Entrepreneurial Development Center

Event featured globally-recognized keynote speaker and economic developer, Richard Bendis, Innovation America

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA—SEPTEMBER 3, 2009—The Entrepreneurial Development Center (EDC), a Cedar Rapids-based business accelerator, hosted a crowd of over 300 community leaders, entrepreneurs, academia, government leaders and investors at its 4th Annual Client EXPO on Tuesday, September 1. The event, held at the Kirkwood Center for Continuing Education, showcased a sampling of 30 of EDC’s clients—Iowa-based, high-growth-potential businesses.

Globally-recognized Economic Developer, Richard Bendis, kicked-off the event with his keynote speech, “The Future of Innovation-based Economic Development—Making it Work in Iowa”.  Mr. Bendis’ presentation is now available from the EDC web site under the Resources section: http://www.edcinc.org/resources/

An impressive caliber of attendees was excited about the venue and the potential impact it could have for Iowa’s innovation. Jordan Cohen, Vice President for Research and Economic Development, University of Iowa, stated, “The EXPO was my first EDC networking event and I was impressed by the energy throughout the evening.  This was especially apparent in the networking sessions where nearly every conversation involved one-on-one discussions about what has worked and what hasn't in the quest to start and sustain entrepreneurial businesses. This event is an important step forward in fostering the entrepreneurial climate that is so vital to the Corridor."
 
EDC VP of Marketing, Josie Heskje, acknowledged the value that the event holds for the area’s business community. "This EXPO is more than an event – this is a unique opportunity for our local, fast-growing and innovative businesses to network with each other and our community to create a healthy economic ecosystem.”

“With the addition of someone with the immense entrepreneurial and economic background like Rich Bendis as our keynote speaker, we have created a new dialogue for learning what is that we as Iowans can do to better compete in the global economy,” she added.

Of the 30 2009 EDC Client EXPO exhibitors, 20 were first-time and 10 had exhibited at an EDC Client EXPO in the past. In addition, 18 of the 30 exhibitors have received past funding assistance from Platinum sponsor, IDED. The exhibitors ranged from a drug discovery and development company to a provider of rugged tablet PCs. For a list of exhibitors, please see the bottom of this release.

Bochner Chocolates, Iowa City, was presented with the People’s Choice Award at the end of the EXPO. The award was new to the event this year and was presented by Van Meter Industrial. Attendees selected their choice for the exhibitor with the best business opportunity and the best presentation/communication at their booth.

“It was an honor to win the EDC EXPO’s People’s Choice Award. There were, no doubt, some other amazing companies exhibiting. While I firmly believe in our very scalable business model, I think our chocolate samples just taste great and attendees fell in love with the magic of Bochner Chocolates,” said founder and CEO of Bochner Chocolates, Eric Bochner.

Exhibitors found it beneficial to be involved with the EXPO. “The EDC EXPO was an excellent networking opportunity for us,” said Trevor Bollers, President of Letter B, “We connected with other entrepreneurs and business leaders and gained great insights that we can put to use marketing and scaling our business. We also made several connections with potential partners that could lead to future work for Letter B.” Letter B is an early-stage software development company based in North Liberty that has a proprietary software being tested by universities to better engage students.

EDC was able to expand on the program of the EXPO and bring in the high-level speaker due to the Platinum sponsorship of the Iowa Department of Economic Development (IDED).  Other sponsors of the event included Gold sponsor Cedar Rapids Bank & Trust and Silver sponsors: Bradley & Riley, TrueNorth, Metro Studios, Mediacom and Corridor Business Journal.

2009 EXPO EXHIBITORS:

New Exhibitors:
Cedar Crest Manufacturing, Inc.
Clickstop, Inc
Collective Data
Dynamic Broadband
HH Ventures, LLC (dba ReadyMobile PCS)
Heavy Equipment Manufacturing
Inditta
Insync
J & J Solutions
Let's Order Online
Letter B
Ovation Networks
Patient Education Institute
Precision Metal Works
Quadro Vodka
Soyawax International, LLC
StoryLounge
Terpenoid Therapeutics, Inc.
Titronics 
Tri-Phase Drying Technologies

Returning Exhibitors:
Asoyia, Inc.
Bochner Chocolates
Breads From Anna
Cedar Ridge Vineyards
Genova Technologies
Geonetric
Involta
MobileDemand
VIDA Diagnostics
Virtual Interactive Families

About EDC
The Entrepreneurial Development Center was incorporated in 2003 as a community-sponsored, non-profit business accelerator. The company provides economic growth through the development and expansion of entrepreneurial enterprises and has successfully assisted over 300 Iowa-headquartered businesses. Its focus is on creating local wealth for area re-investment by growing and cultivating regional, national, and international businesses.