Date: Friday, February 3, 2023 Time: 12 – 1pm Location: The Iowa Center (2210 Grand Ave, Des Moines, IA 50312) Register: Online Join us for “The Story Of,” a monthly series offered at The Iowa Center, focused on Iowa entrepreneurs and small business owners making their mark in our communities. Treat yourself to this time each month to rekindle your entrepreneurial spirit and connect with others. Join us in person at The Iowa Center on February 3 at 12pm to hear the exciting entrepreneurial journeys of some black owned small business owners in Iowa. After they share their stories there will be time to network with speakers and each other. “The Story Of…Black Owned Businesses in Iowa” panel will include: Lily Okech, owner of Cleaning for Hope, Kourtney Perry, CEO of Privacy LLC, and Terrence Thames, CEO of Cocoa Creative Agency. Some of the many topics that will be discussed will be: How each business owner got their start. What advice they have for new and growing small businesses in Iowa. How can we as a community support black owned businesses. Register here!   

Presenter: The Iowa Center Staff Date: Wednesday, February 8, 2023 Time: 10:00am - 11:00am 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. Click here to register! 

Presenter: The Iowa Center Staff Date: February 15, 2023 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. Click here to register!  

            Presenter: Dawnelle Conley, Deputy District Director, Iowa District Office, U.S. Small Business Association Date: Monday, February 27, 2023 Time: 12:00pm – 1:00pm Location: Online Registration: Click Here Did you know that government contracts are a tremendous financial opportunity for small businesses? The U.S. government is the largest customer in the world. It buys all types of products and services — in both large and small quantities — and it’s required by law to consider buying from small businesses. The government wants to buy from small businesses for several reasons, including: To ensure that large businesses don’t “muscle out” small businesses To gain access to the new ideas that small businesses provide To support small businesses as engines of economic development and job creation To offer opportunities to disadvantaged socio-economic groups What you will learn in this webinar: Government Contracting Suitability How the Government Buys Goods and Services Am I Eligible Tool - SBA Certify How to Register your business with the Federal Government Marketing Your Business and Identifying Federal Opportunities Prime and Subcontracting SBA Surety Bond Guarantee Program Resources About Our Speaker... Dawnelle Conley, Deputy District Director, Iowa District Office, U.S. Small Business Administration Dawnelle works in conjunction with the District Director in managing the day-to-day operations as it administers the programs and services offered in Iowa by the SBA – a federal agency that helps entrepreneurs start, build and grow their small businesses. She has worked in a number of capacities for the Small Business Administration especially in the area of assisting small disadvantaged & small businesses with government contracting information & opportunities. She continues to work closely with the business community and service providers informing them of the benefits of SBA programs and services. Click here to register! 

Presenter: The Iowa Center Staff Date: Wednesday, March 8, 2023 Time: 10:00am - 11:00am 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. Click here to register! 

            Presenter: Tina G. Yin Sowatzke, Intellectual Property Attorney, Fredrikson & Byron, P.A. Date: Monday, March 20, 2023 Time: 12:00pm – 1:00pm Location: Online Registration: Click Here Do you know if your business needs a copyright or trademark? Join us on this webinar to understand how to effectively utilize trademarks and copyrights as important tools in protecting your intellectual property (IP). Having strong IP protections in place is important for not only large corporations, but also for small businesses and start-up companies as well. Understanding how to utilize and protect your IP provides leveraging power in business transactions and relationships. Particularly if you, or your company, is in the business of creating unique goods or services placed in the stream of commerce, this webinar will help in ensuring that listeners have the tools needed to understand trademarks and copyrights. Trademark and copyright protections provide certain exclusive rights to the owner of the trademark or copyright. While trademarks and copyrights can be registered for additional protections, some trademark and copyright protections begin automatically after a certain action is taken place. Therefore, it is important for business owners to know when certain trademark or copyright protections may begin. These protections provide the owner with exclusive rights to prevent third parties from enjoying the fruits of the company’s labors, including, for example, preventing third parties from copying an artistic work created by the company, or preventing third parties from utilizing a trademark or logo that may be confusingly similar to your company’s. Tune in to discover more benefits in the webinar! About Our Speaker... Tina G. Yin Sowatzke, Intellectual Property Attorney, Fredrikson & Byron, P.A. Tina is an intellectual property (IP) attorney with Fredrikson & Byron, P.A. and works collaboratively with clients to help protect their IP assets....