On first anniversary of his passing, the community reflects on memories with Pappajohn One year ago this week, Iowa lost John Pappajohn, a pillar of business, entrepreneurship, education, art and philanthropy. His story is well known and revered as his legacy carries on through the people and organizations he supported and influenced during his life. […]
As a kid, building with Legos was an influence on Joe Feldmann’s later decision to go into architecture. “As an architect, there is an assumption that I would like Legos, and you would be right. From a very young age, I found my creative abilities thrive when I was building models,” Feldmann wrote in a recent LinkedIn […]
As federal digital equity dollars head for states, CBAN is poised to support Iowa’s proposal, president says Community Broadband Action Network (CBAN), an Iowa-based member organization of stakeholders in and around the broadband space, is pushing ahead with its mission to help communities bridge gaps in broadband services with an eye toward digital equity, following […]
Vice President Jack Chimbetete shares about the organization’s third African Business Fair When Jack Chimbetete first came to Iowa in 2018 as a participant in the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders, the then-newly formed nonprofit One Voice DSM welcomed him and the other fellows with a ceremony and a reminder of home. “Because we had been […]
Gravitate Coworking founder Geoff Wood reflects on a decade in business Many in Des Moines and Iowa’s entrepreneurial ecosystem will know of Gravitate Coworking and its founder Geoff Wood. But to understand how it started 10 years ago requires stepping back to some key developments in the early days of Des Moines’ startup community. Although short-lived, StartupCity […]
The Iowa Economic Development Authority awards funding to startups in the form of low-interest loans through its Innovation Continuum, which includes five funds that are designed to offer companies non-dilutive funding at every stage of business growth. The funds are: Proof of Commercial Relevance (POCR), Demonstration Fund and the Innovation Acceleration Fund, which offers Launch, Propel and […]
Artificial intelligence is seen as a copilot and tool to help employees be more efficient, a panel of chief information officers said at the Technology Association of Iowa’s AI Public Policy Forum on Jan. 24. All three panelists — Kathy Kay of Principal Financial Group, Ryan Schaap of Wells Enterprise and Laura Smith of UnityPoint […]
The founder and CEO says he hopes to create a ‘movement’ of organizations meeting complex challenges with a curious, innovative mindset Jeff Reed’s entrepreneurial journey started almost six years ago when he left his job to start his first consulting company, the Elevate Co. Since then, he’s been evolving and developing his own vision for innovation […]
Empower Rural Iowa, an initiative under the Iowa Economic Development Authority created to advance growth and investment in rural Iowa, has adopted a new strategic focus centered on finding innovative ideas with potential to scale statewide. A new executive order signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds in October updated Empower Rural Iowa’s mission to be a group that “functions […]
During 2023, innovationIOWA covered stories of innovation and entrepreneurship across Iowa, including the expansion of Maple Studios to the Quad Cities, Techstars Startup Weekend returning to Des Moines for the first time in seven years and the launch of Novy, Iowa’s first venture studio. Below are the five most-read innovationIOWA stories in 2023. Revisit more […]