About us
We believe Iowa's greatest resource is its people.
Iowa is full of people with the talent, experience and ambition to build remarkable things. We exist to bring them together.
01 / Who builds Iowa
01The entrepreneurs willing to take a chance.
02The business owners who have spent years building something.
03The executives looking for what's next.
04The investors willing to back a new idea.
05The students ready for a real start.
06The creatives who see things differently.
07The neighbors who know their towns and want to make them better.
02 / Why we exist
Too often, they work separately. We connect the dots.
A startup is looking for its first customer while a corporation is looking for its next innovation partner. A founder has an idea and no idea where to start. An investor is looking for opportunities in their own backyard.
The Business of Building Iowa brings people and organizations together to start businesses, spark innovation, connect investment and build opportunity.
03 / Our mission
We bring Iowa's entrepreneurs, businesses, investors, students and problem-solvers together to turn ideas into businesses and build a stronger state.
04 / Our vision
An Iowa where a solo founder sits at the same table as a Fortune 500 company, and where people are self-sufficient and never have to build alone.
05 / What we believe
A manifesto for building Iowa.
Belief 01
Everyone has a seat at the table.
Good ideas and capable people come from everywhere. Opportunity should follow the idea, wherever it started.
Belief 02
Independent people build together.
We believe in self-sufficiency and personal initiative, and the best things happen when those people work together.
Belief 03
Ideas deserve a chance to become something.
Every good idea deserves to be explored, tested and developed.
Belief 04
Business is a force for good.
Businesses create jobs, solve problems and make people's lives better.
Belief 05
Success should be shared.
People who have built something can help the next generation build theirs.
Belief 06
Women belong at the center of the economy.
At the table, making decisions, building companies and shaping what comes next.
Belief 07
We believe in second chances.
Experience carries forward when a business closes. We back people who get back up and build again.
Belief 08
We prove it in public.
We measure our work, publish our results and hold ourselves accountable.
06 / Who leads it
Founded by Bonnie Le Page.
Bonnie is a Des Moines founder who has coached hundreds of entrepreneurs. She builds Tangram, Fracs and Bellwether, and started The Business of Building Iowa to give every Iowan with an idea a seat at the table.
The future doesn't happen by itself. We build it together.
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