Thirty-two teachers have graduated from NewBoCo’s Computer Science Professional Learning Program, a multi-week computer science course offered in partnership with Code.org, NewBoCo announced this week. During the 2017-2018 course, teachers taught 1,774 students computer science skills previously inaccessible to students. In 2016, an estimated 75 percent of Iowa’s public schools were not able to offer […]

A nonprofit organization promoting financial services innovation is rebranding. The Symphony Software Foundation has announced its launch as the Fintech Open Source Foundation (FINOS). The FINOS brand will continue to provide an independent forum for high-impact collaboration across the financial services community, the organization said in a statement. FINOS also announced several new members, including […]

Des Moines-based fintech startup LenderClose announced Tuesday the business has secured funding to add 25 new employees. Since launching in March 2016, LenderClose has added 100 lenders to its client list; in March 2018, LenderClose secured investment from two Iowa credit unions and added Chief Operating Officer Ben Rempe to its team. LenderClose’s latest round […]

Waterloo Community Schools will be offering 1:1 Chromebooks to two more grade levels during the 2018-19 school year, the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports. The Board of Education approved $997,058 to purchase Chromebooks for eighth and ninth grade students. The district has already provided laptop computers to sixth and seventh grade students, and plans to expand […]

VolunteerLocal, a Des Moines-based scheduling and registration platform, has announced a new partnership with North American IRONMAN and Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series events, President Kaylee Williams said in a statement on Thursday. IRONMAN events are expected to recruit around 100,000 volunteers in 2018, who assist races across North America with designated tasks including parking, […]

The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business issued its Innovations That Inspire award to Drake University’s College of Business and Public Administration, recognizing Drake’s role as host institute for the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders. The award recognizes Drake University’s role as a model for community-based mentorship, both in participants and the […]

IDx, a University of Iowa spinout company based in Coralville, has received FDA approval to market IDx-DR, the  first medical device to use artificial intelligence to detect greater than a mild level of the eye disease diabetic retinopathy in adults who have diabetes. IDx recently announced a move to larger quarters in the Oakdale Research […]

NewBoCo’s inaugural Intrapreneur Academy welcomed six teams to spark innovation within their organizations last week. A mix of nonproft, for-profit and government entities are spending the next year to focus on four competencies of innovative organizations: Agile, Methods, Strategy and Culture. Each quarter will focus on one of the four competencies through workshops, networking groups […]

Kirkwood Community College dedicated the Statler Agricultural Sciences Center last Thursday, reports the Corridor Business Journal. The center is named for Larry and Jan Statler, founders of Kirkwood’s agricultural program in 1968. Since Larry Statler’s retirement in 1990, the two have remained closely involved in the program. In honor of the couple, Kent and Judy […]

A data analytics company that threw Facebook policies into international scrutiny touted the success of digital advertising for an Iowa Congresswoman’s campaign. In a post-2014 election report, Cambridge Analytica promoted successful digital advertising the firm created for U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, a Republican who successfully ran against Iowa Democrat and incumbent Bruce Braley. The ads […]