Episode
Building Rural Iowa's Startup Ecosystem: Iowa SBDC's Kelly Prickett on Community Colleges, Venture School, and AI
- Podcast
- Iowa Tech Podcast
- Published
- Mar 3, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 2362
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Summary
On this episode of the Iowa Tech Podcast, host Kaylee welcomes Kelly Prickett, Regional SBDC Director and Director of Economic Development and Entrepreneurship at Indian Hills Community College. Kelly shares her winding path through tourism, Main Street, and higher ed, and how her blended role lets her build rural entrepreneurial ecosystems across 10 southeast Iowa counties. She explains how SBDCs provide no-cost, one-on-one counseling across the entire business lifecycle—formation, growth, and exit—and how Iowa's 15-center network shares specialists to help with everything from marketing plans to QuickBooks and business valuations amid the "silver tsunami" of retirements. Kelly spotlights the vital role of community colleges in workforce development, citing real outcomes like CNC Machinery's growth from a small shop to 180 employees, and underscores how rural Main Street businesses create the culture and heartbeat of their communities. 💡 Find this show on your favorite player: https://iowapodcast.com/rural-entrepreneurial-ecosystems 🗞️ Be first to get new interviews: https://iowapodcast.com/subscribe/ 🐖 Get a free $30 gift card from Jethro's BBQ: https://iowapodcast.com/jethrosbbq Kelly and Kaylee dig into the distinct challenges and opportunities of rural entrepreneurship: trusted relationships, the power of connectors, and the need to find real customers—not just friendly compliments. Kelly helped bring University of Iowa's battle-tested Venture School to Ottumwa—the first rural cohort outside the Pappajohn Centers—pairing five startups with nine local mentors to deepen customer discovery and sharpen their pitches. They discuss AI's rapid evolution, SBDC's new AI-certified counseling, and how rural founders can leverage tools while keeping "human in the loop." Kelly…