Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE), a national network of volunteer counselors providing free mentoring and programming to small businesses, is holding a pitch competition in Des Moines on Sept. 12. The event is one of five pitch competitions SCORE is hosting to celebrate the nonprofit’s 60th anniversary. Competing small…
The North Iowa Area Community College John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center will host the 2024 Pappajohn Entrepreneur Gala on Oct. 3, the center announced. The gala will celebrate North Iowa entrepreneurs and present Stellar Industries Inc. with the Legacy Award for its contributions to the region. Nominations are open for the…
Participants can now register for the 2025 Global Insurance Symposium, and organizers have unveiled the theme for the 11th annual event: Insuring a World of Opportunity. The symposium will be held April 15-16, 2025, at the Iowa Events Center in downtown Des Moines, according to a news release from event…
Adam Keune, co-founder of Coralville-based Higher Learning Technologies, has been named the new executive director of the Iowa John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center (Iowa JPEC) at the University of Iowa’s Tippie College of Business. Keune was Iowa JPEC’s entrepreneur-in-residence in 2023-24 and has served on the center’s advisory board since 2018….
Heartland Business Systems is hosting the 12th annual Secure Iowa event on Sept. 4. The event provides networking and continuing education in information security, IT risk management, compliance and privacy. The schedule includes a keynote address from Chris Valasek on why Internet of Things devices are uniquely vulnerable to security…
Sista Soul Fest, a family-oriented festival working to empower diverse entrepreneurs and bring the community together, will hold its fifth annual event on Aug. 25 at Evelyn K. Davis Park in Des Moines. There will be more than 60 artisans and food vendors as well as a barbecue competition and…
Verbio’s biorefinery facility in Nevada, Iowa, has started commercial production of corn-based ethanol, Verbio North America announced recently. Verbio Nevada, which opened in 2021, can now operate as a full biorefinery with a total capacity to produce 60 million gallons of corn-based ethanol per year and 2.3 million mmBTU of renewable…
Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, also known as PRRS, has cost the U.S. pork industry an estimated $1.2 billion per year in lost production from 2016 to 2020, according to a new analysis from Iowa State University. The economic damage from the viral disease has increased 80%, or $536 million, from…
The Iowa Rural Development Council (IRDC) has received a $200,000 grant from Wells Fargo to establish a new program to support small-business development in rural Iowa communities. According to a news release, the IRDC Rural Business Initiative will provide grants of at least $30,000 to community organizations that work with…
The Iowa Go-To-Market (G2M) Accelerator is seeking participants for its next cohort starting in October. The accelerator program aims to provide companies with individualized assistance to prepare them for investment fundraising and business launch after their experience in an initial incubator or accelerator like Iowa State University’s Startup Factory, University of Iowa’s…