Returning to DC in 2022

By now you have likely heard about the annual Greater Des Moines Partnership’s fly-in to Washington D.C. dubbed DMDC. If you haven’t, this trip is impressive as it is one of the largest Chamber of Commerce fly-ins in the country. This approach came about decades ago as we had been sending leaders to D.C. from each of our various communities and businesses without a coordinated effort of what we needed for our overall region. What we found was our voices could be stronger and provide greater impact to our elected officials if we came to D.C. together with one voice, one mission as one united region. It is from this goal we have the very successful DMDC annual trip to Washington, D.C.

DMDC in 2022

In 2020 and 2021, COVID-19 threw our schedule off a bit as the timing of the trip along with the priorities we were all dealing with in our businesses required us to take care of other critical issues. I can tell you, however, it is from the previous trips and the relationships developed, that many of us were in an excellent position to continue through the pandemic with our elected leaders and members of their staffs to communicate our needs and to seek their support. We are planning to go back in May 2022 to resume our advocacy efforts at the U.S. Capitol.

Business and elected officials find the trip to be extremely helpful. Take it from Angela Connolly, chairperson for the Polk County Supervisors, “I have been attending the DMDC trip for many years and love the relationships that are built there and the work that gets done. We are all used to working collaboratively in our community, but this trip gives us an opportunity to make sure that we are all on the same page with regional issues. It’s also beneficial for our congressional delegation to hear the same message from all of our communities and constituents.” John Irving, president of Tri-City Electric Co. has been involved for years. He said, ‘this will be my sixteenth year to travel with the Partnership’s delegation to Washington, DC. I have had multiple roles on the trips including Chamber of Commerce president, volunteer chair of two of the Partnership’s committees, part of a city delegation and a representative of the business community. The contacts made on the trip with local and national elected officials along with nonprofit and business leaders has always been very beneficial and is a proven way to connect the metro area together to build a stronger region.”

It is a non-stop three-day trip that is programmed to allow everything you would want to do and some of the things you would not think about doing if you took off on this venture on your own. The opportunities it presents are unique and extremely valuable. I recall having an iced tea in the lobby of our hotel with Jeff Russell, president and CEO of Delta Dental of Iowa as he wanted to know more about what we are doing at Des Moines University (DMU) to train our students to support patients with mental illness. This conversation developed into a great opportunity for DMU with Delta Dental of Iowa and a rare chance to learn more about the importance of mental health to dentists. Although I have known Jeff Russell for years, I don’t think this would have happened in the same way if we were both in DSM.

So, if you have been wondering if The Partnership’s DMDC trip is for you, there is only one thing to do and that is to mark your calendars for May 11-13, 2022. We hope you will consider joining us so you can see the impact it has for your relationships in D.C. and the additional connections you will have when you return home with great people from the region all just wanting to make our community a better place to live. We are stronger as one region. Please join us by visiting DSMpartnership.com/DMDC.

The Partnership's Public Policy team engages with local, state and federal officials to create public policy that generates economic growth, business prosperity and talent development in Greater Des Moines (DSM). The Partnership is a nonpartisan organization.