Kimle Aquaculture chosen for Small Business of the Month Award
AMES, Iowa – America’s SBDC Iowa (SBDC) is pleased to announce that Kimle Aquaculture, LLC dba Midland Company, of Story City, is the winner of the organization’s statewide November Small Business of the Month Award.
Midland Co. is a seafood company using sustainable, environmentally friendly methods to raise shrimp for Midwestern customers. Their goal is to utilize a business model that has worked well for family farms in the poultry and swine space and apply that to shrimp production. The vision is to provide farmers with an opportunity to diversify their operations and possibly provide an opportunity for the children of Iowa farmers to come back to the family farm. Their recirculating aquaculture system technology results in zero wastewater from the facility which benefits both the grower (lower costs) and the environment.
Jackson Kimle participated in Iowa State University’s Agricultural Entrepreneurship Initiative and ISU Startup Factory programs which has resulted in a successful startup. Jackson has been working with the SBDC center at Iowa State University since June of 2019 when they were interested in applying for funding from the Wellmark Community Venture Capital Fund. They were successful in receiving funding from this program which was used to leverage private equity funding to build their demonstration farm in Story City.
“Jackson has been working with the Iowa SBDC at Iowa State University center since 2016, and he was one of the first clients I connected with when I first came on as the director for the center in early 2019. I attended several sessions of the Iowa State University Startup Factory cohort that Jackson was participating in and I was instantly impressed with his passion for creating a sustainable “tank-to-table” business model that provides fresh shrimp to consumers right here in the Midwest. Every time we connect he always has something to share about how they are pursuing and meeting key milestones. At our last meeting, he gave me a tour of their demonstration farm and I immediately signed up for my first order of fresh shrimp!” says Dave Biedenbach.
For more information about Kimle Aquaculture dba Midland Company, visit https://www.midlandseafood.com/
America’s SBDC Iowa is an outreach program of Iowa State University’s Ivy College of Business and the Office of Economic Development and Industry Relations. Iowa State University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, age, ethnicity, religion, national origin, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, sex, marital status, disability, or status as a U.S. Veteran. Inquiries regarding non-discrimination policies may be directed to the Office of Equal Opportunity, 3410 Beardshear Hall, 515 Morrill Road, Ames, Iowa 50011, Tel. 515-294-7612, Hotline 515-294-1222, email eooffice@iastate.edu.
Funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration, America’s SBDC Iowa has 15 regional assistance centers located strategically across the state. Since program inception in 1981, the SBDC has helped Iowa businesses and entrepreneurs through no fee, confidential, customized, professional business counseling and practical, affordable training workshops.
For more information on America’s SBDC Iowa programs or services, call (515) 294-2030 or visit www.iowasbdc.org, https://www.facebook.com/AmericasSBDCIowa, or @IowaSBDC on Instagram and Twitter.
Contact:
Brianna Hall, America’s SBDC Iowa, 515-294-2030, bschwind@iastate.edu
Dave Biedenbach, Iowa State University SBDC, 515-296-7828, dbieden@iastate.edu
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