Iowa businesses and government agencies will have a unique opportunity to learn and network with experts and partners in trade and transportation from Mexico, Canada and the Midwest in their own back yard when the North America Super Corridor Coalition (NASCO) Conference comes to Des Moines for the first time in June.

The 2010 NASCO Conference June 15-17 aims to highlight opportunities to reignite cross-border trade and to streamline secure freight transportation between businesses and consumers for the three nations that do business along the NASCO Corridor – a multi-modal transportation network that connects 71 million people and supports a major part of the $1 trillion in commerce between the nations.

This is the conference’s sixth year, and through networking, panels and seminars, it plans to closely examine the challenges to continuing growth in trade and transportation for the private and public sectors. The meeting rotates between the three nations, but this is the first time that Des Moines has been selected to host the event.

“NASCO is working hard to support its members’ efforts along the NASCO Corridor to take full advantage of the economic recovery now under way,” said Mayor Frank Cownie in a press release. “As a major crossroads for domestic and international trade, Des Moines believes in the importance of this mission, and we are extremely proud to host the 2010 NASCO Conference.”

The hosting efforts are a collaboration between city, state and local government agencies and are being funded by business sponsors that include Ruan Transport Corp., Principal Financial Group Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co.

Bob Brownell, a Polk County supervisor and chair of the Iowa Planning Committee, which organized the event, said that through sponsorships and registration fees, the organizers easily raised more than the $300,000 they were required to provide to help fund the event.

Brownell said that in the past, the conferences have been more focused on public policy, but this conference will instead try to facilitate private sector growth. He hopes the conference will provide more networking opportunities for businesses to make contacts and offer their products to consumers in Canada and Mexico

“We are trying to make this a little bit more of a private-sector-friendly conference,” he said. “It doesn’t mean we won’t talk about public policy issues, because we will, but what we really hope comes out of this conference are some private-sector contacts.”

The event will be held primarily at the Polk County Convention Complex with some events at other prominent Greater Des Moines locations. Brownell said Iowa also looks at the conference as an opportunity to help showcase the city to leaders from places that might have no clue what kind of place Des Moines is.

“Many of them probably think we have cows roaming the streets here in Des Moines,” he said. “But normally what happens when people come to Des Moines, they are pleasantly surprised. So we are looking forward to showing it off a bit and changing some people’s minds.”

Past conferences have garnered attendances in the 400-person range, and Brownell said he would expect numbers to be close to that.