‘Mo’ Nurse started Iowa City business during the pandemic

IOWA CITY — Maurice “Mo” Nurse, who started Creative Printing Plus in Iowa City during the pandemic, advises people to “value your dreams” and “don’t let others discourage you.”

At his business, Nurse designs and provides custom work on faux wood blinds, walls, apparel and canvases.

“I was the first in the world and still am the only business that prints my designs directly on blinds, from flags to Hawkeyes or family portraits,” Nurse said.

“My services are here not just to build my business, but to build the community,” he said “I hope to have more than one employee, giving people jobs.”

The father of four also started a clothing line, Black Sheep and Company, saying even the ostracized — the black sheep — can find a positive lifestyle.

Nurse, 60, acquired his entrepreneurial mindset from his mother, an executive chef and seamstress who sent him to the New York Restaurant School after high school.

Originally from New Jersey, he said his mother taught him to “learn as much as you can because you never know when you’ll need it.” His father told his children “never settle for second best.”

Nurse became a banquet and sous chef and came to Iowa to work as a chef at the Riverside Casino before becoming the executive chef at ACT in Iowa City. After a health condition landed him in a wheelchair, he rented an aromatherapy kiosk at Coral Ridge Mall.

In 2014, he rented a building on Gilbert Court in Iowa City for his air fresheners and started making designs to put on window blinds, outsourcing the printing.

In 2020, he acquired his own wall printer and started Creative Printing, printing photos on varied canvas sizes. He patented a printer’s jig device and has two other patents, with five pending.

Toward the pandemic’s close, he printed the second-floor wall mural at the Johnson County Administration Building in Iowa City.

He was looking for a more central location when a friend told him about the space at 353 E. College St., near the Iowa City Public Library, where he set up shop.

Nurse has printed T-shirts and cup stickers for Mammita’s Coffee and Flowers, T-shirts and winter wear for Which Wich Superior Sandwiches, and embroidered uniforms and winter gear for Overdrive Auto, all in Iowa City. He also printed 250 T-shirts for a brain injury conference and is working on a large order for a 5K run in August.

He’s also found time to mentor a group of 20 young men in his Faith and Hope Ministries and is working with others to create a youth basketball tournament.

Kiva loans

As his business grew, Nurse sought a $1,000 Kiva Iowa microloan to step up his marketing with a website that’s now in process.

He is now seeking lenders for a second Kiva loan of $8,500 so he can hire a part-time employee and take his business to the next level. Lenders, who can donate as little at $25, can find his profile at kiva.org/lend/2793824.

“Mo is a visionary who moves forward by creating,” said Kaitlin Byers, capital access manager at NewBoCo in Cedar Rapids who facilitates the Kiva program. “He chooses a manageable starting point and gets to work.”

Kiva microloans are crowd-sourced, no-interest loans with extended grace periods available to small entrepreneurs. Information is at https://newbo.co/kiva/