THURSDAY, SEPT. 13, 2018  |  IN THIS ISSUE  

The Securities and Exchange Commission has announced that Connecticut-based United Technologies Corp. (UTC) will pay $13.9 million to resolve charges that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) by making illicit payments in its elevator and aircraft engine businesses.
 
UTC, one of the nation's largest diversified manufacturers, is expected to close any day on its $30 billion acquisition of Cedar Rapids-based Rockwell Collins, which it plans to roll into a new Collins Aerospace Systems subsidiary.
 
According to the SEC's order, UTC subsidiary Otis Elevator Co. made unlawful payments to officials in Azerbaijan to facilitate the sales of elevator equipment for public housing in Baku, and as part of a kickback scheme to sell elevators in China. 
 
The order also found that UTC, through its joint venture, made payments to a Chinese sales agent in a bid to obtain confidential information from a Chinese official that would have helped the company win engine sales to a Chinese state-owned airline. UTC also improperly provided trips and gifts to various foreign officials in China, Kuwait, South Korea, Pakistan, Thailand and Indonesia through its Pratt & Whitney division and Otis subsidiary in order to obtain business.
 
UTC consented to the SEC's order without admitting or denying the findings that it violated the anti-bribery, books and records, and internal accounting controls provisions of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. It agreed to pay disgorgement of $9,067,142 plus interest of $919,392, and a penalty of $4 million.
 
The company issued a brief statement saying it was pleased to have a resolution of the matters with the SEC, and that it took "immediate steps to reinforce that UTC is committed to doing business the right way" after making a voluntary disclosure to the SEC in 2013 and performing its own internal investigations. It said the actions included employee terminations, better internal controls, policies and compliance resources, and stronger training programs.
 
Bingham Office Center in Oakland County, Michigan. CREDIT INFINITY 
Cedar Rapids-based Infinity Inc. has opened a new 17,000-square-foot sales center in Oakland County, Michigan.

The sales center will be  home to more than 200 Infinity employees who will support clients from across the United States, managing a variety of lead generation, customer retention, acquisition sales and account management programs.
 
The Class A office facility has been completely renovated over the past several months with leading-edge technology, collaboration and meeting spaces, a cafeteria, green space and elegant design elements, the company said. The design will encourage a more collaborative, cross-functional environmental that will ultimately enhance the employee and customer experience.
 
Infinity has three U.S. locations and has been in business for more than 20 years. The expansion to Michigan will allow Infinity to employ over 450 people in the Detroit market, rivaling its headquarters in Cedar Rapids, the company said.

The Iowa Economic Development Authority has scheduled five regional application workshops for its Community Catalyst Building Remediation Program, including a Corridor workshop in Anamosa.
 
The program provides grants for the redevelopment, rehabilitation or deconstruction of buildings to stimulate economic growth or reinvestment. The Anamosa workshop will be held from 10 a.m.-noon Oct. 4 at the Lawrence Community Center, 600 E. Main St. 
 
A mandatory pre-application process will precede the official grant application. A city must apply and provide financial and/or in-kind resources. A portion of funds will be awarded to cities with populations under 1,500. 
 
Funds will be available for the rehabilitation of one commercial building per community or two adjacent buildings with the same ownership, as well as a limited number of planning grants. The workshops will be held in Ottumwa, Storm Lake, Clear Lake and Anamosa. To register and check the schedule, click here . 
 
For more information, contact Jim Thompson at (515) 348-6183 or jim.thompson@iowaeda.com 

A photo showing the installation of outage sensors. CREDIT MIDAMERICAN  
MidAmerican Energy Company is adding hundreds of smart devices to electric lines to help restore service more quickly when an outage occurs.

The small electronic sensors, called remote fault indicators, attach to power lines. The devices instantly transmit outage and location details to MidAmerican Energy control room operators if they detect a service interruption.

Locating the source of a power outage without service crews physically inspecting electric lines and equipment can be difficult, especially during stormy weather and in darkness. Without the sensors, crews must often travel miles of road, at times on foot, to inspect power lines and pinpoint the outage source. The process can take hours.

"This smart grid technology helps us identify and isolate outages more quickly so we can restore service faster to minimize the impact to our customers, and supports our ongoing efforts to increase system reliability for our customers," Jim Dougherty, MidAmerican's vice president of electric delivery, said in a release.

Since early last year, MidAmerican has installed more than 200 sensors at locations in Sioux City, Council Bluffs, Fort Dodge, Des Moines, Waterloo, Iowa City and the Quad Cities, and in rural areas. Based on the success and accuracy of the sensors thus far, the utility is in the process of installing sensors at more than 150 additional locations, which the company expects to complete next month. 

