Interstate Power and Light Co. is holding a meeting in Ames to update business customers on energy efficiency program offerings and incentives. Alliant Energy business customers are invited to attend the meeting on Wednesday from 10 a.m. to noon at the Ames Holiday Inn, 2609 University Blvd. For additional information or to register, call (800) 598-4376 or visit www.alliantenergy.com/iowabusiness.

Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. CEO John Thain said he expects thousands of job cuts after the company is acquired by Bank of America Corp., Bloomberg reported. Most of the losses will be in information technology, operations and finance, but jobs won’t be eliminated in fixed income and commodities, Thain said. Bank of America agreed last month to buy Merrill in a transaction originally valued at $50 billion. Thain said the merger is on track to close by year’s end, with shareholders expected to vote in mid- to late November.

North Liberty-based Heartland Express Inc. announced its financial results for the quarter and nine months ended Sept. 30. The company said its operating revenues for the quarter increased 15.9 percent to $169.9 million from $146.6 million in the same period a year ago. Net income increased 9.2 percent to $18.7 million from $17.1 million in the same period a year ago. Earnings per share were 19 cents compared with 18 cents for the third quarter of 2007. Operating income for the quarter was boosted by approximately $2.4 million or 2 cents per share, by increased gains on disposal of property and equipment.

Twenty million jobs will disappear by the end of next year as a result of the impact of the financial crisis on the global economy, a United Nations agency said on Monday. The construction, real estate, financial services and auto sectors are most likely to be hit, according to the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) estimate, which is based on International Monetary Fund projections for the world economy, Reuters reported.

The Iowa Department of Human Services announced Friday that YoungWilliams Child Support Services of Jackson, Miss., has been selected to manage the call center that assists customers of Iowa’s Child Support Recovery Unit. The company will replace Maximus, Inc., which has managed the center for about eight years and did not submit a bid to continue the service. DHS Director Gene Gessow said the center will remain in Marshalltown, where it relocated from Des Moines in the spring of 2006, and that negotiations to finalize the $2.5 million contract will begin soon. The call center will continue to employ about 50 people with starting wages of $12.65 an hour, and YoungWilliams will begin operating the center on Jan. 1, 2009.

Tribune Co., which publishes the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times newspapers, plans to borrow $250 million from an existing line of credit. “Tribune is borrowing under the revolving credit facility to increase its cash position to preserve its financial flexibility,” the company said in a filing with U.S. securities regulators late Friday. “This draw represents only a portion of our revolver; we have access to a remaining $400 million.” Tribune is looking to sell properties such as the Chicago Cubs as it strives to pay down an estimated $13 billion of debt.