Principal executive Jacobs gets layoff notice
By DAVID ELBERT delbert@dmreg.com
May 27, 2009 10:42 AM

Libby Jacobs is being laid off by Principal Financial Group, where she has been a prominent spokeswoman for the company in local affairs for more than a decade Jacobs, 52, is the director of community relations and a 20-year veteran of the insurance company. She said Wednesday that she was told two weeks ago during the last round of layoffs at Principal that her last day would be June 4. The company has laid off more than 650 people since December, or about 4 percent of its global work force

"The grapevine is starting to trickle the news around. I'm getting calls and some opportunities are coming my way," Jacobs said Wednesday. "I'm open to looking at a number of different opportunities." Jacobs was Principal's lead spokeswoman on several local projects, including the Principal Riverwalk, which was announced in 2002. That project originally was envisioned as a $15 million to $20 million effort, but now has mushroomed to around $70 million, with much of it scheduled for completion later this year.

Last year, Jacobs completed 14 years in the Iowa Legislature as a state representative from West Des Moines and did not run for re-election.