The most successful entrepreneurs are those who are wise enough to invest their time, energy and resources into growing their communities in tandem with their business. Andrew VanFleet is a Cedar Valley entrepreneur who has taken that advice to heart and at 30, is reaping the rewards of community stewardship along with his business profits.

Imagine Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel recreated with spray paint. This is exactly what Paco Rosic, 27, of Waterloo, Iowa has dreamt of since age 6. Little did he know that the realization of this dream would lead to international visitors, a restaurant and art studio, and appearances on national media across the United States.

Entrepreneurial thinking runs in the Wegner family. Fifty years of hard work, strategic planning and calculated risks transformed a one-room blacksmith shop in rural Iowa into a 52,000-square-foot business with an international sales base.

Mike Robinson had practiced family counseling for over twenty years before he came to the University of Northern Iowa SBDC in Waterloo to seek start-up assistance to open a family counseling firm. He firmly believed he could bring a unique, culturally sensitive counseling style to minorities in eastern Iowa. After speaking to Mike Hahn, director of the UNI SBDC, Robinson moved into the 4th Street Incubator and opened Heal The Family, Inc.

Around The Corner Productions, Inc. is a full service production house serving the Cedar Valley with customized video production services. The company was launched in 2006 by two University of Northern Iowa college students after a college project morphed into a series of video production jobs.

Sarah Gall is a passionate runner. Graduating from the University of Colorado on a cross-country scholarship, Sarah was invited to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Team on two occasions. Taking what she learned in college and combining it with her passion (running), Sarah ventured out to see if the Waterloo/Cedar Falls area could support a specialized runners’ shoe retail store.