ISU’s Digital Ag Research Team partners with companies on innovative solutions, talent pipeline Nestled in Iowa State University’s BioCentury Research Farm west of Ames is a group of researchers who are focused on helping agricultural companies succeed. The university’s Digital Ag Research Team, led by Matt Darr, partners with companies to advance technology used in […]
The Business Record’s 2022 innovationENTREPRENEUR Award recipient is Pursuit of Innovation 515 founder and Executive Director Nancy Mwirotsi. Mwirotsi started an after-school dance group for local girls and in 2014 transitioned it to the early version of Pi515. The education nonprofit teaches underserved youths technology skills and empowers them to explore and pursue science, technology, […]
How Fairfield, a rural southeast Iowa community, has spurred innovation Fairfield, Iowa’s history is one that other Iowans may not know well. Among its interesting facts: The Fairfield Public Library is the first prototype of the Carnegie library, of which there are now 2,700 around the world; the company that developed the international symbol that […]
VizyPay was founded in 2017 by entrepreneurs Austin Mac Nab, pictured at left, and Frank Pagano, right, who experienced the difficulties small business owners had with handling payments. Now, VizyPay is serving small to medium-sized businesses in small and rural towns with payment processing systems that fit their needs. The company was selected by the […]
Capital Chiropractic pioneering non-hospital option in Iowa for hyperbaric chamber therapy An emerging health therapy that has gained popularity on the coasts over the past couple of years has made its way to Iowa. Known as hyperbaric oxygen therapy, or HBOT, the treatments are now available in Des Moines. Chris LoRang, a Des Moines chiropractor […]
Rural artists seeking more awareness and resources In the economic recovery from the pandemic, the arts and culture industry was one of the hardest hit — the arts economy was responsible for 4.2% of the GDP in 2020 but contracted at nearly twice the rate of the economy as a whole, according to new data […]
Submitted by Nancy Mwirotsi, founder and executive director, Pi515 It feels like there’s a growing gap between our state’s youths and long-term career security and opportunity. This gap jeopardizes our ability to develop a future-ready workforce. As a community, we need to start having collective conversations that allow us to bridge this gap. We must […]
An Iowa State duo adapts a 1990s ISU invention for the future of electronics manufacturing SAFI-Tech was founded from a partnership between Ian Tevis, a then postdoctoral student at Iowa State University, and the researcher he came to study under, Martin Thuo, assistant professor of materials science and engineering. Thuo says in essence, materials science […]
First statewide tracking system created to better Iowa’s sexual assault kit testing capabilities 4,275. That was the number of unsubmitted, untested sexual assault kits in Iowa in March 2017. Before then, no one in Iowa knew that number. Not hospital staffs, not the state’s crime lab, not law enforcement agencies. Sandi Tibbetts Murphy, director of […]
VizyPay finds innovation through diverse hiring The vast majority of employees — more than 9 out of 10 — working at VizyPay had no previous experience in the credit payments industry when they were hired at the fast-growing, Waukee-based financial technology company. But they all have some degree of what co-founder and CEO Austin Mac […]