Additional Business Resources
The UNI Family Business Center is a program of the Business & Community Services (BCS) department under the University of Northern Iowa Wilson College of Business. BCS houses 12 programs that deliver assistance to the doors of clients in all 99 Iowa counties. BCS works with businesses, entrepreneurs, communities and governments, providing a wide array of services from marketing research and business incubation, to environmental compliance assistance and economic development. The BCS brand of Building a Better Iowa continues to grow to cater to the needs of Iowa businesses, providing unsurpassed expertise and knowledge through the programs listed below.
Strategic Planning
The Institute for Decision Making supplies Iowans with the knowledge, tools and guidance to take organized community and economic development actions to improve their communities, regions and the state.
Waste Reduction
The Iowa Waste Reduction Center provides direct environmental and energy efficiency assistance to Iowa small businesses, works throughout the Midwest to fight food waste, and provides customized painter training to Department of Defense facilities nationwide.
Entrepreneurship
The UNI John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center (UNI JPEC) provides a dynamic and supportive environment to empower the next generation of entrepreneurs and innovators.
Market Research
Strategic Marketing Services (SMS) conducts full-service market research to deliver customized, targeted and actionable marketplace intelligence.
Family Businesses
The UNI Family Business Center provides consulting, peer learning, events, programming, and networking opportunities to strengthen Iowa’s family-owned businesses.
Private Firms
Advance Iowa delivers facilitated services, resources, and programming that assist small and mid-sized firms in the key areas of innovation, strategic growth, and succession planning.
Small Business Development Center at UNI
The UNI Small Business Development Center (SBDC) provides free, confidential, customized business advice in the Cedar Valley and Northeast Iowa.
Metal Casting / Foundry 4.0 Centers
The Metal Casting Center & Foundry 4.0 Centers are nationally recognized leaders in foundry research, additive manufacturing, applied technology and technical assistance. Past clients have included small and large companies alike, as well as all five branches of the U.S. Department of Defense.
Energy & Environment
The Center for Energy & Environmental Education (CEEE) collaborates with communities in energy conservation, renewable energy, local food systems and environmental health.
Geospatial Mapping
The Geoinformatics Training, Research, Education & Extension Center (GeoTREE) dispenses unique geospatial technology application expertise to federal, state and local agencies and organizations.
Tallgrass Prairie Restoration
The Tallgrass Prairie Center empowers people to value and restore resilient, diverse tallgrass prairie.