From the Desk of Director Durham – 12/4/14

From the Desk of Director Durham – 12/4/14

As we approach the end of this year and begin looking forward to the next, now is a great time to reflect on where we have been.

IASourceLink is celebrating its third year of being the online home for Iowa startups and entrepreneurs to get connected to local and statewide resources.  Since January, IASourceLink has seen a two-fold increase in web traffic, and has successfully completed thousands of requests for business help from Iowans with just a great idea to mid-sized firms looking for market research. Almost every one of those requests resulted in a personal introduction to at least one local or statewide organization, fulfilling our mission of connecting entrepreneurs to the right resource, every time.

Every month, visitors to IASourceLink are able to browse the most comprehensive calendar of small business events, or read from dozens of expert blogs over a multitude of business-related topics- many of which are contributed from our public service provider network of friends. The free webinars have also received a tremendous response – averaging over 80 online attendees every session.

Of course, none of this great work is possible without our amazing Iowa business owners and economic development partners who have made the IASourceLink web portal such a success. Thank you for taking time out this summer to review your online profile in the resource navigator and meet with our IASourceLink staff at one of our regional meetings. You’ve also been instrumental in providing us your events, guest blog posts, and feedback which has helped us build out IASourceLink this year and set a vision for where we will be adding enhancements for next.

As far as events go for this month, we’re slowing down in anticipation for the New Year. There is still one that I’d like to be sure to mention. The Iowa Association of Business and Industry will hold Connecting Statewide Leaders event on December 11th. This unique affair brings together leaders from around Iowa to discuss business and education partnerships.

This will be my last update for this year. I wish you all a very safe and happy holidays. Thanks again for all you have done to make Iowa the best place to start and grow a business.

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