The University of Northern Iowa Regional Business Center has announced 30 finalists in the Dream Big Grow Here business grant program.
A pitch off event held in conjunction with EntreFEST is scheduled to take place during the day of Thursday, May 21, in Iowa City to determine the six industry winners of $5,000.
These six will then compete in an additional pitch off that evening for the $10,000 grand prize business grant.
During the online portion of the grant program, the Dream Big Grow Here website accumulated 1.3 million pageviews.
The site attracted more than 100,000 total users, roughly half from Iowa. The other half came from every state in the United States. In addition to the online traffic, the web portal logged 75,665 votes and 2,700 comments of support for Iowa small owners all across the state.
“We are proud to have such a successful program that really highlights our tremendous Iowa business community to a national audience,” said program lead Rob Williams. “In the following months leading up to the pitch off at EntreFEST, we will be working with every entrant in the program to help each of them fulfill their business start up or expansion dreams. After reviewing each of our 119 dream applications, I can say without hesitation that Iowa is in good hands with all of these innovators and entrepreneurs.”
The finalists by each industry category are as follows:
Ag Innovation, sponsored by Renew Rural Iowa
• Mj’s Country Scapes, Bloomfield
• ProduceRun Inc, Cedar Rapids
• Top-Notch Machine, Charles City
• TreePans.com, Akron
• Woodworks, Solon
Hospitality/Restaurants
• Fresh Mediterranean Express LLC, Waukee
• Mad Ox Bakery, Council Bluffs
• The Flour Mill, Elk Horn
• The Twisted Swede, Red Oak
• Tiffiny’s Tipton Bakery, Tipton
Manufacturing/Bioscience/IT, sponsored by VentureNet Iowa
• BioBacTrac LLC, West Des Moines
• Crossroads Manufacturing, Clarksville
• HowFactory, Cedar Falls
• Ramaeker Enterprises Inc, Knoxville
• Rüster Sports, Des Moines
Pre-Revenue
• Custom Fitness LLC, West Des Moines
• Jackson Street Brewing, Sioux City
• K2 Medical Alerts LLC, Muscatine
• Lefty’s Live Music LLC, Des Moines
• Marto Brewing Company, Onawa
Professional Services
• Choice Home Health Care Inc., Bettendorf
• Dow Artists Inc., Russell
• Johnson’s Elite Training, Osceola
• Monday Creations, Cedar Falls
• UpCraft Club, Des Moines
Retail/Wholesale
• American Hero Clothing, Larchwood
• FarmTable Delivery, Harlan
• Scrub N Style, Waverly
• Triple Threat Threads, Spencer
• Voweletics, Bettendorf
Dream Big Grow Here is made possible through sponsorship by a mix of private and public sector agencies, including the University of Northern Iowa, Iowa Farm Bureau Renew Rural Iowa, Advance Iowa, VentureNet Iowa, Iowa Bankers Association, IASourceLink and Veridian Credit Union. Dream Big Grow Here is a program of UNI Business and Community Services.
For more information about the Dream Big Grow Here program, visit www.DreamBigGrowHere.com.