More than 100 local business, education and goverment leaders packed a conference room at the Stoney Creek Inn this morning for the unveiling of a workforce plan that was nearly two years in the making.

For highlights of the strategic plan, designed to realign skills of the area workforce with the needs of employers, check out my coverage from today.

To read the entire plan, click http://rig.witcc.edu

Let me know what you think about the plan. Do you agree with the recommendations? If not, what would you suggest instead?

Last week, I noted the unease between the Obama administration and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, “Is the White House at War with the U.S. Chamber.”

The Politico reports today the White House’s attempts to undermine America’s largest business organization may have backfired. U.S. Chamber President Tom Donohue said the attacks have helped the organization raise more money from sympathetic members.

In the Politico interview, Donohue insists the association will “exceed its fundraising for last year by more than $10 million, and the timing of the White House attack could further pad the Chamber’s war chest.”

Iowa Workforce Development released its monthly unemployment reports today, which showed little statistical change locally, “Sioux City area unemployment rises, despite job gains”

Unemployment in nearly all Northwest Iowa counties was below the statewide average of 6.7 percent for September. Three exceptions were Emmet, 8.7 percent, Monona, 7.1 percent, and Palo Alto, 7 percent. Sioux County posted the lowest area rate of 4.1 percent.

Unemployment in metro Sioux City hit a four-year high in June as the national recessionary economy continued to prompt local employers to cut payrolls and hold off on hiring decisions.

In June, the seasonally unadjusted jobless for the metro area — Woodbury County in Iowa, Union County in South Dakota and Dakota and Dixon counties in Nebraska — hit 5.5 percent, up from 5 percent in May, according to a state report released this morning. That’s the highest local rate since March 2005 when it hit 5.6 percent, according to Iowa Workforce Development.

Read more online here and in print Wednesday.

Smithfield Foods shut down its John Morrell slaughter plants in Sioux City and Sioux Falls Monday because of tight supplies of hogs and poor margins, Reuters news service reported, citing livestock sources.

The Sioux City plant, which employs some 1,200, was back up and running today. A Smithfield official did not immediately return a call to the Journal this morning.

Tyson Fresh Meats, based in Dakota Dunes, did not slaughter hogs at its Columbus Junction, Iowa plant on Monday. Tyson spokesman Gary Mickelson said some other pork plants will run at reduced hours this week, but did not provide a specific list. In Northwest Iowa, Tyson operates a pork plant in Storm Lake.

“It’s not unusual for us to adjust hours of operation becauase of market conditions and this is one of these instances,” Mickelson said. “Certainly times are challenging for the pork industry.”

According to industry estimates, the Columbus Junction plant and the Sioux City and Sioux Falls Morrell plants have have a combined daily hog slaughter capacity of about 43,000 head, or about 10 percent of the U.S. total slaughter capacity, according to industry estimates, Reuters reported.

Pork plants have been hurt by tight supplies of hogs and by slow sales of pork, which took an undeserved public relations hit earlier this year while public health officials and the news media referred to H1N1 flu as “swine flu.”

CasinOmaha announced this morning it had suspended operations at the rural western Iowa casino, owned by the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska. The bad news was delivered to the casino’s 185 employees early this morning.

In a statement, the Tribal Council said it closed the casino because of “current business conditions.” The tribe plans to renovate and modernize the 17-year-old facility, with plans to reopen “as soon as operationally possible.”

Were you a customer or employee of the casino? If so, I’d like to hear what you think about the tribe’s decision. Email at ddreeszen@siouxcityjournal.com

Journal political blogger Bret Hayworth reports that Iowa Fifth District Congressman Steve King has scheduled a public forum on so-called cap and trade legislation on July 6 at Western Iowa Tech Community College.

Majority Democrats are crossing their fingers as the U.S. House today votes on a controversial climate control bill, ”“Close win predicted for cap and trade”

Most, if not all, Republicans and some moderate Democrats are expected to vote against the 1,200-page bill, commonly known as cap and trade because it would cap carbon emissions and set up an open market to trade credits permitting emissions.

Negotiators made last-minute changes to entice state legislators from states like Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and Minnesota, “Energy bill compromise aims at farm states.”

The bill’s authors agreed to a compromise that will delay proposed federal regulations that would factor in land-use changes in implementing biofuel mandates. Farm groups say the new rules will hurt the biofuels industry.

Backers said the bill, designed to reduce emissions to 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020, would move the country away from fossil-based fuels and toward renewable energy, creating new “green” jobs and slowing climate change.

Opponents, which refer to the bill as “cap and tax,” predict it would impose huge new costs on consumers and drive jobs to countries where emissions are still unregulated and free.

If you haven’t already, take a look at my Journal exclusive story in print and online today, ”Siouxland actively recruiting gun manufacturers.”

The Siouxland Initiative’s Debi Durham and Chris McGowan yesterday described the organization’s new strategy to attract new good-paying jobs and capital investment to the tri-state region by rolling out the welcome mat for firearms manufacturers who are, pardon the pun, under fire in their home states and cities.

In recent years, some manufacturers have relocated factories and offices out of states deemed as hostile to the Second Amendment. More than two years ago, for instance, the Les Baer Custom company, which makes pistols and rifles, moved across the border from Hillsdale, Ill. to LeClaire, Iowa.

Bringing a weapons manufacturer to town was not without controversy, as Radio Iowa reported in this 2007 story, “Illinois company considers moving gun plant to Iowa.”

The nation’s unemployment rate last month soared to the highest level in 25 years, the federal government reported this morning, “Jobless rate hits 9.4 percent in May.”

If laid-off workers who have given up looking for new jobs or have settled for part-time work are included, the jobless rate would have been 16.4 percent, the highest on records dating to 1994.

Though many Siouxlanders currently are out of work, the employment situation in the tri-state region is not nearly as bad as some other parts of the country. In April, metro Sioux City’s jobless rate stood at 4.7 percent, nearly half the federal average.

One glimmer of hope that the national economy may be on the mend: In a separate report, the government reports the pace of layoffs eased, with employers cutting 345,000 jobs, the fewest since September, and the fourth straight month of declines.