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Startup Muscatine offers many programs and resources for area entrepreneurs.
MUSCATINE — Whether a new business is a traditional brick-and-mortar business, something done in someone’s home or online, the new Startup Muscatine program has something for every entrepreneur in the area.
As the area was reopening after the COVID-19 health crisis shutdown, the Greater Muscatine Chamber of Commerce and Industry teamed with the Peoria, Ill.-based Return to Better program to help provide needed resources that aid local entrepreneurs with all the home-based businesses that had started during the pandemic. As the initiative grew, the chamber designed a program for the needs specific to the Muscatine community.
“We changed it to Startup Muscatine because it better represents what we are trying to accomplish by working with startups in Muscatine,” Hannah Howard, director of business services and advocacy, said. “Through a grant from the (Ewing Marion) Kauffman Foundation we were able to get a grant so we could roll out a suite of programs, social events, and its really thanks to their partnership we were able to make this new suite of programs available to the community.”
The program has been active for a few months, and since its beginning it has had a good turnout from the community. Howard does not have an exact number for the startups that have begun in Muscatine since the pandemic but said there had been many. She said it was exciting to see the wave of new businesses and new ideas that had helped to create a vibrant business community.
In considering the downtown area of Muscatine, Howard commented there are almost no open spaces available for new businesses. She said the streets were full and there were many different types of business. She said this did present the problem of new businesses finding a spot to open. She said the chamber could meet with businesses to learn what their needs were. She said the chamber could assist with most business needs, including helping find a space to open, helping find a lawyer to file an LLC or helping to promote the business.
Howard said one of the best ways the Chamber could help businesses right when they started up was through the $1,000 Muscatine startup grants. The grants are given to early-stage entrepreneurs who are turning an idea into a business. Howard said when businesses were starting was when they needed the most help. More than 20 grants have been given since 2020. The Chamber has funding to give up to 10 grants per year. The program also offers microloans from $1,000 to $10,000 at a low-interest rate for working capital.
During the program’s Third Thursday social events — on the third Thursday of each month — entrepreneurs and business people from the community meet to network businesses. The program also provides educational opportunities, such as videos to a Facebook page with potential grant opportunities. The next event will be from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Sept. 15 at Proof Social.
The chamber also offers a new web page called the Smart Start Dashboard, which walks the user through the steps of starting a business.
“The great thing is there really are a lot of resources available to entrepreneurs right now when it comes to getting that one-on-one help and making their vision become a reality,” Howard said.
Howard said a great place to start learning what Startup Muscatine had to offer was on the programs web site at https://muscatine.com/startup-muscatine/. They can also visit the Chamber office or call at 563-263-8895.
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Startup Muscatine offers many programs and resources for area entrepreneurs.
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