Iowa-based Plas-Tech has been named one of five national finalists out of 1,182 applicants) to pitch in the SBA Freedom 250 Patriot Pitch competition and CEO Dean Sonquist joins us in studio to discuss. $1 Million in total prizes is available to finalists Sonquist heads to Washington DC September 18th!

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Sonquist explains the increase they've been seeing as companies bring manufacturing back home to the USA from countries like China. He also notes how new companies and smaller startups are beginning to build new products at smaller volume, and how Plas-Tech is meeting those growing midwest needs.

Want a boutique, Iowa-made putter? Jared Doerfler of Hanna Golf says even though their premium golf gear is shipped all over the world, but surprisingly, 30% of his business still comes from within the state. Doerfler explains how they maintain their boutique quality, why their limited drops sell out in minutes, and how he taught himself CNC and CAD by watching YouTube videos.

Golf has grown 41% since 2019, but a great product doesn't make a great business. Doerfler explains how he built a massive social media presence, which ended up being his primary sales channel. He also explains Hanna Golf.

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The pork industry's facing major challenges, but therein lie some new opportunities. Jeff Caldwell fills in for Justin Brady in his discussion with Dr. Steve Larsen of R3 Consulting. New business models help, but it takes a concerted effort to understand what's behind those challenges and the ways the industry's best poised to overcome them.

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Ai is allowing farmers to scale and cover more ground, but new Ai systems can be insanely expensive, costing nearly one million dollars. Craig Rupp of Sabanto Ag sees a more efficient path. His approach retrofits existing, older farm equipment with Ai packages, making old "dumb" farm equipment completely autonomous.

Rupp says many of his customers don't even know how to drive a tractor at all. Instead, they install his kit and the equipment drives itself. One customer of his from Ankeny, Iowa cleared nearly 300k acres and has never driven a tractor. Rupp explains the future of autonomy in agriculture.

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One common complaint from recruiters, HR professionals, and skilled trades organizations, is Iowa's talent shortage. But are we ignoring a massive hidden talent pool in our own backyard? Joseph Johnson, CEO of Change Course talks about a specific group of people who can fill roles including felons and those transitioning off government assistance.

Johnson says there's a lot of fear hiring certain groups—most of it completely unfounded. He explains why his unconventional talent pool actually exceeds expectations and defies expectations. As an ex-con himself, he also shares where companies go wrong hiring ex-cons, and what lessons he learned to get their success rate to 100%.

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If you're an agriculture startup founder in Iowa, where do you get funding? Mikayla Mooney of Ag Startup Engine joins us to discuss why Iowa is leading in ag, but still catching up when it comes to investment for ag-focused startups and companies.

Iowa has some of the best soil in the world and we see farming and regenerative organic food lead the national headlines, but are we truly grasping the opportunity? Mooney explains how startups are using food trends as tail winds, but haven't quite changed to adopt the trend yet. Are we behind and how do we get ahead?

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Employees aren't quitting jobs, they're quitting bad managers says Mike Wagner of White Rabbit Group. Joining fill-in host Jason Kiesau he explains how great leaders build connection, and outlines practices that develop positive direct reports, regular one-on-ones, better questions, feedback, skill development, and delegation.

Wagner unpacks the "space between" leaders and direct reports, citing research that many employees would forgo a raise in exchange for their boss being fired. He emphasized that intentional, scheduled conversations are irreplaceable. He contrasts task-oriented and relationship-oriented leaders, describes connection as feeling heard, understood, and safe, and explains building "relationship capital" to make feedback easier.

Wagner details the "technician trap" of promoting experts who rescue problems ("white horse") instead of reproducing skills, and outlines a simple, experiential four-process training approach, including peer learning and handling cynicism over time.

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Guest host Jason Kiesau talks to Mike Barratt, a certified exit planning advisor with Choreo about the Iowa impacts of the "Silver tsunami." With 10,000 baby boomers turning 65 every single day, the landscape of business ownership is about to experience a massive shift.

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A staggering 75% of business owners regret their decision to sell just 12 months after the transaction. Barratt explains why preparation is the ultimate key to avoiding this post-sale regret, maximizing your company's value, and leaving a lasting legacy.

The coasts may get the headlines, but the midwest holds the crown for real-world autonomous vehicles. In fact, Ai-driven vehicles have been operating in Iowa for 10 years already. Colin Hurd, CEO of MACH recounts past Iowa successes, and why future of "off road autonomy" is thousands of different robots for niche uses cases.

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Hurd details real-world examples in not just Ai applications, but other industries as well. He explains how removing the human operator, actually opens up unlimited possibilities, solving problems like soil compaction, bulk, and weight barriers. Will Iowa fields, and manufacturing have hundreds of various robot shapes and sizes soon? It looks that way.

"What am I supposed to do now?" It's the question every student wants to know the answer to, but few mentors or advisors know how to answer. The Founder of NexPath, Sriram Pullapantula says this is the challenge he is focused on solving. The platform finds valuable skills, certifications and experience, and properly connects students with future career paths.

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Pullapantula says the applications for the tech are numerous. He sees educational institutions using it to guide students, and he sees companies using it to locate talent that otherwise would have flown under their radar. He believes most students are selling themselves short, missing massive opportunities.