(Radio Iowa) – A concert is planned for next month at the Roof Garden Ballroom in Arnolds Park that will be a benefit for the people of Ukraine. Clay Norris, executive director of the Iowa Rock ‘n Roll Music Association, says the “Rock for Ukraine” show on April 11th will feature three well-known Iowa bands. “The three are The Senders, that are an Iowa Rock ‘n Roll Music Association Hall of Fame group,” Norris says. “There’s also a group called The Itty Bitty Boji Band that plays very frequently in the area, and then Lake Patrol, another real popular group in northwest Iowa.”

The acts will feature a wide range of popular music over the decades. Norris says, “It’ll be a very nice evening of music with probably songs ranging from the late ’50s all the way into the ’90s when I think about those three bands and what they’re capable of performing.” A non-profit agency that’s already established itself in bringing relief supplies to Ukraine will be the beneficiary of the concert. “The money will be going to a group out of Sioux Falls called Arise Ukraine,” Norris says. “It’s a Christian missionary organization that we’re familiar with and we know the people involved and they’ve already given truckloads of food.”

There’s a $10 suggested donation and doors to the Roof Garden will open at 5 p.m. Learn more at: www.iowarocknroll.com.

(Radio Iowa) – Executives from 22 of the state’s largest businesses continue to be positive in a survey on their expectations for the first quarter of 2022. Iowa Business Council Executive Director Joe Murphy. says their index measures expectations for sales, capital spending and employment for the next six months.  “Our overall metric score is over 65 points, which is solidly in that positive territory. For context — anything that scores over 50 represents positive economic sentiment — so we are very well within that area,” Murphy says.

While positive — Murphy says the numbers are down a bit as unemployment shortages and supply chain issues continue. He says attaining, attracting and developing a quality workforce remains the number one concern, followed closely by the unfavorable business climate. “Which definitely includes supply chain issues, infrastructure issues, regulations, things like that,” he says. Murphy says the slight drop came after things were looking very positive coming out of the final quarter of 2021. “We were relatively optimistic that conditions would get better with respect to the supply chain,” Murphy says. “But as we have gone through the first quarter of 2022 that optimism has receded a bit as we think about the future in the next six months. That does continue to give us a little bit of concern and if those supply chain and logistics issues can’t be cleared up, costs continue to increase — and that has an impact on the workforce, and around we go.”

Inflation is another issue causing concern. “Inflation continues to eat into a businesses’ ability to plan to forecast, to allocate capitol. And then as you’re thinking of our manufacturing members that are trying to ship their goods –the fuel cost that it requires are increasing, seemingly every single day,” Murphy says. Murphy says if there are good changes in some of those issues, then the positive numbers will get even better. “The takeaway here is that we still remain positive, and that represents seven consecutive quarters of overall positive economic sentiment,” Murphy says.

You can see the full I-B-C Economic Outlook Survey at iowabusinesscouncil.org.

(Radio Iowa) – A bill to make changes in Iowa’s “Bottle Bill” has made it farther in the Iowa legislature this year than any previous attempt to adjust the deposit and redemption system. Senator Jason Schultz of Schleswig guided the bill through Senate debate yesterday (Tuesday).

“Ladies and gentlemen, I didn’t fully expect to get to this point where we’d be on the floor offering Iowans an opportunity to extend the life of what polling shows 83% of Iowans want it to survive either in its current form or expand it,” Schultz said. Schultz and his fellow Republicans in the Iowa Senate have voted to let grocery stores in Iowa refuse bottle and can returns starting next summer.

The bill would increase the handling fee for redemption centers from one cent to three cents of every nickel deposit on a beverage container. The wholesalers that distribute beer and pop to retailers would be able to keep un-redeemed deposits. Democrats in the Senate opposed the bill. There are only 60 redemption centers operating today and Senator Herman Quirmbach, a Democrat from Ames, says this plan will kill the Bottle Bill.

“We’re asked to believe in this mythology that somehow redemption centers will all of a sudden pop up across the countryside. I think that’s ridiculous,” Quirmbach says. “I saw the redemption center in Ames disappear about 25 years ago and I don’t see it coming back.” Senator Bill Dotzler, a Democrat from Waterloo, says when grocery stores opt out of the system, consumers won’t be able to easily find a place to take their empties.

“The consumer is basically paying five cents for something they’re not going to be able to get back,” Dotzler says, “and that’s a big mistake.” Schultz says the bill offers an incentive to expand and open new redemption centers. “I think if you triple the amount of money that goes into a certain sector whether it’s cotton candy, a gun shop or a luxury car dealership, you’re going to get more of them,” Schultz says. “It happens that way.”

A bill that takes a slightly different approach is eligible for debate in the Iowa House. The Republican who’s leading development of that House plan says negotiations with the Senate are underway and he’s hopeful about reaching an agreement on a Bottle Bill re-do this year.