With each day that passes after Jan. 1, more and more resolutions lose their hold. Each year, just as individuals take stock, speculating on the challenges to come and the changes they desire, so do executives.

“Hopefully these will last a lot longer than January,” said Mark Rupprecht, president of R&R Realty Group’s Realty Marketing Group subsidiary. He has been seeing a lot more people at the gym lately, working on their personal fitness resolutions. Rupprecht says R&R will have to be in great shape this year, too.

“I think that a challenge this year will be increased competition,” Rupprecht said. “In real estate, we’re seeing more vacancy from a commercial standpoint. It’s all about supply and demand. The supply is greater, so there’s increased competition.”

He has resolved to deal with that challenge by providing more training to R&R employees.

“The better trained and educated you are, the more opportunities for success in your job, whether from being more productive or bringing new ideas,” he said.

Terry Branstad, former Iowa governor and current president and chief executive of Des Moines University, is seeking new ideas as well. DMU is in the midst of sweeping changes. This summer it hired Branstad and Dr. Kendall Reed, the new dean of its college of osteopathic medicine, and it is currently building a new $22.7 million Student Education Center, the most expensive construction project in its 105-year history.

“It’s a big undertaking,” Branstad said. “We helped to fund it with tax-exempt bonds. One of our challenges is to help pay down that debt.” He also wants to find more scholarship money for DMU students, so they won’t be saddled with massive debt upon graduation. The former governor has high hopes for the coming year.

“We need to continue to look at how we can work together to make not only Des Moines, but all of Iowa, a great place to live, work and raise a family,” he said.

Much like DMU, Mid-America Group Ltd. is going through a time of transformation. Teresa Wahlert, who’s currently president of the Greater Des Moines Partnership, is planning to join the real estate development company as president and chief operating officer on Feb. 1.

“The transition of management and orientation to new business is always an exciting challenge,” said Marvin Pomerantz, the company’s chairman and chief executive. “I anticipate it should be a good year due to economic factors we’re seeing. As for the community, I think we should continue to expand our economic base and make Des Moines the most fun city in the nation to live.”

Michael Gartner, principal owner of the Iowa Cubs, has a similar goal: making Des Moines a better place through America’s pastime, baseball.  He jokes that his biggest challenge is “to ensure that it is 70 degrees at game time for 76 games a year, with a gentle breeze flowing out over the crowd when our team’s at bat.”

“My goal is to make sure everybody continues to have a great time at the ballpark, and to continue to provide quality business and entertainment for the people of Iowa,” he said.

Polk County has some definite roadblocks to pleasing the public in 2004, which E.J. Giovannetti, a member of the Polk County Board of Supervisors, readily admits: “We’re already dealing with a $5.8 (million) to $5.9 million deficit. There’s been a hue and cry from the community — they don’t want to raise taxes, but they don’t want to cut services. The board agrees that the best solution is in a long-term funding plan so we don’t take a Band-Aid approach to the operating deficit.

“We need to maintain a congenial quality of life,” he said. “We need to preserve what we’ve got, who we are, and how we treat each other and live our lives. We’ve got a great quality of life and we want to preserve it and improve it to pass on to our children and grandchildren down the road.”