Mayor Steve Gaer credited West Des Moines city officials' decision to get out of the way of small business as one reason for a surprise "2013 Google eCity of Iowa" award presented Thursday.
The ceremony was held at Sticks Gallery, where 95 percent of sales are web-based, said Rachel Eubanks of Sticks.
West Des Moines officials didn't apply for it and only found out about it a week ago. Whitney Lemon, an Iowa-based Google employee who is part of the technology giant's Get Your Business Online team, said third-party research and data were used to decide the No. 1 eCity in Iowa.
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