Kate Iola became very concerned for America’s food supply safety, especially after the terrorist acts of September 11, 2001. She got the idea for her fiction book, Deadstock, from experiences and research completed for the news articles she wrote for several agricultural publications. The writing of this book resulted in her founding Hammersmark Books in Hartley, Iowa in late 2005.

Kate grew up in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, graduating from high school at 16 to attend college. After receiving her Bachelor’s degree, she went on to graduate school and obtained a Masters degree in Molecular Pathology. After college she co-founded a biotechnology company, ChromaXome, which she eventually sold. During this time she was also awarded three issued patents.

Kate moved to Iowa in 1998 to be near her family. She worked on writing a book and also worked as a staff reporter for the Spencer Daily Reporter, making agriculture her specialty. In early 2001 she started writing the Deadstock manuscript and she published two non-fiction books. In February 2005 , she met Alan Kluis, a commodity trader who was looking for a publisher for a new edition of his book, Charting for Profit. Kate’s previous business experience got her thinking about the advantages of establishing an independent press, but she knew she would need assistance in the start-up phase.

Kate turned to her local SBDC for help. She appreciated the opportunity to discuss many different strategies and business ideas with SBDC center director Kelly McCarty and to brainstorm those ideas with him. Those discussions culminated in the establishment of Hammersmark Books and the publishing of Deadstock. By late 2005 the company had exclusive agreements with two authors—Kate Iola and Alan Kluis; it is publishing their works and a book by an artist from Spencer.

With strategic and financial planning assistance from the SBDC, Hammersmark Books received funding for its start-up costs from the O’Brien County Economic Development Corporation’s revolving loan fund. Kate commented, “The Northwest Iowa SBDC has provided valuable assistance and played an integral role over the years in helping me get my business to this successful place.”