Kim Robak has notified FBL Financial Group Inc. that she will immediately resign from the company’s board of directors and withdraw her name as a director nominee at FBL’s May 20 annual shareholder meeting, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Robak, a lawyer in Lincoln, Neb., has accepted the appointment to the boards of directors of UNIFI Mutual Holding Co., its subsidiary, Ameritas Holding Co., and its subsidiary, Ameritas Life Insurance Co. These companies compete directly with FBL, creating a conflict of interest. Robak has served on FBL’s board since 2006 as a Class A director. A nominating committee is expected to select a candidate to fill this vacancy after the shareholders meeting.

The average base salary of CEOs at public companies in the United States fell 23.9 percent in the past year to $1.2 million, the largest decline in the past 12 years, according to ERI Economic Research Institute Inc.’s Executive Compensation Index, the Puget Sound Business Journal reported. The average CEO compensation package, which includes bonuses, options, pension and other items, fell 3.3 percent to $16.65 million.

General Growth Properties Inc., owner of Jordan Creek Town Center, won court approval of a $400 million loan and the right to use cash on hand to fund its operations despite objections from lenders that many of General Growth’s malls shouldn’t be in bankruptcy and that the company shouldn’t have access to those properties’ cash flow, Bloomberg reported. The loan is from a group led by Farallon Capital Management LLC, which replaces a previous offer from William Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management LP. General Growth filed for bankruptcy protection on April 16, listing $27 billion in debt.

A conference focused on palliative care will take place May 28-29 in the East Tower Auditorium at Mercy Medical Center, 1111 Sixth Ave., Des Moines. The Leading and Learning – A Palliative Care Collaborative is a partnership between Mercy Medical Center, Iowa Home Health Care, Iowa Health – Des Moines, Hospice of Central Iowa and Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Iowa. Learn more or register by calling Dia Gross at 633-1118.

The 2009 Golden Circle Games will take place on June 17 at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. About 500 teams from more than 300 firms will compete in games just for fun. The cost is $150 for a team of eight people, which must include at least four women. Register by May 22 at www.ypcdsm.com.