The Iowa Economic Development Authority board recently approved assistance from Iowa’s State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) Innovation Fund for startups in Ames, Des Moines and West Des Moines. SSBCI funding awarded to three startups this past month Headquartered in Ames, ASPi Solutions, Inc., operating as Bound, has developed a…
Conversations about artificial intelligence continued at the Iowa Legislature this year with one bill making it to the governor’s desk, said Mollie Ross, vice president of operations and government affairs at the Technology Association of Iowa. Ross said she is “incredibly proud” of the bill that passed this year, which…
AT&T announced a $20,000 community investment to Pi515 to support its digital literacy programs for high school students. Pi515 provides underserved youths with access to high-quality technology education and career opportunities. Pi515 will use the funds to expand the Career Accelerator Program, which gives students access to hands-on digital literacy…
MiDi LLC, a business founded by Barb and Steve O’Rourke that develops products to help premature infants safely build feeding skills, won first place and $20,000 at the University of Iowa’s Venture School Launch Day on June 11 in Iowa City. The event was held in conjunction with the annual…
The National Federation of Independent Business has announced that Cody Carlson is its new state director in Iowa. Carlson will be responsible for all aspects of the organization’s state advocacy, operations, political engagement, communications and programming on behalf of members across the state. He has spent the past five years…
When customers walk into Blanc Dental Aesthetics, a boutique dental practice founded by Dr. Lauren Patrick, they receive a “comfort menu.” On that menu are options including a warm blanket, noise-canceling headphones, Netflix and other streaming options, and an eye mask. Patrick said she is not aware of any dental…
In his last month of college, Tom Hicks failed student teaching. He called off his wedding to his high school sweetheart. Then his dad was diagnosed with dementia. “I felt like a failure,” said Hicks during a presentation at ENTREFest, an annual conference celebrating entrepreneurship and innovation. “I didn’t want…
The NIACC John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center recently launched Venture Launch Lab, a new entrepreneurial incubator program designed to help aspiring and early-stage business owners build the knowledge, systems and confidence needed to successfully launch and grow a sustainable business. The Venture Launch Lab aims to fill a gap in entrepreneurial…
Registration is open for the 2026 Norman E. Borlaug International Dialogue on Oct. 20-22 at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines. The theme of this year’s event is “Before Hunger Wins.” The three-day event includes discussions on food security, sustainability and agricultural innovation, networking opportunities with leaders from government,…
The Iowa Arts Council’s Creative Places Accelerator is a year-long program where community teams from small to mid-size Iowa communities develop arts-based projects to serve as catalysts for livability, economic development and community connectedness. Projects developed through this accelerator program will be focused on creative placemaking or placekeeping and will…
As part of a refresh of the Business Record’s Innovation Iowa brand, we have created a new landing page on the Business Record website to house all Innovation Iowa coverage and more stories from the Business Record covering innovation and technology.
Visit www.businessrecord.com/innovation-iowa to view all Innovation Iowa stories, including the 2026 Innovation Iowa Magazine, out now.
-Sarah Diehn, Business Record Editor