Carroll Broadcasting:
Drake University has been host to the Startup Business Boot Camps for Women, but for the first time, they have moved the camp outside of Des Moines to hold their first Rural Entrepreneurship Boot Camp for Women in Manning. The first of two sessions was held Saturday, Jan. 16 at the Warren H. Timmerman Shelter House in the City Park, with 13 participants from Westside, Denison, Carroll and Manning. One of the organizers, Main Street Manning Board President Ron Reischl said he jumped at the opportunity to do this as he has envisioned initiating a business incubator for the past three years. Local artist and part-time school teacher, Deanna Daiker, who lives in Manning was one of the attendees. After learning how to make jewelry about seven years ago to teach students in Exira, she fell in love with the hobby and started selling her wares just a few short years after learning. She said the boot camp opportunity came around at the perfect time for her goal of growth.

Daiker currently sells her jewelry at The Market Place in Manning as well as an art store in Guthrie Center, but she needed this type of program to get her kick-started. She said the first session was very instructive and the way the information was presented made it less overwhelming for her.

She said what was of particular value to her during the first session was the presentation of resources that can not only help get a business off the ground, but can be useful in helping to keep it successful into the future. The second of the two sessions is scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 30 and Daiker said she is really looking forward to specific parts of that agenda.

Though not yet through the final session, Daiker said this business incubator has been worth the time and effort involved, and she would highly recommend it to any woman who currently owns a business or has a dream to open one someday.

Drake and Manning organizers have said that if there is enough interest, they will consider scheduling another Rural Entrepreneurship Boot Camp for Women in Manning in the future.

Link to article, audio and picture

The Refresh Manning Trust Fund is thrilled to announce its 2016 grant winners.  A total of $1500 were awarded to three Manning organizations and will be paid in January. 
The Manning Public Library received $585 for phase one of their 1,000 Books B4K project.  The library intends to encourage early literacy as well as family connections with a program called 1,000 Books B4 (before) Kindergarten.  The library will join hundreds of other libraries in this nationally recognized program (www.1000booksbeforekindergarten.org) by reaching out to all local children in the IKM-Manning school district under the age of five in this multi-phase project.  It is designed to improve early literacy for the child and help create the development of good family habits, such as reading together and reaching a goal together.  The grant will fund phase one of the $3025 project. The library has a programing budget to maintain this project long-term.
The IKM-Manning High School received $650 for the initial phase of a new broadcasting setup.  The grant will used to purchase a video camera that can both record and stream. Today, two to three cameras are needed to record close-up shots, pan shots and broadcast simultaneously. The new camera can be utilized immediately and will be the foundation of a system that is much more efficient than the current one.    
The school intends to add and expand current video production capabilities enabling them to better serve the school and communities within the school district. They plan to broadcast and commentate events for family and friends who live out-of-town and the local public.
The Manning Recreational Center received $265 towards a diving board.  Due to years of wear and tear, the current diving board has become unusable. The pool is used year round and the Rec Center hopes to replace the diving board this spring when the pool is drained and painted. The addition of a new diving board will complement many other renovations and improvements made during the last two years at the Rec Center.
While not a pre-determined priority, each of the awards focus on the needs of children in the Manning community and IKM-Manning School District – a worthy cause!!
Are you interested in a 25% credit on your Iowa taxes?  Donate monies to the Refresh Manning Trust Fund and take tax benefits of up to 64% (depending on your federal tax bracket).  For more information, contact the Main Street Manning office at 655-6246.  Invest in your community and enjoy a generous tax benefit!

Carroll Broadcasting: Registration is now open for a unique and innovative program designed for the entrepreneurial women of Iowa. The Startup Business Boot Camp for Women will be held in Manning on two Saturdays in January—the 16th and 30th—at the Warren Timmerman Shelter House in the City Park. This event comes about through a partnership between the Drake University Entrepreneurship Center and Main Street Manning and is supported by the Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship Outreach. The camp is divided into two tracks; one for women contemplating the prospect of an entrepreneurial endeavor and one for women who currently own their own small business with an agenda that includes introductions to the Business Model Canvas and the support systems available from the Small Business Development Center and the Small Business Administration. They will also address legal and accounting issues, ways to find work/life balance, how to create and maintain your brand, customer development and marketing and networking opportunities with other women entrepreneurs. Both sessions will begin at 9:30 a.m. and run through the afternoon. A box lunch will be provided. Attendance for these events is capped at 16 and reservations will be on a first-come basis. To register, follow this link: Startup Business Boot Camp for Women. If there is additional interest, another boot camp later in 2016 will be considered.  Link to article and picture

