State Senator Becky Schmitz says local businesses are stronger. Schmitz says the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has placed Iowa 8th in the nation for state policies that support private sector job creation, a rank she says the state has earned by placing emphasis on developing a skilled workforce and promoting entrepreneurship.  She says many of the small businesses she’s spoken with are either rehiring employees that were laid off, or hiring new employees to keep up with demand.  Iowa’s 6.9% unemployment rate in April was the 10th lowest in the nation according to Iowa Workforce Development, and Manpower Inc. gives the state the third-best employment outlook in the nation.