Process team member Scott Hintze is at a bench board that operates the press section of one of the two paper machines at International Paper's Cedar River Mill in Cedar Rapids. A report issued Wednesday by the Economic Policy Institute, a non-partisan think tank, says 4,660 jobs at Iowa paper manufacturing plants are at risk due to heavy Chinese subsidies to that country's paper industry. Cliff Jette/SourceMedia News

A report issued Wednesday claims that 4,660 Iowa workers could see their jobs disappear due to government subsidies to China’s paper industry and a tripling of that country’s production over the last decade.

 The Economic Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank, said China’s rapid rise in the global paper industry has been fueled by more than $33 billion in government subsidies from 2002 to 2009. The full report  is available at www.americanmanufacturing.org

“China’s massive subsidies to its paper sector are doing severe damage to the U.S. paper industry, its workers and their families,” said Scott Paul, executive director of the Alliance for American Manufacturing.  “The only way to stop the bleeding is for U.S. policymakers to take action against China’s blatant violations of trade laws, including sweeping subsidies to paper and many other industries.”

China’s export-driven paper industry has added 26 percent of new production capacity on average every year since 2004, increasing the U.S. trade deficit with China. Imports from China’s paper industry to the United States are rising faster than those from any other country.

The report estimates the annualized growth rate of Chinese paper and paper-product imports into the U.S. was 22 percent as of February.

China, which lacks the natural resources to fuel the growth of its paper industry, is the world’s largest importer of wood pulp and recycled paper.

International Paper, which operates a recycled cardboard mill in southwest Cedar Rapids, regularly competes with China for waste cardboard.

General Growth Properties, owner of Coral Ridge Mall in Coralville, expects to file its Chapter 11 plan of reorganization on or around July 9.

The Chicago-based shopping center and commercial property owner has filed a motion with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York requesting an extension of its exclusive period to file the plan of reorganization through Oct. 18 and its exclusive period to solicit acceptances of any reorganization plan through Dec. 16.

General Growth, which also owns Jordan Creek Town Center in West Des Moines and manages Westdale Mall in Cedar Rapids, said the current exclusivity periods are scheduled to expire on July 15  for filing the plan and and Sept. 15, 2010 for soliciting acceptances.

While General Growth said it expects to file a plan of reorganization by July 15, the company said an extension would allow it to continue to explore all available financing options to complement or replace existing financing commitments.

General Growth filed for Chapter 11 banruptcy on April 15, listing assets of $29.5 billion and debts of $27.3 billion.

Many unemployed Iowans are taking money from their retirement savings and struggling with stress because they have been out of work for so long, a new survey indicates.

Iowa Workforce Development said 76 percent of unemployed Iowans in a recent survey said they’d been without a job for over half a year.

More than 70 percent of survey respondents utilized retirement savings as living expenses and 77 percent reported high levels of stress over long periods of time.

The survey was conducted in cooperation with Iowa State University.

“The results demonstrate the overwhelming need for services designed to assist unemployed Iowans and the need for an extension of the federal extended unemployment insurance benefits,” Iowa Workforce Development Director Elisabeth Buck said.

“During the height of Iowa’s recession, over 8,000 individuals were filing initial claims for unemployment benefits, more than double of typical filings.

Recent Survey Demonstrates Difficulties Faced By Unemployed Iowans
Government Services Deemed Critical for Recovery
DES MOINES – Iowa Workforce Development released the findings of a survey conducted in cooperation with Iowa State University on the effects of unemployment on Iowans. The survey findings showed high long-term unemployment was found, with 76 percent of respondents unemployed for over half a year.

“The survey findings demonstrate the severity of the impact felt by Iowans during the recession,” state Iowa Workforce Development Director Elisabeth Buck. “The results demonstrate the overwhelming need for services designed to assist unemployed Iowans and the need for an extension of the federal extended unemployment insurance benefits.

“During the height of Iowa’s recession, over 8,000 individuals were filing initial claims for unemployment benefits, more than double of typical filings. The high levels of unemployment felt throughout the country caused more than 70 percent of Iowans to utilize retirement savings as living expenses and 77 percent to report high levels of stress over long periods of time.

As Iowa moves forward through its economic recovery, it will be important that Iowans gain and retain the skill sets necessary to meet the demands of new employment opportunities. Over 23 percent of respondents to the survey reported receiving training assistance to improve their skill sets.

Move over Aquafina.

Chill your bubbles, Perrier.

Hawkeye bottled water will hit the shelves Wednesday, July 7, in the Corridor, showing once again that University of Iowa mascot Herky the Hawk can sell almost anything.

Stone City Bottled Co. of rural Anamosa recently concluded an agreement to distribute the product in Linn and Johnson counties.

