Helping to Build a Better Iowa
“Building a Better Iowa” is the motto that the 12 unique outreach programs within Business and Community Services (BCS) at the University of Northern Iowa have lived by for decades. Over those decades, various BCS programs have provided assistance to the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA), whose mission is to strengthen economic and community vitality in Iowa.
For example, the Institute for Decision Making (IDM) has assisted IEDA in maintaining and annually updating the LocationOne Information System for more than 20 years. Also known as LOIS, this interactive database of Iowa’s available buildings and sites is used by prospective companies and site selectors to identify potential locations in Iowa and by economic development organizations across Iowa to promote the available buildings and sites.
Another collaboration is IASourceLink, an online portal that provides Iowa small business owners and entrepreneurs with free, easy access to a variety of information and resources to assist them with starting and growing their businesses. For the past 10 years, IASourceLink has been a partnership between the IEDA and UNI’s John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center. The team maintains and curates the content on IASourceLink, which includes the Iowa Business License Information Center and helps business owners identify and understand the licensure requirements for their type of business in Iowa. Additionally, users of IASoureLink are able to access Panther Biz Hub, a student-led program through the entrepreneurship center that assists small businesses with digital marketing needs, digital education and overall web presence.
BCS programs in recent years have played a critical role in helping IEDA gain a greater understanding of the needs of Iowa businesses and communities. Between March 2020 and May 2022, Strategic Marketing Services (SMS) and IDM completed four statewide surveys on behalf of IEDA to assess how Iowa businesses and nonprofits were being impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 33,000 businesses and organizations were surveyed.
Additionally, with employers across Iowa experiencing workforce shortages, IEDA, the Iowa Business Council and the Iowa Association of Business and Industry asked SMS and IDM to undertake a statewide survey of human resource professionals in the fall of 2021 to better understand employers’ key workforce attraction challenges and the talent recruitment activities being utilized. Currently, SMS and IDM are assisting IEDA’s Travel Iowa program, Iowa Travel Industry Partners and their tourism industry peers to gain an understanding of the current state of the travel industry in Iowa. Approximately 500 tourism-related organizations completed a survey in the spring of 2023 with the SMS/IDM team presenting the results at the Iowa Tourism Conference.
UNI’s BCS programs pride themselves on helping to “Build a Better Iowa” and on providing great services to businesses, communities and partners like IEDA. “UNI's Business and Community Services programs have long served as reliable partners for the Iowa Economic Development Authority,” said Debi Durham, director of the Iowa Economic Development Authority and Iowa Finance Authority. “I can always count on timely and professional responses and support from the UNI team.”