• OMAHA, Neb. (AP) -- A monthly economic survey index for nine Midwest and Plains states dropped last month but continues to suggest improving economic growth for the region.
• The Mid-America Business Conditions index hit 56.8 in April, compared with 58.2 in March.
• The confidence index rose to 59.9 last month from 58.2 in March.
• Creighton University economics professor Ernie Goss oversees the survey, and he says the supply managers surveyed "expect the upturn in housing to remain an important ingredient of the economic expansion."
• The survey uses a collection of indexes ranging from zero to 100. Survey organizers say any score above 50 suggests growth while a score below 50 suggests decline for that factor.
• The survey covers Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.
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• PIERRE, S.D. (AP) -- State economic development officials and representatives from Belle Fourche, Spearfish and Sturgis are attending a petroleum conference in Canada this week to promote South Dakota's energy industry.
• Pat Costello, commissioner of the Governor's Office of Economic Development, says this is his agency's first trip to the Williston Basin Petroleum Conference, which is being held in Regina, Saskatchewan. The conference and trade show attracts 300 exhibitors and more than 1,500 people.
• Costello says the conference presents an opportunity to develop relationships with oil and gas companies and to encourage them to do business in South Dakota.
• He says South Dakota's proximity to the Bakken oil boom in North Dakota creates an opportunity for South Dakota businesses to provide services to companies in the oil patch.
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