The sign outside the Outback restaurant along First Avenue East in Cedar Rapids read that the business is now hiring smiling servers.

Lower cereal sales sharply reduced Ralcorp Holdings’ third-quarter net profit.

The St. Louis-based manufacturer of cereals, snacks, sauces, spreads and bakery products posted net income of $53 million, or 95 cents per share, for the quarter that ended June 30, down from $74.8 million, or $1.31 per share, in the same period of 2009.

Last year’s net income included $9.2 million of net gains and earnings related to Ralcorp’s former investment in Vail Resorts, net of taxes.

Net sales decreased 3 percent to  $962.4 million in the third quarter from $994 million in the same quarter of 2009. Branded cereal sales (Post Foods) slipped 8 percent to $242.7 million in the third quarter from $264.8 million in the comparable quarter of 2009.

Sales of snacks, sauces and spreads rose to $359.9 million from $355.8 million in the third quarter of 2009. Frozen bakery product sales were virtually unchanged at $162.2 million.

Ralcorp, with a Ralston Foods plant in northeast Cedar Rapids, announced four acquisitions during the third quarter.

The purchases of J.T. Bakeries Inc. and North American Baking Ltd. were completed at the end of May. The acquisition of Sepp’s Gourmet Foods Ltd. was completed at the end of June.

Ralcorp expects to complete the purchase of American Italian Pasta Co. in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2010.

During the three months that ended June 30, Ralcorp incurred $12.8 million of costs related to the acquisitions, primarily consisting of commitment and structuring fees for “bridge” financing for the American Italian Pasta transaction.

Last week’s high humidity and temperatures in the 90s maintained crop and field conditions throughout the state.

Fields with ponded areas were able to dry and yellow crops not too severely hurt by the excess moisture greened up and may still be productive.

The dry spell also allowed operators to continue field work. Farmers began spraying fungicide on corn now that most herbicide spraying has been completed. Producers nearly finished up the first cutting of alfalfa, as well as continued with their second cutting.

By the end of the week, field work ended as strong storms ravaged Iowa with heavy rainfall and high winds knocking down trees. Power lines pulled to the ground by falling branches left several thousand Iowans without power.

Luckily, no major crop damage was reported from the storm.

All nine crop reporting districts in the state reported more than four days suitable for field work, the first time since the week that ended May 30.

Topsoil moisture was rated 0 percent very short, 2 percent short, 66 percent adequate, and 32 percent surplus across the state. Subsoil moisture rated 0 percent very short, 1 percent short, 62 percent adequate, and 37 percent surplus.

Eighty-three percent of the corn crop has tasseled and 62 percent has silked, well ahead of last year and the five-year average. Corn reached milk stage in 6 percent of the crop, ahead of last year’s 1 percent and equal to the five-year average.

Corn condition was rated 3 percent very poor, 8 percent poor, 20 percent fair, 48 percent good, and 21 percent excellent.

Seventy percent of Iowa’s soybean crop has bloomed, compared to 57 percent last year and 66 percent for the five-year average. Pods have been set in 19 percent of the soybean acres, 2 days ahead of last year but equal to the five-year average.

Soybean condition was rated 3 percent very poor, 6 percent poor, 22 percent fair, 51 percent good, and 18 percent excellent.

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey said crop conditions remain extremely varied throughout the state.

“In some areas crops look very good and are maturing ahead of schedule,” Northey said.  “Unfortunately, some areas continue to have too much moisture and have seen crop damage as a result.”

Rockwell Collins in Cedar Rapids has been selected by The Boeing Co. to provide an avionics upgrade for 33 U.S. Air Force E-3B/C and 17 NATO E-3A Airborne Warning And Control System (AWACS) aircraft.

The upgrades will allow the aircraft to meet current and future communication, navigation, surveillance and air traffic management requirements.

“The U.S. Air Force and NATO operate the largest AWACS fleets in the world,” said Dave Nieuwsma, vice president and general manager of mobility and rotary wing solutions for Rockwell Collins.

The initial contract for the engineering and manufacturing development phase includes design, development, integration and testing of the Rockwell Collins flight management system suite for the AWACS aircraft.

Boeing will install and integrate the system in the E-3 aircraft. The upgrade provides an integrated avionics system, including cockpit controls and displays, flight management system and a suite of communication and navigation equipment to support current and future airspace requirements.

The sluggish national economy and higher fuel costs took their toll on second-quarter earnings at Heartland Express.

The North Liberty-based trucking company on Monday posted net income of $16.7 million, or 18 cents per share, for the quarter that ended June 30,  a 5.5 percent decrease from $17.6 million, or 19 cents per share, in the same quarter of 2009.

Operating revenues for the quarter increased 8.9 percent to $127.4 million from $117 million in the second quarter of 2009.

