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Snowstorm muffles some Q-C business

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By Jennifer DeWitt | Monday, February 11, 2008 | No comments posted

As the Quad-Cities dug out Wednesday from the over-night winter storm, many area workplaces had empty desks or got a slower start to the work day.

Although few businesses closed, the snow kept workers home shoveling out or caring for children. Some telecommuted, and others reported later than usual.

The threat of more snow forced NorthPark and SouthPark malls to close their doors at 5 p.m. Wednesday.

IH Mississippi Valley Credit Union closed its regional branches in DeWitt, Iowa, and Prophetstown, Ill., after the cities pulled their snowplows, said Laura Ernzen, the credit union’s vice president of marketing.

“We pride ourselves on being open no matter what the weather is,” Ernzen said. “But sometimes in situations like this you have to take into consideration the ability of your employees to get home.”

She estimated that about three-fourths of the credit union’s 250 employees had reported to work Wednesday.

At Deere & Co.’s numerous Quad-City operations, there were few absences, according to Mary Doss, Deere spokeswoman. She said some employees arrived late, and others worked from home. “It is very convenient in the electronic age to be able to do that. But we have a good share of our work force in,” she said.

Aluminum maker Alcoa was in full operation at its Davenport Works in Riverdale, Iowa. “We’re a 24/7 operation so you just don’t shut it down. It would have to be pretty dire to shut it down,” said John Riches, the company’s spokesman.

At APAC Customer Services in north Davenport, operations director Doug Kappeler was singing the praises of his staff. “We’ve had a lot of absences. But we have some very dedicated people who made it in.

“The business we’re in, inbound customer calls are going to come in whether we are here or not,” he said. APAC also is an around-the-clock operation.

Kappeler said some of his employees had childcare issues due to school and daycare closings. “We also have people just digging out — some can’t get out of their driveways.”

But he was proud to say some of employees have made it to work from as far as Aledo and Kewanee, Ill.

Jennifer DeWitt can be contacted at (563) 383-2318 or jdewitt@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at qctimes.com.