Des Moines I recently caught up with Mike Ferrari, one of the founders of West Des Moines-based SmartyPig. Silicon Prairie News first interviewed Mike in December 2008, and a lot has changed for the online banking startup in the last year: ... read more

Omaha I'm really not much of a wine guy, to be honest, but I do appreciate the occasional glass of cabernet. Consequently, I'm not always the most knowledgeable dude when it comes to choosing the best wine to pair ... read more

Sioux Falls I had the opportunity to sit down with Will Bushee, the VP of Development of BrightPlanet, one of Sioux Falls' great technology companies. BrightPlanet has existed in South Dakota for over 10 years and specializes in harvesting high quality content ... read more

Des Moines One Des Moines startup that recently burst onto the scene is Dwolla, a web-based technology for transferring money from one user to the next. Ben Milne, Dwolla’s founder, was a speaker at the recent Highlight Midwest event ... read more

Omaha One of the benefits of working in BrightMix's office is meeting the clients that stop by for meetings, parties, or the sporadic Friday grill session. It was at the latter of these that I met Timothy Kephart and his ... read more

Lincoln Collin Caneva accepts that video games are a staple in many kids' lives nowadays. But just because they spend hours a day clicking away in front of a screen doesn't mean the time they spend in a virtual world ... read more

Des Moines It took moving out east for Mike Draper to realize the benefits of the local business climate for entrepreneurs in Des Moines. Mike's endeavor, SMASH, is part retail T-shirt merchandiser, part screen printer and part web designer. Mike ... read more

Des Moines Alexander Grgurich may be young but he's already found many ways to contribute to the greater Des Moines community. He was raised here, graduated from Drake University, serves as a city councilman in the suburbs, and is now ... read more