I currently live in Cedar Rapids, which is largely referred to as the "corridor" area; the region joining the "separate" cities of Iowa City, Coralville, Cedar Rapids, Marion, Hiawatha which are all sort of converging into one larger metro area as population and grow increases. We are about a 2 hour drive from Des Moines and there is a lot of collaboration happening across the state outside of just Des Moines.
There is huge growth happening in the tech sector within Iowa, but also in other areas, education, medical, insurance, agri-business, being a few of the key areas.
I've seen mention on here already of RAGBRAI and the bike friendliness of Des Moines; this is more true in the Iowa City/Coralville areas, and equally true in the main Cedar Rapids districts.
Here are some things that are more interesting though; the midwest has some of the lowest in the nation, and Iowa sits at an average unemployment rate of 4.5%. In terms of diversity; it may not have been that diverse 20 years ago, but these days Iowa is ranked as the 3rd most progressive state, right behind Massachusetts and California.
We have huge incentives for technology, start-up accelerators, local tech conferences, low cost of living, local re-investment. Personally, I hate the "Silicon Prairie" term, because it means that people turn it into a us vs them sort of comparison. In terms of raw numbers, more successful start-ups are going to come out of California; or I would certainly hope so since the population of the state is in excess of 38M whereas as Iowa is just barely over 3M. However in terms of your chances of success; these days I think the odds are probably in your favor in Iowa.
I'm just some dude, and I've had beers, dinner, or just visited with CEOs of many of the tech businesses (long established & start-ups) and the thing is these are great people. They still relate to their humble beginnings and they want to give back and grow business right here. They are so approachable, and I think this is in large part due to the fact that the lines aren't as long because we are still small.
Right now I seriously have to give a shout-out to Eric Engelmann, founder of the Iowa Startup Accelerator and the CEO of Geonetric. He is an all around great guy, who has done so much for this area and continues to do so, and there are too many more around here to name.
Is it Hipster? Some yes, some no. Is it a great place to be right now? Unequivocally; Yes. But you don't have to join us; we'll continue to do just fine on our own. If you do though; you just might fall in love.
To end with; here's some links to a few things that are happening in Iowa
There is huge growth happening in the tech sector within Iowa, but also in other areas, education, medical, insurance, agri-business, being a few of the key areas.
I've seen mention on here already of RAGBRAI and the bike friendliness of Des Moines; this is more true in the Iowa City/Coralville areas, and equally true in the main Cedar Rapids districts.
Here are some things that are more interesting though; the midwest has some of the lowest in the nation, and Iowa sits at an average unemployment rate of 4.5%. In terms of diversity; it may not have been that diverse 20 years ago, but these days Iowa is ranked as the 3rd most progressive state, right behind Massachusetts and California.
We have huge incentives for technology, start-up accelerators, local tech conferences, low cost of living, local re-investment. Personally, I hate the "Silicon Prairie" term, because it means that people turn it into a us vs them sort of comparison. In terms of raw numbers, more successful start-ups are going to come out of California; or I would certainly hope so since the population of the state is in excess of 38M whereas as Iowa is just barely over 3M. However in terms of your chances of success; these days I think the odds are probably in your favor in Iowa.
I'm just some dude, and I've had beers, dinner, or just visited with CEOs of many of the tech businesses (long established & start-ups) and the thing is these are great people. They still relate to their humble beginnings and they want to give back and grow business right here. They are so approachable, and I think this is in large part due to the fact that the lines aren't as long because we are still small.
Right now I seriously have to give a shout-out to Eric Engelmann, founder of the Iowa Startup Accelerator and the CEO of Geonetric. He is an all around great guy, who has done so much for this area and continues to do so, and there are too many more around here to name.
Is it Hipster? Some yes, some no. Is it a great place to be right now? Unequivocally; Yes. But you don't have to join us; we'll continue to do just fine on our own. If you do though; you just might fall in love.
To end with; here's some links to a few things that are happening in Iowa
http://www.iowastartupaccelerator.com/
http://uipartners.uiowa.edu/deviowa
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6uYhe4TzHsCNjNWVlhDMXAwVFE... (Mapping Venture Capital In Iowa)
http://www.welchavenue.com/ (Iowa only start-up news)
http://siliconprairienews.com/ (Midwest start-up news)