Corridor receives Entrepreneurial Investment Award from IEDA

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2020

MEDIA CONTACT
Alyssa Petersen
Coordinator of Administration & Communication
Iowa Lakes Corridor
Phone: 712-264-3474
Email: apetersen@lakescorridor.com

Corridor receives Entrepreneurial Investment Award from IEDA

SPENCER, IOWA – The Iowa Lakes Corridor Development Corporation has been awarded a $150,000 grant from the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) as a part of the Entrepreneurial Investment Awards program. The grant will support the Corridor in launching additional entrepreneurial development programming through videos, outreach and networking events. Corridor Senior Vice President Brian Dalziel envisioned the initiative, wrote the grant application and led the presentation to the review panel.

In the past decade, the Corridor has assisted 228 early-stage ventures, 99 of which were startups. Services have supported clients to raise $14.3 million to fund these businesses which provide employment to 1,090 individuals. The IEDA grant funds will be used to further the programming and reach of the Corridor entrepreneurial services. One program is Startup Skillup, a streaming video series, to be produced in both English and Spanish to deliver educational and mentoring programming to entrepreneurs utilizing a talk-show format.

“The Startup Skillup streaming video series is the next step in a progression of mentoring programs offered to entrepreneurs by the Iowa Lakes Corridor over the past 10 years,” states Dalziel.  “Startup Skillup builds on the success of the Prepare to Launch live workshop by delivering entrepreneurship services on-demand via streaming videos on the web. Entrepreneurs who view these videos will be eligible for mentoring from members of the Iowa Lakes Corridor Mentor Network that consists of over 500 business professionals who volunteer their time to help entrepreneurs grow as well as one-on-one coaching services.”

The Corridor is one of three entrepreneurial assistance providers awarded grants via the Entrepreneurial Investment Awards program. This program stipulates the provision of financial assistance to service providers that offer technical and financial assistance to entrepreneurs and startup companies seeking to create, locate or expand a business in Iowa. Award recommendations for these funds are made by a review panel, made up of individuals from IEDA and VentureNet Iowa, to the IEDA Board for approval.

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About the Iowa Lakes Corridor

The Iowa Lakes Corridor Development Corporation is the regional economic development agency for Buena Vista, Clay, Dickinson and Emmet counties. The Iowa Lakes Corridor’s mission is to foster, encourage, promote, aid or otherwise assist in the economic development growth and development of the four-county region.