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Monday PM Daily | March 19, 2018
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Ivanka Trump pushes workforce, broadband, infrastructure
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| Gov. Kim Reynolds and Ivanka Trump watch a demonstration at the Waukee Innovation and Learning Center this morning. Photo by John Retzlaff, Business Record
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During a tour today of a workforce training program in Waukee, presidential adviser Ivanka Trump said the Trump administration remains committed to infrastructure improvements, including workforce development, and wider rural access to broadband service.
Those are top priorities of many Iowa business groups and politicians.
Trump, daughter of President Donald Trump, said she wanted to visit the Waukee Innovation and Learning Center after Apple CEO Tim Cook sent her an email about the program. Cook had visited the program when he announced plans (Insider) for a large server development in Waukee.
"Our hope is that I can bring this experience back with me to Washington and it can inform our thought process, giving more students the experience that you have the great fortune to experience," Trump told students and staff.
Trump said the administration’s key pillar in infrastructure planning is workforce development. The U.S. Labor Department is considering reauthorizing the Perkins Vocational and
Technical Education Act, and expanding federal Pell grants to cover technical programs.
"Our most important asset is our people, and we need to ensure people have the skill sets to rebuild dilapidated bridges and tunnels and infrastructure, or lay the broadband to create rural broadband accessibility in every community in America," Trump said.
The Labor Department is also considering changes to the process in which apprenticeships are registered, Trump said.
"It’s so
challenging, especially for small employers, to go through the process of formally registering an apprentice," Trump said.
To align with Gov. Kim Reynolds’ Future Ready Iowa initiative, the Iowa Business Council has pledged to add 30,000 internships and apprenticeships through member businesses by 2025, Executive Director Georgia Van Gundy told Trump. Most jobs available in Iowa are "middle-skill" positions, which have been difficult to attract students to, Van Gundy said.
"We give students those opportunities to understand that a manufacturing job 10 years ago is not the same as the manufacturing jobs of today," Van Gundy told Trump.
Trump joined Reynolds and Lt. Gov. Adam Gregg; House Speaker Linda Upmeyer, a Clear Lake Republican; representatives of the Iowa Business Council, Iowa Workforce Development and the Iowa Department of Education; private business partners; and students and staff members in the Waukee Community School District.
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ABI survey finds economic optimism
Quarterly survey results from the Iowa Association of Business and Industry today showed optimism among ABI’s board members.
"Business leaders continue to be optimistic about Iowa’s economy," Mike Ralston, ABI president, said in a statement. "That’s great news for all Iowans."
The survey of ABI board members in March 2018 found:
- 76 percent of survey respondents expect sales to expand over the next year. Nearly a quarter expect sales to stay the same.
- 53 percent expect to hire more employees. Another 41 percent expected no change in staffing.
- 79 percent plan to make capital expenditures in the quarter.
- A shortage of skilled labor, rising material costs and concerns about pending tariffs were among top issues cited.
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NEWS BRIEFS
Two Grinnell College students win Watson Fellowships
Grinnell College seniors Artis Curiskis and Nomalanga Shields have been awarded Thomas J. Watson Fellowships for a year of postgraduate independent study and travel abroad. The fellowship offers outstanding students a year of independent exploration and travel outside of the U.S. to "foster effective participation in the
world." Curiskis, an economics major from Minneapolis and captain of the men’s soccer team, will travel to the United Kingdom, Russia, Georgia, India, Chile and Spain to study "global soccer diplomacy." Shields, a sociology major from Chicago, will travel to Hungary, India and South Africa to study housing sustainability and activism in displaced communities. The Grinnellians are among 40 students selected nationwide from 152 finalists to receive the $30,000 fellowship from the Thomas J. Watson Foundation. Grinnell senior Jessica Black, a sociology major from Washington, D.C., was selected as an alternate.
SBA honors Clinton firm
The U.S.
Small Business Administration has named Bob Simpson, president of Big River Packaging Co. in Clinton, as Iowa’s Small Business Person of the Year. After Clinton lost 355 jobs from the International Paper plant closure in 2001, Simpson worked on a niche market. It started with bakery boxes. Big River Packaging opened in 2005, eventually expanding into a vacant big-box retail location, and now employs 39 people.
