Principal Financial Group Inc. will participate in the U.S. Treasury Department’s Capital Purchase Program (TCPP) as a savings and loan holding company subject to oversight from the Office of Thrift Supervision, the company said in a news release. If its application to join in the program is approved, a Principal subsidiary, Principal Bank, would issue preferred shares and warrants to the Treasury Department. Principal has applied for up to $2 billion. Principal said in the news release that “it is prudent to consider the TCPP as another option to build on its position of financial strength, by adding to its capital cushion in a time of volatile and uncertain market conditions.”

Meredith Corp. has acquired a minority stake in Real Girls Media Network, a group of social communities connecting millions of women online. The move will enhance Meredith Interactive Media’s offerings and capabilities by combining the two companies’ inventory and sales teams and allow Meredith to take advantage of Real Girls Media’s proprietary technology to enhance its existing sites. The agreement also adds Real Girls Media Network traffic to Meredith’s network of sites, bringing its total to 15 million unique visitors each month, placing the company in the top five of women’s networks. This move is part of Meredith’s goal to form partnerships and seek acquisitions that will expand its network. Real Girls Media was founded in 2006 and will continue to be based in San Francisco. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, and the transition will not have a material effect on Meredith’s fiscal 2009 financial performance.

Iowa State University’s College of Engineering is sponsoring a wind-energy symposium from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 9 at Howe Hall on the west side of campus. The event is free, but registration is requested by Dec. 1. There will be discussions of the challenges and opportunities of wind energy. There will also be talk of how Iowa State can advance the wind-energy goals in Iowa and the nation. Register at www.windenergy.iastate.edu/register.asp.

Delta Dental of Iowa has enhanced its small-group plans to include a provision that allows covered employees to carry over unused maximum coverage amounts from one year to the next to pay for more extensive dental procedures. The company is one of the first in the Iowa dental benefits market to offer such a benefit, it said. The new plan is available to companies with between two and 50 employees, and also provides additional preventtive dental benefits for diabetic patients and pregnant women, as well as an increased orthodontia benefit that covers 50 percent of treatment costs up to a $1,500 lifetime maximum.

Research initiatives at Iowa State University will receive nearly $950,000 from the Grow Iowa Values Fund. The school said the money will go to 10 programs. The largest grant, $171,499, went to Iver Anderson, an adjunct professor of materials science and engineering, who is developing a more efficient way to make a titanium alloy powder. The second-largest grant, for $143,814, went to Atul Kelkar and Brent Shanks, who are working to convert waste plastics, crude oil sludge and tar sand into diesel fuel. The Grow Iowa fund award is part of about $5 million that is being shared among Iowa’s universities to spark innovation, business development and new jobs.

Don Cahalan, managing director and president of the employer benefits business at Marsh Inc., has been named chairman of the American Heart Association’s 2009 Greater Des Moines Start! Heart Walk. The 2009 Greater Des Moines Start! Heart Walk will take place June 6 on the west terrace of the state capitol. The fund-raising goal is $350,000. For more information about Start! or to register a walk team, contact Joani Matalone at 246-4566.

Sen. Tom Harkin will lead a working group that will craft the prevention and public-health components of the health-care reform bill. Harkin’s group is one of three established by Sen. Edward Kennedy, chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, to help draft the entire bill, which will focus on three areas of reform. In addition to Harkin’s group, there will be a group focused on improvements to the quality of care and another on insurance coverage.

Deere & Co. said today that its fourth-quarter 2008 earnings conference call will be broadcast over the Internet at 9 a.m. Nov. 26. The conference call can be accessed at www.deere.com/confcall.