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Iowa's manufacturing sector, closely tied to agriculture, is facing job losses due to a downturn in the farm economy.

Despite recent layoffs, Iowa manufacturers' primary long-term concern is a persistent workforce shortage.

Companies are increasing outreach to high school students and investing in internal training to build their future workforce.

These are unsettling times in the land of Silos & Smoke Stacks.

The National Heritage Area designation for Iowa captures how closely its agriculture and manufacturing sectors are intertwined. And agriculture is experiencing a downturn that has farmers fearing a repeat of the 1980s Farm Crisis .

As they have been since John Deere devised a steel plow that the prairie soil wouldn’t stick to, many of Iowa's factories are

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