Posted on August 13, 2008 by Rush Nigut

Will Iowa Need a "Business" Court to Compete?

After reading a post from Ohio business lawyer Terri Rasmussen I wrote a post for IowaBiz asking whether Iowa will need a "business" court to compete?

In response I received an email from the Co-Chair of the ABA's Subcommittee on Business Courts, Lee Applebaum, who was kind enough to provide me more information on the recent developments in business and technology courts.  At this point Iowa is not included in the states that have established business and technology courts.

Business people often express frustration with our court system but Iowa courts do rank high in polls when it comes to judical fairness.  What you think?  Should Iowa should establish or experiment with a business court?

photo on flickr by Greg Westfall

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Posted on April 7, 2008 by Rush Nigut

Iowa Small Business Financing & Assistance Program

A new program from the non-profit Iowa Foundation for Microenterprise and Community Vitality (IFMCV), will provide a statewide mechanism for Iowa's microentrepreneurs to connect with community development agencies for assistance. Among the groups spearheading the effort are the Greater Des Moines Community Foundation and the Community Vitality Center (CVC), a policy analysis center based at Iowa State University. The program specializes in providing loans of $35,000 or less to small businesses.

State legislators are considering ways to fund microenterprise assistance programs that would be offered through the Iowa Department of Economic Development. An appropriations bill now under consideration would provide $500,000 to fund a microenterprise specialist at the IDED and begin a microloan program, using unspent Grow Iowa Values Fund dollars.

These are exciting developments for the state's small businesses which have long been ignored in Iowa. For more information please read this article from the Des Moines Business Record.

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