Does it taste more “Iowa” than other bottled waters?

No, company owner Libby Boge says, but it is from Iowa, and it “tastes like water should.”

Boge obtained the distribution rights for the two counties from Humboldt Springs Water Co., which had been its supplier of bottled water the company sells under its customers’ private labels.

Selling Hawkeye bottled water has been easier than selling private-label water, Stone City Bottled Water Sales Account Manager Patrick Lage said.

“Everyone wants to carry it,” said Lage, whose been focusing on opening accounts with Iowa City convenience stores and grocery stores initially. “It’s opened the door for us to sell other products.”

The half-liter bottles retail for 99 cents.

Humboldt Springs has been in business since 1954, producing water from a “huge spring-fed aquifer” that still contain the natural minerals, co-owner John Phillips said.

“We’re a small company,” Phillips said. “We like to bottle water and put it on trucks.”

Phillips said he was impressed with Boge’s enthusiasm for the product.

“This is a new approach for us,” he said. “We see this as an important part of our future.”

Lage said the company likes the fact that some of the profits go to the University of Iowa. Stone City Bottled Water is preparing to introduce a brand of vitamin water that is new to the area, and is continuing to offer private label bottled water for use in fundraising.

One of the company’s next big projects will be supplying private label water for Fry Fest, the big football season bash to honor former University of Iowa head football coach Hayden Fry.

Boge said the company isn’t limiting its collegiate water aspirations to the Hawkeyes. She’s also talking with the University of Northern Iowa about introducing Panther water.

Construction continues on a more than 100-seat amphitheater that will be used by culinary arts classes at the new Hotel at Kirkwood Center. The facility, which will be equipped with cameras, wireless microphones and monitors, also has the potential to reach hundreds or thousands of additional students or viewers on cable TV and over the Internet. Kirkwood Community College photo

An amphitheater tucked into the back of the new Hotel at Kirkwood Center will be equal parts classroom, television studio and gourmet kitchen.

The classroom is designed to make cooking skills and culinary concepts comfortably visible to more than 100 people at a time. It also will have the potential for hundreds or thousands more to view the same culinary programming over cable TV or the Internet.

Mary Jane German, chairwoman of Kirkwood Community College’s hospitality arts program, said instructors are looking forward to using the amphitheater for a host of culinary technique demonstrations and guest chef discussions.

Mary Jane German, Kirkwood

“With the increased interest in food and cooking, many culinary graduates will find themselves in a public setting, giving their own classes and demonstrations,” German said. “Iowa farmers markets, supermarket classes and kitchen retail outlets are doing more demonstration events. Our grads can benefit from the practice and experience in this amphitheater.”

German said the classroom also will be ideal for group wine tastings, engaging the just-launched Kirkwood winery and vineyard located in the college’s Ag Science department.

The Kirkwood culinary amphitheater will be equipped with four video cameras. Three will capture cooking demonstrations and comments by the presenter from a variety of overhead and high-angle points of view. A fourth camera at the back of the room will provide a high perspective on the class or audience as well as additional views of presenters and their culinary dishes.

For the benefit of students or audience members, five large-screen television monitors will be mounted to offer multiple views and access to the cooking activities and demonstrations.

Three of the monitors are mounted above and in front of the work area, providing improved viewing for back rows of spectators. Two other LCD TVs will provide optimal viewing for those sitting closer to the left and right of the central demonstration area.

Wesley Reynolds of OPN Architects in Cedar Rapids, one of the key designers of the amphitheater classroom, said visits to out-of-town facilities helped shape the final design.

“Several of us went to Chicago to observe a top-level demonstration classroom at a famous culinary school that is known around the world for top-level teaching,” Reynolds said. “As the amphitheater at Kirkwood came together, we realized it could end up being even better than the space in Chicago.”

The amphitheater also will provide a venue for educational demonstrations from well-known chefs. Preliminary plans include hosting Paolo Monti, a noted master chef and culinary instructor from northern Italy.

The 107,000-square-foot Hotel at Kirkwood Center, expected to open in late July, will be the largest teaching facility of its kind at a community college in North America.

Monsanto, the world’s largest seed manufacturer, says sales of generic versions of its Roundup herbicide slashed third-quarter earnings and revenue.

The St. Louis-based company, which has seed operations in Williamsburg, said its net income dropped to $384 million, or 70 cents a share, in the quarter that ended May 31, from $694 million, or $1.25 a share, a year ago. Revenue fell to $2.96 billion from $3.16 billion a year ago.

As Roundup sales have flagged, Monsanto has accelerated its longterm strategy to shift its business from chemicals and herbicides to genetically altered seeds. But the declines in Roundup have been substantial as generic competition from China has expanded.

