Last year, the Greater Des Moines Partnership team embarked upon an 11-county listening tour to hear from stakeholders from throughout our service area that consists of Adair, Dallas, Guthrie, Jasper, Madison, Mahaska, Marion, Marshall, Polk, Poweshiek and Warren counties. We met with more than 375 people, including investors, chamber leaders, city and county leaders, economic development leaders, small-business owners, educators and policymakers from across Greater Des Moines.

Our goal was to listen and learn, and we learned a lot. Among the key takeaways was that while each community is unique and has its own distinct attributes and culture, many of the communities throughout our 11 counties have the same opportunities and challenges. There was an eagerness to develop and deepen connections with leaders across rural, suburban and urban areas.

This is a role we are uniquely qualified to lead.

One of the reasons our Greater Des Moines region stands out is because we band together to tackle challenges, chase opportunities and, overall, win together. As one region, we are more than 850,000 residents strong, and the Partnership represents our region through the support of more than 400 investors, 23 affiliate chambers of commerce and 6,500 members. When our region speaks together with one voice, we are more likely to be heard. When we work collaboratively across the region, we are more likely to get things done.

At a time when there is such a fractured environment, this is one place we can come together as a place for all, and to drive results for economic growth and vitality.

When the Partnership’s Economic Development Team is prospecting around the country for businesses that have the propensity to expand or move to Greater Des Moines, we have a greater chance to land the business because we market our community as one region with a blend of rural, urban and suburban lifestyle opportunities and business location options.

Our prospect funnel is stronger than it has been in decades. We are leveraging data for a more targeted approach to prospecting and identifying new markets for our outreach. We are using the region’s combined strengths to tell our story in a way that meets the specific needs of each prospect. We talk about our regional collaboration and how businesses thrive in an environment where issues are discussed and resolved, where relationships are established before a call for help is needed.

We can build upon these selling points out-of-market and in-market. One way to do so is through the Partnership’s inaugural Regional Summit, which will take place on Thursday, Oct. 3, at the Iowa State Fairgrounds.

The Regional Summit will bring together public, private and nonprofit leaders from across the region to connect, learn and collaborate on forward-thinking solutions. Event programming will encourage people to have important conversations on topics such as housing, water quality, talent attraction and development, arts and culture, storytelling and more.

Keynote speaker Kat Saunders, partner and head of strategy and leadership for Economic Leadership LLC, will focus on future economic trends and innovative strategies needed to drive sustainable growth and resilience in our region. Saunders regularly counsels CEOs and other leaders on creating change to improve competitiveness. Her firm is working in 23 states across the U.S. and has decades of experience in state and local economic development, real estate, planning, organizational management, public affairs and analytics. I am confident there will be ideas from her keynote that will shape how we think about our region’s future.

Imagine making dozens of new connections throughout the region in just one day. How could these new and strengthened relationships change the trajectory of a project you’re working on, an issue you’re struggling with, or your organization’s or community’s future plans?  

One of my favorite quotes is from Theodore Roosevelt. To paraphrase: “It is not the critic who counts … the credit belongs to the (person) who is actually in the arena … ”

Think about what it means to be “in the arena.” It means that we are actively engaged at the center of it all, that we are making decisions and working on issues while others watch from afar. Sometimes we’ll fail, sometimes we’ll open ourselves up to criticism, but ultimately, as Roosevelt says, may we all dare greatly for a worthy cause … in this case, the strength of our Greater Des Moines region.

If you are “in the arena,” the Regional Summit is for you.

Our region has a history of coming together to work toward common goals across sectors, geographic boundaries and political affiliations. It can be easy to focus on what divides us, but through our conversations, we have found there is much more that unites us.

Together, we will move forward as one region with one voice.

See you on Oct. 3.