President Obama Has Breakfast with ITS President Joel Althoff
MONTICELLO, Iowa, August 29, 2011 — ITS President Joel Althoff and four other rural Iowa small business owners spent an hour having breakfast with President Barack Obama on August 16 to discuss economic growth in Rural America.
It was the second day of the President’s Iowa bus tour; breakfast with the five Iowa small business owners was held at Rausch’s Café in Guttenberg, Iowa. The breakfast was an opportunity for the President to hear directly from rural small business owners about their experiences and highlight the steps his administration has taken to assist them.
“It was exciting talking with the President one on one – a once in a lifetime event,” said Althoff. “He seemed genuinely interested in what we had to say.”
“The White House contacted me on Friday, Aug 12th, to see if I was interested. My name and business were brought to the attention of the White House through the Venture Award we received in 2008, thanks to the Iowa Area Development Group (IADG) and the USDA,” explained Althoff. “They asked about our business to determine whether our experiences could help stimulate conversation regarding growing the economy in rural America.”
The President, Althoff said, asked the small business owners how their businesses were doing and the biggest issues they were facing. Althoff shared his thoughts on broadband, entrepreneurial coursework in schools, initial startup credit and funding, and cloud computing.
Following breakfast, Althoff was also invited to participate in the economic forum held at NICC in Peosta, Iowa. In his welcoming remarks and in the small business breakout session, President Obama shared thoughts conveyed by Althoff and the other small business owners during their morning breakfast and conversation. President Obama and Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Karen Mills also announced an increase in financial support for rural businesses through the SBA and the creation of a series of Rural Private Equity and Venture Capital conferences to develop private funding sources for small, rural businesses.
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ITS is an Eastern Iowa Managed Services company located in Monticello. We firmly believe in delivering solutions to our clients instead of simply selling them a product. Our satisfied clients will confirm that we stand behind our work and provide trusted, IT solutions in a timely and professional manner.
