Tariffs, policies and navigating disruption were the focus of the Business Record’s Power Breakfast, held this morning at the Des Moines Heritage Center.

Panelists included Joel Anderson, partner, government services at RSM US; Mike McCoy, CEO of NCMIC Group; Matthew Mitchell, CEO of Baton Global; Dave Stone, advocacy officer at United Way of Central Iowa; Anne Villamil, professor and Henry B. Tippie research fellow in economics at the University of Iowa; and Jo Ellen Whitney, shareholder and chair, employment law and labor relations department at Dentons Davis Brown.

The panel answered a number of questions related to federal policy changes regarding tariffs, the economy, DEI and other changes affecting the business community. Here are a few of the top takeaways from the event.

• Don’t panic: Anderson noted the importance of not fixating on national news headlines, which can at times be hyperbolic. “If I do read the headlines, I try to go to the source material right away. Let’s go read the executive order, breathe and figure out what is actually going on.” Mitchell followed up with a similar sentiment by saying, “I think it’s not only uncertainty, it’s the cumulative effect of this uncertainty. Sometimes a recipe or a prescription for uncertainty is just be calm, stay calm.”

• Wait and see on the economy: Villamil said GDP, unemployment and interest rates are the three indicators she’s tracking to determine the health of the economy. She noted that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell plans to gather more data and wait before making any drastic decisions on interest rates. “I have no doubt what J. Powell will do. J. Powell has said what he’ll do. He’s said that he’s constantly called upon to lower interest rates. And he has said what the Fed is going to do is wait and see, and we’re going to look at the economic data. … We are going to wait and see until we have better data; I think that’s the mode we’re in. The Fed is going to tenaciously try and keep price levels stable.”
• Effective leadership is critical: At NCMIC, leaders work to be transparent and to engage in conversation to determine how they can help employees during these uncertain times,. McCoy said the company addressed employees’ concerns about the economy by holding webinars on how economic changes are affecting employees’ retirement savings. “We’ve been communicating more frequently than we were before this uncertainty with our employees and we’ve been trying to do a better job of listening,” McCoy said. “How we lead through uncertainty sends a message to our team. This is a really wonderful opportunity to lead and build engagement as you do it.”

• Don’t discriminate: Interpreting federal policy changes such as requirements associated with affirmative action and DEI can be a challenge. “One thing I know for sure is, please don’t discriminate against people,” Whitney said. “I understand there is a whole lot of complexity tied to [DEI changes] but just don’t discriminate. I don’t care if they’re named as a category or not a category, or what the Iowa state Legislature does, or what anybody else does; don’t discriminate against people. It’s not good for business.”
• Ruthlessly prioritize: An important first step in uncertain times is ruthless prioritization, Mitchell said. “Ruthless prioritization, that may not necessarily be a strength for this particular leadership culture. We tend to be a little bit more peanut butter. We’re going to say ‘yes’ to everything in our very Midwest nice voice and then quietly go, ‘I can’t deliver that.’ And so how do we ruthlessly prioritize things that really align with our purpose, with the realities of the external environment?”
• Nonprofits are fragile: On the federal level, Congress is considering revoking nonprofit status from organizations without due process. That potential change introduces a host of challenges for area organizations that serve the neediest of the community, at a time when demand for nonprofit services is increasing in Central Iowa, Stone said. “We’re in the days of uncertainty,” Stone said, “but one of the things we can be certain of is the nonprofit community, this sector, is very fragile, but very committed to continuing meeting the needs of Iowans and Central Iowans in particular.”

Watch for a more in-depth article about the panelists’ thoughts, observations and advice in an upcoming print issue of the Business Record.