NORTH IOWA AREA COMMUNITY COLLEGE JPEC BREAKS GROUND ON BUSINESS INFORMATION CENTER FOR BUSINESS INCUBATOR

North Iowa Area Community College issued the following news release:

The North Iowa Area Community College John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center broke ground last week on a new Business Information Center to serve tenants of the Business Incubator on campus and is being built through the support of the Small Business Administration and Congressman Tom Latham.

"With the excellent resources available at the NIACC JPEC I am optimistic that our incubator will help entrepreneurs be successful and improve both job creation and job retention in North Iowa," Dr. Michael Morrison, NIACC president, said.

The new Business Information Center will provide Business Incubator tenants with a variety of services, including on-site consulting on financial, marketing, domestic/foreign sales, human resources and operational issues, access to the top business research library, a multimedia conference center and promotional activities.

"The attraction of a business incubator is inexpensive rent, but the strength of a business incubator is the high survival rate," Mark Olchefske, NIACC regional business development service director, said. "Because of the intensive consulting services and resources available, companies that have graduated from incubators have a long term survival rate that is twice the national average. Most important, space is still available."

A business incubator provides the ideal next step for a home-based business that wants to get out of the basement, garage or back bedroom.

Sitting on the west side of campus, the NIACC JPEC Business Incubator allows opportunities for a variety of businesses. The incubator has several different types of spaces available that are suitable for limited manufacturing and business-to-business service companies. The spaces are not appropriate for retail shops or restaurants.

For tenants of the NIACC JPEC Business Incubator, there is a contractual obligation that goes beyond a typical lease. Each business' financials are reviewed monthly and the owners are coached on different aspects of business, especially in areas where there is weakness. The owner owns the business and makes the decisions, but there is a strong, experienced support network.

Unlike new incubators where funding shortages limit the types of services and equipment available, the NIACC JPEC Business Incubator employs the full assets of the College to help businesses help themselves. The JPEC holds a wealth of business experience, but NIACC also has other things that few can offer: modern manufacturing equipment for prototyping, wet lab space for biotechnology and chemistry, access to both on and off site research libraries, specialized and general business training, access to different types of debt and equity financing, high speed wireless internet connectivity and opportunities to network with other entrepreneurs.

Plans extend beyond the confines of the campus to embrace the entire nine county area in North Central Iowa. From the outset, the plan was to make NIACC a hub around which several small incubators that are located in the surrounding counties orbit. The satellite incubators will enable new companies to stay close to their local communities but have access to most of the same services available on campus. The overarching objective is to create a North Iowa Regional Business Incubation System that will maintain a steady stream of new business opportunities for local residents.

For more information on the NIACC JPEC Business Incubator, contact Olchefske at olchemar@niacc.edu or call (641) 422-4191.

The John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center is located on the North Iowa Area Community College campus in Mason City, Iowa and provides college level courses and degree programs in entrepreneurship, as well as consulting services for business start-ups and existing industries in the North Iowa region. The Center also provides FastTrac® training programs both for beginning companies and existing companies. Space is available in the new North Iowa Business Incubator for start-up businesses. For more information, contact the NIACC JPEC at 641-422-4342.