Over the past twenty years, the success of Roquette America's Keokuk factory has partially depended on the generous financial support from the city, county,and state. This public support was dependent on Roquette's promise to create high quality jobs that would raise the standard of living in our community. However, the current lockout of 240 Roquette employees has led to further economic instability in our area. This lockout has shown Roquette's blatant disregard for the prosperity of our community, and is a betrayal of the members of our community and state.

We, the undersigned community members, urge the Keokuk City Council, the Lee County Board of Supervisors, the Iowa Department of Economic Development, and the Iowa State Legislature to refrain from awarding additional grants, loans, tax credits, tax abatements, publicly-funded infrastructure investments, and any other forms of economic assistance to Roquette until the company ends its current lockout of employees and negotiates in good faith toward a fair settlement.