Iowa Health System announced today that it has hired three people to fill open positions on its executive team. Kevin Vermeer has become Iowa Health’s executive vice president and chief financial officer; he formerly served as CFO at Trinity Regional Health System in Rock Island, Ill. Joy Grosser has become vice president and chief financial officer, bringing 17 years of experience running global information technology operations for health-care organizations. Alan Kaplan has become vice president and chief medical officer and also serves as president of Iowa Health Physicians. He previously worked as vice president of operations and chief medical officer for Edward Health Services Corp. in Naperville, Ill.

President Barack Obama has nominated former Iowa Congressman Jim Leach to be chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Washington Post reported. If confirmed by the Senate, Leach will become another Republican to hold a prominent position in Obama’s administration. Leach currently teaches at Princeton University, from which he graduated with a political science degree. He also served on the Princeton board from 2002 to 2006 and has at least seven honorary degrees. In a statement, Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, a Democrat, said: “Jim brings a wealth of experience to the position. Since his time as a history teacher and throughout his service in Congress, he has been a champion for the arts and humanities and brings a unique understanding of what it takes to make this a successful endeavor.”

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has postponed a plan that would offer low-cost federal financing to private investors who buy banks’ toxic assets, Fortune magazine reported. A trial sale was expected to begin this month under the Legacy Loans Program. But since the program was unveiled in March as part of the Obama administration’s efforts to restore confidence in the financial system, banks seem to have improved and have been able to raise about $85 billion on their own.

At the I-Jobs board of directors’ first meeting yesterday, the panel created a tentative timeline to award $165 million for disaster recovery and flood mitigation and reviewed a draft of the rules that will govern the program. The distributed funds are part of the I-Jobs program approved by the Iowa Legislature, which provides about $830 million to address unmet infrastructure needs. Of the $165 million the I-Jobs board oversees, $46.5 million is earmarked for projects in Linn County, Cedar Rapids, Palo, Elkader and Charles City. The remaining $118.5 million will be available on a competitive basis. Applications are expected to be available July 1 and are due Aug. 3. For more information, go to www.iowafinanceauthority.gov.

Fiat S.p.A. and Chrysler LLC have agreed to honor the “Lemon Law” rights of Chrysler buyers when Fiat takes control of the U.S. automaker, Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller said yesterday. The law gives consumers the right to obtain a refund or replacement vehicle if a new vehicle develops a significant problem that cannot be repaired after a certain number of attempts. Fiat negotiated the agreement with a group of state attorneys general and agreed to honor all rights consumers had under the former Chrysler. Miller said the states will be watching General Motors Corp.’s bankruptcy case for similar issues. For more information, go to www.iowaattorneygeneral.org.

Bob Jennings and J. Barry Griswell will be at the Des Moines Central Library on Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. to discuss their best-selling book “The Adversity Paradox: An Unconventional Guide to Achieving Business Success.”

Wells Fargo & Co. plans to announce today its support of the construction of five Habitat for Humanity homes in Greater Des Moines this year. The Wells Fargo Housing Foundation will donate $150,000 to the projects and company employees will help build the homes. Wells Fargo has provided volunteer support to build or renovate 48 homes in Central Iowa since 2004 and has donated more than $1.2 million to the Greater Des Moines Habitat for Humanity.