At our National Meeting next month, Jay Byers - CEO for the Greater Des Moines Partnership - will participate in the City Success Stories Lightening Round. He will share how the Partnership serves more than 4,700 businesses and 20 Affiliate Chambers of Commerce in Central Iowa. He recently took some time to answer a few questions that will help us get to know him before next month's meeting.
Tell us a little bit about your work.
The Greater Des Moines Partnership is the economic and community development organization serving Central Iowa. Together with 20 Affiliate Chambers of Commerce and 4,700 business members which employ a workforce of more than 150,000,the Partnership works to grow opportunity, create jobs, and promote the best place to build a business, a career and a future.
How has intentional collaboration with cross-sector leaders aided your work?
Capital Crossroads, our current ongoing regional vision plan, has engaged a diverse group of 50 individuals from across Central Iowa to serve on the Steering Committee. The Committee invited public input on ways to improve the Central Iowa region, covering a 50-mile radius from the State Capitol. More than 5,000 local voices contributed to the process via one-on-one interviews, focus groups and online surveys. Research was conducted to assess the area’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and challenges. The Steering Committee then evaluated and prioritized ideas and developed eleven areas of focus. Eleven capital plans were developed to elevate our region. Each of the eleven plans impacts growth in its area of focus and on an integrated basis. To date, more than 400 citizens are serving in various capacities to move the plan forward.
What projects are you currently working on that are aimed at improving cities?
Our Capital Crossroads regional vision plan is Central Iowa’s roadmap to the future. It is broad and ambitious, and includes focus on our region’s sustainability, talent, and leveraging opportunity. We are into year two of a five-year implementation. Capital Crossroads’ aggressive implementation strategy has already made a significant regional impact on multiple fronts. The American Chamber of Commerce Executives selected the Greater Des Moines Partnership for the 2013 Alliance for Regional Stewardship Regional Champion Award for our work on Capital Crossroads.
What urban innovations have you seen or worked on in the last year that you think are game changers?
Technology is changing the game and making so many things more accessible. For us, themes of walkability, access to healthy (and local) foods, increasing educational attainment, and the like, are key.
About Jay Byers
Jay Byers is Chief Executive Officer for the Greater Des Moines Partnership. The Partnership is the regional economic and community development organization serving more than 4700 businesses and 20 Affiliate Chambers of Commerce in Central Iowa.
Byers currently serves on the American Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE) Board of Directors, Iowa Chamber Alliance Executive Committee, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Committee of 100. He also is active with the Professional Developers of Iowa and Iowa Association of Business and Industry. He recently received the Certified Chamber Executive certification and is a graduate of ACCE’s Ford Foundation Regionalism and Sustainable Development Fellowship. Byers was named to the ACCE 2009 “40 Under 40 Rising Stars of the Chamber World,” to the Des Moines Business Record’s “Forty Under 40” Class of 2006, and the Business Record’s “Forty Under 40” Alum of the Year in 2012. Byers serves on the boards of ChildServe, Greater Des Moines Committee, Greater Des Moines Convention and Visitors Bureau, Simpson College Board of Trustees, VSA Iowa, The Homestead, the Alpha Tau Omega National Fraternity, and Drake University’s International Advisory Council.
Prior to his current role, Byers served as the Partnership’s Senior Vice President, Government Relations and Public Policy. Before joining the Partnership, he worked as District Director for Iowa Congressman Leonard Boswell and as a corporate attorney at the Ice Miller Law Firm in Indianapolis, Indiana. He is a graduate of Simpson College and the University of Iowa, College of Law. Byers resides in Des Moines, Iowa with his wife Katie, and two daughters, Sophie and Charlotte.