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Congratulations to Matt Patane

March 15, 2017

We’re excited to share that our friend Matt Patane—the founding editor of Clay & Milk—is moving on to a new role at the Cedar Rapids Gazette. We’re happy for Matt and glad that he has this opportunity to continue to grow in his career.

We founded Clay & Milk to make sure that the story of the Iowa entrepreneurial community continues to be told and the more places it gets told, the better. Having a reporter with Matt’s skill, experience and connections amongst the startup community at the business desk of one of our state’s largest publications certainly helps that goal.

The need for Clay & Milk continues on, however, and that means we’re hiring a new managing editor. Ben and I are dedicated to seeing the publication forward. We’ve made arrangement with an interim editor to ensure we don’t have a pause in content.

We’re looking for a true “entrepreneurial journalist” to join our team—someone whose interests include building and leading a nascent publication as well as covering stories from across the innovation community.

For details, see Now Hiring: Managing Editor/ Entrepreneurial Journalist

If that sounds interesting we’d love to talk to you.

In this role, your ambition to work amongst and impact the community is paramount. A desire to use and experience the products and services of the companies and ideas you report on, will serve you well.

Have someone that fits that idea? Email me at geoff@clayandmilk.com

Geoff Wood is a co-founder of Clay & Milk and the founder of Gravitate, a coworking and community building organization in Des Moines.

Congratulations to Matt Patane | Clay & Milk

A central Iowa ag-tech accelerator has secured more backers and finally has a name. The Greater Des Moines Partnership first announced the accelerator last year, naming four initial investors. On Monday, the Partnership said the program will be called the "Iowa AgriTech Accelerator" and named three new investors. The new investors include Grinnell Mutual, Kent Corp. and Sukup Manufacturing, all Iowa companies. They join investors Deere & Co., Peoples Co., Farmers Mutual Hail Insurance Co. and DuPont Pioneer. Each investor has agreed to put up $100,000 for the first year of the accelerator. Startups entering the program will receive $40,000 in seed funding in exchange for 6 percent equity. Tej Dhawan, an angel investor and local startup mentor, is serving as interim director until the AgriTech Accelerator names a permanent leader. Dhawan held a similar role with the GIA before Brian Hemesath was named as managing director. As interim director, Dhawan said his main job includes hiring the accelerator's executive director, establishing a business structure and initial recruiting for the first cohort. The accelerator will place few filters, such as location and product, on the applicant pool, Dhawan said. "When you’re seeking innovation, innovation can come from every corner of the world so why restrict ourselves," he said. One area the the AgriTech Accelerator won't recruit from is biotech. For its first cohort, the AgriTech Accelerator will work out of the GIA's space in Des Moines' East Village, Dhawan said. A future, permanent home is still to be decided. The accelerator's program will host startups from mid-July through mid-October, ending with an event connected to the annual World Food Prize. The GIA, which the AgriTech Accelerator is based on, also ends with presentations at an industry event. The accelerator has also started lining up a mentor pool. The Iowa Corn Growers Association, Iowa Soybean Association and the Iowa Pork Producers Association have agreed to provide mentors, as has Iowa State University. While the AgriTech Accelerator is loosely based off of the GIA, it will differ in its business structure, Dhawan said. The GIA runs through a for-profit model for both operations and its investment fund. The AgriTech Accelerator will have a nonprofit model for its operations and a for-profit setup for its fund. Dhawan said the nonprofit model is being used so the accelerator can better work with other nonprofit partners, such as trade associations. "These are all organizations that are nonprofits and can be amazing stakeholders without ever having to be investors in the accelerator," he said. "It becomes easier to work with trade associations in their nonprofit role when we are also a nonprofit." When it's up and running, the AgriTech Accelerator would be one of a handful of ag-focused startup development programs in Iowa. Others include the Ag Startup Engine out of Iowa State University and the Rural Ventures Alliance from Iowa MicroLoan. Matthew Patane is the managing editor and co-founder of Clay & Milk. Send him an email at mpatane@clayandmilk.com.

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