Sales in Monsanto’s agricultural productivity unit, which includes Roundup, fell 34 percent to $600 million in the third quarter. Seeds and genomic sales, by contrast, rose 5 percent to $2.36 billion from the third quarter of 2009.

Corn seed sales remained flat at $1 billion, while soybean sales rose 2 percent to $549 million.

Monsanto shares slipped $1.07, or 2.2 percent, to $46.27 in mid-morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

General Mills, with a plant in southwest Cedar Rapids, has reported fourth-quarter earnings that met analysts’ expectations, but forecast 2011 earnings that disappointed the market.

The Minneapolis-based food conglomerate posted net income of $211.9 million, or 31 cents per share, for the quarter. That’s down from $358.8 million, or 53 cents per share, from the same quarter last year.

Excluding one-time items, General Mills earned 41 cents per share for the quarter, down from adjusted net income of 43 cents per share a year earlier.

General Mills’ revenue fell 2 percent to $3.57 billion, hurt in part by an extra week in last year’s fourth quarter.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, who typically exclude one-time items, expected the company to earn 41 cents per share on revenue of $3.55 billion.

General Mills forecast earning between $2.46 per share to $2.48 per share, excluding one-time items, for fiscal 2011. Analysts had forecast $2.50 per share.

Shares of General Mills fell $1.52 or 4.12 percent to $35.38 in mid-morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

File photo: Jack Zazza started the current Clarion Hotel and Convention Center as a Sheraton Hotel in 1976. Zazza sits in front of a wall of portraits of college football coaches Thursday, Sept. 7, 2006, in southwest Cedar Rapids. The hotel, built in 1976 by Jack Zazza, has hosted all of the University of Iowa football opponents since 1977. (Photo by Jim Slosiarek/SourceMedia Group News)

Plumbing contractor Jack Zazza, whose dream of opening an Italian restaurant turned into one of Iowa’s best family-owned hotels, died Tuesday after a long illness.

Zazza was owner and president of Simanek & Zazza Plumbing and Heating when he joined with Don Broulik to develop what’s now the Clarion Hotel and Convention Center in 1976 at 525 33rd Ave. SW.

Sue Zazza-Hutchcroft said her father, the son of immigrants, had long talked about opening an Italian restaurant. He was discussing the idea one day with the general manager of Elmcrest Country Club, who had an idea that he liked. Why not build a hotel, and put the restaurant in it?

The 156-room hotel opened as the Sherton Inn, with Zazza’s restaurant and the Centurion Lounge. Zazza became the sole owner after his partner died within the first few years of opening the hotel. He owned extra land around the hotel which he sold off for development, helping pioneer the cluster of I-380 hotels and restaurants in southwest Cedar Rapids at the 33rd Avenue exit.

The hotel expanded seven times, mainly to add conference and meeting space. It played host regularly to virtually every visiting Big 10 football team, and for many years was decorated with helmets and jerseys donated by Big 10 coaches.

Zazza’s son, Alan, managed the hotel. Sue Zazza-Hutchcroft was assistant manager, and almost every family member worked for the business at one time or another. Jack Zazza was on the property almost every single day, however, meeting friends and making guests feel welcome.

“By the time he built it, he was already retirement age,” Zazza-Hutchcroft said. “But he made it his home. He had an office, and he had a pet project going most of the time. He was always involved in the major financial decisions.”

Alan Zazza died in January 2006, and the family sold the business in 2007 to Maryland-based Synergy Hotel Group at Jack’s urging.

Gerald Ovel met Jack Zazza when his Iowa Pipe & Supply business was selling plumbing supplies to Zazza’s plumbing business. Ovel built a 72-unit apartment complex with Zazza in Iowa City, and almost went into the hotel-restaurant business with him. They later became neighbors in a Florida condominium community.

“He was a good businessman and a good friend.” Ovel said. “He had a warm personality. He never got mad, and he was always ready to help.”

Although the W.W. II Army Air Corps veteran devoted most of his time to the plumbing business and hotel, he was a partner in building Willow Brook Assisted Living Center (now Silver Pines) and several apartment complexes.

Zazza had suffered from renal failure and other health problems in the past few years.

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Rev. William Harnish decided 10 years ago that Cedar Rapids needed a place for couples who had limited budgets and no church home to get a Christian marriage.

Now Harnish, a motorcycle-riding Presbyterian minister, can say with assurance he was right.

The simply-named Wedding Chapel that Harnish opened near Coe College at 1513 First Ave. SE has hosted well over 2,000 weddings since he opened in the year 2000, he says.

The small chapel seats about 40, and has a small reception area. It’s nothing fancy, but couples can book a wedding, reception, and even a somewhat dated Cadillac limo for $200.

