Laurie Watje
Assistant Adjunct Professor
BCS 13Q
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Laurie Watje
Assistant Adjunct Professor
As a CPA, Laurie Watje has extensive experience working with small businesses. She started her own small business in western Iowa with her husband, managed a small business, and, with her family, owns a manufacturing company in Cedar Falls and Nebraska. For more than a dozen years, Watje worked closely with hundreds of student entrepreneurs at the John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center.
For Watje, students are her first priority. Her passion is to assist them in realizing their purpose. Sometimes Watje learns from students as much as they learn from her, and she values their perspectives.
Hobbies & Interests
Watje enjoys taking long walks in nature, reading, and, of course, spending quality time with her six grandchildren.
B.S. (Accounting) Upper Iowa University; CPA. Certified as a Kauffman Foundation FastTrac facilitator; Certificate in Leadership Development, University of Northern Iowa; Incubator Management Certification Program, National Business Incubator Association.
Entrepreneurial Fundamentals, Financial Literacy
Prior to Laurie’s present position, she managed the R.J. McElroy Student Business Incubator program located in the John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center (’07 – ’18). Before her career at UNI, Laurie served in four other business ventures: Owner of The Office Stop in Carroll, IA (’91-’94); Accounting Adjunct Instructor for Des Moines Area Community College in Carroll, IA (’97 – ’07); Staff Accountant for Olsen, Muhlbauer & Co., LLC, in Carroll, IA (’94 – ’96 and ‘06 – ’07) and Business Manager for Party Time Fundraising in Carroll, IA (’96 – ’07).