Heartland Express said net income was reduced by 3 cents per share due to a decrease in gains on disposal of property and equipment and increased depreciation expense primarily attributable to the purchase of new tractors during 2009.

Fuel expense increased $5.9 million or 23.6 percent during the quarter primarily due to an increase in average fuel prices. During the quarter that ended June 30, the U.S. average cost of fuel was $3.03 per gallon compared with $2.34 per gallon for the same period of 2009, a 29.4 percent increase.

Heartland Express said freight demand continues to lag dramatically behind that experienced in 2007 prior to the recent recession, but  freight rates have stabilized and equipment utilization has improved in comparison to last year.

The company ended the quarter with cash, cash equivalents, short-term and long-term investments of $255.2 million, a $54.8 million increase from $200.4 million reported on Dec. 31, 2009.

Heartland Express declared a regular quarterly cash dividend during the quarter. The quarterly dividend of approximately $1.8 million at the rate of 2 cents per share was paid on July 2 to shareholders of record at the close of business on June 22.

From a U.S. Small Business Administration news release.

The U.S. Small Business Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the National Institute of Standards and Technology will be hosting a free cyber security workshop on July 29 in Cedar Rapids.

The workshop from 1 to 7 p.m. at the IBEW Building, 1211 Wiley Blvd. SW in Cedar Rapids, is designed to help small business owners learn how to secure their electronic data and protect themselves from a wide range of threats and vulnerabilities that could cripple their business.

Representatives from the National Institute of Standards and Technology will present during the first portion of the seminar and a presentation from InfraGuard Iowa will conclude the second half of the workshop.

To register for the July 29 workshop, go to www.sba.gov/ia/desmo and click on “Register for SBA Events in Iowa.” For questions, or more information, call (515) 284-4554 or e-mail alexander.zenor@sba.gov.

Update at 2:45 p.m. by John McGlothlen

This afternoon, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) distributed Truth about Contractors to “[dispel] myths surrounding the Intelligence Community’s use of and relationship with contractors.” Example:

Myth
Contractors represent a majority of the Intelligence Community workforce.
Reality
The number of core contractors who augment our civilian and military intelligence staffs comprise less than one-third, actually 28%, of the total force. These core contractors, who perform functions like collection and analysis, and have access to the same facilities, should not be confused with individuals producing commodities or products (e.g., satellites), or performing administrative or IT services.

Initial post

From WashingtonPost.com’s Top Secret America project – search for Cedar Rapids

1. Rockwell Collins, Inc. (5 government clients) (Types of work: Air and satellite operations; Disaster preparedness; Weapons technology; Nuclear operations; Specialized military operations; Technical intelligence)
2. MainStream GS (1 government client) (Types of work: Management consulting and administration)
3. Genova Technologies (1 government client) (Types of work: Information technology; Staffing and personnel)

From an Iowa Northern Railway news release..

The Iowa Northern Railway on Wednesday plans to demonstrate a device in Waterloo that will conserve energy and reduce diesel emissions.

The Cedar Rapids-based railroad was awarded $303,800 in funding last year from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s Clean Diesel program to convert two locomotives into railroad slugs.

Unlike a locomotive, a slug has no diesel engine, but instead draws power generated by an attached diesel locomotive to run its own sets of traction motors. While increasing the locomotive’s pulling and braking power, a slug reduces overall diesel emissions and saves fuel.

Iowa Northern Railway placed the slugs into operation this month.

The Waterloo demonstration will be the first in a series of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency events held in Iowa to highlight impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The federal agency has awarded the Iowa Department of Natural Resources a total of $1.73 million in stimulus funds to support clean diesel projects such as the railroad slugs.

EPA Regional Administrator Karl Brooks said reducing diesel emissions is one of the important air quality challenges facing the country.

“This project is expected to eliminate 220 tons of air pollutants, including 194 tons of nitrogen oxides, 10 tons of particulate matter and 14 tons of hydrocarbons,” Brooks said. “Pollutants from diesel engines can lead to serious health conditions, such as asthma and allergies, and can also worsen heart and lung disease, especially for children and older adults.”

Delta Airlines, which serves The Eastern Iowa Airport, swung to a profit in the second quarter, topping analysts’ expectations.

Delta reported second-quarter earnings of $467 million, or 55 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $257 million, or 31 cents a share. The latest quarter included a charge of 10 cents for merger costs and aircraft retirements.

Revenue rose 17 percent to $8.17 billion from $7 billion in the second quarter of 2009.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters most recently expected earnings of 63 cents a share on $8.25 billion in revenue.

“We are seeing strong improvements in these early stages of the economic recovery and believe there’s room for more revenue growth as the economy continues to stabilize,” said Ed Bastian, Delta’s president.  ”We anticipate double-digit year-over-year revenue gains for the September quarter.”