Before all of our Power Breakfast events, we bring the panelists to the Business Record for a pre-event meeting on the topic and banter through potential questions. 

We always leave that meeting wishing we could have invited our entire audience into the room with us to hear the informal discussion.

So, we decided this year to host a series of what we are calling Power Roundtables, and we invited members from a variety of industries to have discussions about the trends, opportunities and challenges they are facing as we head into 2014. We recorded each conversation on video, and all four (manufacturing, culture, commercial real estate and STEM) will be released in the coming weeks on our website.

Not only did we get a variety of story ideas for 2014 and beyond, but we also had our reporters pull out some key takeaways and observations from the discussion.

First Power Roundtable: STEM education 

For our first Power Roundtable, reporter Kyle Oppenhuizen gathered five business leaders who are working as part of the Governor’s STEM Advisory Council to make sure your business has access to a skilled workforce. It’s a critical issue for Iowa and one that truly impacts all businesses. In fact, access to skilled workers was a common thread that ran through all four of our Power Roundtables. We hope you enjoy this inside look at STEM education in Iowa.

Read Kyle’s Takeaways | Watch the full-video