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Record number of homes sold in June across the state

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The Iowa Association of Realtors has released its sales report for June and president Cindy Miller of Burlington says it’s a record breaker.

IAR members sold 5,389 homes last month. That’s up 5.3-percent compared to June of 2016 (5,120 homes).

It’s also the most homes sold in Iowa over a one month period, according to IAR records. June and July are typically the busiest months for home sales in Iowa, but Miller says there are several factors that boosted sales a bit more than usual.

“Well, (mortgage) rates are still low and the weather has been fairly good, so people have been out looking for houses,” Miller said. “We have a lot of first-time home buyer programs out there that get people into a house with very little down, so they’ll still moving.”

The median sale price of a home in Iowa last month was $165,000 — up from $156,000 a year ago.

Iowa payrolls expand by 11,200 in June

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A new state report indicates about 11,000 people were hired by Iowa businesses and governments during the month of June.

“This is the state’s largest gain in more than two decades, when it picked up 9200 jobs in June of 1994,” says Cory Kelly, a spokesman for Iowa Workforce Development.

Iowa’s unemployment rate rose slightly in June, to 3.2 percent, but Kelly says there’s no correlation between the figures on unemployment in the state and the data about job gains in Iowa during June.

“A lot of the growth was driven by both government and private sector adding jobs,” Kelly says. “Industries that are seasonal in nature all grew this month, with the largest increases being in recreational and eating and drinking establishments. Government added 4000 jobs (in June) with the gains largely being attributable to local government — think summer programs, community pools, ‘Mother Nature’ adding to our grounds keeping operations.”

The report indicates Iowa factories added 1600 jobs in June.

Deadline for entries in Iowa Job Honor Awards is July 31st

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Nominees are being accepted through the end of the month for the fourth annual Iowa Job Honor Awards.

Kyle Horn is the founder and director of the Des Moines-based America’s Job Honor Awards. Horn says they’re looking for people who have overcome workforce barriers to find success. The winners get cash prizes and more.

“We create biographical videos for all of our honorees,” Horn says. “The centerpiece of what we do is capturing their story on video. We’ve had some enormously moving stories in prior years of individuals who’ve overcome several challenges to employment.”

Past winners have gotten past a host of difficulties that initially kept them from finding gainful employment.

“It may be some form of physical or mental disability, prior criminal convictions, perhaps it’s their status as a refugee or immigrants with limited English proficiency,” Horn says. “It’s really amazing to see how individuals have overcome employment barriers to find success in the workforce.”

The top honorees will receive checks for $500 and their employers will also be recognized. The deadline to enter is July 31st.

“We really look forward to receiving nominations from across the state,” Horn says. “We always like to see a diversity of employment barriers that have been overcome as well as a geographic diversity across the state of Iowa.”

The winners will be recognized this fall at a ceremony scheduled for October 11th at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines. Learn more about the program and how to nominate someone at jobhonor.org.

By Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City

 

 

 

 

Unemployment rate in Iowa increased in June

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The state’s unemployment rate increased slightly last month, to 3.2 percent.

“One thing we see as you come into the summer months is new entrants into the job market,” says Cory Kelly, a spokesman for Iowa Workforce Development. “All of our college graduates come in, so that increases the unemployment rate.”

Nearly 54,000 Iowans were unemployed in June. State officials report the number of Iowans in the workforce has decreased by about 3200 compared to a year ago.

Opposition grows as more wind energy projects come online

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New wind power projects are still appearing across the region as Iowa utilities boost the amount of electricity they get from renewable sources.

Opposition to those projects is also growing. Lucas Nelsen, a policy program associate with the Center for Rural Affairs, says there are reasons for those objections.

“We’re seeing more opponents but that’s also because we’re seeing more wind development,” Nelsen says. “As wind continues to get cheaper, as it gets easier to build more efficient turbines and as the technologies become more efficient, we’re going to see wind in more places than we used to which means people that have never dealt with wind energy are going to experience it more often.”

Nelsen says people who oppose wind projects have to be careful that they don’t choke off all new development.

“The bigger issue is making sure the siting and the zoning are compatible with development and the desires of residents,” Nelsen says. “It’s a weird balance we have to strike. We have to be careful we’re not making zoning so strict that we can’t develop any wind energy anywhere. It’s a really valuable source of development for rural communities.”

Nelsen says developers who seek to build large wind farms could also do a better job at the front end.

“Go in early. Talk to the community. Make sure you’ve answered their questions and that you know what their concerns are,” Nelsen says. “When you know what their concerns are, you can begin trying to figure out, how can we address these? What are the solutions we can identify?”

Nelsen says wind power projects can bring tax revenue, new families and new business to rural areas.

By Jerry Oster, WNAX, Yankton

 

Centerville body armor maker featured in White House event

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Body armor plates manufactured in Centerville, Iowa, were exhibited in Monday’s “Made in America” event at the White House. RMA Armament CEO Blake Waldrop is featured in a video on the company’s website.

