From Sioux City to Des Moines to Davenport and every small town in between, small business is big business in Iowa.
Small business owners are our friends, our family members and our neighbors. They are located in the shops around the corner, our housing developments and the industrial parks across town. They may be small and too often taken for granted, but they represent the heart and soul of Iowa’s economy.
Small business owners are very special people. Their work ethic, vision and willingness to take risks should be embraced and celebrated. Their commitment to their employees creates a sense of family in their communities, which are often their hometowns. In fact, the employees are often their own family members. Iowa has one of the richest histories of family-owned businesses in America.
In celebrating Iowa’s small business success we must look beyond the individual small businesses to the communities themselves. Small business success depends on a strong economic development environment that supports start-ups and existing small businesses positioned for growth. This includes everything from access to capital, ordinances and regulations, special initiatives, a collaborative environment and advocacy.
Earlier this year the U.S. Small Business Administration organized a competition to identify Iowa’s Small Business Community of the Year. As a recent transplant to Iowa, I was amazed by the depth of support for small business statewide. Every single community nominated deserves praise for creating economic development environments that help entrepreneurs start, build and grow their businesses. The selection process was very difficult, but in the end one community stood out — Manning, Iowa.
Manning is a small community of 1,500 in Carroll County. Manning is Iowa. It represents everything that is good about Iowa — a sense of community, neighbors helping neighbors and a strong sense of pride in their hometown. That community spirit translates to its business environment. In an age of brain drain it is refreshing to see young entrepreneurs returning to their native Manning to start small businesses and raise their families.
It is the type of town where the mayor and local economic development leaders re-arrange their busy schedules to spend a day showing off their business community to a new Iowan. It is where everyone comes together to support small business – small and large businesses; federal, state, regional, county and city officials; community foundations; lawyers, bankers, CPAs and insurance professionals; and the citizens themselves.
Iowa is widely recognized as having one of the strongest networks of Main Street communities in the nation. Manning embraces its Main Street identity, brick by brick, tin tile by tin tile, by melodically restoring its old buildings to their original character.
Most importantly, Manning’s success is a result of its collaborative environment. Personal interests are set aside for the advancement of the small business community. Economic development officials have mastered the art of leveraging federal, state and local government funding with private sector and non-profit foundation programs.
I have held economic development positions in a number of states, but I have never worked with such a strong economic development infrastructure as we have in Iowa. We are fortunate to have elected officials at the federal, state and local levels who get it, who understand small business’ importance to the economy.
As we celebrate Manning as SBA’s Iowa Small Business Community of the Year, let’s celebrate Iowa and all of our towns, regions and cities that support the concept of Be Loyal, Buy Local. Iowa is small business and small business is Iowa.
Jayne Armstrong is the district director of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Iowa District Office. The selection committee for the Iowa Small Business Community of the Year Award included representatives from the SBA, SBA’s Office of Advocacy, America’s SBDC Iowa, SCORE, the Iowa Center for Economic Success (SBA Women’s Business Center) and USDA Rural Development.