Greater Des Moines Wins Together

In July, the Greater Des Moines Partnership was named Chamber of the Year for the first time by the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE). While this national award recognizes The Partnership, it also reflects the collaboration and innovation that continue to make Greater Des Moines a region that succeeds together.

The Partnership is the largest regional business, economic development and talent development organization in Iowa and the second-largest regional chamber of commerce in the country. The model of serving more than 400 Investors and an Affiliate Chamber of Commerce network of more than 7,200 Regional Chamber Members is one of the most unique in the industry. This network and the collaboration across the public, private and nonprofit sectors and among rural, urban and suburban communities in the region is a major factor behind Greater Des Moines’ growth over the last several decades.

Other National Awards

The Chamber of the Year award is one of many recent recognitions highlighting the impact of Greater Des Moines’ collaborative approach.

• The Partnership was named one of the top 20 regional economic development groups in the country through the Mac Conway Awards for Economic Development Excellence by Site Selection magazine. “These regions don’t give lip service to (regional collaboration),” the article states. “They embody it. Watch and learn.”
• The Partnership earned accreditation from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in recognition of its sound policies, effective organizational procedures and positive impact on the community.
• The Partnership also received a national Award of Excellence from ACCE’s Communications Excellence Awards for its website redesign.

The Partnership strives to be a best-in-class organization and the engine for our best-in-class region. Its work helps the Greater Des Moines region get recognized on a national stage. For example, last month, two signature events The Partnership produces were recognized by national publications.

The World Food & Music Festival presented by Veridian Credit Union was named one of “The 3 Best Midwest Food Festivals You Can’t Miss This Year” by Parade. The Festival, which is scheduled for Aug. 28 – 30 this year, adds vibrancy with more than 90,000 attendees who support local vendors from across the region. Similarly, the Downtown Farmers’ Market presented by UnityPoint Health and vendor Grade A Gardens were featured on ABC national news’ “Disney Celebrates America’s 250” coverage.  The feature also included a story on a sixth-generation family farm in Newton, one of the communities The Partnership represents.

I particularly enjoyed a column published in The Dispatch, written by Greater Des Moines native Nathan Beacom. Beacom wrote about efforts over the past several decades to revitalize the region, including the hiring of Mario Gandelsonas in the early 1990s to rethink parts of Downtown Des Moines.

“Working with civic leaders, everyone, no matter their politics, pulled together to make a city for people. They beautified the riverfront, which is now lined with a picturesque, flowered walkway, a skate park, an ice skating rink, and the Asian garden,” Beacom wrote. “They constructed a new sculpture park and invested in public art, built new walking bridges, and restored old buildings. They added mixed developments of local shops and apartments that revived foot traffic.”

This spirit of working together to build a best-in-class place exists throughout the Greater Des Moines region.

“I hope that we can strive on, imperfectly, haltingly, as all human endeavors on this terrestrial sphere must do, to make our city beautiful and great, because, for my money, it is already the best city in the world,” wrote Beacom.

We also have the best chamber of commerce in the country.

These recognitions are a reflection of the people and shared vision that continue to move Greater Des Moines forward. Let's keep building on this momentum together.

Keep up with the momentum that's happening in and around Greater Des Moines (DSM) when you subscribe to one or all of the Greater Des Moines Partnership's newsletters — they're packed with the latest news, highlighting everything from upcoming events to development projects to policy updates. Join the mailing list to connect with The Partnership and help amplify stories from around the region.