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Monday PM Daily | February 11, 2019
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January a good start for Iowa stocks in 2019
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Seventeen out of 21 Iowa-based companies posted gains for the month of January. Four posted losses.
Ten companies posted double-digit percentage gains. The top three were KemPharm Inc. with a 44.63 percent gain, Lee Enterprises Inc. with a 29.38 percent gain and Winnebago Industries Inc. with an 18.13 percent gain.
The four companies that were down in January were: Ames National Corp., NewLink Genetics Corp., Art’s Way Manufacturing Co. and United Fire Group Inc.
The Iowa Index, an unweighted average price of 21 Iowa-based public companies, increased by 6.36 percent from December and was down 15.90 percent on a year-over-year basis, the Business Record's monthly snapshot of Iowa companies shows.
By comparison, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 7.17 percent during the month and decreased 4.40 percent from a year ago. The Nasdaq composite gained 9.74 percent during the month and decreased 1.75 percent from a year ago.
The Iowa-based companies that make up the Iowa Index are in bold in this list of companies with sizable operations in the state.
See the full Iowa Index
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NEWS BRIEFS
GDM chosen for immigration program
Greater Des Moines is one of eight communities selected by the Global Talent Bridge program to receive customized technical assistance on immigration programs. Others selected were Anchorage; Boston; Lincoln, Neb.; Pittsburgh, Portland, Maine; San Diego; and Austin, with other places in Texas. The program is run by the World Education Services, a national organization that helps immigrants use their talents and education in the United States. The Greater Des Moines Partnership will work with Goodwill of Central Iowa, Lutheran Services in Iowa, Iowa Works and Iowa Employment Solutions at Des Moines Area Community College on the program’s goals. "Our acceptance into this program further establishes [Greater Des Moines] as a leader in attracting and retaining diverse global talent," said Mary Bontrager, executive vice president of talent development at the Partnership. "We have earned a reputation as a welcoming region as our foreign-born population has grown at a faster rate than the rest of the country in recent years." The program provides 24 hours of hands-on coaching, advising, and technical assistance and four interactive web-based training sessions.
Trinity Health announces operations restructuring plans
Trinity Health, a parent company of the recently rebranded MercyOne in Iowa, has announced "immediate and long-term plans to restructure operations," a move that will affect at least 1,650 employees across its 94 hospitals and care sites, including about 130 positions at two locations in Iowa. Michigan-based Trinity has had a joint operating agreement for the past 30 years with Catholic Health Initiatives (now CommonSpiritHealth) to operate Mercy Health Network, which on Feb. 1 became MercyOne. Trinity also directly owns hospitals in Clinton, Dubuque, Mason City, New Hampton and Siouxland. Trinity officials said the efforts include potential job changes and relocations, along with the creation of three centralized patient billing service centers through 2022 and a shift to a new electronic medical records system, Epic. Approximately 450 information technology employees throughout the Trinity system will be offered employment with Leidos, an applications management partner. Another 1,200 employees will have to decide whether to relocate to billing centers near Grand Rapids, Mich., Detroit, and Columbus, Ohio. MercyOne spokesman Gregg Lagan said that approximately 120 Trinity positions in Mason City will be relocated in March 2020, and fewer than 10 Trinity employees in Waterloo will be affected. MercyOne personnel in Des Moines, West Des Moines, Newton and Centerville will not be directly affected, and MercyOne does not anticipate any impact on support services it receives from Trinity, Lagan said.
Bentley departs Lifespace Communities as president and CEO
Lifespace Communities confirmed today that Sloan Bentley has departed from her position as president and CEO of the organization. Bentley had led the West Des Moines-based nonprofit group of senior living communities since March 2014. Larry Smith, senior vice president and chief financial officer, has been appointed as interim president and CEO. Before joining Lifespace, Bentley was CEO of Seniority Inc., a senior housing marketing and consulting firm in San Francisco. Lifespace currently owns and operates 12 continuing care retirement communities in seven states, serving more than 4,300 residents and employing more than 2,800 team members. "On behalf of the Lifespace board of directors, I’d like to thank Sloan for her forethought in leading the organization through a period of growth the past four plus years," said LaVerne Epp, board chair of Lifespace Communities, said in an emailed statement. "Sloan has helped position the organization for continued success and growth, including the potential merger with Senior Quality Lifestyles Corp." In May 2018 Lifespace Communities and Texas-based SQLC announced their intent to affiliate, which would make the combined organization the fifth-largest U.S. not-for-profit senior housing provider. The Lifespace board will conduct a national executive search for a new president and CEO. "We are confident in our vision for the future and trust in the expertise of Larry and the entire Lifespace leadership team," Epp said. "We are looking forward to celebrating many successes in 2019, including the expansion of health services to include the addition of assisted living and memory care at several of our communities."
