Growing businesses and celebrating entrepreneurship were themes at Midwest Partnership’s EntreBASH attended by about 100 area entrepreneurs and “entrewants” Tuesday evening at Clover Hall in Jefferson.
As part of Midwest Partnership’s five-year regional entrepreneur project, the event was sponsored by the University of Northern Iowa’s Business and Community Services and the federal Economic Development Administration.
Entrepreneurs and those thinking of starting a business had access to a wide range experts on topics ranging from business planning, financing, marketing, use of social media, accounting and more. Staff from UNI met one-on-one with entrepreneurs to inventory needs and suggest ways to meet those needs. Follow-up will be done in the coming weeks. Lisa Nielsen Jaskey, CPA, of Jefferson hosted a learning lab on accounting, and Jerald, Cindy and Benji Deal hosted social media and marketing learning lab.
A highlight of the evening was a short talk given by Andy Stoll, a co-producer of the EntreFEST slated for May 20-22 in Iowa City. EntreFEST is the Midwest’s largest gathering of business owners, startup founders, corporate innovators and community builders. It includes more than 100 breakout sessions on topics of interest to entrepreneurs.
Stoll told stories of successful entrepreneurs like Brian Buscher of Algona, founder of Sbemco International, which manufactures custom door mats for businesses including Target. He told of Joe Sweeney, a farmer from Buckeye who has grown an aquaculture endeavor to become the largest supplier of barramundi seabass in Iowa.
According to Stoll, the Industrial Age ended with the recession of 2008, and although the new “age” hasn’t yet been named, it is fundamentally different in the approach to collaboration, connectivity and creativity. With the “democratization of entrepreneurship,” he said, “it has never been easier to take an idea and launch something new.”
Also present at EntreBASH were representatives of the Center for Business Growth and Innovation, the Iowa Center for Economic Success, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, Iowa Farm Bureau’s Renew Rural Iowa, Spartan Insurance, UN Partners, the Iowa Economic Development Authority, Iowa Central Community College, Des Moines Area Community College, Greene County Chamber and Development, and Jefferson Matters: Main Street
