.bodytext {float: left; } .floatimg-left-hort { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right: 10px; width:300px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 12px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 12px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 12px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} tr.d0 td { background-color: #ccccff; color: black; }
Some of the buzz in Des Moines this winter has been astonishment that New Yorkers liked our restaurants. Our city was praised by no less than The New York Times, thank you very much. The real story here is not the praise, but the astonishment. Iowans are surely among the most self-deprecating people in the world. Committees have been formed to identify our ailments and to try to find a cure. I know. For 15 years, I worked for an organization that was founded for just such a purpose.

In Iowa we have a diverse economy that has its base in manufacturing and agriculture. We make things here. We grow things here. Innovation is the impetus behind much of the economy.

The rewards are many for Iowans. Big, successful businesses provide jobs that bring exciting, interesting people to our city who like to eat in nice restaurants, live in all those neat new lofts downtown and run around Gray’s Lake on a brisk winter morning.

They also foster the growth of small businesses. Public-private partnerships are the norm here, and governments are good at providing the amenities that improve the quality of life in the metropolitan area.

Growing and making things are complex processes that differ from how these things were done even a few decades ago. To make it even more interesting, these processes are constantly changing to meet the challenges presented by ever more discriminating consumers. Competition is worldwide, and so are customers. A business whose work force reflects its customers is going to be more successful than one that hires look-alikes of the boss. What that means for Des Moines is that we have a city with a population that is more diverse and consequently more interesting.

The other great thing about Des Moines is its size. It is big enough to be cosmopolitan, yet small enough to be easy to get around in, and to allow talent to surface. Yes, it is possible to make a difference here.

Some years ago my husband and I retired and moved to Florida to spend our days by the sea. After he died, I couldn’t wait to come home.

Manufacturing is 4 percent of the economy in Florida, while it is more than 25 percent of the Iowa economy. Manufacturers hire people who make it possible to compete, which provides Iowa with a population of talented souls who become parents and volunteers in the community. The Florida economic strategy has been to sell more land to Yankees.

In Des Moines there is a real sense of community. In Florida, governments don’t cooperate the way they do here.

Polk County has hundreds of 28E agreements, which allow governments to cooperate with one another. I once played golf with a road builder from Buffalo, N.Y., who said he took his equipment to Florida one winter. He was hired immediately and finished a project in two months that had lain fallow for more than a year. No one could seem to agree on how it should get done.

Sunshine and the sea are beautiful in Florida. I love to visit there. But for real-life excitement and vitality, I’ll take Des Moines.

Myrt Levin is a former executive director of the Iowa Business Council.