StartupIowa Pella Fair January 31

In partnership with Startupiowa (http://www.startupia.org/), Central College and Veel Hoeden are hosting a Startup Fair January 31, 3:00 - 6:00 p.m. at the Graham Conference Center on Central's campus. As well as being an open house for students and the public to learn about startups in our area, this is also a trade show, an opportunity for area entrepreneurs to either showcase their business and product, or find resources to help them reach their goal.

Wade Steenhoek, Central's Entrepreneurial Program director, was quick to offer Graham for the fair site. Joel Bennett from Veel Hoeden has been coordinating participants. Participation is free, and the event is free to the public. You may reach Bennett at 641-780-7858 or veelhoeden@gmail.com, or Steenhoek at 641- 628-5917, if you wish to have a booth.

"We support local small businesses and start-up businesses," said Bennett. "This is a great way to raise awareness of these businesses in our area. We expect to have 15 or 20 startups from the Pella-Knoxville-Oskaloosa-Newton-Grinnell areas, as well as representatives from those Chambers of Commerce."

StartupIowa is focused on drawing together the resources necessary to help startups grow and create jobs and value within Iowa. The organization fully endorses the three main goals of the Startup America Partnership:

Provide valuable resources and connections to help young companies grow
Support regional startup ecosystems throughout the country
Recognize startups as the drivers of our economy and their founders as American heroes

This is Iowa's first Startup Fair, and locations in Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, and Cedar Falls are hosting simultaneous events with Pella. The Fairs are open to any company who wishes to host (see the state site).

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