Cindy Uetz - February 2021 Entrepreneur of the Month
The NIACC John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center and North Iowa Area SBDC are proud to recognize Cindy Uetz of Main Street Drug in Charles City, IA as the February 2021 Entrepreneur of the Month.
Cindy Uetz had always dreamt of opening her own pharmacy in her hometown of Charles City. So when Kmart closed in town in 2019, where she had been working as a pharmacist, she was out of a job and realized that this was her “now or never moment.”
She chose ‘now,’ and Main Street Drug was born, opening its doors at 204 North Main St. in April 2020.
Cindy and her husband worked with Brook Boehmler at the North Iowa Area Community College SBDC, who helped them write a business plan and gave them the advice and support to get a business loan. She also received support from Tim Fox, Executive Director of the Charles City Area Development Corporation.
Opening a new business during the COVID-19 pandemic came with its fair share of challenges, especially with opening a pharmacy and dealing with the onslaught of new information daily. Main Street Drug was able to persevere, though, and even launched a successful delivery system for their prescriptions. They also started selling gifts from locally sourced merchandisers and even recruited Charles City’s first Med Spa in her building.
“Not only did Cindy and her husband invest in a new business, they invested in downtown Charles City and our community in general,” said Community Development Director Mark Wicks. “They did a beautiful job remodeling an historic Main Street building, primarily on their own, and Cindy’s vision for her store has resulted in a growing business that has been a real positive addition to our downtown.”
Cindy never gave up on her dream and worked hard on marketing her business to be successful and viable. She wanted to make sure that Charles City was a place where community members were able to stay in town to shop and receive the quality healthcare that they need.