ENCORE: Q&A With Mayor Steve Gaer: What Gives West Des Moines Its Jobs Moxie?

What’s it take to win a in a prestigious business magazine such as Forbes?

Patch talked with West Des Moines Mayor Steve Gaer about how the city works with big employers — not only by creating the amenities big employers and their workers demand, but also by doing something that employers say is rare.

What sets West Des Moines apart?
One of the big differentiators for us is that we’ve got a very aggressive program to reach out to businesses. We’ve consolidated the development corporation and the chamber of commerce, and both work closely with the city. Chamber President Chris Voggesser, Economic Development Director Clyde Evans, City Manager Greg Sparks and myself kind of tag-team calling on the top 100 employers in West Des Moines every year and sitting down with them.

Who would you like for Patch to sit down with next? What do you want to know? Tell us below in comments.

Is this a common practice?
We hear from businesses that government just doesn’t do that in other places. They really appreciate the level of initiative we show.

It’s one of the same reasons the Des Moines metro area was voted one of the best cities for young professionals, because they have such close access to business leaders, local government leaders and state legislators. It’s hard to get close to that group of people in big cities.

Is there a common theme to business leaders’ feedback?
That it’s a beautiful community, well laid out and has some of the best amenities. They like that we got Trader Joe’s and are getting Whole Foods, that you can get anywhere in 20 minutes, and the quality of life and work force here are really phenomenal. They can get quality work done at economic prices, and when you look at salary ranges and the lower cost of living, it makes it very attractive.

Are employers asking for incentives?
We don’t have to give tax abatement or other incentives. They’re coming here because they know it’s the right place to be. We don’t have to give them handouts.

What do they find most challenging about doing business here?
Technology is our biggest challenge and it’s also our biggest opportunity. We’re trying to bring some business leaders and government together with Microsoft to bring higher-speed bandwidth to West Des Moines. That’s an example of the private sector, together with us and the governor’s office, meeting to figure out what we can do to improve the business climate.

What’s come out of those meetings?
We’re with Microsoft and INS to bring more bandwidth. We needed the private sector to make an investment, but INS indicated that the thing precluding them from doing that was that right-of-way regulations are too burdensome, so we revised our ordinances and eliminated some of their objections. Now, INS is bringing is high-speed internet to the West Des Moines Business Incubator.

Anything else that sets West Des Moines apart?
Eighteen months ago, we hired a consultant who completely revised the economic development plan for city of West Des Moines. We can hand prospects a business plan. We’re operating under a business and marketing plan, like a private company would.