Many people blame the current high unemployment rate in the United States upon the outmigration of manufacturing jobs to foreign countries, where labor costs are cheaper- much cheaper.   Some American job loss can credibly be attributed to this kind of outmigration but surprisingly, many more American manufacturing jobs are being eliminated because of technological innovation and entrepreneurship. Columnist Hale Stewart wrote last year in the popular Huffington Post online magazine, that improvements in manufacturing processes- rather than outmigration of jobs overseas- have resulted in the huge layoffs we’ve experienced over the past decade. Even though the national unemployment rate is currently over 9%, Stewart notes that manufacturing productivity has never been higher; we manufacture more goods today than we did a decade ago with only 4-5% unemployment.  While looking at these numbers, I kept thinking about Chickasaw County in NE Iowa. Between 2000 and 2003 ... [More]

MT.PLEASANT, Iowa – The popular Dream Big Grow Here entrepreneurship contest in SE Iowa has resulted in an unusual finish after a wild night of online voting September 16th. The Southeast Iowa Dream Big Grow Here contest is one of six regional contests sponsored by the University of Northern Iowa and five other organizations to promote local awareness of the unique businesses and talented entrepreneurs in the state. Each regional contest offers a $5,000 cash award and a chance to win an additional $10,000 in a pitch-off event in March 2012. “The SE Iowa contest, sponsored by the Mt. Pleasant Area Development Commission has been one of the most popular so far this year”, noted Maureen Collins-Williams, Director of Entrepreneurship Outreach at UNI, where the contest was created. “Not only did southeast Iowa attract more contestants than any other regional contest, people from all over the world turned out to vote for their favorite business there, casting nearly ... [More]

Good Afternoon! Things are jumping in Iowa this month!  As many of you know,  the University of Northern Iowa Regional Business Center (RBC) developed a partnership with the Iowa Bankers Association and the Community Vitality Center in mid-2010 to launch Dream Big Grow Here -an online entrepreneur contest featuring $1,000 monthly grants awarded online to emerging and existing Iowa small business owners who uploaded their ‘dreams’, then encouraged customers, family and other business owners to vote for them. Dream Big Grow Here attracted 63,489 visitors during the five month beta test.  Given the initial success of Dream Big Grow Here, a group of statewide sponsors stepped up this year to provide matching funds for more customized regional contests-with bigger cash awards of $5,000- and to fund a statewide pitch-off among winners for a grand prize of $10,000.  The Iowa Bankers Association, The Technology Association of Iowa, Renew Rural Iowa, Iowa Dep... [More]