A publication of Iowa Innovation Corporation

Iowa Innovation Corporation

CONNECTIONS
 
 
 
January
2015
 

Dave Sly, President of Proplanner, at the company's campus in the ISU Research Park
company profile
PROPLANNER
 

When Fisher Valves in Marshalltown needed a more efficient way to engineer their manufacturing processes, they turned to another Iowa company: Proplanner, a growth-stage technology company based in Ames.

 

Proplanner, an engineering software company, develops web- and server-based software solutions that help large manufacturing companies engineer and manage plant processes and workflows. In addition to Fisher, Iowa clients include John Deere and Polaris, plus such national and international manufacturing icons as Case New Holland, Tesla, Nissan, SpaceX and Lockheed.

 

Fisher looked into applications from Oracle and other larger firms but found that Proplanner had a superior interface and a workflow that could be easily integrated into their solution without a lot of unnecessary costs.

 

"We considered developing an in-house process engineering system that worked similar to our old Cobol application but the Proplanner solution provided a quicker, lower risk and lower cost solution to what we could have developed ourselves," said Benjamin Wade, System Interface Architect with Fisher. 

 

Dave Sly, an ISU Industrial Engineer (PhD), is the founder and President of Proplanner. Launched in 2002, Proplanner received a significant boost in 2013 from a $300,000 Propel award from the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA). That funding allowed Proplanner to greatly enhance its marketing and sales efforts by embedding company engineers into manufacturers' facilities to create custom solutions. "We greatly appreciate the growth of the Proplanner engineering team," said Wade. "This growth helps secure our investment and ensure that our customer service response times stay low."

 

 "The money helped," said Sly. "It's hard to get financing in Iowa. You'd think there would be lots of angel money but it's difficult."

 

That's changing, thanks to Iowa's strategic emphasis on helping innovative Iowa companies throughout their life cycles. "The state's peer-reviewed gate process through VentureNet Iowa (see article below) makes sense," Sly said, "and the IEDA's Technology and Commercialization Committee is very diverse and intelligent. You're dealing with businesspeople. They know how to evaluate your company." The IEDA's Technology Commercialization Committee makes funding recommendations on IEDA financial assistance awards.

 

The growth and success of Proplanner is a good one for the state of Iowa.  A new, innovative engineering technology company coming out of Iowa State University is helping a long-standing and venerable Iowa manufacturer be more competitive in an increasingly difficult international economy.

John LaMarche, Principal,  and Adrienne Greenwald, Director of Communications and Public Relations at  VentureNet Iowa
our innovation partners
VentureNet Iowa

Higher Learning Technologies  

Ruster Sports 

VIDA Diagnostics  

Scout Pro 

Igor  

Immortagen  

 

What's the link between these companies? They are

just a few of the innovation startups that have received assistance from VentureNet Iowa, formed in 2007 to provide business commercialization services for entrepreneurs.

 

Since 2008, VentureNet has contracted with the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) to provide those business commercialization services to innovative companies applying for state funds. VentureNet has seen lots of companies come and go, some successful, some not. "It's all about the better idea," said John LaMarche, VentureNet Principal. VentureNet's primary service is to take emerging companies through a series of steps to ascertain the strengths and weaknesses of their business and to determine whether the opportunities are worthy of state financial support. 

 

 "Our process involves hundreds of people," LaMarche said. "We bring in people who have expertise in each specific market." While not all businesses that come to VentureNet are looking for funding, if they are seeking financial assistance from the IEDA, they're required to go through the process. "But we will provide candid feedback to these companies at no cost, whether or not they are looking for funding," LaMarche said.

 

To start the process, a company presents a business plan and a set of financials to the VentureNet team. VentureNet will put together a focus group for them, based on the type of industry being presented. "We find the experts," LaMarche said. "There are a lot of great resources around the state."

 

The group generally includes a lawyer, representatives from finance and marketing, a business generalist and an entrepreneur, at the very least. After reviewing the company's business plan and financials, the focus group will sit down with company representatives for a two-hour review meeting.

 

 "A lot of the focus group members have been on both sides of the table," said LaMarche. "So they understand what it takes to go through this process." The feedback provided by the focus group is compiled into a record that is sent to the IEDA for evaluation and consideration as part of the request for funding.

 

After these businesses are through the pipeline and getting down to business, the Iowa Innovation Corporation works with the companies in a concierge role, helping shepherd them through the development phases and connect them with mentors and other support networks.

 

 "We get great feedback from our companies about the value of the services VentureNet provides," said Debi Durham, director of the IEDA. "Even if a company ultimately doesn't receive funding through our innovation programs, we still hear from them that the process, and VentureNet's mentoring, makes their company better." 

 

For more information about VentureNet and their review process, please contact John LaMarche at (515) 471-1965.

Bob Riley, Chairman of the Board at Iowa Innovation Corporation
board spotlight
Robert Riley, Chairman of the Board

 

Beginning this issue, Connections will feature a member of our Board of Directors each month. We are starting at the top, with our board chair, Bob Riley, CEO of Riley Resource Group. Riley's goal, in all of his endeavors, is to help make Iowa the Innovation Capital of the World. "After all, Maytag, Gateway Computers, Rockwell all started here."  

 

When discussing business development, or any of his other favorite topics, Riley invokes the bee. "I used to be a beekeeper. I learned a lot from bees, it's a good system," Riley said "Nature has had 4.5 billion years to figure it all out," he said. "We have been here, comparatively, for a millisecond. We can do it better?"


 The role of Iowa Innovation Corporation is similar to beehive activity, Riley believes. "We're like bees pollinating all these businesses with all the available pieces. The whole bee system is based on a healthy hive. The queen, the workers, the dance they do to make it all work together."

The Iowa Innovation Corporation knits together the ecosystem that makes up innovation, Riley said.

 

 "Iowa has innovation in our DNA. We share a lot, we collaborate. That's one of our strengths." He cites a recent study initiated by the Iowa Partnership for Economic Progress and completed by the Ohio based Battelle Memorial Institute. One of the study's recommendations is for Iowa to invest more in innovation by increasing the amount of venture capital and seed-stage funding available to allow startups to grow locally. "Many startups fail because they run out of money just before they make it. They need to get over that valley of death," Riley said. The Iowa Innovation Corporation can help startups get over that bridge.

 

A History of Making Connections

Riley has been involved in economic development in Iowa for a number of years. He served on the board of the Iowa Economic Development Authority and was part of the Capital Crossroads Project in Des Moines, which has received a grant for $2 million to create a sustainable city by 2050.


 Riley Resource group is a collection of related companies, all based on sustainability, serving the agriculture markets and local communities. They include:

 

Feed Energy. An ag business firm producing high-energy liquid feed.

FEC Solutions. Focusing on process improvement, technology development, new product development and marketing of materials for bioprocessing facilities.

Decision Innovation Solutions. An economic research and analysis firm, adding economic and agribusiness insight to the decision-making process.

Riverhead Resources. HR, Finance/Accounting, Marketing and IT Services. 

 

KITSCH OF THE DAY

 

Remember this guy? This catchy tune was perhaps your first introduction, way back in 1976, to how a bill gets passed in the legislature. As a shoutout to our hardworking state and federal legislators who got back to work this month.... If only it were that simple...
Go Here 

 

 

 

If you see a bandwagon, it's too late.

- James Goldsmith