UNI JPEC launches tool to empower Iowa's economic developers and small businesses
The University of Northern Iowa's John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center now offers the Resource Navigator, an integrated database tool designed to support economic developers and small businesses by providing searchable resources. The Resource Navigator provides a single source to discover organizations, programs and individuals that can benefit your communities.
While other solutions are often expensive and manually maintained, the Resource Navigator leverages IASourceLink’s extensive database of professional service providers to offer a more efficient alternative.
“We’re working with economic developers to implement the Resource Navigator in Iowa cities, counties, and regions,” said Patrick Luensmann, director of the UNI JPEC. “A lot of communities don’t have the financial resources, time or human power to manage an internal database of this caliber. We’re excited to provide a solution that is cost effective, supports economic development work and gives small businesses the tools they need to succeed.”
A Des Moines Resource Navigator was set up in collaboration with the economic developers in the City of Des Moines to serve small businesses in the area. It allows users to search for resources specific to that area and can be embedded on the city’s website to help their users also locate small business resources.
IASourceLink is a collaboration between the UNI JPEC and the Iowa Economic Development Authority, which provides small business owners and entrepreneurs with free, easy access to the help they need when they need it. Through IASourceLink, the UNI JPEC has directly assisted over 17,000 entrepreneurs (and indirectly assisted hundreds of thousands more), in all 99 Iowa counties, and across 43 U.S. States. The resource website gets approximately 65,000 visitors each year.
