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The Insider Notebook

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NOTEBOOK – ONE GOOD READ: Post pandemic shopping spree is underway

Consumers are buying more of everything, from champagne and skirts to shaving kits as retail sales rise while the world opens up with more people getting a COVID-19 vaccine. Consumers are also booking more plane trips, …

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NOTEBOOK – ONE GOOD READ: In this lawsuit, the right hand is suing the left

An investment journal that I follow just published an interesting story about an ironic twist embodied in a lawsuit involving an annuity company that bases much of its operations in Des Moines. The story by Investment …

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NOTEBOOK: Demand for newly built houses ‘very strong,’ Des Moines-area homebuilder says

The National Association of Home Builders this month published an updated edition of its publication that includes a survey of homebuyers’ preferences.


Buyers’ first preference? Sixty percent of those surveyed said they preferred to buy …

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NOTEBOOK: Amtrak expansion seen as another sign that passenger rail will reach D.M. … eventually

Extending passenger railroad service from Chicago to Des Moines and then to Omaha would provide another transportation tool that could be used to attract and retain top talent for the region, said Jay Byers, CEO …

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NOTEBOOK – ONE GOOD READ: Is Zoom’s UX sexist?

We shared a story earlier in the week from the New York Times about how women are experiencing higher rates of Zoom fatigue. So I nearly scrolled past this Fast Company piece yesterday when I opened its …

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ONE GOOD READ: Biden ag chief consults with food company CEOs on racial equity

Bloomberg: U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack spoke with top executives of a dozen major food and agriculture companies –including Walmart Inc., Bayer AG and Deere & Co. — on efforts to advance racial equity as …

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ONE GOOD READ: 3 entrepreneurship lessons from Bruce Lee

Martial arts and building a business have more in common than you may think, writes Brandon C. White for Entrepreneur. White cites three lessons that apply to business that martial arts can teach us:
1. …

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NOTEBOOK – ONE GOOD READ: Has your workload increased during the pandemic? If so, you’re not alone

The number of hours worked by people in white-collar and front-line service jobs has increased during the pandemic, causing some to ask for increased pay or changes in their job descriptions or titles, writes Krithika Varagur …

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NOTEBOOK – ONE GOOD READ: Why there’s so much investigative journalism about utility companies

Power and water utilities touch the lives of everyone, ProPublica Editor-in-Chief Stephen Engelberg wrote this week. It’s timely, and it’s challenging: The national news swing has already moved on from the majority of coverage after the …

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NOTEBOOK – ONE GOOD READ: Experts say more needs to be done to avoid worker burnout

With many employees continuing to work remotely a year after the pandemic forced companies to send employees home to work, organizations are now trying to figure out how they can help their employees avoid the …