Wednesday AM Daily | July 5, 2017

Renewable Energy Group CEO and President Daniel Oh resigned from his position Monday.

The group's board of directors appointed longtime director Randy L. Howard as interim president until a replacement is found.

Oh is "extremely proud of the REG team and the success we achieved over the past ten years," he said in an REG news release announcing his departure. The release did not cite a specific reason for his resignation.

REG's stock was trading at $12.32, down 5.9 percent, at 10:30 a.m. today. 

In January, the Business Record published a profile on the Renewable Energy Group, including an interview with Daniel Oh, which can be read here.

Ames, Des Moines land atop Silicon Prairie startup ecosystem rankings
Silicon Prairie News released its annual State of the Silicon Prairie Report, and Ames and Des Moines were recognized in the publication's startup ecosystem rankings. Ames ranked first and Des Moines ranked fifth among Midwestern cities for their index score per capita. The Silicon Prairie index attempts to form an algorithm to judge and evaluate the overall well-being of the startup ecosystems within a city, but does not specify which data points are used in the algorithm.

Correction: A news item that ran in the Monday AM Daily contained an error in the name of the marketing director of the Iowa Soybean Association. His correct name is Grant Kimberley.

Report: Iowa budget shortfall could hit $350 million for the year
Des Moines Register: State budget analysts are expecting revenue to fall another $104 million short of projections, bringing the year's total budget shortfall to about $350 million, a new report shows.

Volvo, betting on electric, moves to phase out conventional engines
New York Times: Volvo Cars said today that all the vehicle models it introduces from 2019 on will either be hybrids or be powered solely by batteries, betting that the era of the internal combustion engine is coming to a close. The company would still produce older models with conventional engines after 2019.

Emirates and Turkish Airlines say laptop ban lifted on their U.S. flights
New York Times: Emirates and Turkish Airlines said today that they were the latest carriers to have been exempted from an American ban on laptops and other electronic devices in the passenger cabins of flights from eight Muslim-majority countries.

The Iowa Index is an unweighted average of all 23 Iowa-based public companies. Below is a live look at those 23, plus 14 additional companies with large operations in Iowa.