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S2E14: Jay Byers, CEO of the Greater Des Moines Partnership
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For an encore episode to top-off Season 2 of Denim Rivet, we went in studio with Jay Byers, CEO of the Greater Des Moines Partnership. Jay is focused on Des Moines’ regional economic and community development which serves central Iowa. With over 6,000 members and 23 affiliate chambers of commerce, Jay has worked for the Partnership since 2005. Previously, he served as the senior vice president of Government Affairs helping to develop public policy strategies. For the last five years, Jay has been the Partnership’s CEO, highlighting and expanding on the state’s influence in the insurance and financial services ecosystem.
Attracting Talent
Companies both large and small across central Iowa all agree that the number one issue when it comes to innovation revolves around hiring talent. Finding talented workers with the skills it takes to make both the individual and company successful is a major task. Winning the war for talent translates to winning the war for economic development. So, the Partnership spends a lot of time scaling existing talent and retaining and attracting new talent on the Des Moines scene.
Iowa has the highest concentration of insurance workers in the whole country. More than 80 insurance companies and financial industry players call the state their home. The Greater Des Moines Partnership takes it upon themselves to see how they can share that tradition and story across the globe.
The Next Silicon Valley
It’s a common saying. Certain locals want to be the next “Silicon Mountain” or “Silicon Prairie.” But the Silicon Valley took decades to take form and arrive at its current state. Cluster development played a huge role in that process which is something the Greater Des Moines Partnership has taken note of. With the highest concentration of insurance workers in the country at their fingertips, the beginnings of the Global Insurance Symposium and Global Insurance Accelerator were founded.
Back of the Napkin
At the time, Nick Gerhart was Iowa’s Insurance Commissioner and a past guest of our podcast. But before he became commissioner he sat down with Jay for lunch and discussed the possibility of him being nominated for the position. This led to a bit of a “back of the napkin” talk about what they could do to harness all the energy surrounding the insurance and financial services sector. Nick said they should create a symposium if he got the position, and that’s exactly what happened.
After coming up with the first symposium the idea got started for the accelerator. They recruited their first three investors and got them on stage and the symposium to to say they were supporting the Global Insurance Accelerator. This led to them acquiring more investors and a healthy relationship between the Global Insurance Symposium and the Global Insurance Accelerator. Now, companies that go through the accelerator pitch their products and services at the Global Insurance Symposium in front of over 500 industry leaders from across the globe.
April 24 – 26 will be the dates for the 5th annual Global Insurance Symposium, and we highly recommend being in attendance!
New Beginnings
This episode marks the end of Season 2 of Denim Rivet. Stay tuned for exciting new episodes in Season 3 of the podcast, coming Tuesday, September 12th!
Links
Greater Des Moines Partnership
Nick Gerhart – Denim Rivet S2E5
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