Jay Byers, CEO of the Des Moines Partnership

5/17/23 Update: Jay Byers was introduced as next president of Simpson College, reports Elias Johnson.

Jay Byers is CEO of the Greater Des Moines Partnership. He answers the question you were too afraid to ask. Who really cares about the Des Moines skate park, and potential soccer stadium? Did you know the EPA had to get involved? Yikes!

Jay Byers, CEO of The Greater Des Moines Partnership

As CEO of the Greater Des Moines Partnership Jay Byers has been involved in a fair share of projects and one thing he’s been tracking is record new business filings in the State of Iowa.

Iowa has seen record filings and central Iowa is certainly a large part of that growth. In the 2022 fiscal year, 33,331 new businesses were created in Iowa, breaking the previous record of 33,260 set last year. It’s important to note these are filings, not necessarily active businesses, but the number is exciting. What’s behind this?

Byers explains the growth Iowa is seeing despite national inflation concerns and he explains all the exciting things happening that will continue to drive growth. One such project is the Dew Tour.

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Why does the Dew Tour matter?

The Dew Tour wraps up it’s 2nd event in Des Moines, Iowa this summer but there’s still one question to be asked. Who cares? Sure, it’s cool to have big national event. It’s an incredible event to take in for sure, but what are the practicals for non-skaters? Does this stuff make any kind of realistic impact for the Greater DSM Area or the state? Byers explains the economic impact of the event, and why it’s just one piece of a larger economic growth puzzle. One other piece is the pending soccer stadium.

Des Moines’ new soccer stadium?

The new soccer stadium is also a central Iowa project that has been talked about for years and looks to be finally materializing. Byers explains what it took to get this pushed through, including working with the EPA to green-light the Dyco site, that prevously had toxic contamination concerns.

Byers also discusses the status of the Des Moines River project, water trails, and his 2023 priorities.