Iowa boasts over 200 companies — that make everything from popcorn to car parts — that have been in the state for 100 years or more.
“Iowa is a rural state where agriculture is dominant,” said Maureen Collins-Williams, partner at Entrepreneurial Communities, a consultancy that specializes in manufacturing. “But people will be surprised to learn that manufacturing is an even larger industry here.”
Manufacturing accounts for 18% of the state’s GDP — second only to financial activity.
There are more than 6,100 small to medium-sized manufacturers in the state, according to a report from Iowa State University published in July. And most of these firms are decades old.
“The majority of manufacturers in Iowa are over 30, 40 years old,” said Ronald Cox, associate dean at Iowa State University. “It’s much too expensive to start a new manufacturing operation today because of the high cost to buy a plant and machinery.”
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
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