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Read this timeline, all of you who wonder why the brightest college graduates flee Iowa, and weep:

1984: 24 business leaders, entrepreneurs and academicians form the Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED) in North Carolina’s Research Triangle.

1993: Entrepreneur magazine ranks the Triangle among its Top 20 Hot Spots to Start a Business.

2000: Entrepreneur magazine ranks Raleigh/Durham No. 3 among the Best Places in the Nation for Entrepreneurship.

2001: CED membership reaches 5,000.

Now imagine the disorienting experience of David Gion, who moved from the Research Triangle to Des Moines in 2007 to run Canvis, a spinoff business of Weitz Co. “I needed to get connected,” he told the Iowa Senate Economic Growth Committee last week, “so I went to a couple of breakfast clubs.”

Anything like the CED around here? he asked fellow breakfast-eaters. No one seemed to know.

So when Mike Colwell showed up one morning to talk about the Business Innovation Zone (BIZ), the business accelerator program he runs here, Gion became a client.

Because without networking, an entrepreneur is just somebody who doesn’t have a steady job.

“Five houses from where I live is a gentleman with LWBJ Financial who helps people with venture capital,” Gion told the lawmakers. “Fifteen months (after arriving in Des Moines), I meet him through BIZ.

“The value of this program is accelerating the time frame.”

Colwell, assisted by Gion’s testimonial, was in the Statehouse not to ask for a check, he said later, but to remind the keepers of the state’s treasure that he’s out there working on the economy. Maybe it’s not a good year for spending, but encouraging innovation and new business is always in season.

The BIZ is one of five business accelerators set up around Iowa with state funds matched by local money. It was a three-year program, and the three years are gone. “It’s hard to get funds without a government match,” Colwell said after his presentation. “We’re looking for funding we can depend on, so we can budget for the future.”

The other half of his job, however, is to search for venture capitalists who don’t demand that kind of security blanket. They know this game is like baseball; if you hit .300, you’re an all-star.

“The first question for every ‘angel’ is, are you willing to lose every dime?” Colwell said. “Out of 10 investments, I guarantee you’ll lose seven times.”

According to PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association, venture capital investors put $6.1 billion into U.S. start-up companies in 2008. In 2008, the BIZ served 83 clients and raised a modest $1.26 million.

With economic gloom in the air, Colwell told the Economic Growth Committee he doesn’t expect to raise any significant funds this year. Three of his clients are “bootstrapping” now with their own money, not trying to find a big investor. “Raising venture capital right now is horrifically difficult,” he said. “The angels are the best source, but they have had a 50 percent cut, and they’re punchy.”

Colwell provided committee members with statistics about the state’s combined accelerator results through 2007: 97 companies started, 589 jobs created, $27.3 million raised.

We’re trying, but there sure is some serious competition.

Right now in North Carolina, they’re nearing the end of a 10-week program for start-up entrepreneurs. On March 24, they have an Inventors Workshop scheduled. Next Saturday, it’s the “Fire Up Your Dream” event, presented by A Million Dreams Across America and the CED.

Here in Iowa, our business accelerator funding ran out.