“I started this business to help better protect the end user, my fellow Marines, my fellow police officers,” Waldrop says in the video. “I lost a friend in Iraq January 1, 2005. The same plates that were issued then (to soldiers) are issued now. We got in this business to make a better product, to make a superior product.”

The company’s ceramic body armor plates are inserted in what are often called “bullet proof vests.” The factory in Centerville makes about a thousand units a week and they’re sold to police departments throughout the country.

One manufacturer from each state was invited to exhibit their product at yesterday’s event in Washington, D.C.

 

Community ID program marks two years in Johnson County

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Johnson County is celebrating the two-year anniversary of its community ID program today. It’s the first program of its kind in the Midwest and has issued more than a thousand IDs since it began.

Mazahir Salih, of the Center for Worker Justice of Eastern Iowa, says there’s been a lot of positive feedback. She says the IDs have allowed some residents to access health care, libraries and to show ID when using a credit card.

“The relations between the police and the community has been really improved,” Salih says. “Things are not escalating anymore by identifying yourself using the community ID.”

County leaders say they continue working to raise awareness for the program among residents and businesses. Salih says all kinds of people are using the community ID.

“We have really positive feedback,” Salih says. “They said they’re opening some bank accounts and also they use it to go and get discounts in some stores.”

The program is meant to provide photo IDs to people who are denied state identification because of immigration status, sudden displacement or age.

Thanks to Katarina Sostaric, Iowa Public Radio

 

Dates set for Iowa Syngenta trials

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Trial dates are now set for next year in Iowa and six other states in class action lawsuits targeting agri-business giant Syngenta.

Numerous suits are filed over the release of Viptera corn without Chinese import approval. Iowa State University ag law specialist Kristine Tidgren says the next big trial is next month.

“We have a Minnesota class action for farmers from Minnesota but we also have consolidated up there about 60,000 individual claims from farmers who had individual representation,” Tidgren says. “That’s going to be the next big verdict, I think, that we hear.”

In June, Syngenta lost a $218 million jury verdict involving Kansas farmers. Syngenta says it will appeal that decision, but Tidgren says the outcome of the Minnesota trial could cause Syngenta to reevaluate its strategy.

“If you have another trial and you have a pretty devastating verdict against Syngenta, that would definitely up the ante for settlement,” Tidgren says. Syngenta recently settled with an individual Nebraska farmer who sued the company for damages. Syngenta said the settlement does not represent a change in strategy for the company. The company says it will continue to fight the various lawsuits and “defend the rights of farmers to have access to safe and effective U.S. seed technologies.”

Syngenta won a victory in June when an Ohio court dismissed a Viptera lawsuit filed on behalf of an Ohio ethanol plant. In addition to Iowa, class-action lawsuits are also planned for next year in: Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Nebraska, South Dakota and Ohio.

The suits claim Syngenta, by rushing its Viptera corn to market, contributed to a significant drop in corn prices in 2013 when China rejected shipments of U.S. corn containing the GMO trait. Syngenta says those claims are “without merit.”

(Thanks to Ken Anderson, Brownfield Ag News)

 

Iowa liquor distillers now have more options for selling their products

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A change in Iowa law that began July 1st now allows liquor distillers to sell cocktails on the premises of their business, and state regulators say two distillers are licensed to make the change.

Cedar Ridge Winery and Distillery in Swisher, and Mississippi River Distilling in Le Claire can now mix drinks with their local product for customers, instead of just offering a taste of the liquor. Alcoholic Beverage Commission spokesman Robert Bailey says the two distilleries had to hustle to get ready to go when the law changed.

“So we have done a lot to accommodate that, we’ve accelerated some of the licensing process because it’s really sort of a short turnaround, but we’ve also educated, we’ve visited these places to make sure that they’re doing things properly,” according to Bailey. Bailey says another part of the law will also help distillers sell more of their product.

“Prior to this they could only sell two bottles of their product per visitor per day,” Bailey says, “but now they can sell up to 12 bottles. So that’s a big boost for them.” Bailey says of the 14 Iowa distillers, three or four are working toward a license, but he says selling cocktails won’t fit into the business model for all of them.

Bailey says like other liquor licensees, the distillers are required to have liability coverage or what’s known as “dramshop insurance.” They must assume responsibility for not overserving their customers.

(Thanks to Michael Leland, Iowa Public Radio)

Work to begin soon on rural Iowa broadband project

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A rural telephone cooperative in western Iowa will begin work soon on upgrades to its broadband capabilities. The Coon Valley Cooperative Telephone Association in the Guthrie County town of Menlo recently landed a $6.5 million loan for the project from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Association general manager Jim Nelson says access to high-speed internet is increasingly important for the cooperative’s 700 members. “A lot of our customers anymore, they also work from home, and they need that band width to operate,” Nelson said.

The USDA financing will help the Coon Valley Cooperative Telephone Association to lay more than 200 miles of fiber lines. “The way we’re providing services today, the old copper lines, is not adequate, and we’re just looking at all new fiber optic to every customer we have,” Nelson said.

Construction on the fiber-optic network is slated to begin in August or September with completion in early 2019.

Reporting by Rob Dillard, Iowa Public Radio