IASourceLink Blog

For millions of small businesses across the United States, it's getting close to the most wonderful time of the year: Small Business Saturday! Small Business Saturday is a way for consumers to usher in the busy holiday shopping season and make an impact in their community by supporting independently owned businesses.

Spend just an hour with Tricia Rivas and you quickly appreciate everything that is great about small business. Rivas’ enthusiasm for her employees, clients and community is contagious. The owner of Trixie’s Salon, with three locations in Des Moines and Altoona, knows small business success isn’t just about making money. It is also about making a difference in the community you serve.

Small business success is as much about the growth of the owner as the business itself. Clint Dudley, owner of Shade Tree Auto in Grimes, learned this important lesson by investing in his own professional development.

An extensive business background and a love of craft beer led Clark Lewey and his team ofToppling Goliath innovators to build Toppling Goliath into the giant of Iowa’s beer industry.

Applications for the John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Venture Competition are now being accepted. The fourteenth annual statewide competition will be awarding $100,000 in cash prizes!

Brad and Angie Barber dreamed up the idea for Cabin Coffee back in 2001. They knew Brad’s current career would likely transfer them out of state soon, but the Barbers wanted to stay in Clear Lake, Iowa. They started Cabin Coffee in 2002 with a single retail location in Clear Lake and have steadily and sustainably grown Cabin Coffee over the last 17 years, going from a start-up business with no employees to having sales of $5.5 million and 140 employees in 2017.

FedEx Corp. has launched its seventh annual Small Business Grant Contest. The contest offers a collective prize pool of $220,500 that will be awarded to 10 winning small businesses. Winners will also receive an additional dollar amount in credit to use toward FedEx Office print and business services to help run their businesses. The contest is open to U.S.-based for-profit small businesses with 99 or fewer employees and operating for six months or more.

Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC) is partnering with StartupDubuque to offer an Entrepreneur Certificate, starting this year. The new Entrepreneur Certificate at NICC will teach participants how to build a successful business plan, prepare financial statements, and marketing and selling on social media platforms. The certificate is open to all students, as well as current or future business owners in the Dubuque area, who want to develop, enhance or grow their business.

Iowa small business owners who are looking for ways to broaden their operations will want to consider a new training program being offered by Iowa's community colleges, in conjunction with one of the largest U.S. financial services firms.

Last Saturday, was my own mini version of “Shop local Saturday” (though the real one is coming up at the end of this month, so mark your calendars!). I ate lunch at a authentic Mexican restaurant in downtown Waterloo, shopped the local vintage shop in historic downtown Cedar Falls, and spent the rest of the afternoon at of our own gem of a mid-century-modern-themed coffee shop with a friend.