As he was finishing his doctoral degree in economics in 1977, Steve Zumbach wasn’t planning on an interview with the Belin law firm. With degrees in law and accounting and a certified public accountant designation already under his belt, he had another Iowa law firm in his sights. However, Zumbach, then 27, had promised Marvin Pomerantz, whom he had worked with the previous year to formulate an agriculture platform for Gerald Ford’s presidential campaign, that he would call him before taking a position.

“I thought he was going to simply confirm what everyone else knew I was going to do,” Zumbach said. “But he said, ‘I think you ought to go work for Dave Belin and Chuck Harris.'”

Pomerantz, the take-charge executive that he is, immediately got Belin on the other line. “Dave, what are you doing? You’re really not very busy right now? I want you to see Steve.”

Back to Zumbach. “Steve, go down and see Dave.”

That phone call 30 years ago began a career with what is now Belin Lamson McCormick Zumbach Flynn P.C.

Besides specializing in mergers, acquisitions and financing transactions for closely held companies as well as estate planning, Zumbach has through his leadership continually challenged Greater Des Moines to excel, and for that he was chosen as one of the Business Record’s Central Iowa Business Leaders of 2006.

“This has been a long journey, and it has to a large extent been planned,” said Zumbach, the son of a third-generation farmer in Northeast Iowa and the first in his family to attend college. “I’ve been fortunate to have wonderful mentors throughout a lifetime, suggesting what I should do at important stages of my life.”

Zumbach has been a key player in reshaping the community as one of the founding architects of the Greater Des Moines Partnership, guiding plans that have resulted in key projects such as the Science Center of Iowa, the Iowa Events Center and the new downtown library, while fostering cooperation among Greater Des Moines’ communities.

An alumnus of both Iowa State University and the University of Iowa, Zumbach’s role as a lifelong collegiate leader extends back to his time as student body president at ISU, and at age 23, his appointment by Gov. Robert Ray to a four-year term on the Iowa Board of Regents.

During Zumbach’s term as Partnership chairman in 2003, he oversaw the development of Project Destiny, a series of goals for Greater Des Moines’ continued development over the next decade that include projects such as the Principal Riverwalk. A decade earlier, he had spearheaded a similar effort with Project 21, which was instrumental in shaping downtown Des Moines’ renaissance.

After stepping down as Partnership chair, Zumbach was asked to chair Bravo, the successor organization to the Des Moines Cultural Alliance that successfully appealed to Greater Des Moines communities to restore lagging funding support for the arts.

Meredith Corp. Chief Financial Officer Suku Radia, a close friend of Zumbach’s for 35 years, said being involved with Zumbach on any project is “an absolute joy.”

“Steve has a tremendous sense of caring about the community,” said Radia, who has known him since they were students at ISU. “He’s very much engaged in the community without regard to ego or taking credit for the many things he’s done. He’s just remarkable. He’s a visionary with tremendous critical thinking skills who knows how to engage others.”

Visionary is also a word that Martha Willits, the Partnership’s president and CEO, uses to describe Zumbach.

“He motivates people about getting that vision done,” she said. “He’s tenacious, but he also has a real humbleness about it.”

Zumbach said Greater Des Moines’ goals and the direction it’s moving mesh well with his firm’s recruitment objectives, and undoubtedly with those of many other companies in Central Iowa.

“The types of people we want to attract to build a great law firm are people who can practice for any law firm in the country they want to work for,” he said. “So this has to be a community where people want to live. In terms of priorities, there are few things that I would put at a higher priority than building a community that has a quality of life that will attract a great work force.”

The Yes to Destiny campaign and the upcoming referendum on the 1-percent regional sales tax is “one more great step” Greater Des Moines can take, he said. Overall, execution of the plan remains the biggest challenge ahead.

“We’re not there,” he said. “I think we’re just starting to realize how good we can be. Right now, Zumbach said, he would place Greater Des Moines in the top 25 percent of communities its size across the country, “with prospects of being a whole lot better.”

“I think we’re doing a lot better thinking about ourselves regionally and thinking strategically about what we do, rather than a lot of individual efforts,” he said. “This community has seen a lot of progress in working together.”