Greater Des Moines Partnership tells Polk County leaders region nears 1 million people, touts $5.7 billion in active investment

Tiffany, a representative of the Greater Des Moines Partnership, told Polk County supervisors on Wednesday that the regional nonprofit is driving substantial private investment and delivering talent programs aimed at keeping and attracting workers to the area.

The Partnership said the region’s combined statistical area population is about 940,000 and that reaching 1 million would make the area eligible for additional economic-development opportunities. "We have 5.7 billion dollars of capital investment and economic-development activity underway right now in our region," Tiffany said, adding that the Partnership also has roughly $2 billion in active projects in the pipeline.

The context: the Partnership is a nonprofit economic-development organization that represents more than 400 investors and a network of 25 affiliated chambers. Its staff said the group has assisted more than 800 projects since 1999, producing about $17 billion in economic impact and roughly 40,000 jobs across the region.

Stacy, speaking for the Partnership’s economic-development team, described the group’s outreach and recruitment work. She said the Partnership generated 140 leads in 2025, 83% of which were local, and that marketing trips and coordination with the Iowa Economic Development Authority are part of its nationally-oriented recruitment strategy. "A majority of these companies are within Polk County," Stacy said when summarizing recent project activity.

The presentation highlighted one recruitment win: a global company selected Johnston for its new headquarters after a regional, coordinated pitch that included county engagement. The Partnership credited local collaboration and singled out a county contact, Frank Morasco, for facilitating county involvement.

On workforce development, the Partnership emphasized programs that connect K–12, college and current workers to local employers. Tiffany described an intern-connection program that placed about 535 interns this summer representing more than 60 colleges; Jana Sik said 90% of interns surveyed reported they would consider relocating to the region or accept a job with an employer they interned with. "535 from over 60 colleges," Jana said.

The Partnership also described the Legacy Project Career Ready Collective, in its third year and supported by the Principal Foundation and Sammons Financial, which operates at six sites and serves roughly 400 students; the Partnership estimated that 64% of those students are from Polk County high schools.

Small-business supports were also noted. The Partnership cited its Spark DSM incubator and Scale DSM accelerator programs and said many participants are Polk County firms; it reported current cohort counts for Spark and Scale in the presentation materials provided to supervisors.

Supervisors asked about demographic trends and workforce retention. Citing economist James Chung’s analysis, Partnership staff said the fastest-growing adult cohort in the region is roughly ages 30–45, a demographic the Partnership views as likely to start families and settle in the area. In response to a supervisor’s question about when the combined region might top 1 million residents, the Partnership said its research team projects that, if current trends continue, the region could reach the milestone within about five years.

Polk County supervisors thanked Partnership staff for collaboration and responsiveness. Supervisor Alteringer praised the organization’s communication and noted the Partnership’s involvement in projects such as support for the Ankeny Regional Airport and work on future 435.

The presentation concluded with a request that supervisors continue to share local success stories so the Partnership can amplify them through its storytelling channels.