CIRAS Supplier Matchmaker

Partnered with the Center for Industrial Research and Service (CIRAS), an Iowa State University initiative that has supported over $3B in economic impact since 2019, to extend their Salesforce-driven workflows into a custom-built React application. The tool streamlines supplier and manufacturer discovery across hundreds of NAICS industries, enabling Iowa businesses to connect efficiently with potential partners.

I joined the project mid-stream, working within a wire-framed React app embedded in a custom WordPress plugin. From this foundation, I built out the full search and mapping experience, handling complex state, geospatial visualization, and Salesforce case creation.

Key Contributions & Impacts:

• Search & Filtering UI: Implemented a user-friendly search interface with ShadCN, allowing refinement by radius, keyword, NAICS code, and employee count.

• Geospatial Visualization: Integrated the Google Maps API to draw county boundaries and highlight results within user-defined radii (based on current location or zip code).

• State Management: Leveraged Zustand to coordinate state across multiple interactive components, ensuring smooth user flows from search to case creation.

• Salesforce Integration: Built forms that collected business and user details, then submitted them via WordPress actions to trigger Salesforce flows—seamlessly extending CIRAS’s CRM pipeline.

• Auxiliary Intake Flows: Delivered a separate form for general interest inquiries, supporting file uploads and email submissions directly to CIRAS staff.

• Professional Growth: Expanded expertise in React state management, the Google Maps API, and custom WordPress AJAX while delivering a high-impact tool for Iowa’s manufacturing ecosystem.

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