Business News

2020 was supposed to be the year to update the resume, find that new job, get started on a career path after graduation, or spend your remaining income earning years on a relaxing, less time consuming venture. Suddenly, we are thrown into a global pandemic crisis that has affected almost every working American, through either job loss, reduced income, or business closure. ...

As if trips to the grocery store weren’t nerve-wracking enough, U.S. shoppers lately have seen the costs of meat, eggs and even potatoes soar as the coronavirus has disrupted processing plants and distribution networks. Overall, the cost of food bought to eat at home skyrocketed by the most in 46 years, and analysts caution that meat prices in particular could remain high as slaughterhouses struggle to maintain production levels while implementing procedures intended to keep workers healthy...

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig announced today that the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship is launching a disposal assistance program to help pork producers who are unable to harvest pigs due to COVID-19 supply chain disruptions...

Despite another difficult year in agriculture, cash rents still posted an increase of about 1.4 percent, according to this year’s Cash Rental Rates for Iowa 2020 Survey, released earlier this month. Rates across the state averaged $222 per acre, compared to $219 per acre in 2019, the fourth year of relatively stable rates, but at levels about 18 percent lower than the historical peak reached in 2013, of $270 per acre...

You’ve heard the saying that America runs on coffee? If it applies to you, or not, it is a fact that a certain percentage of U.S. citizens can’t get started in the morning without a cup or two, of java. Storm Lake, and the towns that surround it, has more than a few places to get a cup of good joe, and Coffee Tree has been in that mix for awhile. ...

Dairy producers across Iowa have a new way of receiving information, thanks to a new podcast launched by dairy specialists with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. “Dairy News & Views from Iowa State University” began recording in April, featuring timely topics related to the COVID-19 pandemic and dairy production in general...

In light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, State Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald wants to remind Iowans to monitor their assets to prevent them from becoming unclaimed property. The Treasurer’s Office receives millions of dollars in unclaimed property every year, simply due to a misspelled name or an out-of-date address. ...

It’s a sunny, May afternoon in Storm Lake, and there looks to be a few more cars, and people populating the downtown area. Politeness abounds, as folks seem to give others plenty of room to maneuver the sidewalk area. There aren’t a lot of people walking around the downtown area, and most of the ones that are look to have some different spring attire that they are wearing. ...

Iowa Lakes Electric Cooperative has signed on to a letter that urges members of Congress to provide economic relief for rural America. Specifically, the letter calls for Congress to support additional stimulus package relief for food and ethanol processing plants, and the farmers and ranchers who serve them—most of whom are also electric cooperative members. ...

Area non-profit organizations want to remind northwest Iowans about the options available to cope with anxiety during a time of social distancing or self-isolation related to COVID-19. Officials with Plains Area Mental Health, a non-profit community mental health center with offices in Spirit Lake and Storm Lake, said anxiety disorders are the most frequently occurring mental health problems among the general population...

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on businesses from large to small, and there are many questions surrounding what business owners and entrepreneurs should do as the state prepares to re-open. To help answer some of these questions, and to help Iowans understand the many resources available, the Community and Economic Development program and the Farm, Food and Enterprise Development program with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach are providing a series of podcasts and webinars, in partnership with the Iowa Small Business Development Centers.. ...

Hy-Vee, Inc. announces that effective Wednesday, May 6, it would limit meat purchases at all of its locations. Hy-Vee Statement: We continue to work with industry leaders so we are prepared for any possible fluctuations in product and can best serve our customers. ...

Provides added 10% employee appreciation bonus to front line employees

Adam Kutz has been working on cars since he was 14 years old. Fixing problems on vehicles has been a natural fit for him, ever since he can remember. “I’ve been at it for a long time, so it just seemed right to go into business,” says Adam. Since August of 2007, A and A Automotive has been serving customers in, and around, the Storm Lake area, and they have been successful enough to build on their expertise at keeping those machines working that get folks around for business, school, and recreation on a daily basis. ...

The Iowa Lakes Electric Members Charitable Foundation awards a total of $12,000 to eight local hospitals within Iowa Lakes Electric Cooperative’s service territory. The Foundation awarded each hospital $1,500 as a thank you to them and their staff for being there for our communities during these unsettling times...

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, Lt. Gov. Adam Gregg and Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig announced a new “Pass the Pork” program to connect Iowa pig farmers with food insecure Iowans. The program is an initiative of Gov. Reynolds’ Feeding Iowans Task Force led by Lt. Gov. Gregg...

For John and Karen Keenan, the idea of having a nice little coffee shop in their hometown, maybe two of them, was an entrepreneurial dream that took years to build into a local institution. So, when a crisis comes along that you might plan for, hoping that it never happens, yet it does anyway, what do you do? John and Karen, like a few Storm Lake area employers, were deemed an essential business, before the shuttering of many establishments happened roughly a month ago in the state. ...

Iowa Lakes Electric Cooperative’s board of directors voted to pay out $1.77 million in capital credits to its member-owners! Member-owners will receive these credits on their billing statement that will arrive around the first week in May. Iowa Lakes Electric Cooperative buys its power from two generation and transmission cooperatives - Corn Belt Power Cooperative and Northwest Iowa Power Cooperative. ...

Iowa grocers hope a temporary reprieve from accepting empty beverage cans and bottles from customers will become permanent, the head of their association acknowledged. But in case that doesn’t happen, grocers and convenience stores in the Iowa Grocery Industry Association also have petitioned the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to change how the so-called bottle bill is enforced. ...

Who is eligible for a recovery rebate? All U.S. residents or citizens with adjusted gross income under $75,000 ($112,500 for head of household and $150,000 married), who are not the dependent of another taxpayer and have a work-eligible Social Security Number, are eligible for the full $1,200 ($2,400 married) rebate. They are also eligible for an additional $500 per child. A typical family of four is eligible for a $3,400 recovery rebate...

Tyson Foods, Storm Lake’s largest employer, announced Tuesday that it will pay approximately $60 million in “thank you” bonuses to 116,000 frontline workers and Tyson truckers in the U.S. who support the company’s operations to provide food during the COVID-19 pandemic. ...

Recently, Hy-Vee, Inc. is announcing additional changes to its operations to help protect its employees and customers in response to the evolving coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. All Hy-Vee stores installed additional temporary window panels on the back side of checkouts to help provide an additional layer of protection for both cashiers and customers. The panels are in addition to the panels already positioned on the front side of checkouts...