A Closer Look: Joe Murphy

Senior vice president of government relations and public policy, Greater Des Moines Partnership

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To Joe Murphy, stirring together his lobbying and public affairs experience at the University of Northern Iowa, Summit Agricultural Group and Iowa State University was good preparation for what he saw as a chance to make a difference in Greater Des Moines, his home for a decade.

He’s the new lobbyist at the Greater Des Moines Partnership, but let’s not deprive him of his nine-word title: senior vice president of government relations and public policy. 

He’s living in West Des Moines, where he’s trying to keep up with 2½ -year-old son Liam. He previously worked for the Republican Party of Iowa to manage the political campaign of a state Senate candidate in northeast Iowa. Murphy also interned on the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance.

We asked Murphy some questions about his professional shift to his adoptive hometown, Des Moines. He started his new job Sept. 26. 

What appealed to you about the job at the Partnership? 
I view Des Moines and more broadly Central Iowa as my adoptive hometown, and my wife does too. When we first moved to Des Moines about 10 years ago, I was on the Young Professionals Connection board. So I was in and around Partnership activities for a long time. I always looked to the Partnership as a leader for economic growth and prosperity, and creating a vibrant culture in the Des Moines area. That’s exciting, as a person who’s looking forward to continuing with family living here for the long haul. It’s important to me that we contribute in a way that is going to have opportunities for people coming up in the next generation. So the Partnership really falls in line with my core beliefs that I look for in an organization. It was exciting to join an organization that has a ton of momentum, a ton of growth. 

The Partnership put a lot of work into the policy agenda. Are there areas besides higher education and biofuels that you feel particularly versed in?
Working for a (Board of Regents) institution, we worked on so many issues. The main point of a lobbyist’s role is to build coalitions and find commonalities with different groups of interests. Regardless of what the policy issues are, I am looking forward to creating that momentum and pushing through whatever policy positions are important to adopt. 

How are you wired?
Part of it is just being aware of where everyone is coming from. There might be two groups, or there might be two representatives or senators that might have different views on how to get to a mutually agreeable decision or policy area. What can we make happen and not lose sight of the end goal? You can’t really rush things through. It’s important to get thoughtful feedback from our stakeholders and investors and members. Being open-minded to different views and to those outlooks on life is important.

You seem fairly laid back. Do you see yourself that way? 
I think I am someone who is very focused on the objective at hand. I don’t think it does anyone any good in a position like mine to get too amped up or too down low. I think it is important to take a very even-keeled approach to issues, whether things are going great or whether things are going poorly. With the political nature of things, you may be on top of the mountain one day and falling down the back the next. 

Does the day-to-day maneuvering motivate you?
I love that. Not to call it three-dimensional chess, but it’s fun to have a complicated issue and then identify where you want to go, what the end goal needs to be, and then find that path. That’s what I really like about this job. You never know what the day is going to hold, particularly during the legislative session.