The Iowa Rural Development Council, a statewide nonprofit focused on small-town and rural vitality, awarded the 2025 Rand Fisher Rural Leadership Awards at its recent Iowa Rural Summit. The summit brought together leaders from small towns across Iowa. The awards recognize nominees in rural economic and community development, philanthropy, the arts and utilities. Honorees are nominated […]
The Greater Dallas County Development Alliance announced the launch of its small business grant fund, a new initiative focused on supporting local entrepreneurship and small business to stimulate economic growth. With an annual funding pool of $10,000, the grant aims to provide financial support to small businesses. Small businesses operating in a Dallas County community […]
The NIACC John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center hosted the second annual Iowa Student Entrepreneurship Summit on April 11-12 in Mason City and Clear Lake. The event brought together business majors and student entrepreneurs from Iowa’s community colleges, private colleges and the University of Northern Iowa. The Student Entrepreneurship Summit included a student pitch competition followed by […]
Upvote, an AI-native software company, has announced partnerships with Iowa’s House of Representatives and Governor’s office to use AI-powered tools to streamline the legislative process. Iowa House caucuses and the office of Gov. Kim Reynolds implemented Upvote’s Legible platform to develop, evaluate and publish legislation, starting with the 2025 legislative session, according to a news […]
Nicholas Bushelle, associate and corporate and venture tech attorney, Dentons Davis Brown: Moving corporate domiciles out of Delaware: For over 100 years, Delaware has been the predominant state of formation for U.S. business entities due to its well-developed corporate case law and specialized judicial bench. That may be changing, as Delaware faces an exodus of tech […]
Basi Affia, founder of the Des Moines-based comic book production company Sensi’il Studios, took second place in the 2025 Athene Black & Brown Business Summit Pitch Competition, held in West Des Moines April 16-17. “It’s an honor to be on stage with so many high-caliber business owners and people who are doing so many cool […]
Iowa founders should ‘dream bigger’ Kaylee Williams, investment director at InnoVenture Iowa, Iowa’s first publicly backed venture capital fund, recently shared this advice for startup founders: “I would just say, dream bigger,” said Williams during a panel event at Maple Studios on April 2. “Seriously, my biggest critique of Iowa founders is we don’t dream […]
BrokerTech Ventures, a broker-led convening platform, recently hosted the nine insurtech startups participating in the organization’s sixth accelerator program for a two-day event in Des Moines. The event, called BTV Mania, brought the startups together to meet BTV’s 25 broker and insurance company partners at Holmes Murphy’s Waukee headquarters. The startups selected for the 2025 […]
The American Farm Bureau Federation, in partnership with Farm Credit, is seeking entrepreneurs to apply online by June 9 for the 2026 Farm Bureau Ag Innovation Challenge. Now in its 12th year, this national business competition showcases U.S. startup companies developing innovative solutions to challenges faced by America’s farmers, ranchers and rural communities. The overall winner […]
The North Iowa Area Community College John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center is accepting applications for the 2025 Youth Entrepreneurial Academy, a weeklong summer camp held on the NIACC campus. The academy will take place June 16-20. A concluding pitch competition will be held on June 23, where students will present their business ideas for a chance […]