Two meetings in the next month will go a long way toward deciding on a strategic plan for continued development in West Des Moines.

The West Des Moines Chamber of Commerce, which recently merged into a public-private partnership with the West Des Moines Development Connection, is in the process of developing a work plan for 2011, led by newly appointed president Chris Voggesser.

It’s a two-pronged approach, Voggesser said. On the chamber side, the West Des Moines chamber must assess its current programs, “really putting a fine-tooth comb to them” to figure out what is working and what isn’t. That information will be discussed among the current staff and board of directors at a Sept. 17 board planning meeting.

“The theme here is in pursuit of membership excellence,” Voggesser said. “As long as we keep that at the forefront, any program or activity we present from a chamber standpoint, we want it to be valued, and get a return on investment for our members.”

The Development Connection board members will meet on Oct. 8 to develop a strategic planning process for the relatively new organization.

“Obviously West Des Moines has a great product to sell,” Voggesser said. “And we’re going to proactively sell that in an aggressive manner, starting with getting feedback and doing a little bit of research from our folks that have chosen West Des Moines as their home.”

The goal for both meetings: get feedback from everyone involved.

“Together we can do a lot more than just my ideas,” Voggesser said.