When CVS Health and Aetna announced their merger on Sunday, their executives painted an image of a dawning health care utopia. READ MORE
Meredith: Time Inc. purchase will bring 'sizable chunk' of jobs to Des Moines
Meredith CEO Steve Lacy received several emails Monday morning with the same message: Third time's the charm.
After two failed rounds of talks, the Des Moines-based publishing company pulled off the monumental purchase Sunday of Time Inc., a publishing powerhouse that includes titles such as Time, Sports Illustrated, People, Fortune and Money. READ MORE
Time Inc. Sold To Meredith Corp., Backed By Koch Brothers
Time announced Sunday night that it had sold itself in a deal backed by the billionaire brothers known for using their wealth and political connections to advance conservative causes. READ MORE
Time Inc. insiders on edge over Koch-backed Meredith bid
Shock waves jolted Time Inc. on Thursday after reports that Meredith, with backing from the billionaire brothers Charles Koch and David Koch, was making another run at the legendary magazine publisher. READ MORE
Amazon is cutting prices at Whole Foods again
The grocer announced Wednesday it's slashing prices again, this time on several "holiday staples," including sweet potatoes, canned pumpkin and turkey. READ MORE
Buyout Stocks Plunge on Tax Plan
Shares of Apollo Global Management LLC and other private equity firms fell after House Republicans introduced a tax plan that throws up a roadblock for Athene Holding Ltd., the insurer that accounts for about a quarter of Apollo’s asset-management fees. READ MORE
United Tech to buy Rockwell Collins in $30B deal
Aerospace supplier United Technologies has struck a $30 billion agreement to buy avionics and interiors maker Rockwell Collins, the companies said on Monday, in a deal that bulks up UTC's power with plane makers by creating one of the world's largest makers of civilian and defense aircraft components. READ MORE
Webspec Design Acquires Web And Print Company
EDJE is a web, app, and print company in the Des Moines area specializing in agricultural and livestock businesses. With over 20 years of experience, EDJE has completed more than 3,500 client projects. As of July 1, 2017, it will become part of Webspec Design under owner Jeremiah Terhark. Terhark is also partial owner in both Iowa Sign Company and Computer Repair of Des Moines. READ MORE
Kemin Industries Hosts Grand Opening for Worldwide Headquarters
Kemin Industries employees and central Iowa community leaders will gather for a private ceremony to celebrate the official grand opening of the company's worldwide headquarters in Des Moines. READ MORE
Why Iowa is giving Apple $208 million for a project that will create 50 full-time jobs
In exchange for nearly $208 million in state and local tax breaks, the technology giant Apple has agreed to build two new data centers on 2,000 acres of Iowa land — a project that would create just 50 permanent jobs.
This isn’t a deal about workers, though. At least, not directly. READ MORE
Iowa's handout to Apple illustrates the folly of corporate welfare deals
State and local officials in Iowa have been working hard to rationalize their handout of more than $208 million in tax benefits to Apple, one of the world’s richest companies, for a data facility that will host 50 permanent jobs.
The deal will help make Iowa an “innovation and technology” hub, Gov. Kim Reynolds gushed. It will ensure development of a big parcel of open land that otherwise would have remained fallow, local development officials said. It was a bargain, according to civic leaders in Waukee, the Iowa community that will host the data center — after all, Apple will be contributing up to $100 million to a local infrastructure fund, starting with money to build a youth sports center. READ MORE
iotaMotion Raises $2 Million To Develop Surgical Robotics For Cochlear Implantation
iotaMotion, Inc., a medical device startup spun out from the University of Iowa's Otolaryngology Department, announced today that the company has raised $2 million in a seed financing round to fuel the development of novel robotic systems for cochlear implantation surgery. READ MORE
Berkshire Hathaway Energy Stands Firm on Its $9 Billion Offer to Acquire Oncor
Greg Abel, Berkshire Hathaway Energy chairman and CEO, and Warren Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., stated the company will stand firm on its $9 billion offer to acquire 80% of Oncor Electric Delivery Company LLC (Oncor) and will not be increasing its offer. READ MORE
Wells Fargo Talent Drain Since Scandal
Despite a year of trying to retain top talent, Wells Fargo has been hit with a wave of departures within its advisor ranks, InvestmentNews reports. READ MORE
Corn growers upset with Hy-Vee’s “Clean Honest Ingredient” list
Hy-Vee has a new label to mark foods made with 'clean' and 'honest' ingredients, and products made with high fructose corn syrup won't make the cut. READ MORE
Former Bankers Trust employee sentenced for embezzlement
A Des Moines woman was sentenced to time in prison for embezzling thousands of dollars while working for Bankers Trust. READ MORE
Why more companies like Principal are giving workers unlimited vacation
A year after rolling out a "responsible time-off" program that allowed employees to schedule as much time off as they liked (within reason), insurance brokerage Holmes Murphy reports little change in the time employees spend away from work. READ MORE
Wells Fargo accused of ripping off mom-and-pop shops
Wells Fargo has already admitted to charging people for overdrawing bank accounts that they didn't have and for car insurance that they didn't need. Now, it's being accused of ripping off vulnerable mom-and-pop businesses. READ MORE
America's Most Powerful Companies Are Using Creepy Artificial Intelligence to Alter Your Behavior
From Starbucks to IBM, the use of artificial intelligence by big companies to alter your behavior is becoming a major thing. READ MORE
US created 209,000 jobs in July, vs 183,000 jobs expected
The U.S. economy continued a strong summer, adding 209,000 jobs in July while the unemployment rate fell to 4.3 percent, the lowest since March 2001, according to a government report Friday. READ MORE