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The Insider Notebook

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NOTEBOOK: A spicy new crop for Kemin

Kemin Industries has become one of the largest growers of oregano in the United States, but it’s not going into the pizza business or trying to compete with Tone’s. The Des Moines-based bioscience company has …

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NOTEBOOK: Emmetsburg cellulosic plant making adjustments

A spokesman for Poet Biorefining said the company’s cellulosic ethanol plant in Emmetsburg has been working through early adjustments, but he denied rumors that the facility was having difficulty producing ethanol from cornstalks and cobs.…
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NOTEBOOK: Who’s in the July 15 issue?

Here’s a list of local people in the July 15 issue of the Business Record and the page number of the article in which they are mentioned. Members can read all of this week’s stories …

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NOTEBOOK: FLASHBACK – The reason Iowa is ripe for data centers

News that Project Osmium will potentially be another large Microsoft data center had me thinking back to a Business Record story from 2012.   Iowa had recently been showing a propensity to land large data centers, but…
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NOTEBOOK: More ‘secret’ projects

Over the last several months, I’ve been tracking the future of development ground near the new Interstate 80 interchange at Cumming. Some of that land, actually located north of Cumming in West Des Moines, appears …

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NOTEBOOK: A market fit for reverse exchanges

  The 1031 exchange is no stranger to sellers and buyers of commercial real estate. It is a way to avoid capital gains taxes on a sale by acquiring a similar property. But what happens…
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NOTEBOOK: Partnership prepares a tuneful hello for the nation’s governors

The airport commission on Tuesday agreed to let the Greater Des Moines Partnership arrange for musicians to perform near the airport parking ramp as the nation’s governors arrive beginning Thursday for the National Governors Association …

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NOTEBOOK: Airport to remove seats for humans, build $100,000 toilet for companion animals

Under orders from Congress, the Des Moines airport will soon make it easier for dogs, turkeys, (altered) skunks and other companion animals to take care of business while visiting the terminal with a passenger. Engineers …

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NOTEBOOK: Art Wittmack plans to sail a ‘great loop’

Art Wittmack, father of ultra-adventurer Charlie Wittmack, is planning an unusual trek of his own in 2017. You remember Charlie, the Des Moines native who created the World Triathlon, an 11-month swim, bike and mountain …

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NOTEBOOK: Ask Reynolds and Kurovski about … their trips to Israel

A few weeks ago Loretta Siemen invited me out to a luncheon for the bipartisan nonprofit Iowans Supporting Israel, at which Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds and Pleasant Hill Mayor Sara Kurovski eloquently shared their takeaways …