May 1, 2013 by Megan Bannister
Des Moines An eighth grader from the Des Moines suburb of Urandale was named the Iowa winner of the 2013 Doodle 4 Google competition. The design made by Marissa Frost, a student at Urbandale Middle School, will be displayed in the American Museum of Natural History. Her doodle will compete for a chance... read more
April 24, 2013 by Danny Schreiber
Data centers in Iowa are dominating headlines this week as Facebook on Monday announced its intention to build a facility in Altoona and the next day the State of Iowa revealed Google is expanding its existing project in Council Bluffs. The immediate costs of these two projects is expected to reach nearly $700 million, creating hundreds of construction jobs but likely just ... read more
September 25, 2012 by Danny Schreiber
Council Bluffs Google on Monday announced Google for Entrepreneurs, an umbrella effort of its programs and partnerships that support startups and entrepreneurs around the world. To kick off this effort, the internet giant Sunday began hosting its first annual Google for Entrepreneurs Week, 33 events across 13 countries. Among those events is a Google tools and products training session Wednesday morning in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Google for Entrepreneurs is partnering with the Council Bluffs Chamber of Commerce – which earned the organization a mention in Google's Google for Entrepreneurs announcement – to host the training, which runs from 7-10 a.m. … read more
September 13, 2012 by Michael Stacy
Kansas City The final tally from the Google Fiber rally is in. Google this afternoon announced that 180 "fiberhoods" in Kansas City, Kan. and Kansas City, Mo. will be wired for its new, ultra high-speed internet service. The Hanover Heights fiberhood in Kansas City, Kan. is … read more
September 10, 2012 by Michael Stacy
Kansas City The six-week rally during which Kansas Citians could pre-register for Google Fiber closed on Sunday, and at least 180 out of 202 "fiberhoods" in Kansas City, Kan. and Kansas City, Mo. qualified for Google's ultra high-speed internet service, project general manager Kevin Lo said Sunday in a post on the Google Fiber Blog. On Thursday, Google Fiber will … read more
August 10, 2012 by Jeff Slobotski
San Francisco Last week, I spent a few days in San Francisco along with Dusty Reynolds, the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce's director of innovation and entrepreneurship. We encountered plenty of people familiar with the work of Silicon Prairie News. We met others who had heard of SPN or our events, Big Omaha and Thinc Iowa, but weren't completely familiar with our work and efforts to build our region's entrepreneurial and startup community. The trip was filled with a number … read more
July 26, 2012 by Michael Stacy
Kansas City Google today revealed more about the vision for the future of its Fiber project, and that vision is in high-definition. Google Fiber, the company's first large-scale foray into providing internet service, will also feature a prominent and potentially disruptive HD television offering. And all of that technology could be available to residential customers in parts of Kansas City … read more
July 18, 2012 by Michael Stacy
Kansas City Truman defeating Dewey. Satchel Paige firing a fastball. Charlie Parker playing bebop. The Google Fiber ad spot posted this morning on the Google Fiber Blog certainly pulls at Kansas City’s collective heart strings. And, with the obligatory shot of a steaming stack of short ribs, it also activates the salivary glands. But the 30-second spot also serves notice … read more
April 25, 2012 by Danny Schreiber
Des Moines After nearly a year of unreturned phone calls and emails from its Google AdSense account manager, it took a tell-all blog post and an appearance on the front page of Hacker News for Des Moines startup Hatchlings to get Google on the phone. "The (Google employee) who called me made a comment on the Hacker News post," Hatchlings CEO Brad Dwyer … read more
April 5, 2012 by Danny Schreiber
Des Moines Hatchlings, a Facebook game billed as "the world's largest virtual Easter Egg hunt," published a blog post today detailing its attempts to collect on revenue from its disabled Google AdSense account. "After trying to go through the 'proper channels' for almost a year now it's time to share this story of how Google screwed over our startup with the world," Brad Dwyer, the company's co-founder and CEO, wrote. … read more
Through August 22, help us decide the winners of our inaugural Silicon Prairie Awards, which will recognize 12
companies and individuals. You can vote once per day per category.
Winners will be announced live on stage at
our August 30 event.