Economy

Rubashkin will remain in custody

Despite offering the court $3.75 million for bail, former Agriprocessors chief executive Sholom Rubashkin will remain in federal custody.

As Postville implodes, hostility to Rubashkin grows

People in and around the small northern Iowa community of Postville have been gathering donations to help care for former Agriprocessors employees left in the lurch by the mass arrest, deportations of immigrant workers, and layoffs resulting from the firm’s legal problems, and the tempers of those cast out are beginning to flare.

Culver asks state departments to cut budgets

Gov. Chet Culver is asking state departments to come up with ways Iowa can trim $30 to $40 million from its budget, The Des Moines Register reported today.
The state was expecting to finish its budget year in June with $85 million in the general fund, but projections now show that number to be around $15 [...]

Principal Financial Group puts the brakes on job creation deal

Des Moines-based Principal Financial Group Inc. has told the state it will no longer persue tax incentives that will require the company to hire 900 more workers, The Des Moines Register reported this morning.
The financial services company, which has more than 8,200 employees in the Des Moines area, told the Iowa Department of Economic Development [...]

Study: Iowa facing $350 million budget shortfall

A majority of states, including Iowa, are facing budget gaps totaling $66 billion in the 2009 fiscal year, according to a study by The New York Times.

Gronstal: Changes in labor law likely

During a taping of Iowa Public Television’s “Iowa Press” today, Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs, said the expanded Democratic majorities would revisit changes to the state’s labor laws.

Fraud charges familiar to the Rubashkin family

The arrest of Agriprocessors CEO Sholom Rubashkin on bank fraud charges earlier today marked the fourth time that he or his brother has been alleged to have engaged in financial deception.

Group calls for more fair state tax policy

A new study by the Iowa Fiscal Partnership calls for changes to the state’s tax policy to help cities still reeling from this summer’s floods.
A city’s tax base may be declining due to a loss of business or residential property, but at the same time it is being asked for more services to deal with [...]

Grassley calls on automakers to cut executive salaries

In a letter to the leaders of the big three U.S. automakers, Sen. Chuck Grassley said that before receiving a government bailout executives should follow the example of former Chrysler head Lee Iacocca and cut their own pay.
“Lee Iacocca essentially worked for pennies to demonstrate leadership and forcefully prove to his colleagues that he was [...]

Agriprocessors bankruptcy update

The Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing by Postville meatpacking plant Agriprocessors is slowly making its way through the New York courts. Creditors, primarily located in the Midwest, have filed motions with the court to move the proceedings from the east coast to Iowa, but the court is not expected to make a ruling on that motion [...]