Midwest Partnership recently held its second Regional Entrepreneurial Development Project meeting with area business owners and community leaders, and organization executive director Chad Schreck says it was another “productive” session with leaders from UNI’s Institute for Decision Making.

Schreck says the biggest focus of the project right now is in developing a “strategic plan” that Midwest Partnership’s four counties–Adair, Audubon, Greene & Guthrie–can adopt to help provide area entrepreneurs with the resources they need to be successful.

So what are those needed resources?  Schreck explains…

“Knowledge, information, getting the word out about what already is available.  We were going through list of all the different organizations available to people, and just every time we get people that are like, ‘I had no idea that that was there; I didn’t know that I could get ahold of the small business development center and I didn’t know I could get ahold of Midwest Partnership’.  Just getting that awareness is a big part of this, and also doing a better job communicating what is out there.”

Schreck says participation and attendance in the project’s first two meetings have been encouraging and he’d like to see that continue, especially with UNI officials slated to be on hand for the next couple of meetings while the official strategic plan is still being drafted.

The next project meeting is currently scheduled for Friday, March 14th at 10am, and is being held at the Warren Cultural Center in Greenfield.  All area residents are invited to attend.

For more information about the Regional Entrepreneurial Development Project, call Midwest Partnership at 515-523-1262.