America’s Iowa Small Business Development Center has announced that Mark Thalken is the new regional director for the Iowa Western SBDC at Iowa Western Community College, located in Council Bluffs. Thalken will advise and train entrepreneurs and existing business owners in Pottawattamie, Shelby, Harrison, Page, Mills, Cass and Fremont counties. Thalken started his new role in August. “Mark brings tremendous expertise and dedication to supporting entrepreneurs, and we are confident he will be an outstanding resource for small business owners in the region,” Austin Strawhacker, SBDC Iowa’s state director, said in a prepared statement. Thalken is a graduate of Creighton University and has spent the last 10-plus years working in product development and analytics, sales, as well as the public sector in the Omaha/Council Bluffs metro area. Most recently, he worked at Iowa Western Community College assisting southwest Iowa businesses with workforce development and training needs. Funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration, America’s SBDC Iowa has 15 regional assistance centers located across the state. Since the program’s inception in 1981, the SBDC has helped Iowa businesses and entrepreneurs through no fee, confidential, customized, professional business counseling and training workshops.
