Penny Brown-Huber’s career began in politics, but has taken her down a winding path as an entrepreneur. After eight years in politics and another eight working in fund raising and development at Drake University, Brown-Huber decided it was time to do something that encompassed her broader interests in public service, business and agriculture. In 2000, she developed a program called Grow Your Small Market Farm to teach Iowans how to run successful farm businesses. Two years later, she and business partner Ellen Nelson launched Funding Solutions, an Ames business that helps non-profit organizations with fund raising and grant writing. Brown-Huber and her husband also operate a produce business from their 24-acre farm near Maxwell. On Nov. 19, Brown-Huber was named the 2005 Deb Dalziel Woman Entrepreneur of the Year by the Iowa Small Business Development Centers.

Where did you attend college?

I went to St. Ambrose [University] in Davenport and I got a degree in political science and business there. And then I got a master’s in public administration at Drake.

What was your first job out of college?

My first work was in politics. I worked on legislative races and I worked for Sen. Charles Grassley as his organizational director for his campaign and I worked on a presidential race for Jack Kemp in 1988 as his statewide campaign director. I loved it, but it was exhausting.

Did you get burned out on politics?

I think, after eight years, I was at a turning point, where I had to decide if I was going to go on to work in national politics or if I was going to do something else. I decided that I wanted to do something else. Then I joined Drake University as the development director for its law school. Eventually I became development director for the journalism school, too, and associate director of development for the university. I got to see fund raising at different levels.

What made you decide to go into business for yourself?

I really loved Drake and the people I was working with, but it was the aspirations of the projects that I loved most. The law library was one of my projects, and it was great to see how people get excited about taking a project from the beginning to the end. I felt like it was time for me to make a change, and I recognized that the common threads of what I was interested in were fund raising, business and agriculture, and the environment. I was trying to think about how they could thread together and I took a leap of faith.

What was your first undertaking on your own?

After I left Drake, I moved to a not-for-profit doing forestry work. That was a way for me to craft what I wanted to do. During that time, I was lucky enough to get to know some folks at the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. It all fused together in 2000 for me to go out on my own with a project for the DNR. I worked on them with a project around absentee landowners and watersheds.

Why did you create Grow Your Small Market Farm in 2000?

I started to question where my food was coming from and who raises food, and I started poking around to see what resources there were for specialty farms to help them with their businesses. Every time I would talk with a specialty farmer, they wouldn’t have a business plan and they didn’t know whom to talk to about business skills. I started to see this need to help them get business skills. I spent the whole year of 2000 crafting this program.

What does the program cover?

What I wanted to do was help them write their business plans and have support for a while. People enroll in the program, and at first, they come to class from January through April and we build their business plan and their business skills. From May to October, I go out and meet with each one of them individually and see where their business is being conducted. I try to help them solve one problem in the summer.

How many people have gone through the program?

We just finished our fifth class, and so far, we’ve served 102 businesses across Iowa. We’ve found that more than 62 percent of those are still operating today, which is a huge success rate compared with all small businesses.

Do you pull from your own experiences operating a farm business?

Yes. In 2000, I started a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm. That evolved into a sprout business, where we raised sprouts for grocery stores, to a potato business. My husband and I sell the potatoes, sweet potatoes and grape tomatoes we grow at the Downtown Farmers Market and to two local organic grocery stores. We’re a chemical-free specialty farm.

So even though you were heavily involved with the training program and your farm, you managed to start another business in 2002?

In September 2002, I started Funding Solutions with Ellen Nelson, with the idea of really helping not-for-profits with their fund raising and expanding their capacity. Like farm businesses, non-profits need a plan. We want not-for-profits to be successful, and we try to develop relationships with them to help them move forward

What drives you to be able to do all of this?

I think it’s really important that we think about how to make individuals successful, particularly in a not-for-profit, where it’s often wonderful people with the right reasons for being there. I think the culture wants to go for this really big bang, and these are kind of quiet little steps, yet I think really profound sometimes. It’s amazing how much power people have individually. If I want to start a business, and I get good training to help me make good decisions, I can build a wonderful business that might support my family and others.