The Iowa Lakes Corridor Development Corporation (Corridor) is announcing the postponement of this year’s Okoboji Entrepreneurial Institute (OEI) XV from August 9-13, 2020 with plans to return in 2021.
After much discussion amongst Corridor staff and partners in the community and at the educational institutions involved in OEI, we have decided to postpone this year’s Okoboji Entrepreneurial Institute to next August 2021 due to uncertainty and risk associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
For the past 14 years, OEI has been an incredible experience for over 400 college students across the state. The support from the OEI community has been amazing and is greatly appreciated. This experience is often life-changing for the students involved. Because of COVID-19 and the restrictions involved with social distancing, the same level of networking and community experiences would not be possible as it has in years past. In addition, we do not want to put the students or the community at risk.
“As a former OEI student myself, I can attest to the memorable experiences the students and community members receive by being a part of the OEI program,” says Corridor Coordinator of Administration and Communication Alyssa Petersen. “With an uncertainty of being able to provide that same high caliber experience to this year’s students, we made the difficult decision to postpone our 15th year celebrations to next year, with plans to come back strong again in 2021.”
The Iowa Lakes Corridor and OEI partners are committed to continuing the tradition of giving budding entrepreneurs the life-changing experience that is the Okoboji Entrepreneurial Institute. We look forward to inviting the community and a new group of students to the Iowa Lakes Corridor region next summer.
About the Okoboji Entrepreneurial Institute
Since its founding in 2006 by a core group of Okoboji entrepreneurs, OEI has received tremendous community support, funded by local and state-wide sponsors. Every August, OEI brings 32 of the sharpest entrepreneurial minds from five of Iowa’s higher education institutions – Buena Vista University, Iowa Lakes Community College, Iowa State University, University of Iowa and University of Northern Iowa – to the Iowa Lakes region for a week-long college credit course that is unmatched by any other program in the state.
About the Iowa Lakes Corridor Development Corporation
The Iowa Lakes Corridor Development Corporation is the regional economic development agency for Buena Vista, Clay, Dickinson and Emmet counties. The Iowa Lakes Corridor’s mission is to foster, encourage, promote, aid or otherwise assist in the economic development growth and development of the four-county region.