Through ventures such as the Iowa Small Business Development Centers, the ISU Research Park and the Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship, the impact of Iowa State on the overall state economy is impossible to ignore.

“People who are starting a business need help making sure they aren’t in the clouds,” said Jon Ryan, state director of the Iowa Small Business Development Center.

The Small Business Development Centers opened in 1981. The headquarters are at Iowa State, but the centers have 13 offices at colleges around the state.

According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, 97.5 percent of all businesses in Iowa fit into the small business category. These businesses comprise 52.8 percent of all non-farm jobs in the state.

In the past five years, the Small Business Development Centers have generated more than 4,000 new jobs, according to an ongoing study conducted by James Chrisman, professor of management and information systems at Mississippi State University.

Both the state and federal government fund the center.

In fiscal year 2003, the development centers generated more than $56 million in loans and equity injections. According to Chrisman’s study, more than $219 million in bank loans have been secured by companies working with the development centers in the last five years.

This is all money that is staying in Iowa, which increases tax revenue for the state. According to Chrisman’s study, in 2003 alone, more than $4 million in state and federal taxes were paid by companies helped by the development center. In 2002, more than $10 million in state and federal taxes were paid by companies helped by the development center. According to Chrisman’s study, the development center returns $4.71 in tax revenues for every dollar invested in long-term counseling. For short-term counseling, the center returns $3.89 for every dollar spent on the program.

The development center assists, on average, more than 3,000 clients per year across the state.

The Small Business Development Centers are not the only asset Iowa State provides the state economy. The ISU Research Park and the Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship also play a role.

Steve Carter, director of both the research park and the Pappajohn Center, said his primary goal is to “make connections in the business community to help people establish their own network.”

The Pappajohn Center was founded eight years ago to assist the entrepreneurial spirit in Iowa and has worked with the ISU Research Park since its inception.

Carter said the ISU Research Park was established in 1989 to “encourage and support the development of technology companies which provide employment opportunities.”

“These are jobs that might not be in Iowa otherwise,” Carter said.

Carter said jobs created by companies working with the research center pay more than $37 million in salaries across central Iowa.

Although more than 300 companies apply for residency at the research park each year, only three to five are chosen.

Carter said companies don’t remain at the research park forever.

Once established, these companies are allowed to move anywhere in the country, but Carter said most stay in Iowa.

“These companies built their success in Iowa, their investors are in Iowa, they have strong roots here, families here,” Carter said. “They maintain that success by staying in Iowa, recruiting at ISU and other Iowa universities.”