Correction: Current managing director Brian Hemesath will be leaving the Global Insurance Accelerator on May 1 and begin working part time with VolunteerLocal, for which he has been a longtime adviser.
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THE INSIDER NOTEBOOK
You don’t buy me dinner, anymore...
BY PERRY BEEMAN: Iowans are getting even less likely to take their sweethearts out for dinner for Valentine’s Day, Womply reports.
Could it be to avoid the crowds? Are we sending roses instead? Are we — gasp! — actually cooking something at home? Getting take out? Not hungry?
Those questions aren’t answered in Womply’s latest analysis of 42,000 small local restaurants around the country. But we know this: Last year, the software company serving small businesses listed Valentine’s Day as the 109th-best sales day of the year for small Iowa restaurants based on 2017 data.
The 2018 numbers dropped Valentine’s Day to 123rd-best in sales, 9 percent more than any old less-romantic day. That’s even worse than the national average of 120th-best sales for Valentine’s Day, but perhaps that’s because the restaurants in Lincoln charge more. We have no idea. Iowa ranks 29th-best in sales nationally for small-restaurant meals, candles or no, Womply reported.
St. Patrick’s Day and Cinco de Mayo both bring more restaurant traffic at these small venues than the Valentine’s Day, the survey found. Because there’s nothing like green beer or guacamole to say, "I love you."
MORE NOTEBOOK ITEMS: Read more Insider bits and bites of the finer side of Iowa business online.
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THIS WEEK IN LIFT IOWA
Guest opinion: You should run
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By Kristine Perkins | Public relations/student programs coordinator, Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women & Politics: During this last election, we saw many firsts for women in politics, both nationally and locally. Iowa elected its first female governor, we have three women in the U.S. Congress, and we now have 45 women (30 percent) serving in both the Iowa House and Senate. But women are still underrepresented in politics.
For the last six years I've worked full-time at a nonpartisan, university-based center for women and politics where a campaign training program has been offered every other year since 2007. I’ve been attending Ready to Run Iowa: Campaign Training for Women since 2013, and here are the top three things I’ve taken from the workshop series 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
Iowa State Fair vendors ordered to take credit cards by 2020
Des Moines Register: Starting next year, those pork chops on a stick can be bought with a card. The Iowa State Fair has confirmed that it will require all food and drink vendors to accept credit and debit card payments beginning in 2020. Cash has long been the dominant method of payment for the fried cheese curds, corn dogs, and scores of other foods bought by fairgoers. But the fair recently informed concessions vendors that they will be required to use Clover cash registers starting next year that accept credit and debit payments. They will have the option to use the small machines at this year's fair, which begins Aug. 8.
Toys ‘R’ Us wants to teturn to the United States
WHO-TV: The new owners of Toys "R" Us want to bring the brand back to the United States. But they can’t say when it will happen. The troubled toy company found another life last month as Tru Kids Brands, roughly half a year after Toys "R" Us closed the last of its stores in the United States. It is now owned by the company’s former creditors.
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ONE GOOD READ
Pinterest CEO: Our goal is to get you offline
BY SUZANNE BEHNKE: It turns out Pinterest’s CEO doesn’t want you to stay online. Ben Silbermann, who happens to be from Central Iowa (he’s a Roosevelt and Central Campus student), explains in this CNN video that Pinterest is meant to inspire people. It’s a short interview that highlights how the online pinboard operates differently from other social media sites.
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KCCI TOP STORIES
Volunteer cuddlers help heal NICU babies at Iowa Hospital
More babies across the country are falling victim to the opioid crisis. Every 15 minutes, a baby is born suffering from opioid withdrawal, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Babies who end in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit are dangerously ill or were born prematurely. Volunteer cuddlers can help provide a human connection to newborns who end up in NICU. Read more
Police searching for two men who stole, crashed vehicle
Des Moines police said they are searching for two men who stole a red van and crashed it into a power-line pole on Ingersoll Avenue. Witnesses to the crash say the incident happened around 4:30 a.m. Sunday. Deanna Bradley, a Price Chopper employee, says she was there when the crash happened. The accident caused some power outages in the area and shut down a portion of Ingersoll Avenue. Read more
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Tonight:
Snow this evening will transition to snow showers late. Low 23. Winds N at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of snow 100 percent. 1 to 3 inches of snow expected.
Tuesday:
Cloudy with gusty winds. High near 25. Winds WNW at 20 to 30 mph. Higher wind gusts possible.
Get the latest KCCI weather.
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BUSINESS RECORD IOWA INDEX
The Iowa Index is an unweighted average of all 21 Iowa-based public companies. Below is a live look at those 21, plus 16 additional companies with large operations in Iowa.
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