Fairfield startup receives economic development grant

FAIRFIELD - A Fairfield-based startup called Spanton Dynamics has received a $25,000 grant from the Iowa Economic Development Association to develop its product and help with its marketing.

The company is run by Anna Loree Spanton and her brother John Michael Spanton, and located in the Golden Gate Building north of Fairfield. The two siblings have developed a power drive spineboard for transporting people with injuries.

Anna said she and her brother are developing a concept hatched by their father, who died in a car accident several years ago. The company is now marketing its product to a variety of groups and has a contract with the National Football League to supply spineboards for its athletes. Anna said the company is now starting its compliance check with the Food and Drug Administration and hopes to be ready to expand the product's reach in the next eight months.

Anna went to Maharishi School, where her mother Elizabeth was the principal. She said it's been nice to move back to Iowa where the cost of living is more affordable than where she was living before in Hawaii and southern California.