The city of Des Moines is launching a new low-interest, small-dollar loan program for businesses with 20 or fewer full-time employees.

Why it matters: Loan rejections and prolonged borrowing approvals have been tough for small businesses in recent years.

• Access to small loans are especially challenging and could be enough to make or break a business, Nick Tarpey, the city's economic development project manager, tells Axios.

State of play: The Small Business Impact Loan Program is designed to fill that need — and support local entrepreneurship.

• City leaders commonly encounter smaller businesses or startups in need of help financing projects like building improvements or website design, he said.

Driving the news: The City Council approved the $100,000 program investment earlier this month.

• Applicants must demonstrate a lack of access to traditional loans due to things like limited credit history or a lack of collateral.

Zoom in: The loans will range from $5,000 to $20,000 and be fixed at two percentage points below prime rates.

• Repayment will take up to five years, which the city will re-invest in more loans to future applicants.

The intrigue: More than a dozen types of businesses, including gas stations, storage facilities, adult entertainment venues and tobacco stores are ineligible.

• The exclusions help focus the program on businesses with the highest economic impact on neighborhoods via factors like job creation and added foot traffic, Tarpey said.

The big picture: Officials from the Iowa Department of Economic Development have long recognized that access to financing is a challenge for small businesses, offering state loan programs to help them overcome some of the hurdles.

• According to a report last year from the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy, about half of Iowa workers, or about 639,000 people, were employed by businesses with 500 or fewer employees.

What's next: The application process launches early next year, and the first loans will be approved in March.

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The Des Moines school board is considering implementing a districtwide cell phone ban pending further data, DMPS Superintendent Ian Roberts said during October's school board meeting.

Driving the news: Hoover High School piloted a mental health initiative and cell phone ban this school year with positive results.

• A wider ban covering grades 6-12 could start next semester or the 2025-26 school year, though several school board members expressed support for even quicker action.

Details: Regular student attendance is up 77.9% to 86.1% in comparison to the same time last school year.

• Students earning A's and B's increased 46% to 48%.
• Out-of-school suspensions have also gone down.

Yes, but: There's no strong proof the improved results are related to the ban, Roberts says.

• Still, he says the early indicators are "promising."

What's next: The pilot will be fully evaluated in January. Student and parent focus groups will also take place before district-wide implementation.

Your friends may be romanticizing the changing colors of the leaves and the satisfying crunch they make under your feet, but you know the true star of fall: the male brook trout.

State of play: These wide-eyed, bad boys are native to Iowa and change colors in the late fall, developing deep red, yellow and crimson hues along their bellies.

• And their looks haven't gone unnoticed.
• The Iowa DNR has deemed them "... among the most beautiful of all fish at spawning time."

Where to find them: Brook trout are most prevalent in northeast Iowa.

💵 The state has awarded millions in financing for a proposed downtown DSM soccer stadium developed by Krause Group.

• But the city and developers still have to meet state deadlines proving they have allocated enough money to complete the project. (Des Moines Register)

⬇️ Meanwhile, Krause Group's downtown Des Moines employment dropped from 446 positions in 2023 to 58 this August following the Kum & Go sale. (Des Moines Register)

🙀 Linn's Haunted House is back open after a fire. (KCCI)

🏀 NIL deals at larger schools are making it more difficult for schools like Drake University to recruit and retain student athletes. (Business Record)

🏈 Cyclones are undefeated, 7-0! (KGAN)

⭐️ Today's headline maker: Cesar Bracho of DSM

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The city of Des Moines is offering discounted trees and providing residents with an online tool to help them determine the best place to plant them for maximum environmental impact.

 State of play: Des Moines is one of over 120 partners in the Arbor Day Foundation's Community Canopy program.

• Residents can purchase one of eight species for $27.50.
• Trees come potted and up to three feet tall.

Zoom in: Shipping is already underway with delivery generally occurring within a month.

• Orders should be placed by Thursday so trees can be shipped before it gets too cold to plant.