Presenter: Megan Milligan, The Iowa Center President and CEO Date: June 15, 2021 Time: 12:00pm – 1:00pm Location: Online Register: Here Sustainability and growth require time, energy, and a plan to stay on track. When your small business relies on you to keep it running smoothly every day this can all feel like a big ask. Join The Iowa Center’s Megan Milligan to create a strategy that empowers the business you want and your role in its continued success. About our speaker ​​Megan’s primary purpose at The Iowa Center is to protect and promote the mission, vision, and direction of the organization. She serves with the board of directors to ensure strategic growth and with the staff to keep our promises to our clients. As the public voice of the organization, Megan loves talking to groups about entrepreneurship and economic development. Click here to register!       

Presenter: John Short, CPA Date: June 22, 2021 Time: 12:00pm – 1:00pm Location: Online Registration: Click Here Small Business ownership requires tracking a huge amount of information: sales records, inventory, customer information, this list goes on. Without a good system in place to keep track of it all your business can easily lose clients and opportunities. Join John Short of Insight CPA to talk about recordkeeping and financial checkups to ensure your business keeps running smoothly. About our speaker John Short graduated from Drake University in 1973 in accounting. After graduation he worked for a regional CPA firm for 2.5 years. He then went to work for a farm coop as a controller for 6 years and then moved into a regional coop installing accounting systems for another 5 years. After leaving the coop he worked for another CPA firm before starting his own CPA firm in 1988. He sold his CPA firm in 2016 and currently works for the local CPA firm that purchased his practice. He has wide variety of experience in working with start-ups to large corporations.  Click here to register!     

Presenter: Ciara Ladroma, Project Manager, The Iowa Center' WBC & Ben Schultz, Client Services Coordinator Date: June 22, 2021 Time: 2:00pm - 3:00pm Location: Online Register: Here Turn your dream into a plan with this small group, one-hour business planning class. The Iowa Center staff will help you kickstart your business plan by providing you a road map on completing your plan and taking the next steps towards business ownership. Also connect with other aspiring small business owners to refine your business ideas as you put them into real plans. About our speakers As our new WBC project manager, Ciara will be organizing and implementing programs to train and counsel Iowans, specifically women, interested in starting or growing a business. Ben spends his time at The Iowa Center meeting with new clients to help connect them with best resources and events for education and advancement. He works to make sure people are aware of the countless opportunities available at The Iowa Center and in the community. Click here to register!     

Presenter: Ann Hartz, CPA Date: June 29, 2021 Time: 12:00pm – 1:00pm Location: Online Registration: Click Here Small businesses come from big ideas. Unfortunately, no idea—however big—is immune to paperwork. Avoiding penalties, limitations, and day-to-day inefficiencies is the only way to make sure your business keeps running smoothly, so making sure your business is set up properly needs to be priority #1. Join Ann Hartz, Founder and President of Ann M. Hartz CPA & associates, for straight talk about small business success in Iowa. About our speaker Ann M Hartz is a CPA with a passion for helping other business owners focus on the parts of their business that matter to them most by taking away their concerns about day-to-day financial and bookkeeping issues. She has wanted to run her own tax practice since before going to school to become a CPA. She says, “It is always what I wanted to do from the time I did my first tax return.” She adds: “My passion is taking a burden away from the business owner and giving them peace of mind that they will not get into trouble with the IRS and that they are doing the very best that they can in regard to their bottom line.” Ann is a life-long resident of Iowa- born and raised in Albia and currently residing in Des Moines. She has more than 20 years of accounting and tax experience. She graduated from William Penn College in Oskaloosa, IA and worked early in her accounting career in the Southern Iowa area. She branched out on her own and opened her own Tax Practice in Albia before moving to Des Moines in 2000. She has worked for McGowen, Hurst, Clark and Smith, The Des Moines Symphony and Unity Point (formerly Iowa Health System) in different accounting capacities....

Presenter: TJ Daniels, PM of Classes + Coaching/Dir of Mission Impact & Alex Polzin, Dir of Finance & Administration Date: June 29, 2021 Time: 2:00pm - 3:00pm Location: Online Register: Here As a small business owner, you won’t ever really know the unexpected challenges or opportunities that await you in life and business. Always Ready: Financials is a working session for you to learn how to financially prepare your small business for the next step in your journey. The Iowa Center staff will show you what you need to do to always be ready to make financial moves in your business, including applying for a loan or buying/selling new goods. This class is especially for you if you’ve ever been denied a loan or need a helping hand to get your financials on track. About our speakers TJ Daniels is the official cheerleader of The Iowa Center. She’s a vibrant supporter of our mission, programs, clients and staff. As a Certified Credit Counselor, she assists clients with their credit, budget, financial statements and so much more. She also works with our lending programs assisting clients from start to finish, and often times well after the loan has closed making many friendships along the way. Alex is responsible for Iowa Center accounting and governmental reporting, he also helps with lending and education programs provided by the Iowa Center. Click here to register!    

Presenter: Cassie Sampson, Owner, East Village Day Spa Date: July 2, 2021 Time: 12 – 1pm Location: Online Register: Here  Come and listen to the stories of entrepreneurs, small business owners, and community members making their mark in Iowa. As you create your own story, treat yourself to this time each month to rekindle your entrepreneurial spirit and connect with others. In July listen to the amazing story of Cassie Sampson, owner of East Village Spa. About our speaker Cassie Sampson opened East Village Spa in 2008, which has grown to employ a team of 20. At East Village Spa, the motto is Every. Body. Welcome. We strive to provide a comfortable place for diverse employees and guests, with skilled massage therapy, skin care and safe manicures and pedicures. In addition to services, East Village Spa has a gift shop and online retail store.  Cassie is active in professional and community organizations like NAWBO and local Chambers of Commerce. She serves on the boards of the Des Moines AM Rotary Club and the Historic East Village Neighborhood Association. She chairs the Iowa Board of Massage Therapy and strives to elevate professional integrity in her industry. Cassie lives with her husband and has a soft spot for naughty rescue hounds, doing fundraising activities for animal rescue and welfare organizations.  To register, click here. 

