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May 24, 2021
Statewide Iowa The CEO of the Iowa Restaurant Association says updated information suggests fewer restaurants and bars in Iowa have closed during the pandemic than was expected.
Jessica Dunker says initial estimates indicated about a thousand restaurants and bars in Iowa that were operating in March of 2020 would close.
Dunker says restaurants and bars fared better here than in other states for a combination of reasons, including state grants along with federal Paycheck Protection Program grants. Iowa restaurants and bars were also allowed to reopen for in-person service sooner than in other states.
Updated Restaurant Closure Numbers Slightly More Encouraging
By charguth May 24, 2021 11:16 am
Saga Communications
Des Moines, IA (Radio Iowa)– The CEO of the Iowa Restaurant Association says updated numbers for statewide restaurants and bars show fewer facilities have permanently closed their doors because of the pandemic that originally expected.
Jessica Dunker says initial estimates indicated as many as one thousand Iowa restaurants and bars would close that were operating in March 2020.
Dunker says Iowa facilities likely fared batter than in other states for several reasons including state and federal grants and that fact that bars and restaurants were able to reopen earlier than many other states.
Des Moines sees upward pressure on public and private wages Tuesday, May 18, 2021 3:18 PM
Axios Des Moines: Wages are rising in Des Moines as employers try to lure potential workers and it s especially true for low-training jobs. Wages for local restaurant hosts have risen to $11-12 an hour and cooks can earn $18-20 an hour, Jessica Dunker, president of the Iowa Restaurant Association, said on “Iowa Press.” In the public sphere, Polk County supervisors agreed last week to increase election worker and seasonal employee pay to at least $15 an hour in a series of steps over the next two years. That move affects around 1,000 people who work election nights. Many of them currently make $10 an hour. About 50 summer or seasonal employees will also see increases.
Ghost kitchens gaining popularity in Iowa Share Updated: 7:12 AM CDT May 14, 2021
Ghost kitchens gaining popularity in Iowa Share Updated: 7:12 AM CDT May 14, 2021
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Show Transcript as the pandemic first shut down dining services at restaurants and then slowed. Orders Edison pub and eatery in cedar rapids needed something new. We re thinking how to get more business or get ourselves or survive. Mhm. So they opened a new business Zest, Mediterranean grill. I was born in mediterranean, you know, Balkans and that area. So it s always been my dream to have something with that concept. This is the entirety of zest. Just a kitchen with nowhere to sit. It s what s called a ghost kitchen. It s a commercial kitchen where you can run multiple types of menus out of that kitchen and there s no place to go. Sit down. Zest shares a kitchen area with Edison, which is a traditional dining restaurant. Much of zests, orders come through third party de