After months of preparing and collaborating with different organizations, Carroll County Growth Partnership (CCGP) celebrated the grand opening of HUB 712 at the physical site of the W Innovation Center today (Tuesday) with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. It has been close to ten months since the announcement from CCGP that the small business resource center would be making its home in the former Western Iowa Networks (WIN) building in downtown Carroll, serving start-ups and existing businesses with resources to continue to expand operations. Of the many people in attendance, Lt. Gov. Adam Gregg addressed the crowd, saying how important this will be for small business owners, who no longer will have to travel distances to get the training and resources available.
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HUB 712 was awarded a $200,000 grant from the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) through the Entrepreneurial Investment Award (EIA) to cover its start-up costs. In her speech, IEDA Executive Director Debi Durham mentioned that HUB 712 was her favorite project.
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CCGP Executive Director Kimberly Tiefenthaler said she was overwhelmed with the amount of support the community and other organizations gave to this innovative idea that has been two years in the making.
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HUB 712 was one of 65 projects selected nationwide and the only project chosen for Iowa to be part of the Economic Recovery Corps (ERC) $30 million cooperative agreement from the U.S Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration by paring Jennifer Luengas-Otto as the ERC Fellowship for 2.5 years. Luengas-Otto will build and foster relationships by working with community members and business leaders to strengthen economic efforts throughout the surrounding communities. Luengas-Otto says she is very excited about this opportunity, and the official opening makes everything more surreal.
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Pictures of the ribbon-cutting ceremony and the inside of the physical site of the new HUB 712 space are featured below.
