By Lea Hensel, Marketing Coordinator, UNI Business and Community Services When it comes to starting, growing, or even sustaining a business, there are a lot of building blocks. There’s the business plan and financials. The physical or online location. Determining your business structure and managing employees. But unfortunately, a very important piece of...
The Panther Biz Headquarters (PBHQ) is a student-led program out of UNI’s Center for Business Growth and Innovation (CBGI). Started in 2018, the program has helped over 30 small businesses across Iowa with their digital marketing needs. The PBHQ gives students the opportunity to gain experience in their field while...
By Leah Barton, Director of CIRAS' Procurement Technical Assistance Program Government contracting is a byzantine business—a long and plodding trek through a jungle filled with complicated regulation, documentation requirements, and new marketing challenges. Sound impossible? Not if you have help. Since 2000, CIRAS has served as Iowa’s Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC)—the Iowa affiliate...
Excerpt from the article ""Q&A with outgoing Economic Development and Industry Relations vice president"" by Julie Lelonek, Office of Economic Development and Industry Relations Mike Crum, who for the last five years has led the Office of Economic Development and Industry Relations (EDIR), stepped down at the end of [June 2018]. In his...
Hello, this is Debi Durham, Director of the Iowa Economic Development Authority. We recently hit an exciting milestone anniversary – IASourceLink has turned five! When the program was first launched late in 2012, we could only anticipate what this small business resource might provide to business owners, resource providers and...
By Patrick Luensmann, Program Director, CBGI The Iowa Business Concierge on IASourcelink is the information conduit for business owners and resource partners. With access to over a dozen databases and University of Northern Iowa resources the ‘BC’ makes getting information for your business a breeze. From prospect lists, demographics, and consumer...
By Sarah Mote, Marketing Director, KCSourceLink “If you build it, they will come.” That advice may have worked out for fictional Iowa corn farmer Ray Kinsella when he built his Field of Dreams. But Amy Kuhlers, real-life builder of entrepreneurial ecosystems, knew early on that she’d have to actively recruit the players...
By Sydney Lundgren, Student Staff at UNI's Center for Business Growth and Innovation As a CEO, it can be lonely at the top. They often find themselves trying to answer questions and fight the fires on their own with no one to serve as their listening ear- that’s where Advance Iowa...
By Cally Reed, Program Associate, University of Northern Iowa's Center for Business Growth and Innovation When it comes to educating young people about entrepreneurship and launching new student-led companies in Iowa, the John Papajohn Entrepreneurial Center (JPEC) is the name to know. This month the entrepreneur spotlight shines on the University...
By Jayne Armstrong, District Director, U.S. Small business Administration's Iowa District Office After his hometown of Clinton, IA, (population 25,719) was devastated from the International Paper plant closure in 2001, resulting in 355 lost jobs, Bob Simpson saw an opportunity for a niche market business utilizing the experienced professionals who remained...
