IASourceLink Blog

Professional development, networking events, summits, conferences, peer learning...the list can go on forever. Invitations to these type of events are EVERYWHERE!! I see them all over social media, email, my office mailbox, even the bulletin boards at offices and coffee shops around town. With so many of them happening, I’m assuming they must be fairly well attended but the real question is….are they worth it?

When it comes to electric fencing insulation, Insulights is the name to know in Iowa. The company founder, Bill Brown recently won first place in the John Pappajohn pitch competition with his company Insulights at Entrefest in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. I had the pleasure of having a brief conversation about how his company started, what it was like to get the resources he needed to have starting a company in Iowa, and his plans for the company's next steps.

Advance Iowa, a program hosted on University of Northern Iowa’s campus, is launching a Family Business Forum Breakfast Series Fall 2018. This series is designed to bring families together to navigate topics such as Human Resources and next generation planning, topics that are imperative to owning and operating a successful family business for years to come.

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 spending reports the information available can help any size business. The service is available at no-cost on IASourcelink.com and you can call, email or submit a form on the website.

“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 for Iowa’s field of dreams—a vibrant resource network for entrepreneurs.

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 aspiring entrepreneurs. Until that time, there had been no Iowa-centric place to find information on starting and growing a business. Would-be entrepreneurs turned to search engines for answers relying on the information they found whether it was accurate and credible or not.

Great opportunities often arise out of disastrous events. Cedar Rapids’ renaissance following the flood of 2008 spurred many millennials to return home to contribute to its recovery and resurgence. Quinton and Ana McClain’s successful venture, Lion Bridge Brewing, represents the cornerstone of the Czech Village and New Bohemia’s revitalization.

New business filings will now take less than a day to process, down from a two-week wait, because of new filing software launched by the Iowa secretary of state’s office.

When it comes to needing business resources, the first thought to your mind is probably not, “I should call UNI, ISU, or Iowa!” But, what if I told you that these three state universities may very likely be one of your best options? There are programs at each university ready to help you start and grow your business. That those programs are staffed by experts who have been providing business assistance for years and years. That many programs actually receive state or federal funding in order to provide services at little or no cost directly to you.

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 comes in. Advance Iowa is a comprehensive consulting program hosted in the heart of the University of Northern Iowa’s campus. Since 2013, Advance Iowa has been providing a number of services to Iowa businesses and they continue to grow.