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?
North Sioux City, Yankton and Vermillion are among 11 South Dakota cities that sent representatives to a major convention for manufacturers of medical devices in Minneapolis this week.
The S.D. cities, which also included Aberdeen, Brookings, Madison, Mitchell, Pierre, Rapid City, Sioux Falls and Watertown, joined forces with the Governor’s Office of Economic Development to help bring new jobs to the Rushmore State.
”The state has been targeting medical device manufacturers for some time, and this show is a great way for us to showcase South Dakota’s advantageous business climate and develop new leads,” said Richard Benda, secretary of the Department of Tourism and State Development. “The MD&M show is among the top shows in the industry. Banding together to represent South Dakota as a unified entity has proved to be a very effective recruitment tool.”
Hyperion Refining Vice President Preston Phillips and Eric Williams, chief spokesman for the company, stopped by the Journal office the other day just to say hello. Business editor Dave Dreeszen and I got a few questions in despite, his insistence they were just in the neighborhood.
The short answers to most were “We’re working on it,” and “yes.”
Phillips and Williams were in the Elk Point area for a friendly dinner meeting with Union County residents who had optioned land for the proposed $10 billion oil refinery and energy center. (more…)
South Dakota has the most “business-friendly” tax system, and New Jersey has the least, according to the Tax Foundation’s 2010 State Business Tax Climate Index.
Iowa ranked 46th, ahead of only Ohio, California, New York and New Jersey.
Sioux City and other Northwest Iowa cities have faced difficulty in the past competing with neighboring South Dakota, which has no corporate or individual income tax.
The Index measures the competitiveness of the 50 states’ tax systems and ranks them accordingly based on the taxes that matter most to businesses and business investment — corporate income, individual income, sales, property and unemployment insurance taxes.
The states are scored on these taxes, and the scores are weighted based on the relative importance or impact of the tax to a business.
The Index measures how well a state’s tax system encourages investment by maintaining a broad tax base and low rates.
New environmental regulations for transportation fuels being considered in Congress would deal a “devastating” blow to U.S. projects like the proposed Hyperion Energy Center in Union County, according to a coalition of business groups.
Some majority Democrats back legislation that would lower carbon emissions in U.S. vehicles. The Low-Carbon Fuel Standards, or LCFS, would penalize heavier, dirtier oil such as the crude from the Alberta, Canadian oil sands that Hyperion plans to process.
Last month, Hyperion secured a state air quality permit for its $10 billion refinery, which would process of 400,000 barrels per day.
“No permit in the world is going to save this project if LCFS is put in place,” said Chris Tucker, a spokesman for the Consumer Energy Alliance, a 125-member group that includes oil companies, retailers, trucking and transportation groups and business organizations like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
At top is a YouTube video of a TV ad that the CEA is airing in South Dakota, as well as three other states — North Dakota, Montana and Tennessee — with industries dependent on heavier oil. The S.D. ad encourages viewers to call the state’s two U.S. senators — Republican John Thune and Democrat Tim Johnson.
The group’s television and radio campaign, scheduled to last two weeks, attempts to educate consumers about the issue, warning that LCFS threatens to cost Americans jobs, drive up prices at the pump and increase U.S. dependence on Mideast imports.
A broader, better known climate control bill, known as Waxman-Markey, or cap-and-trade, passed the House in June without the low-carbon fuel provision, which was removed during negotiations. But CEA officials fear supporters will revive the low carbon language and insert it into other legislation during the current session of Congress.
As I leave the South Dakota capitol in Pierre, some final thoughts on Thursday’s all-important vote, in which the state Board of Minerals and Environment unanimously voted to grant Hyperion Refining a state air quality permit. Read my full story online, ”Hyperion receives air permit.”
Opponents, which include the Sierra Club and two local groups, quickly promised to appeal the nine-member board’s decision in Circuit Court. The opponents are well funded, says Ed Cable, a leader of Save Union County. And, by all accounts, they have one of the best attorneys in this field on their side.
After the meeting, lead attorney Robert Graham walked out into the hallway, where he received a round of applause from about two dozen opponents who traveled more than five hours on bus from their homes to attend the meeting. (Imagine the reception he would have received if the board had actually denied the permit.)
Graham, an attorney with the powerful Chicago law firm Jenner & Block LLP, promised a spirited appeal saying, “We’ve only just begun to fight.”
