CREDIT IVY TOWLER
At NewBoCo’s tenth anniversary, we are celebrating our successes — and confronting the challenges ahead. Our mission — accelerating world-changing ideas and fostering innovation from Iowa — remains as strong as ever. Entrepreneurship and tech education strengthen local economies and build more resilient communities: 76 tech startups raised $200 million to fuel growth from NewBoCo’s programs, 100,000 Iowa children learned computer science because of the teachers we’ve trained, and almost 100 small businesses received Kiva Iowa zero-interest loans.
That’s significant progress in ten years! Yet, to truly move the needle, we need to think bigger, doubling down on collaboration. No single organization alone can have the kind of impact that we are aiming for. NewBoCo will foster that effort with two new collaborative initiatives.
Improving our entrepreneurial support ecosystem
The first initiative strengthens coordination among entrepreneurial service organizations that help businesses grow and thrive. Today, we operate in silos, each helping a fraction of entrepreneurs separately, sometimes overlapping or leaving gaps. Recently, NewBoCo organized a regular meetup among these organizations to create a comprehensive network, pool resources, and identify and address gaps. We’ll create a shared vision for supporting our local entrepreneurs — especially small business owners and underrepresented founders. From legal and financial guidance to raising capital, finding mentors, and networking with peers, every entrepreneur in the region should have access to the tools and connections they need to succeed. This will help individual businesses thrive and contribute to economic growth and vitality.
Becoming a global leader in the technologies of the future
Secondly, we will develop a strategy to create jobs, foster startups, and attract talent focused specifically on the technologies of the future. AI, autonomous vehicles, drones, semiconductors, bioscience, cybersecurity, renewable energy and other technologies are the basis for U.S. competitiveness in the next decade. Our region has strengths in many of those, but we lack a plan to position us as a global leader in any of them.
Peer communities are organized and aggressive. Fargo, North Dakota secured $160 million in grant funding in 2023 to deeply align cutting-edge research done at its universities with industry and startups. It’ll train a workforce specifically on the most advanced agriculture technologies, attract the companies that want that kind of talent to build cutting-edge products, and build startups at the frontier of these technologies. We should be thinking about a similar model.
NewBoCo will bring together regional leaders, institutions, and public and private organizations to pursue transformative projects and funding opportunities. Shifting from a piecemeal approach to a unified, collaborative approach allows us to develop strategies and coordinate action, fueling long-term economic growth and innovation.
This Fall, NewBoCo formed a coalition to pursue that $160 million program — NSF Engines — to dramatically advance our semiconductor and aerospace industries. It included Collins Aerospace, BAE Systems, Kirkwood Community College, Coe College, the Eastern Iowa Airport, Crystal Group, the University of Iowa and almost every government and economic development entity in the region. Although we were not selected in our first attempt, we built new relationships and developed a compelling framework to advance our aerospace and semiconductor industries. We’ll reuse what we’ve built to prepare for future opportunities.
Our goal is to establish the Corridor as a global hub for innovation, technology and entrepreneurship within the next decade. This won’t happen by chance, but through a deliberate, coordinated, and sustained effort requiring extensive collaboration.
A call for collective action
As we look to the future, we reaffirm our commitment to the power of collaboration. Whether it’s in entrepreneurship, tech education, developing strategies, or securing transformative grants, the region’s success depends on our ability to work together. We must adapt, innovate and collaborate to ensure that our community not only keeps pace with national trends, but leads the way.
As we embark on our next chapter, we call on every individual, organization and business in the region to join us in this effort. We’re excited that the City of Cedar Rapids, Cedar Rapids Bank & Trust, McGrath Family of Dealerships and individuals are already stepping up to help lead this effort. Together, we can build a thriving, sustainable ecosystem that drives economic growth, attracts investment, and creates future-focused high-quality jobs for generations to come.
The next decade is ours to shape. Let’s build it — together.
Jill Wilkins is the executive director of NewBoCo.