Bridge project to close First Street at I-35 in Ankeny on Friday
Warning for early commuters: First Street in Ankeny will be closed at Interstate 35 overnight from 12:01 a.m. until 5 a.m. Friday, weather permitting,
according to the Iowa Department of Transportation’s Grimes construction office. The closure is necessary to allow preparations for setting new bridge beams over First Street, according to a DOT release. Traffic will be detoured around the work zone using I-35. The closure is part of the ongoing reconstruction of the interchange.
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THIS WEEK IN LIFT IOWA
Guest Opinion: Embrace your evolution
By SARA NOLL WILSON: As I participated in a Q&A for the University of Northern Iowa’s Women in Business group a few years ago, a young woman who was just a few months from graduating raised her hand with tears in her eyes. "Sarah, I love how passionate you are about what you do," she said. "You have so much clarity. I want that same kind of clarity because I don’t have that now. But I don’t want it to take 14 years like it did you." Read more
Sign up for the Business Record's weekly Lift IOWA newsletter.
Read more at businessrecord.com/LiftIOWA.
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NEWS BRIEFS
Self-driving Uber car kills Arizona pedestrian
New York Times: A woman in Tempe, Ariz., has died after being hit by a self-driving car operated by Uber, in what appears to be the first known death of a pedestrian struck by an autonomous vehicle on a public road. The Uber vehicle was in autonomous mode with a human safety driver at the wheel when it struck the woman, who was crossing the street outside of a crosswalk, the Tempe police said in a statement.
Claire’s files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Wall Street Journal: Teen accessories chain Claire’s Stores Inc., piercer of ears since 1978, filed for protection from its creditors today, yet another retailer to be felled by a heavy debt load and lighter foot traffic in malls. The company said it has reached an agreement with key creditors in a Chapter 11 restructuring that is expected to reduce its debt by about $1.9 billion and protect as many as 10,000 jobs.
ADM restructures business groups as grain margins
falter
Reuters: Archer Daniels Midland Co. said today that it would restructure its business units, as the agricultural merchant seeks ways to remain competitive in the face of persistent tight margins in the global grains sector. Chicago-based ADM said it was shifting its business segments into four new units -- carbohydrate solutions, nutrition, oilseeds and origination -- to differentiate its
offerings to customers.
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ONE GOOD READ
You’re never going to read that privacy policy. Could AI help?Fast Company: It's a common quip about privacy policies: They’re so complex, you need a law degree to understand them. A team at Carnegie Mellon took it to heart. Led by professor Norman Sadeh, the group asked law students to annotate more than 100 privacy policies from companies like Google and Facebook -- putting their legalese into relatively plain language. Then Sadeh’s team used their work to train an AI program to do the same thing for 7,000 other privacy policies, effectively creating a searchable database that lays out these policies in clear terms.
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BUSINESS RECORD CALENDARNEWLY ANNOUNCED EVENTS
April 4: Inspiring Women of Iowa
Host: Aureon
About: The second annual Inspiring Women of Iowa event celebrates inspiring and influential women in our community, with proceeds going to Girl Scouts of Greater Iowa. The event honors three women, one in each of the following categories: courage, confidence and character. Registration closes March
29.
When: Noon
Where: Downtown Marriott
Learn more
View our full calendar to see the latest curated business and community events, or suggest an event.
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KCCI TOP STORIES
Iowa representative reunites with daughter 47 years later
A member of the Iowa Legislature has reunited with the daughter she released for adoption 47 years ago. On a Saturday morning this year, Rep. Marti Anderson's phone rang, and her daughter, Shellie Price
Wardlaw, was on the line. Read more
Officials: 2 killed in south-central Iowa condo fire
Officials in south-central Iowa say an elderly couple has been killed in a fire that tore through condominiums in Centerville. The fire occurred late Thursday night at
the Diamond View Condominiums. When firefighters arrived, they found heavy smoke and fire coming from two of the buildings. Read more
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Tonight:
Considerable cloudiness. Low around 30. Winds NE at 10 to 15 mph.
Tuesday:
Scattered snow showers during the morning. Then partly to mostly cloudy for the afternoon. High near 40. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of snow 30 percent.
Get the latest KCCI weather.
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BUSINESS RECORD IOWA INDEXThe Iowa Index is an unweighted average of all 22 Iowa-based public companies. Below is a live look at those 22, plus 15 additional companies with large operations in Iowa.
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