(Radio Iowa) – Officials say St. Ambrose University in Davenport will become the non-profit owner of the Mount Mercy University campus in Cedar Rapids within the next two years. The presidents of the two Catholic universities held a news conference to discuss the merger and sign the agreement. Federal officials and the commission that reviews U-S college and university academic standards have to review the merger plan and approve it.

After the merger, the Cedar Rapids school will become the Mount Mercy Campus of St. Ambrose University and classes will be held on both campuses. Mount Mercy’s president says it’s a very challenging time for higher education in the U-S, especially for small private institutions like his. Since 2011, student enrollment in U-S colleges and universities has dropped each year. Fifteen non-profit colleges in the U-S closed last year, including Iowa Wesleyan in Mount Pleasant.

Saint Ambrose president Amy Novak and Mount Mercy president Todd Olson sign merger agreement in Cedar Rapids. (St. Ambrose University photo)

Last spring over 27-hundred students were enrolled at St. Ambrose and about 14-hundred students were enrolled at Mount Mercy. Three months ago, the presidents of the two institutions announced students could enroll in a range of in-person or online classes at either school for the fall semester. The Davenport Catholic Diocese founded St. Ambrose in 1882. The Sisters of Mercy founed Mount Mercy in Cedar Rapids in 1928.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Officials with Myers Industries, Inc., today announced the consolidation of their rotational molding facility in Atlantic with company facilities in Indiana, as part of an effort to reduce costs. Myers Industries said they expect the closures to be completed in 2025 and deliver approximately $5 million in cost savings in 2025.

According to a statement released by the company, production at the site will end in 2024 and the Atlantic plant will officially close December 31, 2025. Approximately 60 full-time employees are based in Atlantic, which was acquired by Myers with its purchase of Elkhart Plastics in 2020. Nearly all the positions will be eliminated by the end of this year. Employees will be given the opportunity to apply for opportunities with other Myers facilities. Current Atlantic customers will be serviced from Myers plants located in Indiana, Ohio, Colorado, or Washington.

Myers Industries President and CEO Mike McGaugh said in a press release:

“Our second-quarter results reflect the Company’s first full quarter with Signature Systems. This business is benefiting from worldwide investments in Infrastructure and helped drive both sequential and year-over-year revenue growth and margin expansion. Signature’s performance outpaced the demand headwinds in the Recreational Vehicle (RV), Marine, and Automotive Aftermarket end markets.

“We continue to focus on growing our Storage, Handling & Protection portfolio, most notably our four power brands: Akro-Mils, Buckhorn, Scepter, and Signature Systems. We believe our increased participation in the Military and Infrastructure end markets will provide meaningful growth for our Company over the next several years.

“At the same time, we are taking actions to reduce costs and increase productivity in the Engineered Solutions and Automotive Aftermarket portfolios. These actions include the consolidation of three distribution centers in our Myers Tire Supply business, as well as today’s announcement of the consolidation of our Atlantic, Iowa, rotational molding facility (Elkhart plastics) into our other rotational molding plants in Indiana. We are able to reduce our footprint and reduce our cost structure, due to the productivity gains we’ve achieved. We expect these closures to be completed in 2025 and deliver approximately $5 million in cost savings in 2025 as well.”

Elkhart Plastics/Myers Industries – Atlantic, Iowa

McGaugh concluded, “As a result of continued trough-like demand conditions in these end markets, we believe it is prudent to lower our full-year adjusted earnings per share guidance to a range of $1.05 to $1.20.”

(Radio Iowa) – The leader of the union that represents state prison employees says higher pay for new prison workers is a good start, but the state should offer incentives to keep veteran prison staff from leaving. Todd Copley is president of AFSCME Council 61. “As the union, we’re all for getting people paid what they should be, but there are employees that have worked here for 10 years, 15 years, 20 years that should be getting paid more than what they are getting paid right now also,” Copley says. “…Corrections officers are grossly underpaid.” Copley says the starting pay for new workers should be the new base wage or salary for employees who work in similar positions.

“You have employees that have worked at these penitentiaries for four years that are now making a shade over what a new employee has got,” Copley says. His other concern is the signing bonuses for new employees in the Department of Corrections. Copley isn’t calling for ending those bonuses, but he says there should be a requirement that the employee stay on the job for some period of time.

“There is no ‘you have to work here for five years,'” Copley says. “…There’s no stipulation to that whatsoever, so theoretically the state is stepping over a dollar to pick up a dime. It makes no sense.” And Copley says retention bonuses should be considered for correctional officers with years of experience, so they don’t leave for a better paying job or choose to retire early. Copley worked in Polk County government for nearly 32 years. He was elected president of AFSCME Council 61 last July.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – Today (Thursday), the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services announces the new Behavioral Health Service District Map which defines seven geographic service and planning areas effective July 1, 2025. The district map was created using a data-driven approach to ensure that resources are allocated effectively to support the full array of behavioral health needs in Iowa.

Iowa HHS worked with stakeholders to gather feedback on these district maps to be overseen by the Behavioral Health Administrative Service Organizations (BH-ASOs). The stakeholder engagement efforts had a turnout of over 1,000 attendees across all sessions. In addition to stakeholder feedback, identification of areas of high need, access to care, and city and county boundaries were used to designate the districts.

These new districts consider equitable resource distribution, minimizing service disruption, enhancing access to quality care, and addressing the specific needs of specific populations. The district map is a first step in building a new geographic foundation for an integrated and efficient behavioral health system that serves all Iowans.

To learn more about the process, please see the District Map Overview.

Learn more about the Behavioral Health Service System Alignment here.

Iowa HHS will be hosting a Virtual Behavioral Health Service System District Launch on Tuesday August 6 from 12:00-1:00pm. You can join the Virtual Launch with the information below:

Behavioral Health Service System District Virtual Launch

Tuesday, August 6 – 12:00-1:00pm

Join Zoom webinar here.