The Greater Des Moines Partnership has launched an initiative it expects will bring hundreds of millions of additional dollars into the local economy. The best news, says Partnership officials: it won’t cost local businesses anything to carry it out.

The strategy? Companies within the metro area will be asked to consider purchasing more goods and services from other Greater Des Moines businesses, rather than from outside the so-called Golden Circle, which is roughly defined as the area within an hour’s drive of Des Moines.

An estimated $7.2 billion leaves the local economy annually to pay for business-to-business goods or services purchased outside the metro area, according to research conducted for the Partnership by an Iowa State University economist. The goal of the Partnership’s campaign, called Buy into the Circle, is to shift at least 5 percent of those purchases, or $362 million, to local companies.

As part of the initiative, businesses within Polk, Dallas and Warren counties will be asked to sign a pledge card commiting to the 5 percent shift in purchases. Companies are also being asked to promote the program by buying advertising.

“We think every business and everybody can make a difference,” said Mary Bontrager, the Partnership’s executive vice president. “This is the type of campaign that every person in this community can have a role in.”

The Partnership plans to launch an advertising campaign in March, and has begun approaching companies’ chief executives for their support, she said. From research conducted on similar campaigns in other cities, the business-to-business initiative is expected to trickle down to the consumer level to encourage buying from local retailers rather than buying online, Bontrager said.

The Partnership began the project last year as a result of comments received during several of its initial “Share Your View” breakfast meetings held with business leaders. Bill Weidmaier, owner of Iowa-Des Moines Supply Inc., chairs the organizing committee for the effort.

Retaining dollars within the local economy is an overlooked method for a community to expand its economic base, said Weidmaier, whose company sells chemicals, paper and construction supplies to the hospitality and construction industries.

“Our attitude is (that we need) to bring awareness,” he said. “We need to tell businesses about the impact that shifting dollars will have on our community, our economy.”

Weidmaier said research on two other communities that have conducted business-to-business buy-local campaigns, Austin, Texas, and Omaha, Neb., provided valuable lessons in both what works and what could be done better here.

In Omaha, for instance, people still recall the ad campaign for the city’s “Buy the Big O” campaign, even though it was launched a dozen years ago.   However, Omaha didn’t actively promote the program after its launch, and didn’t follow up with companies to determine whether they changed their purchasing practices, he said. The Partnership plans to conduct follow-up surveys of businesses to track the program’s effectiveness.

Bill Paterson, president and chief executive of Copy Systems Inc., is among the corporate chief executives who have already committed to the campaign.

“I see an advantage on both sides,” said Paterson, who is also president of the East Des Moines Chamber of Commerce. “Not only (for) those looking to bring business back into Iowa, but also those looking to get more business from Iowa businesses.”

Because his company is in a high-tech industry, many of the products he sells are necessarily from outside the area. However, he sees potential for buying more administrative goods and services locally, he said.

“As business owners, what we can do is track the dollar trends when we buy locally versus what we would have bought out of the area,” he said.

Local businesses are not being asked to sacrifice by paying higher prices for goods or services bought locally, Weidmaier said.

“We’re saying, give the local company a chance. And the local company also has to make it work by being competitive in price,” he said.

For more information on the campaign, visit www.buyintothecircle.com.

PARTNERSHIP BUYS LOCALLY

As an organization, the Greater Des Moines Partnership already buys more than 90 percent of its goods and services locally, said Susan Ramsey, a spokeswoman for the group.

One of the few exceptions, she said, is a national public relations account it has with Edelman, which is based in New York City and Chicago. Having that firm provide national media placement to promote Des Moines is beneficial because it can provide an outside perspective and more credibility with some national publications, she said. “They complement our relationships with local agencies in media placement,” Ramsey said.

“Because we’re a member organization, we do everything we can to purchase through our local members,” Ramsey said. “We far exceed any measurement of what we’re asking out members to do.”

According to figures provided by the Partnership, insurance makes up the single-largest category of business service that’s imported from outside the area, at approximately $886 million per year. Communications, security and commodity brokers, and computer and data processing services were among other top categories of services that accounted for hundreds of millions in annual purchases outside Greater Des Moines.