In the future, the entrepreneurship group Startup Ames may need to consider holding its meetings in a larger venue.

Startup Ames hosted its “Resurrection of Startup Ames” meeting Thursday morning at the ISU Research Park, its first in two years. And for those who didn’t arrive early, there was standing room only. 

Startup Ames allows entrepreneurs to meet monthly and have discussions about their up-and-coming businesses.

“We got a huge turnout for just the first meeting, so we’re planning on moving forward with that,” said Thomas Lashier, co-organizer of the event and owner of Freaky Fresh Marketing. 

The group started in 2012, but one of the founders, Sam Schill, was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2013, and the group stopped scheduling meetings. 

Now that Schill’s health has improved, he has been involved in revitalizing Startup Ames. 

“When Sam had some health issues a couple years ago, he was kind of the guy, the organizer, and kind of disappeared,” Lashier said. “But we had enough interest and wanted to see it come back.”   

Lashier said Startup Ames has a great connection with the ISU Research Park because it provides a lot of space and is a hub for start-up activity and new businesses. 

Startup Ames attempts to attract students who have interest in starting a business, want to meet a business owner or just want to know what’s going on in Ames. 

“[Startup Ames] is basically a meet-up, a way that [students] can get plugged in,” said Diana Wright, marketing and programs coordinator at the Iowa State Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship. “The resources that they can learn that are here I think are really beneficial. We definitely encourage all students [to get involved].” 

Thursday’s meeting featured a speech by Bill Adamowski, who is involved in economic development and industry relations at Iowa State. 

Adamowski presented a model that is designed to create a robust entrepreneurial ecosystem at Iowa State. This ecosystem includes entrepreneurial education, a resource network, funding and a structure to launch startups and facilities. 

Adamowski said the development of this model started with reviewing models at other universities. The next step was reviewing what Iowa State was already doing well and what could be improved. The model is still in the process of coming to life. 

“My goal would be to have the most robust university-like entrepreneurial system,” Adamowski said. “To me, I think if we have some successful startups that come out of here, that would be fantastic. And when I say successful, I mean that they actually go to some fruition.” 

For more information about getting involved in Startup Ames and the meetings the group schedules, visit www.meetup.com/startupames/.