America’s Small Business Development Center Iowa (SBDC) has announced Elizabeth Christensen is the new regional director of the Western Iowa SBDC, located at Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs. Christensen will serve new entrepreneurs and existing business owners in Pottawattamie, Shelby, Harrison, Page, Mills, Cass and Fremont counties. She…
The Greater Des Moines Partnership has announced the 14 participants for the third Scale DSM Business Accelerator cohort. Scale DSM uses Interise’s Streetwise program to help business owners gain management know-how and networks needed to increase revenue, create jobs and positively affect the community over the six-month program, a news release said….
The ImagineDSM Entrepreneurship program, in collaboration with FuseDSM and Bookpress Publishing, has opened registration for its second cohort. Starting in October, the six-month program is split into six sessions, each led by industry professionals and experienced entrepreneurs. Topics covered will include idea development, networking and relationships, marketing and branding, conflict…
The Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program recently celebrated the cohort of 32 small business owners who completed the 12-week program. This was the 11th cohort of the program, which is administered by Des Moines Area Community College in collaboration with all of Iowa’s 15 community colleges. There are now 300 program…
Coe College in Cedar Rapids held a May Term course teaching students how to move an early-stage idea through ideation and validation. The course was taught by David Tominsky, Coe’s entrepreneur-in-residence, and a co-founding partner of Novy, and Samantha Brown, assistant professor of psychology and faculty co-director of C3: Creativity, Careers,…
The 2024 John Pappajohn Student Entrepreneurial Venture Competition, the 24th annual, was held on April 22 in Des Moines. The competition, a collaborative effort of the five John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Centers, was the first one since John Pappajohn’s death last year. “It was a bittersweet experience to host this year’s…
The inaugural Latina Business Excellence Summit, aiming to celebrate and empower Latina entrepreneurs, will be held on May 9 from 3-7 p.m. at the River Center in Des Moines. The summit’s goal is to increase access to opportunities, representation and resources. The event will include speakers, an expo to connect with…
Oskaloosa Schools is launching Oskaloosa Spirit Cafe, an initiative aimed at providing vocational opportunities and promoting inclusivity within the community. The cafe, which will open to the public in the summer, was originally conceived to provide essential job skills to students with disabilities, and now welcomes a range of students from diverse…
The Greater Des Moines Partnership has announced the next cohort of the tuition-free Scale DSM Business Accelerator will start in June and run through December. Participants attend sessions on topics such as business and strategic assessment, financial management, sales and marketing and talent and capital resources. Applicants must meet these following four requirements:…
The West Des Moines Chamber of Commerce has announced seven finalists for the 2024 pitch competition at the fourth annual Athene Black & Brown Business Summit. An eighth finalist will be randomly selected on the day of the event on April 18. The finalists were chosen from a pool of…