Internet Marketing Is at the Core of Any Growth Strategy

• Jeff Eckhoff

For most of the online era, companies were able to maintain two separate growth strategies: a traditional marketing plan and a web/e-commerce plan. Not anymore.

Buyers, from consumers to professional B2B purchasing agents, have changed. It is now imperative to include your website, search engine optimization, search engine market­ing, social media marketing, email marketing, and web ana­lytics as integrated pieces of your overall marketing plan.

Digital Manufacturing—Better Efficiency via an Internet-linked Vending Machine

• Jeff Eckhoff

Asked to explain the value of his two-year-old electronic supply cabinets, the comparison Joe Greving reaches for is to a major technological shift.

“I can’t imagine going back to the way we used to do it,” said Greving, president of Iowa Steel Fabrication in Osceola. “Once you have an iPhone X for 30 days, you’re not going back to a flip phone.”

CIRAS Helps Avoca Surface Take Smooth First Steps into Government Contracting

• Jeff Eckhoff

It was a quest for help with the paperwork that sent Patrick Richards to the Flying J truck stop in Avoca.

In 2016, Richards was in the beginning stages of creating what would become Avoca Surfaces, a countertop business owned by Richards, his son, and another father-son team. Lori Holste, executive director of the Western Iowa Development Association, suggested that Richards meet with Andy Alexander, a government contracting specialist with CIRAS’ Procurement Technical Assistance Program (PTAP). And a long-term partnership was born.

SAM Suspects Fraudulent Activity in the System

• Jeff Eckhoff

If you’re a government contractor, you may have recently received a suspicious-looking email with the subject line “ALERT: Bank Account Change Detected for COMPANY NAME / DUNS / CAGE  in the U.S. Government’s System for Award Management (SAM)”?

The first thing you need to know is that the email was legit.

EVENT ALERT: Midwest Government Contracting Symposium, May 23-24

• Jeff Eckhoff

Are you a business in Construction, IT, Manufacturing, Manufacturing Support or Professional Services who is interested in strengthening its Government Contracts footprint?  Are you interested in connecting with government agencies situated on the Rock Island Arsenal?

Then you should be at the 11th Annual Midwest Government Contracting Symposium, May 23 and 24 in Moline, Illinois.

UPCOMING: Veterans Breakfast, Corridor Business Development Expo

• Jeff Eckhoff

Attention veterans, business owners, and veteran business owners in the Cedar Rapids area: CIRAS would like to help fill both your minds and bodies on April 11.

CIRAS is hosting a special Veterans Breakfast on that day beginning at 7:30 a.m. at the Kirkwood Hotel in Cedar Rapids – immediately preceding the Corridor Business Development Expo.

Upcoming Webinars: Successful Conferences and Capability Statements

• Jeff Eckhoff

Are you showing potential customers the best version of your company?

Capability statements are a key component of any government marketing plan and should be one of your main marketing materials for government customers. Capability statements act as a resume of your business, including all important information that a potential government customer would rely on for market research. 

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