Manufacturer Business Assessment
What's holding your business back?
Orders outrunning production. Skilled people hard to find. One slow step holding up everything behind it. Iowa Valley Business and Community Solutions (BCS) can help you find out why, and what would change it.
The first step is a business assessment: a conversation about your operation, your people, and where work slows down. It looks at workforce training, automation, or both. It is funded by a U.S. Small Business Administration grant and available at no cost to small manufacturers in Hardin, Marshall, Poweshiek, and Tama counties.
You don't need to know the answer. That's what the assessment is for.
Does any of this sound familiar?
- We're turning down work because we can't make more.
- We can't find or keep people with the skills we need.
- Our best people spend hours on the same repetitive task.
- One slow step holds up everything behind it.
- We've thought about automation but don't know where to start.
- Our people need training to run or maintain equipment.
- We don't have a training department.
- We think we're too small for help like this.
One is enough. If any of these sounds like your shop, an assessment is a good place to start.
How the business assessment works
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Step 1
Tell us about your business
Complete a short request form. It asks what you make, where you are, and roughly how many people you employ.
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Step 2
We confirm eligibility
A BCS business outreach specialist contacts you to confirm your business qualifies for the SBA-funded program.
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Step 3
We talk through your operation
In person or virtually, we look at where work slows down, what skills your people have and need, and whether automation could help.
From there, the next step may be workforce training, technical assistance, or both, based on what the assessment finds.
What kind of training and help is available?
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Robotics and automation
Robot safety, operation, programming, and troubleshooting.
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Controls and industrial software
PLC fundamentals, sensors, industrial networking, and equipment data monitoring.
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Advanced manufacturing
CNC operation, CAD/CAM, precision measurement, and print reading.
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Welding and fabrication
Welding fundamentals, fabrication, and shop safety.
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Technical assistance
Skill-gap analysis, training plans, automation readiness discussions, and help building a registered apprenticeship.
Training takes place at Marshalltown Community College, at other Iowa Valley locations when they are the better fit, at partner training labs in the region, and, when it makes sense, at your shop. Not every option fits every business. The assessment identifies what does.
Is my business eligible?
Eligibility is set by the SBA grant. To take part, your business needs to:
- make a physical product,
- be located in Hardin, Marshall, Poweshiek, or Tama County, and
- qualify as small under the SBA size standard for its industry.
Size standards vary by industry and count affiliated companies, so a location owned or controlled by a larger company may not qualify. BCS confirms eligibility for you. You don't need to look it up first. It helps to have three things ready: what you make, your employee count, and whether a larger company owns or controls your business.
What kinds of businesses can take part?
Machine shops, fabricators, food processors, bakeries, cabinet makers, packaging operations, and other businesses that make physical products.
Common questions
Our business is small. Is this for us?
Possibly. The SBA size standard is a maximum, so being small doesn't rule you out. Eligibility also depends on making a physical product and being located in one of the four counties. In a small shop, one bottleneck can hold up the whole operation, and that is often where an assessment starts.
Will automation replace my people?
The assessment starts with the work, not a machine. We look at which tasks slow you down or are hard to staff, and what your team would need to learn to run and maintain any change. For many small manufacturers, the question isn't how to cut staff. It's how to make more with the people they have. We can't promise what an assessment will recommend. We can promise it looks at your people as well as your equipment.
Does it cost anything?
There is no cost to eligible businesses for the assessment or for training and technical assistance funded by the grant.
What will you ask of me?
Eligibility takes a few basics: what you make, your employee count, and whether a larger company owns or controls you. Afterward, we will ask for feedback on how the training helped, and the SBA asks for some outcome information, such as jobs created or retained. Some of that information may be optional or kept confidential, and we will tell you which.
Do I have to be a federal contractor?
No. The assessment focuses on workforce and production needs. If you do sell to government customers, we may ask about that as part of the SBA's reporting.
Can you help with financing or government contracting?
Not directly. Financing, procurement, and general business planning fall outside this program. We will point you to the Small Business Development Center or other SBA resource partners.
What if my business doesn't qualify?
We will tell you, and where we can, point you to other Iowa Valley Business and Community Solutions training or to partner organizations that may help.
Who is Iowa Valley BCS?
Iowa Valley Business and Community Solutions is the workforce and business training division of Iowa Valley Community College District, which has served this region for more than sixty years. Our instructors teach advanced manufacturing, welding, machine tool, and electromechanical skills, and Marshalltown Community College's new Robotics and Automation program adds automation expertise. That means we can look at the technology and the training together. Learn more about Iowa Valley Business and Community Solutions.
Request your business assessment
A short form starts the process. A BCS business outreach specialist will follow up to confirm eligibility and set up your assessment. Prefer to talk first? Email IVBCSInfo@iavalley.edu.
We use this information to confirm eligibility and contact you about the assessment. See the Iowa Valley privacy policy.
Open to eligible small manufacturers in Hardin, Marshall, Poweshiek, and Tama counties. Eligibility is confirmed by Iowa Valley BCS.
Iowa Valley Community College District received a $5 million grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration through its Manufacturing in America Empower to Grow Grant Initiative. Read the announcement.