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Your daily briefing of the must-read news from around the Corridor, the state and beyond for Thursday, March 24, 2016.
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Hawkeye CC partnering with companies to fill industrial jobs
A new training program at Hawkeye Community College in Waterloo will result in 180 industrial jobs filled in the Cedar Valley. The college's board of trustees this week approved $1.92 million in training agreements, reports the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier. The jobs will be spread out over six companies in Cedar Falls and one each in Waterloo (57 jobs at ConAgra) and Waverly (76 jobs at Winnebago). Hawkeye's board of trustees is scheduled to give the program final authorization at its April meeting. The job training certificates will be repaid by the participating companies, partially using state income tax withheld from the new employees hired.
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Congress getting nowhere on GMO-labeling bill
Congress is unlikely to block states from requiring companies to label products containing genetically modified ingredients before Vermont's GMO-labeling law kicks in July 1, Sen. Chuck Grassley told the Des Moines Register. A food industry-backed, pre-emptive bill failed to attract enough Democratic support to advance last week, despite an amendment giving the USDA authority to require GMO labeling if food companies failed to bring 70 percent of their products into compliance with a voluntary program within three years.
Mr. Grassley does not expect Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to hold another vote after Congress's Easter recess unless there are 60 votes to stop debate and advance the bill. Some large companies including ConAgra, General Mills and Mars have announced they will label products to comply with Vermont's law, while others are changing ingredients or withdrawing from that market.
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Iowa Senate committee grills Medicaid managed care chiefs
They're "here for the long haul" and "committed to providing quality care," chiefs of UnitedHealthcare, Amerihealth Caritas Iowa and Amerigroup Iowa told the Senate Human Resources committee Wednesday, but the promises cut little ice with skeptical members, the Gazette reports. Sens. Bill Dotzler, D-Waterloo, and Liz Mathis, D-Cedar Rapids, hammered the representatives of the three companies contracted to take over managed care of Iowa's 560,000 Medicaid recipients about discrepancies in enrollment numbers and complaints from other states where they operate. Ms. Mathis questioned where promised savings would come from while Sen. Amanda Ragan, D-Mason City, asked about out-of-state providers, since many of her constituents go to Minnesota for care. She noted that Mayo Clinic has provided services under contract with Iowa but has not signed with any of the three companies, which are slated to begin begin operations April 1.
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More consumers put small purchases on plastic
The percentage of cardholders who used debit cards for small purchases hit 27 percent in 2016, an increase of five percentage points since 2014 - a sign that
plastic is gaining on cash as a payment method. The statistics, reported by MarketWatch.com, come from a CreditCards.com survey that also shows millennials are far more likely than consumers 50 and older to use plastic for purchases under $5. Nearly 75 percent of older consumers use cash for small purchases, including 60 percent of those who hold credit cards. For millennials, 46 percent use debit cards and 18 percent use credit cards for purchases under $5. Mobile payments are starting to gain ground but cash is still king, accounting for 67 percent of all purchases in 2105 according to an Accenture survey of North American consumers.
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VenuWorks adds another U.S. Cellular arena
Citing
"new, dynamic leadership" and a better financial deal, Bloomington, Illinois, city leaders Wednesday announced plans to turn management of U.S. Cellular Coliseum over to Ames-based VenuWorks, which manages Cedar Rapids' U.S. Cellular Center and some 50 other Midwest facilities. Under a three-year contract, subject to council approval, VenuWorks would take an annual management fee of $114,000, 5 percent of concessions and 10 percent of sales, reports the Bloomington Pantagraph. Compare that to 68 percent of concessions, 10 percent of sales and a $155,000 management fee under the present contract with Central Illinois Arena Management, which has operated the money-losing, 7,000-seat facility since it opened 10 years ago. Mayor Tari Renner said VenuWorks' experience managing comparably-sized facilities in other secondary markets "fits the bill perfectly."
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IA 100 in both directions: Roadway reduced to one lane between I-380 and IA 922 (near Cedar Rapids). IA 922 northbound: Right lane closed and alternating lane closures, between I-380 and IA 100 (near Cedar Rapids). US 218 southbound: Right lane blocked due to a crash between Exit 239: I-380; I-80 and Exit 93: County Road F46 and Melrose Avenue (near Coralville). Watch for wintry mix this morning.
Links as of 7 a.m.
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