Thirty years of entrepreneurship is difficult to capture in a single evening.

There are the businesses launched and jobs created. The students who discovered they could be entrepreneurs. The founders who connected with a mentor at just the right moment. And the alumni, business leaders, faculty, staff and community partners who have spent decades helping people turn ideas into something real.

On September 11, more than 150 members of that community gathered at Iowa City’s Englert Theatre for the inaugural Iowa Entrepreneurship Gala, celebrating 30 years of the University of Iowa John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center (Iowa JPEC) and three decades of entrepreneurship across Iowa.

If there was one idea that connected the evening, it was people.

That theme surfaced again and again during a fireside conversation with University of Iowa alumnus and longtime business leader Jerre Stead.

Stead has spent a career building companies, investing in entrepreneurs and giving back. In a wide-ranging conversation with Iowa JPEC Executive Director Adam Keune, he shared stories and lessons from decades of leadership. Again and again, he came back to the importance of people. The people you surround yourself with. The people willing to help. The relationships that ultimately make organizations and entrepreneurs successful.

University of Iowa student Connor Vicory joined Stead and Keune onstage for the final question, asking what advice Stead would give students just beginning to think about their own paths as entrepreneurs and business leaders.

The evening also honored two entrepreneurs whose stories have deep Iowa roots.

Byron Roth received the John Pappajohn Legacy Award. Raised on a family farm in Wayland, Iowa, Roth went on to lead Roth Capital Partners and build a career that earned him the prestigious Horatio Alger Award earlier this year.

The recognition carried an added connection to JPEC’s history. Founder John Pappajohn, who received the Horatio Alger Award in 1995, nominated Roth for the same honor before his death.

Ravi Patel received the John Pappajohn Alumni Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Patel’s entrepreneurial story began in the 18-room roadside motel his immigrant parents purchased in Arkansas. The motel was both the family business and their home. Today, Patel leads Hawkeye Hotels, a company that has grown to more than 60 hotels across the country.

Neither honoree knew exactly what was coming.

Before they accepted their awards, Roth and Patel watched surprise video tributes from family members and colleagues who shared stories about their lives, careers and impact on others. Both responded with emotional acceptance remarks.

Near the end of the program, the focus shifted to another group of people who have helped define JPEC’s first 30 years.

Former and current students appeared on screen to talk about what JPEC had meant to them. Their stories brought tears to the room and offered a reminder that the impact of entrepreneurship education is difficult to capture in numbers alone.

Companies can be counted. So can programs, investments and awards. It is harder to measure what happens when someone believes in an idea, makes the right introduction or gives a young entrepreneur the confidence to keep going.

That belief has been at the center of the John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Centers since they were established 30 years ago. The original idea was straightforward: entrepreneurship should not be reserved for a select few. People with ideas should have access to the education, encouragement, mentors, connections and capital that can help those ideas grow.

By the end of the ceremony, however, the celebration wasn’t finished.

Guests walked out of the Englert to find the Hawkeye Marching Band waiting outside. With the band playing, the crowd made its way through downtown Iowa City to Iowa JPEC’s new entrepreneurial incubator at Plaza Towers, new home of the BELL undergraduate incubator.

There, on a beautiful September night, guests gathered for an after-party on the rooftop overlooking the Pedestrian Mall.

It was a fitting way to celebrate 30 years: the people who helped build JPEC’s past gathering in a new space created for its future.

Thirty years can be measured in companies, programs and milestones. But on this night, it was measured in people.

Photography by: Carter Photography