ICAD, NewBoCo team up for new Regional Speaker Series
CEDAR RAPIDS/IOWA CITY,, IA (Dec. 8, 2022) – There are plenty of questions that come with starting a business, from advertising to figuring out how to get power set up.
NewBoCo and the Iowa City Area Development Group (ICAD) are teaming up to make answering those questions a little bit easier.
Launching in January, the monthly Business Startup Speaker Series will lead current and aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners through a step-by-step guide of how to start and grow a business. Each month, a guest speaker will visit both MERGE co-working space in Iowa City and The Vault co-working space in Cedar Rapids to provide information and introduce resources to help new business owners with the basic administration, operation and go-to-market tools for getting started and staying open.
“If you have a great idea, don’t let your fear stop you from pursuing it,” says Alex Taylor, Managing Director of the Iowa Startup Accelerator. “We’re here to help businesses to make those ideas happen.”
The first speaker in the series will be Julie Lammers, President of Lambo Business Services. Lammers will speak about administrative basics, covering what needs to be done to get registered, licensed, and “officially” established. The session will cover business names; business formation (sole proprietorship, LLC; C-Corp, S-Corp, non-profit), state and local requirements (EIN, licensing), opening a bank account, customary discovery, and more.
Lammers will hold talks in both Iowa City and Cedar Rapids. In Iowa City, the session will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 25 at MERGE 136 South Dubuque St. In Cedar Rapids, it will take place on Tuesday January 31st from 8:30 to 10 a.m. at the Iowa Startup Accelerator/Geonetric Building, 415 12th Ave. SE.
According to ICAD’s Director of Entrepreneurship and Community Engagement Liz Hubing, the project came about after a conversation with Alex Taylor at MERGE in October.
“As Alex and I were reflecting on our organization’s goals for 2023, we realized that we had a mutual interest in more business education, especially for idea-stage and early-stage entrepreneurs and business owners,” said Hubing. “There are so many incredible resources for entrepreneurs in our community, but we recognized a gap that we wanted to fill. It was clear that joining forces on a regional series would maximize our impact by allowing participants throughout the Iowa City — Cedar Rapids region to ask questions and plug into resources.”
A new speaker session will be held each month. Following January’s event, the next three presentations will focus on Legal 101, Business Financials, and Branding. Each session is free for participants.
Taylor says if the program is successful, it could eventually grow to include other cities as well.
“The collaboration between ICAD and NewBoCo continues to strengthen ties between Cedar Rapids and Iowa City in our business communities and our ecosystems,” said Taylor. “If it works in our ecosystem, there’s no reason we can’t expand into other communities throughout the state.”
About NewBoCo
The New Bohemian Innovation Collaborative, Inc. (NewBoCo) is a 501(c)(3) organization located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. NewBoCo’s programming supports entrepreneurship, innovation, and tech education to help Iowans become more resilient and thrive in a changing economy. Click HERE – to sign up for the Cedar Rapids program (Tuesday, January 31, from 8:30 – 10:00 a.m.).
About ICAD
The Iowa City Area Development Group (ICAD)’s mission is to create, collaborate, and act boldly to help build the economic future of our community and be the best place for all people and businesses to THRIVE. Click HERE to sign up for the Iowa City program (Wednesday, January 25, from 11:30 – 1:00).
About Julie Lammers
Julie Lammers provides coaching and mentoring services to entrepreneurs and economic development centers, including the Iowa SBDC, Marion Chamber of Commerce, and the Goldman Sachs10KSB program. She is President of Lambro Properties, a commercial investment company and Lambro Business Services, a business consulting company. Julie sold her privately owned group of stores (Coffeesmiths) to a top Midwest franchisor, Scooters Coffee in 2016. Her areas of expertise are in retail: food and consumer products, process development, business plans, business pitches, and employee engagement.
