At Second Annual Entrepreneur Expo, Ernst Brings Washington Opportunities to Iowa Small Business Owners

AMES, Iowa – U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Ranking Member of the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, held her second annual Entrepreneur Expo on Aug. 6, 2024, at her alma mater, Iowa State University.

Hundreds of Iowa small business owners attended Ernst’s Expo to hear from speakers, join breakout sessions with federal agencies, network with agency officials, and learn about getting involved in federal contracting and innovation programs. A group of 40 federal agency departments and state entities were present, providing attendees with access to small business programs and opportunities across the federal marketplace.

Click HERE to download photos from Ernst’s Expo.

“Performing work with the federal government has allowed Taylor Construction Inc. to seek out more opportunities and given our company the competitive edge in the bidding process for other public and private sector projects,” said Krista Taylor, owner and president of Taylor Construction and keynote speaker at the Expo. “Thank you, Senator Ernst for putting on this great event to expand access for small businesses in the federal marketplace. I know how impactful selling to the U.S. government has been for my business, and I am confident many more entrepreneurs will now be able to capitalize on working with the largest consumer in the country.”

“I would like to thank Senator Ernst for once again bringing her Entrepreneur Expo to Ames, Iowa,” said Dan Culhane, President and CEO of the Ames Regional Economic Alliance. “Bringing together hundreds of business leaders, community members, and Washington DC agency officials at Iowa State University to collaborate and provide direct access to federal funding opportunities is vital to helping grow our regional economy. This is an invaluable opportunity for our small business leaders to open new market and resources they cannot do on their own and we are already looking forward to helping continue this effort in 2025.”

KCCI attended and featured Ernst’s Expo, writing, “Ernst says her goal is to bring Iowa's small businesses together with federal agencies to enhance contracting opportunities in the future. ‘I want to provide as many resources and connections to our Iowa small businesses as possible. We have, I think, 39 or more federal agencies here today, which is extraordinary,’ Ernst said.”

Ernst also talked about her work to support small businesses on the Building in a Small Town podcast that interviews entrepreneurs, community leaders, policy makers, and others who are building things in communities of 10,000 or less. Listen here or find Building in a Small Town on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

Entrepreneur Expo and Ernst’s work for Iowa small businesses were also featured on KHOI, a community radio station in Ames. Find the full story here.

Federal News Network also spotlighted the event, saying, “Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), the ranking member of the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, is hosting 75 agency speakers in Iowa on Tuesday at her GovCon and Innovation Expo to promote federal contracting to a wider number of small firms. Ernst says this event and others are a way to get agencies outside of the DC bubble and help reverse the decline in the number of small businesses working for the government.”

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