The Des Moines Register on Sunday published six stories to kick off its new “Starting Up Iowa” series that focuses on startup communities throughout the state of Iowa. The first package of stories took a close look at a northeast Iowa startup community defined by Waterloo and Cedar Falls.
“The Cedar Valley has some key ingredients for a vibrant technology and startup scene: UNI’s incubator programs; new and advanced-stage tech companies like DISTek Integration and Banno; and a chamber network that has started to support and acknowledge the emerging tech scene,” Register reporter Marco Santana (above) wrote in the series’ feature story.
Santana, who started in November 2011 as the Register’s tech and startup reporter, said he wanted to tackle this series last year, but he didn’t feel he had the connections to do it justice. Now with one year in Des Moines under his belt, he said he “thought it would be good to visit other parts of the state to get a real sense of what things are like.”
Though Santana didn’t divulge the next community to be highlighted, he said readers could expect to see the series appear every two months or so.
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Here’s Sunday’s package of stories:
- “Waterloo, Cedar Falls in position to become state leaders in technology“
- “Open atmosphere, passion for product help Cedar Falls’ Banno grow“
- ” ‘Bowling night’ leads to break-off Web company“
- ” ‘Resume builder’ turns into successful Web company“
- “Distek Integration builds backbone of farming, construction equipment systems“
- “Firms combine to create better experiences online“
Credits: Photo from desmoinesregister.com.
