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Iowa's Innovation Council Strategic Plan Asks to Go Nonprofit

January 19, 2011

The Iowa Innovation Council, a 29-member state advisory board, released a strategic plan focused on entrepreneurship and targeted industries (e.g., advanced manufacturing, biosciences and information technology) to grow the state's innovation economy. The council believes this plan will create high-skilled, high-wage jobs through several new initiatives including:

  • A private seed capital investment fund;
  • New strategies to accelerate technology transfer and commercialization; and,
  • Expansion of services available to businesses including a source for best practices and standardized due diligence processes.

 

Ted Crosbie, chairperson of the council stated, "The strategic plan signals the start of an integrated effort to move Iowa's innovation economy forward. Innovation is what will help Iowa's economy stay competitive in the global marketplace." The council also is asking the state Legislature for permission to become a nonprofit organization. The council contends this transformation would be beneficial because it allows them to have more "operational flexibility and the ability to raise private funds". Read the press release ...

Iowa