ISU organization honored for small business help during pandemic
An organization at Iowa State University is receiving national praise. It spent the pandemic helping local small businesses.
The Iowa Small Business Development Center in Ames was serving about 5,000 businesses before the pandemic.
During the first three months of the pandemic, that number jumped to 70,000.
The organization had photo boxes made and then distributed into every single community in the state of Iowa. They're supposed to be a resource for small-business owners to use for free to help them take professional photographs of their products.
All that work it took throughout 2021 and the entire pandemic is why they were awarded the 2021 Innovation and Economic Prosperity Place Award from the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities.
After they've received the high praise, they're looking forward to new challenges, like the worker shortage and supply chain issues.
The SBDC's service is completely free for anyone looking to start a business or even current small business owners.
If you're interested in reaching out for a consultation, you can go to https://iowasbdc.org/.