The Business Innovation Zone, a new business accelerator program for Central Iowa, could create some innovative opportunities for seasoned executives seeking a career change, says its executive director, Mike Colwell.

“I want to reach out to the business community to find people who are interested in giving back and who may be looking for a second career,” said Colwell. A major focus of the BIZ will be to “put together a good set of business skills with a great idea,” he said.

Colwell, a former Cedar Rapids resident who moved his family back to Iowa last summer after a 22-year career with a technology company in the Seattle area, was named last week to head the organization. A collaborative effort of the Ames Chamber of Commerce, Des Moines Area Community College, the Greater Des Moines Partnership and Iowa State University, the BIZ will target high-growth, high-potential companies at both the start-up and expansion phases as they seek the capital and expertise they need to grow.

Before moving to Ankeny, Colwell was senior vice president of product strategy and marketing for Intermec Inc., an Everett, Wash.-based maker of radio frequency identification devices and mobile computing devices.

“We’re very excited to have Mike on board as the executive director for this new initiative,” said Mary Bontrager, the Partnership’s executive vice president. “He brings a tremendous understanding of business development, how to take a project from conception to marketability. He has great contacts within the state as far as folks engaged in the venture world, and great East Coast and West Coast contacts in the venture and entrepreneurial world.”

The program initially will be housed in the Partnership’s offices at 700 Locust St., Bontrager said.

“I think the main thing is we have the facilities here to support it,” she said. “Certainly key to this program is going to be relationships – with the venture community, with business resources and potential mentors – so we think it makes sense to have it co-located with us, at least for the time being.”

The Partnership and the three other sponsoring organizations are collectively matching a $175,000 grant made by the Iowa Department of Economic Development in 2005, Bontrager said. The Central Iowa accelerator is one of eight such projects across the state to receive that amount of seed funding from the IDED.

Colwell, who received an information systems degree from the University of Iowa in 1984, began his career as a programmer with Norand Corp., a Cedar Rapids company that was acquired by Intermec in 1997. In his most recent position, he was responsible for all product strategy and planning for the $875 million company.

Colwell said he decided to leave the technology industry last year to pursue opportunities with a networking or mentoring type of organization. He and his wife, Beth, chose to return to Iowa, where both of them have family.

“We came back here because we wanted to be back in Iowa,” he said. “It was a commitment for where we wanted to live and raise our son. This is as much about passion for me as anything else. I am a strong believer in the potential of Iowa, and I think it can grow very well in the next 10 years.”

Partnership officials have said companies interested in obtaining BIZ services will go through a screening process to determine whether they are the best fit for the program. If they’re not, they will be directed to more suitable business assistance programs.

Colwell said a fee structure hasn’t been established yet for participating companies.

“We’ll strive to make it reasonable,” he said. “The reality for entrepreneurs is that money is precious. The existing accelerators have varying fee structures; we’re going to examine those. We’ll have to get a level of funding that will allow us to support the accelerator in the long term.”

Until the BIZ begins operations Feb. 26, inquiries should be directed to the Partnership’s main office number, 286-4950.