CREDIT YMCA of Washington County
The Enhance Iowa Board on Wednesday awarded more than $1 million in Community Attraction and Tourism (CAT) grants to projects including a new YMCA in Washington. 
 
The $8.9 million Washington Community Y Phase 1 building project will include gym space that can host multiple activities at once with room for spectators. It also includes new youth and adult community rooms, new locker rooms, two new wellness rooms, weight rooms, fitness rooms and a spin room. An elevated walking track will be on the second floor of the facility, which will include several multipurpose spaces.
 
The YMCA project was awarded a $500,000 CAT grant, the largest of the three announced Wednesday. Carroll was awarded a $491,292 grant toward a $4.6 million library project, while Schleswig was awarded $35,000 toward a $166,326 project to create a youth recreational sports complex.  

To learn more about the Washington Communty Y project or how to donate, click here.
 
Sept. 13
Ribbon Cutting: Back in Line Family Chiropractic, by Iowa City Area Chamber of Commerce, 4 p.m., 565 Cameron Way, #103, North Liberty. Celebrate the opening of Back in Line's North Liberty office. Free.

Sept. 14
Ribbon Cutting & Open House: GameOn Sports CR, by Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance, 4-6 p.m., 4625 Tower Terrace Road NE, Cedar Rapids. Help celebrate the opening of the newest sportsplex in the Corridor with a 4 p.m. ribbon cutting and open house featuring musician Casey Klein. Free.
 
Sept. 17
Coralville Roundtable, by Iowa City Area Chamber of Commerce, noon-1 p.m., S.T. Morrison Park, 1513 Seventh St., Coralville. Roundtables are social lunches over the noon hour. All are invited to network and keep up-to-date with chamber and community events. Free for members. Call the chamber at (319) 337-9637 if interested and not a member.
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Headlines from CBS2/FOX 28
These news items are provided by CBS2/FOX 28  
 
Iowa's farmland values have dropped over the past six months due in part to tariffs affecting commodity prices, according to a new report.  The Iowa chapter of the Realtors Land Institute released the findings of a survey Tuesday, which found that overall farmland value across Iowa dropped by 1.7 percent between March and September of this year.  Nearly all nine crop regions saw some sort of decline in value, with the west-central part of the state seeing the sharpest decline at 3.9 percent. The north-central region saw no change and the northeastern part of Iowa saw a 0.7 percent increase.  The major factors that affect these values are limited land on the market, increasing interest rates, commodity price levels, world trade agreements and tariffs, the report said. "Tariffs are definitely a disruption," said Kyle Hansen of Hertz Real Estate Services in Nevada. "Anything that affects commodities will affect land prices."  The values of the cropland saw an increase between September 2017 and March 2018, leaving a statewide average increase in value of 1.2 percent over the last year.
 
Several school districts across the Corridor celebrated Tuesday tonight after successfully lobbying for new bonds to pay for school improvements. For one district, it's the first approval in more than two decades. "This building has seen a lot of history," said Brent Meier, the principal of Monticello Middle School. For 95 years, the Monticello Middle School building has stood at East Washington Street, making it the oldest school building in the district. As the oldest building, it's in need of some changes. "There's a doorway that you can see light coming in through it. So in the winter, just for efficiency, it's not very good," said Mr. Meier. Several rooms don't have air conditioning, making fans and open windows necessary. Outdated electrical wiring and small classrooms are also concerns for district leaders, who say approving the bond that passed with roughly 71 percent approval will be worth every penny. The $15 million dollar bond is the first part in a three-phase plan to improve facilities. "We'll take $7 million that the school board can get through the revenue bonds and the penny sales tax. Add it to the $15 million, we'll be able to do the entire project," said District Superintendent Brian Jaegar. 
 
T hese news items are provided by CBS2/FOX 28 
CBS2 Chief Meteorologist Terry Swails' Weather First Forecast

The nice, calm weather continues to end the week and into the weekend.  There will be plenty of sunshine once again today with temperatures in the low to mid 80s. Each day through the weekend and into the beginning of next week will be mostly sunny with temperatures in the low to mid 80s. Humidity will creep up slightly during this time.  High pressure will remain in control during this time, which is keeping the weather so calm. This high pressure system will break down after Hurricane Florence makes landfall. The remnants of the storm will move to the northeast next week and that will allow for the pattern to get more progressive across the country.  A cold front will move into the Midwest and lead to scattered showers and thunderstorms during the middle of next week.