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The Insider Notebook

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NOTEBOOK – ONE GOOD READ: Downtown is dead — long live cities

Here’s an interesting read from Marker that takes a look at how the era of traditional central business districts of the largest U.S. cities may have reached a new tipping point, and the opportunities that it brings …

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NOTEBOOK – ONE GOOD READ: Rise in COVID-19 cases making employees uneasy about return-to-work plans

Just as companies begin returning to the office after months of working from home, or as they finalize their return-to-work plans, the resurgence of the coronavirus in the form of the highly transmissible delta variant …

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West Bancorporation reports record second-quarter net income of $13.2M

West Bancorporation Inc., parent company of West Bank, today reported that its second-quarter net income was $13.2 million, or 79 cents per diluted common share, compared with $8.0 million, or 48 cents per diluted common …

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NOTEBOOK – ONE GOOD READ: Why used cars are so pricey right now

We got a call the other day from someone at a local auto dealership asking whether we were interested in selling our decade-old truck. The sight-unseen offer was higher than Kelley Blue Book’s suggested resale …

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NOTEBOOK: ISU professor on research team studying diversity-and-inclusion-engaged marketing

Efforts to promote diversity and inclusion have come into greater focus over the past year, but an Iowa State University researcher has been part of an international team of scientists who have been studying the …

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NOTEBOOK: Iowa has capacity to add craft beer breweries, expert says

I recently had the opportunity to chat with Bart Watson, chief economist for the Boulder, Colo.-based Brewers Association. Our conversation was prompted by Big Grove Brewery’s plans to open a brewpub in Des Moines.


The …

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NOTEBOOK – ONE GOOD READ: Return-to-office mandates spark uptick in ADA-related lawsuits

As some businesses begin requiring workers to return to the office after more than a year of working remotely, employees with disabilities are pushing back, seeking more telework options than they did pre-pandemic, writes Erin Mulvaney …

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NOTEBOOK – ONE GOOD READ: Would you try mac and cheese ice cream? Now you can

I like mac and cheese. I like ice cream. The two together? As it turns out we now can experience just that with a cool, cheesy ice cream that hit stores last week. The limited …

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NOTEBOOK – ONE GOOD READ: Neurodiversity in the workforce

Someone close to me is neurodivergent. You wouldn’t necessarily notice it if the two of you were sitting in a waiting room together, but it becomes clear in conversation. They are kind, a wonderful big …

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NOTEBOOK – ONE GOOD READ: Older Americans have saved trillions. Now what?

Baby boomers and older Americans have saved trillions of dollars over the past several decades and now they have started handing it out to heirs and others, write Ben Eisen and Anne Tergesen for the Wall …