Business

Vermeer Group Photo

Advance Iowa helps family-owned businesses thrive

It’s taken years for the Vermeer family to find their secret sauce. As owners of one the most well-known family businesses in Iowa — Vermeer Corp. in Pella — the Vermeer family has seen three generations come through the business. Jason Andringa, the grandson of Gary Vermeer, who founded the business in 1948, is president and CEO.
MBA students next to an old truck

MBA international students hit the mother road

Eleven days. 3,781 miles. One University of Northern Iowa graduation ceremony. That was the journey of Jingjing Yu (MBA ‘19) and Ziyi Li (MBA ‘19), two international Chinese students who graduated with a master’s degree in business administration last spring by utilizing a unique program that allows Chinese business professionals to earn an MBA through UNI in Hong Kong and Shanghai.
Military Vehicle

IWRC painter training program reflects on 25 years

The UNI Iowa Waste Reduction Center’s (IWRC) painter training program has evolved to serve needs. In 1994, the IWRC launched a research project looking at two local Cedar Valley body and collision shops. They were similar in size, but one was producing twice as much waste as the other. The IWRC staff quickly found the excess waste was coming from inefficient paint application by the in-house staff.
BCS-2

2019 UNI Entrepreneurs Elevator Pitch Competition

Ten UNI students competed in the 2019 UNI Entrepreneurs Elevator Pitch Competition. The competition was held in the Business & Community Services Building on Tuesday, October 15th. The students were split into two different categories, founders or idea generators, for competition depending on what stage their business was in. Founders already have an existing start up business and currently have revenue from either selling a product or providing a service. Idea Generators are in the very early stages…
Luma, Al Faisal and Abdallah Yasin

A sibling journey: Three-fourths of quadruplets find success at UNIBusiness

Iowa is a second home for siblings Luma, Al Faisal and Abdallah Yasin, who came to the Midwest in 2016 from Jordan, a country just east of Israel, to attend college. Even when Al Faisal leaves for his hometown in Jordan, he misses the distinct feeling of comfort the University of Northern Iowa provides.
University of Northern Iowa business students in class.

UNI MBA enrollment sees dramatic increase

The MBA program at the University of Northern Iowa has seen record growth in the past five years – and numbers continue to trend upward as many U.S. companies seek out recent MBA graduates for promotions and new positions.
Red Universe Winners

Okoboji Entrepreneurial Institute 2019

Students from UNI, Iowa State, University of Iowa, Buena Vista, and Iowa Lakes Community College got together for the Okoboji Entrepreneurial Institute which was held August 4-8th. At OEI, the students participate in entrepreneurial simulations and have the chance to network with fellow students and community members