Open just a year, The Port is bringing innovations to the entrepreneurial scene. The new collaboration center at Iowa Western Community College is offering inexpensive workspace and technology support to entrepreneurs looking to dig roots in Council Bluffs and start a new business.
The Port is so far ahead that it’s already looking to launch two new projects in addition to bringing Google for Entrepreneurs’ Startup Grind to the Council Bluffs metropolitan area. One initiative will reach out to Latinos in Council Bluffs who want to or are already starting businesses. Another will attempt to bring networking events to rural communities in southwest Iowa. Both projects build off the Startup Grind series, which has its origins in a small office in Mountain View, Calif., in 2010 and has since grown to more than 100 cities in 42 counties.
In the Midwest, Council Bluffs – thanks to the efforts of Iowa Western and a $2.5 million grant from the Department of Labor Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Training program – joins Chicago, Denver and Kansas City in offering chapters. The first session – scheduled for Aug. 19 at 5:30 p.m. – will bring Nick Mauer and Josh Powell of MTRL Design to The Port. They developed a product line made with locally produced bamboo out of Omaha’s Mastercraft building.
“These guys are both Council Bluffs guys,” Scott Peck , the internship coordinator for Iowa Western’s Computer Information Technology program said. “They have come up with a visual services company where they do a lot of laser cutting.” What’s exciting, he said, is the duo have already gotten off the ground and can share their experience with those aspiring to follow in their footsteps. “We want to have Startup Grind be a place where possible entrepreneurs, people who have ideas, can come and gain not only wisdom understand and know-how to get their business started but also get inspiration,” Peck said.
Each event will begin with networking over food and beverages, followed by an entrepreneur sharing the experience of getting a business off the ground. The talk will be in a question-and-answer format designed to go more in-depth. The background of the speakers distinguishes Startup Grind from other meet-up events for entrepreneurs, Peck said. Instead of someone in the middle of starting a business asking for solutions to a problem from the group, the speakers have already launched something and can share their insights. Peck said that adds an element of inspiration to the events, which can be great for those with ideas but haven’t figured out how to take that from their heads and into local economy.
“They can come to Startup Grind and get help in a more social setting rather than an academic or perhaps a government setting,” he said. “I want them to have something that is not only interesting but fits in with a lot of the interests in the community.”
The Startup Grind series will continue in September with Dusty Reynolds, who left as the director of entrepreneurship and innovation for the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce to focus full-time on RaceNote, a company offering an app for racing that has drawn the interest of NASCAR teams.
In October, Greg Cutchall of Cutchall Management will discuss how he has grown a business to own Burger Star, Domino’s Pizza, Famous Dave’s BBQ, Paradise Bakery, Rock Bottom Brewery, Sonic Drive-in, Tin Star and Twin Peaks franchises across five states.
The November speaker hasn’t been identified yet, but Peck said the series will skip December because of the holidays. In January, however, he hopes to bring a national-level speaker for a New Year’s theme of starting the year committed to starting a new business. “People need to feel like there’s other people who have made it out there who are big,” Peck said.
Source: http://www.nonpareilonline.com