About
Business & Community Services (BCS)
At the University of Northern Iowa, we believe that a stronger state starts with empowered local communities. The Business & Community Services (BCS) division serves as the university’s primary economic development outreach arm, dedicated to the mission of Building a Better Iowa.
For 26 consecutive years, BCS has provided specialized assistance to all 99 Iowa counties, reaching more than 235,000 Iowans annually through our diverse programs and projects. By leveraging university expertise, faculty research, and student innovation, we meet the real-world needs of Iowans where they live and work.
40+ Years of Impact
1982
The Small Business Development Center (SBDC) was established at the University of Northern Iowa to provide counseling to local small businesses
1985
The Management and Professional Development Center was created to expand service offerings
1987
Economic development outreach, now known as the Institute for Decision Making (IDM), began when Robert Waller, former dean of the College of Business Administration, sought to improve how businesses and community visioning can solve problems
1988
The Iowa Waste Reduction Center (IWRC) began as a one-person program funded by the 1987 Groundwater Protection Act and has since matured into a full-service small business environmental assistance program
1990
SBDC and IDM moved to the new Curris Business Building
The Market Development Program launched and has since rebranded into Strategic Marketing Services (SMS)
1991
The Metal Casting Center opened after receiving a grant from the Iowa Department of Economic Development
1994
The Spray Technique Analysis and Research for Defense program (STAR4D) was created to examine spray techniques and their impact on material usage and emissions in the automobile painting process
1995
The Iowa Board of Regents approved the establishment of the Center for Energy and Environmental Education (CEEE)
1996
The John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Centers (JPEC) were established at five Iowa universities and colleges
1999
The Regional Business Center was established and opened an incubator on 4th Street in Waterloo to expand the SBDC’s impact across the region
1999
The Native Roadside Vegetation Center was founded, later rebranding into what is now the Tallgrass Prairie Center
2000
The Business & Community Services umbrella was formed to unify economic development programs housed within the University of Northern Iowa
2000
The Institute for Decision Making assumed management of the Heartland Economic Development Course
2003
MyEntre.Net was created as an online resource for small businesses
2006
The R.J. McElroy Student Business Incubator opened in the JPEC, offering one-on-one technical assistance, professional services, office space, and mentoring programs to UNI students
2006
The GeoInformatics Training, Research, Education and Extension Center (GeoTREE) was established with federal support from NASA
2007: The Business & Community Services building construction was completed at 8120 Jennings Drive
2007
The Innovation Incubator opened rentable office space for community entrepreneurs to launch their small businesses from, and included business support from UNI staff
2008
The RBC hosted the first EntreFEST event in Cedar Falls
2009
The Dream Big, Grow Here statewide contest is launched, featuring a $1,000 prize to small business owners
2012
The Economic Gardening program was started, later rebranding as Advance Iowa, to provide holistic outreach and consulting to small- and medium-sized businesses
MyEntre.Net transitions to the IASourceLink platform
2014
BCS launched the Building a Better Iowa marketing campaign to unify programs and define an overarching mission for the department
2015
The RBC, SBDC, IASourceLink, and Advance Iowa brands combined efforts into one, becoming the Center for Business Growth & Innovation (CBGI)
2018
CBGI launched the Family Business Forum with panels for multigenerational family businesses, now rebranded to the Family Business Center
2020
UNI’s Additive Manufacturing Center (now Foundry 4.0 Center) became the only university in the world to have an automated investment casting facility, adding three robotic machining cells that allow for faster production than ever before
2021
In a strategic realignment, the JPEC became the parent organization to the SBDC and IASourceLink, and CBGI became the out-of-state counterpart to Advance Iowa
2022
A new partnership between the BCS, Youngstown State University and the NCDMM leveraged $10 million to increase the number of Industry 4.0 enterprises using advanced technologies, bolster critical areas of the defense manufacturing supply chain and create jobs
2023
Advance Iowa began to offer employee ownership programming that provides innovative solutions to retiring business owners in Iowa, later becoming the Iowa Center for Employee Ownership (IA-CEO)