DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa officials say they don’t expect the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s decision to  freeze disaster aid in the wake of Hurricane Irene to affect the state’s recovery from flooding along the Missouri River. FEMA has announced it will freeze disaster aid to parts of the country recovering from tornadoes, drought, flooding and wildfires.

FEMA has enacted similar restrictions when disaster relief funds dipped below $1 billion. The fund currently stands at $800 million. John Benson of Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management says he doesn’t expect the decision to affect the state’s recovery from disasters, including flooding along the Missouri River.

FEMA says the restrictions will not affect individual aid to disaster survivors but will apply to longer-term repairs, rebuilding and mitigation projects.

The Shelby County DevelopSource is looking to invest in entrepreneurs in a new program. The Shelby County DevelopSource has released a program entitled the “Shelby County New Enterprises competition.”  Entrepreneurs with business ideas to implement within the borders of Shelby County could be the winners of up to $30,000.

Shelby County New Enterprises is a program to cultivate local economic development by both inspiring and financially supporting local entrepreneurs. The program is open to all start-up and expansion businesses located in, or are willing to locate to, Shelby County. The funds from the program can go towards studies or research, equipment, property or marketing for the winning business.

Shelby County DevelopSource Board Chairman, Rick Burchett says, “Encouraging and supporting entrepreneurship is a key to maintaining business momentum in our business county.” You can access an application form by logging on to www.developsource.com or by contacting M.J. Broomfield at 712-755-3569. The deadline to submit an application to the Shelby County New Enterprises is Friday, October 28^th.

A panel of judges will select the finalists and all finalists have the opportunity to present their business plan on Friday, November 18^th.

Officials in the state’s Workforce Development agency today (Tuesday) are touting their work to set up an “access point system” to replace the 37 Workforce Development offices that are closing. On Monday Governor Branstad told reporters he’s confident he’ll beat a lawsuit challenging his decision to close those offices. The agency at the center of the controversy issued a news release today touting the convenience of having “Virtual Access Points,” or, “VAPS.” Spokesperson Kerry Koonce says the access points are set up in places like libraries, schools and National Guard Armories, and offer more than you can get by just logging in on your own computer.

Koonce says you can do a lot of things by accessing the website, but you can’t do the assessment testing on the website as it can’t be programmed that way. She says they have a live chat setup with staff available from eight a-m until eight p-m Monday through Friday and 10 a-m to two p-m on Saturday on the access points, while the regular offices close at 4:30. Koonce says the access points have more resources available.

She says there are pieces within the labor market information that she says are difficult to pull up in the web, while it is broken down better in the resource room. And she says you can call the 800 number to get access to a workforce professional. Koonce says the access points don’t take any special equipment.

Koonce says they can put the information onto a computer that is already open to the public at a location, or bring in a Workforce office computer. She says they will use computers from the offices that’re being closed, so there won’t be any cost involved. Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds says she and the governor recently visited Denison and saw the value of the new system first-hand. “The (Denison) superintendent was there and he just opened up the high school with some evening hours,” Reynolds says.

Koonce says you can still apply for a job, or file for unemployment on the Workforce Development website, but the 135 access points will offer the expanded services. In southwest Iowa, VAPS will be located at libraries in Harlan, Atlantic, Sidney, Tabor, and Red Oak. Other locations include Southwestern Community College in Red Oak, the Taylor County Neighborhood Center, and Taylor County Veteran’s Affairs office, both in Bedford, and at the Montgomery County Veteran’s Affairs Office in Red Oak. Iowa Workforce Development Offices in Atlantic, Glenwood, Red Oak, Shenandoah and Clarinda are set to close tomorrow (Wednesday). The IWD office in Harlan closed last Friday.

The Board of Supervisors in Adair County will discuss a redistricting & representing plan during their meeting Wednesday morning, in Greenfield. The meeting begins at 9-a.m. with discussion about redistricting set for 9:15. The Adair County Supervisors will also set the date for a Public Hearing and first reading of an ordinance on the matter.

In other business, the Board will receive and discuss correspondence with regard to Taylor Site number one, which pertains to a proposed large hog confinement facility. On August 20^th, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources denied a request to build a 5,000 head hog confinement in Adair County. The DNR said an evaluation of the proposal indicated it failed to meet the requirements necessary for approval. The Adair County Board of Supervisors recommended the DNR deny the construction permit because of problems with the application and community opposition. The operator, Twin Lakes Environmental Services LLC, a manure management company based in Rockwell City, had 14 days to appeal the decision.

The Adair County Supervisors will also discuss a petition for waiver or variance pertaining to the sanitary landfill, and set the date for a public hearing on the 1^st reading of an ordinance on the Local Option Sales Tax, as it pertains to the City of Stuart. Other topics for discussion, include a Cass County Hospital Involuntary, and West Central Mental Health, contracts.