National

Mnuchin Asks Congress for More PPP Funds

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin and U.S. Small Business Administration Administrator Jovita Carranza calling for Congress to appropriate more funds toward the Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program, due to the havoc that COVID-19 has wreaked… more

Q&A With … Tom Salisbury, Small Business Administration

Small Business Administration loans are a major topic right now in the face of COVID-19. Tom Salisbury, the Regional Administrator for SBA’s Region VII states of Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa, talks about the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and other… more

When a Killer Comes Calling

As the nation completed a fourth week of its self-imposed recession, the battle to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic produced some positive reports from the front lines. The University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation has… more

March Housing Starts Plunge

March new-housing starts fell 23.1 percent from the prior month, according the the U.S. Census Bureau, hitting just over 1.2 million. However, that number was a 1.4 increase from March 2019. Meanwhile, housing completions also dropped, falling 6.1 percent month… more

Another Five-Million-Plus File for Unemployment

Another 5.2 million people filed for unemployment last week, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, bringing the total over the last four weeks to about 22 million. For the week ended April 4, the number was revised up by… more

Smithfield Foods Closing Martin City Plant

Smithfield Foods is indefinitely closing its Martin City plant, which employs about 400 workers. The move follows the closure of a Sioux Falls, S.D. plant, which is considered one of the biggest COVID-19 hotspots in the United States, where hundreds… more

Trump Chooses Seaboard, YRC Execs for Recovery Group

President Donald Trump has named two Kansas City-area executives to what have been dubbed the Great American Economic Revival Industry Groups. Steven Bresky, the president and CEO of Merriam-based Seaboard Corp., was named to a group focused on agriculture. Meanwhile,… more

Q&A With … Daniel DeBehnke, Guidehouse

Daniel DeBehnke is a physician and partner at Guidehouse, a Washington-based consultancy firm that recently put out a report that one in four rural hospitals could close, with Kansas being one of the hardest-hit states. And COVID-19 could worsen the… more

Retail Sales Plunge in March

Retail sales in the United States fell 8.7 percent in March from the prior month and were down 6.2 percent year over year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.  The plunge was due to impact from COVID-19. Clothing and accessories… more

KCI Airport to Get $43 Million in COVID Assistance

Airports are getting stimulus money through the federal government via CARES Act grants, and the Kansas City International Airport will be one of the recipients . KCI will receive just under $43.3 million in stimulus. Airports across the country will… more