“I take all races, cultures and religions,” said Harnish, who’s became a reverend 50 years ago.

“You meet good people, nice people,” Harnish said. “They don’t have much and they want a good wedding.”

Harnish said many couples simply can’t get approval for a church wedding because they aren’t members of the church, or aren’t able to marry in the church for various reasons.

A surprising number already have children.

In addition to officiating at the Wedding Chapel, Harnish often performs wedding services at First Presbyterian Church in Mechanicsville, in homes, and other locations as distant as Europe. He averages about 300 weddings per year, and family members jokingly call him “marryin’ and buryin’ Bill.”

Harnish had plenty of exposure to Christian teachings early in life. His parents were captains in the Salvation Army. They sent Harnish and his sister to Green Square Park when they were 10 and 11 respectively to preach sermons, their main audience being homeless alcoholics that the Salvation Army hoped to reach.

Later on, Harnish became a real minister at Hus Memorial Presbyterian Church in Cedar Rapids. He is currently part-time pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Mechanicsville.

About the only couples Harnish won’t wed are same-sex couples. Harnish is ordained in the Presbyterian Church USA, which currently doesn’t recognized same-sex marriages.

“We’ve probably received 25 or 30 calls from out of state,” he says. “I refer them to other ministers I know in the area.”

Harnish reconnected with Jessie Stastny, a former schoolmate, three years ago and she works with him at the chapel.

Stastny says working at the chapel has broadened her exposure to humanity. She’s seen brides and grooms so different that she could not believe they were marrying, and others that seemed to be marrying more out of a sense of duty or obligation than romantic love.

Harnish’s busiest marrying day was July 7, 2007, or 7-7-7. He had 14 weddings to perform that day, including one at 7 a.m. and one at 7 p.m.

Valentine’s Day is always hectic, Stastny said. She said services are often delayed
by late arrivals – often a mother-in-law – and she’s had to usher one wedding party out the front door as the next party was waiting at the back.

Even though most of the couples Harnish marries are without a church. Stastny says the vast majority “want a spiritual ceremony. They want it to be sanctioned by God.”

Harnish obliges with a traditional protestant marriage ceremony that takes about seven minutes, and seems to cover all the bases.

Harnish would prefer that more of the weddings he now performs for young couples held in a church, but most of the churches have restrictions on who they will allow to be married within their walls, and won’t bend them.

“The church is losing these young people and they’re coming here,” he said. “they should be married in the church.”

Even so, Harnish says studies have shown no difference in the divorce rate between couples counseled and married in the church, and those married outside of it.

When he’s not performing marriages, Harnish is performing funerals – about two per week. He says it’s a great honor to be present at the important moments in the lives of so many families.

Tim Bradshaw, airport director

The new director of The Eastern Iowa Airport plans to meet with Corridor business leaders to discuss what it will take to attract a low-fare airline to the community.

Tim Bradshaw, who started work Monday, said business travelers are the largest users of the airport and typically spend the most for airfares because they usually are unable to book flights in advance. Bradshaw said attracting a low-fare carrier will depend on the will of the community.

“Most of the low-cost carriers want some type of revenue guarantee or subsidy to bring the service in here,” Bradshaw said. “You run the risk of when the money goes away or they’re not making enough, they’re going to ask for more or leave.

“One of our competing airports provides a huge subsidy to a carrier. If that’s what the community wants, we need to understand it’s a hard game to play.”

Bradshaw, noting that the Cedar Rapids Airport Commission worked in the past to attract Frontier Airlines, said the Denver-based airline remains a viable possibility to offer service to Milwaukee.

“Milwaukee has really become a great hub with connecting flights to the East Coast,” he said. “Airlines operate on an 18-month cycle and Frontier is starting to look for new areas to serve. We have good numbers in terms of customers flying to places like Boston and New York.

“We’re going to be talking with the business community over the next few months to see what they want and what we can support and sustain.”

Bradshaw said Cedar Rapids enjoys a level of air service that airports in many comparable communities would love to offer.

“We’ve lost a few flights, but we’ve managed to maintain our connection with the legacy carriers,” he said. “I think the upcoming merger of United and Continental offers some real opportunities for Cedar Rapids.

“We have a top 10 list of destinations and I’m going to be working with our marketing director, Pam Hinman, to convince airlines to offer service to those communities.”

While Bradshaw and the Cedar Rapids Airport Commission do not set airfares, he said the airport will continue to “keep the  airlines on task” when fares are not competitive with those at other airports in the region.

Bradshaw, previously deputy executive director and chief operating officer for the Louisville Regional Airport Authority in Louisville, Ky., replaced Dan Mann, who left in February to accept a similar position in Columbia, S.C.