New years bring a time for new beginnings. To quote Charles Kettering, an inventor and the head of research for General Motors from 1920 to 1947, “Every time you tear a leaf off a calendar, you present a new place for new ideas.”
If CIRAS is a new idea for you, then why not start the new year by considering a few new topics?
Here are five ways that CIRAS can help your company grow in 2020:
- Engage with Students. Iowa State University students completed 120 capstone projects for Iowa companies least year, helping those businesses (plus another 30 outside Iowa) solve nagging problems and/or design new projects. Campus wide, Iowa State University also placed more than 2,600 interns last year at businesses in 276 Iowa communities, allowing employers the chance to build relationships with a new generation of potential employees before the students develop a permanent home in the workforce.
- Visit CIRAS Labs. Multiple times each year, CIRAS hosts tours of laboratories at Iowa State University involving areas such as structural engineering, materials, and additive manufacturing. Watch our event calendar for details. (The next batch of tours is in February.) These events provide an opportunity to explore the technical capabilities available at Iowa State and understand the breadth of what CIRAS can help you accomplish.
- Get better at making bids. The CIRAS Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) exists to help Iowa businesses navigate the complex world of government contracting. PTAC specialists regularly host webinars and in-person events to help companies understand the complexities and fine-tune their searches for government contracts. Check the calendar for details. (Additionally, whether you’re interested in doing business with the government or not, a February 25-26 event could show you how to take better advantage of Market Research Tools.)
- Attend a networking event. CIRAS hosts a wide variety of events throughout the year to help would-be sellers make contact and build relationships with the buyers at government agencies. These events may appear on our event calendar as “meet the buyer” or “vendor orientation” gatherings. (Additionally, we are planning another business matchmaking event for some time in 2020. Contact CIRAS program manager Paul Gormley if you’d like to be kept informed as that progresses.)
- Join the Iowa Lean Consortium. The ILC is a dynamic, member-driven organization that exists to help Iowa companies grow and get better through continuous improvement. Membership is a tremendous value. (And if your company is one of the more than 140 businesses that were part of the ILC in 2019, it’s still not too late to renew.)
For these and other growth ideas, visit www.ciras.iastate.edu and continue reading CIRAS Newswire.