T-R PHOTO BY LANA BRADSTREAM — Jim Clark, Luisa Ortega and Marshalltown Area Chamber of Commerce President and CEO John Hall listen to entrepreneurship barriers brought forward by residents during the Business Heartland Project event Sunday at the Midnight Ballroom. Roughly 20 people attended.

In an effort to learn more about obstacles residents face when starting a business, the Marshalltown Area Chamber of Commerce hosted the Business Heartland Project at the Midnight Ballroom on Sunday.

The goal of the event is to have the guide regarding the barriers available in April.

Some of the barriers and challenges brought forward included getting word out about and promoting businesses, dealing with a bad economy and the inability to financially recover since 2020. Also revealed was the lack of information of where entrepreneurs and potential business owners can go to get loans.

An attendee said if everyone in Marshalltown was able to establish their businesses, residents would not have to go to Des Moines for items or services.

“The town is lacking businesses,” said interpreter Luisa Ortega.

A lack of readily available business information was also brought forward. Chamber President and CEO John Hall said the Chamber is trying to create the resource guide in Spanish so there are no lost translations or misrepresentations. The guide will help people navigate the business processes.

“Food permits and food inspection stuff are top of the list of some stuff we have talked about,” he said.

Almost 20 people attended the afternoon event at the Midnight Ballroom, which is what Hall was expecting. The event is a product of the Kansas Leadership Center’s Heartland Together Initiative, of which Marshalltown is the pilot community in Iowa.

“The goal of the program is to [listen], figure out and find barriers to entrepreneurship, small business growth and development within more rural communities,” he said.

Hall, along with Action Committee members Jim Clark and Ortega, wanted to place focus on Hispanic Marshalltown residents who have or want to have businesses.

“We wanted to have a conversation about what tools, resources, direction, services are lacking or they have struggled to find access to,” Hall said. “Hopefully we can put together a more comprehensive resource guide, built fundamentally in Spanish as a way to help support this segment of our population.”

He told the attendees a group of people gathered together during the second week of January to discuss business barriers and how to address them.

“There’s no problem too small or too large,” Hall said. “We’re just trying to understand where barriers and limitations exist. The goal fundamentally is to build a community that is more vibrant, more welcoming and more successful for our small businesses throughout the community, but also to bridge some gaps between different communities that exist within Marshalltown to make sure everybody is getting the resources they need, where they need them to make sure everybody has a chance to be successful.”

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Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.