How Greater evolved

Earlier this year, we surveyed our audience and invited readers to share their ideas on how to make Des Moines greater in the next 35 years. The response was overwhelming. In the pages of the inserted magazine Greater in this issue, we feature more than 75 ideas. Some are concrete and tangible; others are big ideas in need of digesting. In addition, we asked all of the writers to fill in the blank in the following phrase: “I want to make Des Moines ________.” In each chapter, you’ll see big ideas boiled down into a few words. Collectively the words represent wishes of the nearly 200 voices that participated in creating the magazine. Due to space constraints, many pieces can be found in their entirety at www.makeDMgreater.com. We hope this collection of ideas inspires you to make Des Moines Greater.

Letter from Chris Conetzkey, Publisher

For 35 years, the Business Record has published a written record of the businesses and people striving to make this region great.

Collectively, our archives weave a story that demonstrates the value of having business and community leaders who give their time, treasure and talent. Their efforts built the foundation for the recent rapid growth of our region, and are the reason we’ve been showered recently with national rankings.

In celebration of our 35th anniversary, we wanted to look to the future. We are using this milestone to launch “Greater,” a new initiative that will leverage the Business Record to help make Des Moines … “Greater.”

What will Greater be? What does it mean to be Greater? Why are we doing this?

In short we are going to leverage the reach of the Business Record to create an inclusive platform that enables more voices in the community to share ideas and solutions that we need to address the region’s challenges and opportunities.

We’ll do this in print, online at www.makeDMgreater.com and through a series of events.

Filling needs is the mission of the Business Record. When I think about the role the we should play in the next 35 years, I want to help people intimately understand problems, then work to amplify the ideas and the solutions, and ultimately connect community leaders who can make those solutions happen.

For Des Moines to truly be Greater we need to tap into the ideas and solutions from all parts of the community. We need to shine a light and give a voice to the people and businesses within the community that perhaps aren’t always spotlighted but are working intimately to improve their corners of the region, while simultaneously pushing and inviting the community as a whole to offer solutions to be Greater.

The Business Record needs to be better. This initiative will help us to be Greater by pushing us to actively seek and canvas for ideas, look closer at a vast array of aspects to our community and infuse and lift up voices from new and diverse backgrounds. 

And when we do, when we set the sail in the prevailing wind of the many voices that are yearning to improve the community, in 35 years, I know Des Moines won’t just be great … we’ll be Greater.