According to his bio on the Jenner & Black’s Web site, Graham is founder and chair of of the firm’s Environmental, Energy and Natural Resources Law Practice and the co-author of the nationally recognized environmental law textbook, Environmental Law and Policy: Nature, Law, and Society, Third Edition (Aspen Publishers, 2004), which is currently in use in many of the nation’s law schools.” (more…)
Drove more than five hours today for first-ever visit to South Dakota capital in Pierre. Stopped by capitol building, above, for visit but it was closed for the day.
Night of rest prior to Thursday morning’s meeting of the state Board of Minerals and Environment. After hearing closing arguments from attorneys for and against the proposed Hyperion Energy Center, the nine-member board is expected to vote on Texas company’s application for an air quality permit. An affirmative vote would allow Hyperion to proceed with construction of the $10 billion oil refinery and power plant in Union County.
The board can issue the permit as recommended by Department of Environment and Natural Resources staff, deny it as urged by three groups opposing the project or approve the permit with modifications. The losing side would have the right to appeal the decision within 30 days in state Superior Court.
I’ll be live blogging the proceedings from today’s meeting, which begins at 10 a.m. Please submit any questions you have. I’ll try my best to answer as time permits.
Meanwhile, the Argus-Leader in a lengthy story today speculates on whether controversy a proposed pipeline that would carry crude from Canada , crossing into the U.S. in Wisconsin near Lake Superior would have any bearing on Hyperion’s own future, yet-to-be-announced plans for a pipeline from Alberta’s oil sands fields, “Wisconsin ruling might provide sign for Hyperion.”
Preparing for the five-hour-plus drive to state capitol in Pierre today in advance of Thursday morning’s meeting of the S.D. Board of Minerals and Environment.
After hearing closing arguments from attorneys both for and against the proposed Hyperion Energy Center, the board is expected to vote on the Texas firm’s application for an air quality permit.
From what I can gather, board members have not publicly commented on which way, if any, they may be leaning. But the smart money is on the panel granting the permit.
Even opponents doubt the board would rule against the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources staff, which has recommended approval of the permit. Some of those against also point out the board is appointed by the governor. The current governor, Republican Mike Rounds, is one of the biggest proponents of the $10 billion oil refinery and power plant in Union County.
“I think unfortunately it is a preordained vote because of the pressure from the governor,” said Hyperion opponent Liz Merrigan, who lives just miles from the site of the energy center. Merrigan, a retired teacher, has attended all the air permit hearings, which totaled more than 50 hours over eight days and parts of three months.
Just a reminder, I will be live blogging from the meeting, which begins at 10 a.m. Central Time. Feel free to log on to siouxcityjournal.com and ask questions. I will try to address them as best I can during the proceedings.
A contested hearing over an air quality permit hearing for a proposed oil refinery in Union County, S.D. resumes this morning at the state capitol in Pierre.
The state Department of Environment and Natural Resources has recommended a permit be issued for the $10 billion Hyperion Energy Center, which would be built on 3,800 acres of farm land near Elk Point. The board will decide whether to approve a permit after considering whether the project meets federal air quality standards and uses the best available technology. (more…)
The troubled automaker has until June 1 to complete a government-ordered restructuring that includes debt reduction, labor cost cuts and plant closures. But a Chapter 11 reorganization seems almost certain after the company said Monday its offer to exchange $27 billion in unsecured debt for 10 percent of the company’s stock had failed.
As part of its restructuring plan earlier this month, GM told 1,100 of its dealers.their franchises would not be renewed after October 2010. The affected dealers had 30 days to appeal the decision, but a bankruptcy filing could disrupt if not put an end to that process.
Unlike Chrysler, which was required as part of its bankruptcy petition to identify the 789 dealers it wants to eliminate, GM did not make its dealer hit list public. Individual dealers were given the choice of revealing their status or simply keeping quiet. It appears a number have chosen the latter.
Five Siouxland dealers have told the Journal they are on GM’s list of possible cuts. But I’m hearing that some other dealers may be in the same boat, but are not fessing up out of fears that disclosing it now could affect sales.
In South Dakota, for example, the Associated Press reports that just two GM dealers, including Yankton Motors, have told their workers, customers and the public that their franchise agreements are in jeopardy, “Mum’s the word on GM dealerships in South Dakota”
Do you know of more area GM dealers that on the automakers’ cut list that have not been previously reported? Let us know by posting a comment at this blog or emailing at: ddreeszen@siouxcityjournal.com
