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The Iowa Asian Alliance is a cultural organization with aspirations of becoming a driver of economic development.

Founded in 2002, the organization has earned high marks for its annual Asian Heritage Festival. Now it hopes to broaden its mission by serving as a clearinghouse that provides information and services that spur economic activity.

Christopher McDonald, a lawyer with BelinMcCormick P.C., chairs the Iowa Asian Alliance (IAA) board, and he is pushing the organization to celebrate the diverse cultures it represents, but to also take practical steps to promote their business activities.

Toward that goal, the IAA Web site connects employers with prospective employees, hosting resumes and job postings.

In addition, the IAA MicroLoan Fund provides up to $35,000 for new or expanding businesses. The program is built on a revolving loan account established with state funds and administered by the Iowa Department of Economic Development.

The program is for businesses that do not qualify for conventional financing. Loans are repaid at standard interest rates and as loans are repaid the account is freed up for additional lending.

For businesses that participate in the program, the IAA requires that they obtain technical assistance and follow what McDonald called an “exacting business model.”

“We want to make sure the loans succeed,” McDonald said.

The program was established at the start of the year, and IAA is seeking loan candidates. The program would take up a lending space typically occupied “in our community by friends and family and community leaders,” McDonald said.

Loans would focus on technology, computer systems, training and consulting fees. There would not be a significant amount available for retail operations, such as restaurants.

“$35,000 doesn’t go very far in a restaurant startup,” said McDonald, whose family operates a restaurant in Ames, and he noted that the failure rate is high.

The money could be used to establish an agricultural training center or even to train someone in independent insurance sales, where costs would be limited to establishing an office, setting up its infrastructure and marketing efforts.

“We want the businesses to grow and become employment generators,” he said. “Maybe someone would start a six-person IT company and then turn it into a 20-person company, or maybe someone needs to turn a single grocery store into several stores.”

The loan program is not the only business development service provided by IAA.

McDonald said the organization focuses its efforts on individuals and businesses

For individuals, IAA plans to offer professional development classes on interviews, etiquette, computers and business software.

For businesses, IAA wants to connect employers with employees. To that extent, it provides a forum for people to post portfolios and resumes on the IAA Web site. It provides employers a mechanism to recruit and retain workers. Because of its bilingual membership, it offers a ready source of interpreters.

“Workers need to know where they can get a haircut, attend temple, shop for groceries,” McDonald said. “Quality of life issues are important to employers in recruting.”

IAA also offers free business consulting for six hours a year in areas such as human resources, cash flow management, accounting, marketing and legal matters.

It also attempts to bring businesses into the membership circle by using other IAA members as vendors and providing vendor discounts.

IAA continues to have a community development function, particularly in fund-raising activities and sponsoring the high-profile Asian Heritage Festival, which draws support from a wide range of businesses.

The organization has a diverse membership, serving Asian community groups representing Burma, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Laos, Nepal, the Philippines, Taiwan, Taidam, Thailand and Vietnam. In addition, its membership includes representatives from the from the Latino, African-American and mainstream communities.

IAA has four membership levels, beginning with a $25 individual membership. Other memberships are business at $100, investor at $1,000 and partner at $5,000.

Noting that the organization has had peaks and valleys in terms of participation in the various communities it serves, McDonald said it is important to broaden IAA’s mission as well as its relevance.

McDonald said he is frequently asked why the IAA doesn’t perform a variety of services. These days, he can point out that in most cases, it is providing the service, such as connecting individuals and businesses.

“Everything is mission critical, so that the information isn’t inside one person’s head,” McDonald said. “We want to repeat the same story again and again so that it does grow organically and we’ll have great success stories.”