Carroll County is blessed with many great citizens and communities. As Main Street Manning Board President, I hope to provide insight into one of those communities – Manning. At this time of year, it is popular to look over one’s shoulder at the past twelve months. I will fall into that trap and will utilize today’s column to look back at 2015….a year in which Manning received many state-wide awards. 
It started last January with the announcement of becoming a Certified Connected Community (recognition of internet bandwidth and usage) and being announced as an Iowa Great Place. The arrival of spring brought recognition by the US Small Business Administration (SBA) as Iowa’s Small Business Community of the Year designation. The competition was open to all Iowa communities, large and small, and the inaugural award was given to Manning. Jayne Armstrong, SBA District Director, stated: “Every single community nominated deserves praise for creating economic development environments that help entrepreneurs start, build and grow their businesses. The selection process was very difficult, but in the end one community stood out — Manning… It represents everything that is good about Iowa — a sense of community, neighbors helping neighbors and a strong sense of pride in their hometown. That community spirit translates to its business environment. In an age of brain drain it is refreshing to see young entrepreneurs returning to their native Manning to start small businesses and raise their families… It is where everyone comes together to support small business…”  In May, Main Street Iowa recognized Manning’s downtown revitalization with two awards. The community received an award for Best Total Renovation Project for Cliff’s Place and Best Façade Project for Deb’s Corner Café.
Father’s Day weekend in June brought a community wide celebration. Friday was highlighted by an All Alumni Reunion at the Hausbarn Konferenz Center and entertainment by two bands. Saturday brought the infamous Kinderfest Celebration with its children’s parade on Main Street and children’s events in City Park. Saturday night brought the 100th birthday celebration of the Main Street bricks. Two bands entertained the crowd of 1200 with Manning’s own Brad Morgan highlighting the event. The weekend also brought many small events: open houses by several businesses; recognition of our agricultural heritage and all businesses over 100 years old and an alumni track and field event. The weekend was a huge success and received the 2015 Iowa Tourism Award for Outstanding Event.
June also brought recognition at "The Preserve Iowa Summit" in which the Manning downtown revitalization was recognized with a 2015 Preservation At Its Best Award. The award, given by the statewide nonprofit organization Preservation Iowa, recognized Manning’s “outstanding work in preserving Iowa's historic infrastructures.”  A forthcoming press release (soon to be issued) will highlight additional recognition for Manning’s historical downtown district!
It is highly unlikely to receive equal recognition in 2016.  This year will be a year of transition on many fronts.  That said, there are exciting plans in place for 2016 and they start out with a Drake University Startup Business Boot Camp for Women in Manning on January 16th and 30th.  Additional 2016 plans will be the subject of my next column.  Until then, Happy New Year to y’all!!

A partnership between Main Street Manning and Drake University has been expanded to include the Drake University Entrepreneurship Centers.  To date, past Boot Camps were held in major metropolitan areas. Drake will hold its first Rural Startup Business Boot Camp for Women.  It will be in Manning on Saturday January 16th and Saturday January 30th.  The Boot Camp follows a very successful Startup Business Lunch and Learn for Women held in Manning on October 15th.
The Boot Camp will be held in the Warren Timmerman Shelter House in City Park (across from Casey’s on Highway 141). The Boot Camp will have two tracks: one geared toward prospective women entrepreneurs and one toward current small business owners. General information on the Boot Camp can be found at: http://www.drake.edu/cbpa/centers/events/startupbootcampforwomen/.
The Manning agenda will include an introduction to the Business Model Canvas; support systems from Small Business Development Center and Small Business Administration; legal issues; accounting issues; work life balance; branding; customer development; marketing and networking with women entrepreneurs.  Both days start at 9:30 and run through the afternoon. A box lunch will be provided by Thrivent of Manning.
The registration link is http://drakemanningbootcamp.eventbrite.com. Small classes work the best and attendance is capped at 16.   If there is additional interest, another boot camp later in 2016 will be considered.
The Entrepreneurship Centers Startup Business Boot Camp for Women is supported through the Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship Outreach.