A text-messaging company that offers drink specials and discounted cover deals to students at the University of Iowa could happen in Ames.

The U of I students who created the new business lost the support of the university’s learning laboratory, the Bedell Entrepreneurial Learning Lab, last Thursday.

“We’re not going to support this through the Bedell Entrepreneurial Learning Lab,” said Steve Parrott, spokesman for the University of Iowa. “We don’t condone that specific business plan.”

The business, now referred to as Innovative Mediums, was started by U of I students Ian Jacobson and Kane Johnson. The business offers discounts on drinks and cover charges to U of I students who sign up to receive the messages, which can be done online at www.icviphost.com.

Students need not be 21 years old, but messages involving alcohol are sent only to customers of legal drinking age.

Despite the loss of university support, the U of I students plan to continue with their new venture, which has generated some interest at Iowa State.

“It’s growing by the day as more people hear about the service,” Jacobson said.

“There’s an overwhelming response that people really like the service.”

Kienan Clute, junior in pre-business and president of the ISU Entrepreneurial Club, said because of the success in Iowa City, ISU students would also use a text-messaging service that offered local discounts at bars and restaurants.

“The students thought it was OK and were using it [in Iowa City],” he said. “I bet they would if they had it here.”

Jacobson agreed, stating the business plan he has come up with can apply to Ames along with almost any other community.

“Basically, we feel this concept can be successful in any situation, whether it be a large bar scene or different restaurants,” he said.

“We’re definitely looking at bringing this concept to other universities.”

Because of the loss of support, Jacobson said the business is working to find non-alcohol-related discounts to offer customers.

“We’re doing a lot of expanding to restaurants, tanning salons, places like that,” he said. “We’re hoping that these ventures will get us the support of the university again.”

Jacobson added that the business is doing well, with more than 400 customers who receive exclusive text messages about deals at local bars and clubs.

Ryan Evans, junior in civil engineering, said he would enjoy a service that offered him exclusive food and drink discounts, provided the messages did not become overwhelming in number or frequency.

“Initially, it would be pretty cool to get offers or coupons, but I could see it getting out of hand to the extent of being like spam e-mails, telemarketers calling your home and having your entire text-message inbox filled up with junk messages that are just a bunch of ads,” Evans said.

“They can put it in the newspaper and it still works just as well.”