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At first glance, it might be hard to see the connection between initiatives as diverse as funding voluntary preschool for 4-year-olds, speeding up the state permit approval process for businesses and developing a public-private partnership to respond to statewide disasters. However, they’re all initiatives the Iowa Business Council has successfully championed within the past few years. And yes, they do intertwine.

“I would say that we fit everything we do under economic development,” said Max Phillips, an eight-year member of the Business Council and chair for the past three years. “Education fits under that, lean management fits under that. We really are focused on: How do we keep the economic climate as opportune as possible for not only our businesses, but also the entire state?”

Phillips, president of Qwest Communications International Inc. for Iowa and South Dakota, is one of the 19 chief executives of Iowa’s largest companies who currently make up the Iowa Business Council (IBC). Also serving on the council are the presidents of the three state universities, the Iowa Bankers Association president and the IBC executive director.

Founded in 1985 at the height of the farm crisis, the IBC has arguably become one of the most influential, though behind-the-scenes, groups of power brokers in the state. Unlike many other economic development organizations, the IBC focuses on long-term, “50,000-foot-level” issues that currently include workforce development, education reform, health and wellness, disaster response and process efficiency. In the process, the IBC has advanced far-reaching programs such as the Grow Iowa Values Fund and the application of lean enterprise practices to state agencies.

Funded entirely by annual dues paid by its members’ organizations, the IBC operates on an annual budget of between $350,000 and $400,000, coordinated by an executive director, Elliott Smith, and one administrative staff person in Des Moines. Both the 23-person board and an equal-sized deputy board meet quarterly. Getting 15 to 18 members of the Business Council to show up at the meetings, which are scheduled as much as three years in advance, is considered a good turnout, given the executives’ schedules.

“I don’t know if there’s often an opportunity at that level to bring CEOs of the largest companies together to talk not only about the general business climate in Iowa, but where they are in it, and where they would like to see the state be five, 10 years down the road,” Smith said.

Generally, chief executives of companies with more than 1,000 employees and a major business presence in Iowa are considered for membership by the current members. There are no set terms, and both the invitation to join and continuation as a member are largely based on the member’s willingness to tackle statewide issues, Smith said.

“When a new person comes into the state who’s been charged with running a company, the members may not know that individual as well,” he said. “So it’s a matter of determining whether they are ready to help assist in developing a business policy that has a very horizontal focus.”

The Business Council’s emphasis on large companies doesn’t preclude connections with small and medium-sized businesses, he said.

“Every one of these companies has a fairly vast supply chain, working with small to mid-size companies around the state that help feed into their production needs and service obligations,” Smith said. “I think just through everyday business conversations with them, they have a feel for issues and problems.”

Organizations such as the Iowa Coalition for Innovation & Growth (ICIG) also help broaden the discussion, he said. Formed in 2001, the ICIG is a collaboration between the IBC and the Iowa Chamber Alliance, which is made up of the state’s largest chambers of commerce.

“When we determine there’s an issue that would be beneficial for both of us to focus on, they’ll generate some interest in their members to participate in a committee or advisory group of some kind,” Smith said. “Lately, those efforts have been focused on things like lean enterprise.”

Nonpartisan approach

Early-childhood education has been one of the most important issues the IBC has taken on, said Phillips, who served three terms as board president of the Woodward-Granger Community School District before his appointment to the Iowa State Board of Education three years ago. The Business Council has been criticized by lawmakers for not lobbying directly for specific legislation it supports, but broke new ground in its multiyear program to push for passage of the preschool program for 4-year-olds, he said.

Signed into law in May 2007, the Statewide Voluntary Preschool Program was allocated $15 million in funding for schools to establish programs over the next four years. The Business Council’s research indicates the state will eventually save between $7 and $20 for every dollar spent on the initiative, in the form of higher future wages, less remediation to prepare students for college-level courses, and fewer incarcerations.

“In a lot of cases previously, we did a lot of research, a lot of study, produced a white paper or report and put it out there at a news conference or a press release and said, ‘There you go.’ Our advocacy kind of stopped there,” Phillips said. “With the 4-year-old pre-kindergarten issue, and the Iowa Values Fund would be another example, we kind of pushed our advocacy with legislators and other constituencies and really got engaged in trying to not only bring it up as a good idea, but to try to get it executed as a good idea.”

At the same time, the Business Council works hard to protect its nonpartisan identity, Phillips said.

“We really are agnostic when it comes to our politics on getting what we think are important issues done,” Phillips said. “That’s why every year, we make an opportunity to sit down with the governor, no matter what party he is, to work with him on his agenda, and have him hear ours. We work with legislative leaders on both sides of the aisle. Our goal, really, is getting things done. We’re not terribly concerned about who gets the credit or who gets elected next time; it’s about what’s important for Iowa going forward.”

Another recent IBC initiative, the Safeguard Iowa Partnership, paid unexpectedly quick dividends earlier this year. Through the partnership, the IBC’s member companies work closely with state agencies to provide disaster relief to tornado and flood victims throughout the state. Much of the impetus for that program was the slow federal response to Hurricane Katrina damage in New Orleans, and the realization that Iowa businesses would need to recover quickly in the event of a disaster, Smith said.

“We had Safeguard up and running for just over a year, 16 months, when the tornado hit Parkersburg, followed quickly by the floods,” he said. “There was some very acute, well-placed foresight there by not only Gov. Tom Vilsack, but also the leadership of the Business Council, which funded this and allowed it to move forward.”

Worker bees

The IBC and state government have had “a good partnership,” said Gov. Chet Culver, who last month attended the Business Council’s most recent quarterly meeting, held at HNI Corp. in Muscatine. “I’ve been very engaged with their members, and I appreciate the opportunity to work together with them on a number of issues.”

One of many examples of those partnerships, Culver said, was the Embrace Iowa campaign in which Iowa businesses, with strong IBC support, raised more than $7 million to assist flood victims.

“We’ve also partnered effectively with them on workforce development issues,” he said. “In addition, we’ve worked on some important education initiatives. Early-childhood education, for example, has been a priority for the Iowa Business Council. They understand the impact investing in our children will have on the work force in the future. Those are examples of where we have worked together and there are many, many more. It is a critically important group for any governor to communicate with and work with.”

Much of the Business Council’s preliminary work is handled by its deputy council, made up of one senior executive chosen by each IBC member from his or her company.

“I kind of refer to them as the ‘worker bees,'” Smith said. “We get approached frequently for either human or financial resources to get involved in an initiative. If I think there’s some potential for a partnership, I’ll have a representative from that group attend the deputies’ committee. If the deputies, after discussing the proposal, greenlight the thing, then it goes to the members’ next quarterly meeting.”

The Business Council has also initiated programs that it has then handed over to other organizations. One of the most recent examples was the Iowa Department of Economic Development taking over the Iowa Entrepreneur Network, an online portal developed by the IBC that connects entrepreneurs with experts on small business and venture capital statewide. Phillips said the Business Council has provided him and the other members with valuable insights into the state’s business climate.

“One of the things we enjoy doing on the council is talking about critical things in each of our businesses, so it’s given me a greater awareness of some of the critical factors in the various industries around the state,” he said. “And it’s kind of assured me that I’m not alone in the common issues that everybody can relate to, such as hiring and quality.

“I think the people of Iowa would be impressed with the caliber of executives that lead businesses in this state.”