Presenter: Mackenzie Ryan Walters, CEO + Chief Storytelling Officer of StoryStruck Marketing Date: July 13, 2021 Time: 12:00pm – 1:00pm Location: Online Registration: Click Here Thousands, if not millions, of dollars in sales are lost everyday because business owners and sales professionals don't articulate themselves well. The truth is, up to 80 percent of sales is storytelling, and a well-crafted elevator pitch can open the door to a valuable connection, partnership or referral. Mackenzie Ryan, a national award-winning journalist who now owns a marketing and public relations agency, will guide individuals through 5 Questions Every Elevator Pitch Must Answer. You'll leave confident in your answer to the question, "so, what do you do?" About our speaker Mackenzie Ryan Walters is the CEO and chief storytelling officer of StoryStruck Marketing, an agency that specializes in digging into your organization’s story and discovering how to tell it well to inspire results. The agency offers marketing strategy, website and content creation, as well as services such as newsletters and social media. Mackenzie founded StoryStruck after working as a national-award winning journalist and realizing that many leaders struggle to articulate what their organization does—and why it matters. Click here to register! 

Presenter: Ciara Ladroma, Project Manager, The Iowa Center' WBC & Ben Schultz, Client Services Coordinator Date: July 14, 2021 Time: 12:00pm - 1:00pm Location: Online Register: Here Turn your dream into a plan with this small group, one-hour business planning class. The Iowa Center staff will help you kickstart your business plan by providing you a road map on completing your plan and taking the next steps towards business ownership. Also connect with other aspiring small business owners to refine your business ideas as you put them into real plans. About our speakers As our new WBC project manager, Ciara will be organizing and implementing programs to train and counsel Iowans, specifically women, interested in starting or growing a business. Ben spends his time at The Iowa Center meeting with new clients to help connect them with best resources and events for education and advancement. He works to make sure people are aware of the countless opportunities available at The Iowa Center and in the community. Click here to register! 

Presenter: Erik Anderson, Owner, Electronic Office Date: July 20, 2021 Time: 12:00pm – 1:00pm Location: Online Registration: Click Here As more business transactions move cashless, business owners need to know how to manage their Point of Sale (POS) systems. POS systems can help business owners in many more ways than just keeping track of sales and allowing them to accept credit cards. Join Erik Anderson from Electronic Office as we talk through all the things you should know about your POS system and how to manage it as a small business owner. About our speaker Electronic Office was founded in the 1970s providing office technology such as copiers and printers and cash registers to small businesses.  Erik's father, Dave Anderson, took the company over in the late 90's, and turned the focus of the business to primarily point of sale and eventually credit card processing. Erik has worked in the business off and on since his father purchased the company. Erik eventually took control of the business in August of 2019. Click here to register! 

Presenter: TJ Daniels, PM of Classes + Coaching/Dir of Mission Impact & Alex Polzin, Dir of Finance & Administration Date: July 21, 2021 Time: 10:00 - 11:00 am Location: Online Register: Here As a small business owner, you won’t ever really know the unexpected challenges or opportunities that await you in life and business. Always Ready: Financials is a working session for you to learn how to financially prepare your small business for the next step in your journey. The Iowa Center staff will show you what you need to do to always be ready to make financial moves in your business, including applying for a loan or buying/selling new goods. This class is especially for you if you’ve ever been denied a loan or need a helping hand to get your financials on track. About our speakers TJ Daniels is the official cheerleader of The Iowa Center. She’s a vibrant supporter of our mission, programs, clients and staff. As a Certified Credit Counselor, she assists clients with their credit, budget, financial statements and so much more. She also works with our lending programs assisting clients from start to finish, and often times well after the loan has closed making many friendships along the way. Alex is responsible for Iowa Center accounting and governmental reporting, he also helps with lending and education programs provided by the Iowa Center. Click here to register!

Presenter: Renee Vogt, Owner of Renee’s Ceramic Café Date: July 27, 2021 Time: 12:00pm – 1:00pm Location: Online Registration: Click Here Join Renee Vogt, Owner of Renee’s Ceramic Café as she shares her experiences with starting her business. Renee wants to help you skip the early mistakes many business owners make by sharing tips she has learned from her 16 years of running Renee’s Ceramic Café.   About our speaker M. Renee Vogt grew up in Williamsburg IA and attended the University of Iowa studying Fine Arts and Art History. During college she took a secretary job for an accounting firm where she became an accountant. She is married with 2 children. In 2005 she opened her business Renee's Ceramic Café. She continues to run her business today.  Click here to register! 

Presenter: Ciara Ladroma, Project Manager, The Iowa Center' WBC & Ben Schultz, Client Services Coordinator Date: July 27, 2021 Time: 2:00pm - 3:00pm Location: Online Register: Here Turn your dream into a plan with this small group, one-hour business planning class. The Iowa Center staff will help you kickstart your business plan by providing you a road map on completing your plan and taking the next steps towards business ownership. Also connect with other aspiring small business owners to refine your business ideas as you put them into real plans. About our speakers As our new WBC project manager, Ciara will be organizing and implementing programs to train and counsel Iowans, specifically women, interested in starting or growing a business. Ben spends his time at The Iowa Center meeting with new clients to help connect them with best resources and events for education and advancement. He works to make sure people are aware of the countless opportunities available at The Iowa Center and in the community. Click here to register!