A program to help small businesses keep their utilities on is being expanded to help more businesses avoid having their gas or electric service disconnected. The Iowa Economic Development Authority announced Friday that eligibility requirements for the Iowa Small Business Utility Disruption Prevention Program has been expanded to include utility assistance for eligible small businesses […]

A research project led by Iowa State University into broadband delivery for rural communities is one of two finalists for a national grant by the Platforms for Advanced Wireless Research (PAWR), funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and 35 wireless companies and associations.  A team of 10 core project researchers led by ISU professor […]

Myriad Advisor Solutions announced this week that it has begun laying fiber optic cable to power cutting-edge technology with the vision of creating a sustainable Smart Campus for businesses in the Quarter district, located at Ashworth Road and Grand Prairie Parkway in Waukee. Technology that will be available in buildings in the Smart Campus includes […]

By Kathy Bolten | Business Record senior reporter High-speed internet access will be provided to every West Des Moines residence and business through an ambitious plan unveiled last week by city officials and Google Fiber, a provider of fiber-optic broadband internet service. Under a development agreement approved this week by the City Council, West Des […]

An electric scooter rental program that’s popular but also potentially a dangerous nuisance will return to Cedar Rapids and expand, the Cedar Rapids Gazette reports. The scooters and bikes — introduced last year and stationed on public walkways — are slated to return this spring, city officials said Tuesday. Last fall, city officials were weighing whether […]

A bill co-authored by U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack of Iowa designed to improve the accuracy of the Federal Communications Commission’s broadband availability maps in rural areas has passed the U.S. House and now heads to the Senate, reports the Corridor Business Journal. H.R. 4229, the Broadband Deployment Accuracy and Technological Availability (DATA) Act, would require […]

Customers have mixed opinions after Alliant Energy announced a new program to install meters for gas and electric service that send out radio signals to the company, reports Radio Iowa. The Iowa Utilities Board previously ruled against charging customers a fee if they wanted to opt out of the advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) program; the latest […]

Microsoft Corp. and Nextlink Internet are partnering to expand the Microsoft Airband Initiative, the Microsoft program dedicated to closing the broadband internet accessibility gap by investing in rural internet access infrastructure.  Microsoft’s partnership with Nextlink will expand Nextlink’s existing deployments in Texas and Oklahoma, and begin new deployments in Iowa, Illinois, Kansas and Nebraska.  “It’s […]

When Shelley McKinley visited the Iowa State Fair this year, she made sure to swing by the food vendors. “It was awesome. I loved it. I got a big huge bucket of those cookies to take home with me,” McKinley said, laughing. Home for McKinley is Redmond, Wash., where she serves as the head of […]