Dave Schwartz took over as president of the West Des Moines Chamber of Commerce in May. Previously, he was founder and president of Bearence Management Group, an insurance and financial services company established in 2005 in West Des Moines. 

That company grew from two employees to 120. He also spent time as a managing director at Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc.

Schwartz is working to focus the chamber on providing services to its members in a way that drives home the value of a membership and promotes growth. Some of that is offering tailored seminars and other programs. 

West Des Moines is unlike its suburban neighbors in ways, and the chamber needs to reflect the local scene and values, Schwartz said. That means catering to small and medium-sized businesses  as well as large manufacturers, box stores and financial centers that are major employers.

What have you focused on in these first months?
The West Des Moines chamber is a wonderful organization, but we have focused on change. West Des Moines is different in the sense that it has two times its normal population during the day. The city has issued $400 million in construction permits in each of the past two years. We needed to look at how we do business. We’re focused on change.

What types of change? 
We hear we need to provide more education and more resources. I see it as more of a center of commerce, not a chamber of commerce. We have marquee businesses that others would love to have. In all, we have 2,800 businesses, many of them small or medium-sized. We are looking at how we can create a chamber that provides education and resources for our businesses, such as a food-for-thought breakfast series. People need to know about human resources, benefits and legal issues.

What are your chief goals for the chamber?
We are going to double our membership in the next couple of years, and will double our revenue and increase our programs and resources we provide to members. We want to create a world-class business environment where businesses can prosper and grow. 

What else is coming?
We are refocusing our events to answer the question, “Is this worthwhile for our members to attend?” We are reaching out to young professionals, and we have a leadership academy. We’ll have a rollout for our new website in March.

Many area development efforts, such as the Cultivation Corridor, have taken a regional approach. How would you assess the value of regional cooperation in the overall development of the Des Moines metro area?
Regional cooperation is absolutely necessary. What the (Greater Des Moines) Partnership is doing for Central Iowa is great. It’s absolutely necessary. We need to look specifically at West Des Moines and on how it attracts the next generation. We’ll always be a partner in this with the Partnership and any other entity looking at the greater good of Central Iowa.

How will you measure success in your job?
Are we different? Yes. Are we continuing to grow? We are going to grow in a significant way. Are we offering more value to members? I want to hear a resounding yes. We need to take care of our clients, our members.

You can’t work all the time. What do you enjoy doing when you take a break?
I love to do family activities. I exercise quite regularly. I’m a cross-trainer; I do a little bit of everything. I read and I enjoy movies.