moines-based Principal Financial Group Inc. has applied for government aid through the U.S. Treasury’s Troubled Asset Relief Program and cut 550 positions last month.

All of Iowa’s 142 credit unions will join the “Invest in America” loan partnership with General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC, which has been expanded from a regional pilot program to the entire country. Credit union members will have access to General Motors’ Credit Union Member Discount Program, which runs until March 31, and Chrysler’s Credit Union Member Cash discounts, which run until June 30, as well as access to financing on new vehicle purchases. Learn more at www.lovemycreditunion.org.

Hy-Vee Inc. has made a $100,000 donation to the American Red Cross to support its disaster relief funds and Red Cross chapters in Iowa. “Certainly the rash of devastating weather events in the last year has put a strain on the organization’s budget,” said Hy-Vee Chairman, President and CEO Ric Jurgens in a release. “We felt compelled and honored to step forward with a donation and hope it sets the tone for other businesses to respond in kind.”

The monthly Sustainable Business After Hours event will take place from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Mars Café, 2318 University Ave., Des Moines. Kerri Johannsen, a policy advocate with the Environmental Law and Policy Center in Des Moines, will be the featured speaker.

Correction: The start and end time for the West Des Moines Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours event at Gold’s Gym tonight from 5 to 7 p.m. was listed incorrectly in the Jan. 2 issue of One Voice Weekly.