Greg Edwards will soon step down as president and CEO of Catch Des Moines after 25 years, saying the time is right for a change.

Edwards, 69, came to Des Moines in late 2000, after holding the top job at the Peoria Convention and Visitors Bureau. Before that he worked at the convention and visitor’s bureau in Overland Park, Kan. Edwards also spent time with Marriott, working at hotels in Des Moines and in Overland Park. He began his career as a hotel restaurant bar manager in Peoria.

During his tenure with Catch Des Moines, Edwards is credited with expanding the region’s national presence, leading efforts to bring high-profile events to the metro, including the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, the NCAA Wrestling Championships, the AAU Junior Olympics, the National Speech and Debate Tournament, and the Iron Man Triathlon.

There was also the Dew Tour, and Catch Des Moines has a bid in for USA Curling, Edwards said.

Edwards also advocated for projects that changed the landscape of the region, including Wells Fargo Arena, the Downtown Hilton hotel, the MidAmerican Energy Co. Recplex, the Lauridsen Skatepark and ICON Water Trails.

Earlier this year, he was awarded the Iowa Tourism Legacy Award for his contributions to the state’s tourism industry.

Edwards said he expects to stick around through the National Senior Games in late July and early August, and help through Catch Des Moines’ leadership transition.

A search committee put together by the Catch Des Moines executive committee will work alongside national industry search firm SearchWide Global to find Edwards’ successor.

The Business Record sat down with Edwards at Mullets in Des Moines for a casual conversation about his career and what’s next. Some of his responses have been lightly edited for clarity.

What made now the right time to step down from Catch Des Moines?

I think it dawned on me that I’m going to be 70 years old, and I thought it’s probably time to pursue new leadership anyway. I think sometimes my ideas today are thought of as old school, and that’s the way they used to do it. But it still worked. I think about those things and then I want to spend more time with my family and have my own lifestyle.

What do you plan after you retire? 

You talk to people who say you’re going to love retirement and every day is a Saturday. I’m a little afraid of that right now. I’ve talked to some good friends of mine and mentors of mine who have retired and they’ve given me some tips. I got a great tip from a good friend of mine who said, “I look at it as not turning the light switch off, but putting it on a dimmer.” I’ll still stay active with some stuff. I hope to stay on a couple of boards that I’m on and help out in the community where I can. My wife and I have talked about traveling Iowa. There are a lot of towns in the state we’ve never been to and so many cool things to see. We’ll go to Kansas City as we always do with kids down there. Florida, I have sisters there, and Nashville. My wife has family in Arizona. So do some traveling. I’m sure eventually we’ll go back to Ireland or Italy. We’ve never been to Italy. Just try to stay busy. It’s going to be tough, but I’ll get it figured it out.

You’ve talked about how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the travel industry. Can you share some perspective on how it affected Catch Des Moines?

I remember when COVID first happened. I pulled the staff together and I literally didn’t know what was going to happen. We just didn’t know. I tried to assure them it’s business as usual, but it was going to be hard to sell conventions, meetings or sporting events and just continued to get worse and worse and worse. And our sales people couldn’t call on clients because nobody was working.

We ended up making some big changes. We all took salary cuts. We laid off four people, and actually eliminated their jobs and just kind of hung in there together. We’d have our Monday morning Zoom calls and we’d always be cheery. That’s when we started singing the Catch Des Moines theme song, which is “You look good, you’re Catch Des Moines. You feel good, you’re Catch Des Moines. You are good, you’re Catch Des Moines. The very best CVB.” We still sing that occasionally. We just found ways to stay positive and the team was so good. One day they knew I was bummed terribly. My wife knew they were all going to drive by my house and my neighbor knew, too. I went outside and they had my yard lined with masks of my face on popsicle sticks. It brought me up. There was the first car coming down the street honking and I looked down the street and it was a whole trail of cars. A lot of them had their kids with them, and they’d pull up and hand me candy. Some handed me packs of Northern tissue [because of toilet paper shortages at the time].

People around you describe the culture at Catch Des Moines as a close-knit, family environment. How do you translate that into the pitches you make to bring organizations to the metro?

I’ve always said you have to be yourself. You have to be sincere. We’re not going to tell you to come to Des Moines and we’ll drive you around in a Rolls Royce. We don’t have a Rolls Royce. You just have to be honest with people and treat them like you’d treat your own family. You’re not going to lie to them. Don’t over-promise something that you can’t deliver.

Tell us about Catch Des Moines staff meetings and the staff powerpoint presentations.

It’s called Star of the Day. It originally began because I’m always telling this team I know some of you are introverted but we’re in an extroverted business. And secondly, I thought staff doesn’t know that someone has two cats and two children, so it’s good for them to get to know one another. It’s kind of like going to speech class, but you’re presenting among family. You didn’t know that so-and-so played flute in the high school band or whatever. You just learn about people, which creates that family culture, too. 

What are the highlights of your career here in Des Moines?

I started thinking about way back when we started booking some national conventions. We hosted the American Association of the Blind, which was not huge, but maybe 800 to 1,000 people. They had assistance dogs with them, so we had to set up areas outside the skywalk where dogs could do their duty. There were groups like that. Obviously, the Iowa caucuses were a big deal. It was probably the 2004 caucuses. We created this consortium with the Greater Des Moines Partnership and started working with the press ahead of time, making sure they knew we were a cool city and had some great places to shoot from. And then we kind of had this aha moment. I thought, “Hey, let’s send a nice basket with wine, cheese and whatever to some of the main news anchors and include a nice personal note to each one, thanking them for being here.” So, on a Saturday night, I’m sitting there at home watching TV and my phone rings and I could tell it was a hotel number and he says, “This is Peter Jennings. I just want to thank you for the nice basket. I don’t have time to meet you, but I wanted to call and say thank you very much for that.” So that was a cool moment. Another highlight is all the groups we’ve had, I don’t care how big or small.

When I was in the Overland Park area, I was director of sales and I was named the manager of the year at the hotel for a lot of the big bookings I was able to bring in, and I’m very proud of that. And I had some great moments in Peoria. In 1995 we were able to get the Illinois High School Boys Basketball Tournament, which had been in Champaign for 77 years, so that was a huge coup.

So much has changed in Des Moines since you began at Catch Des Moines, what do you credit for that change and growth?

I think the credit goes to a lot of places. It goes to the credit of the dynamics we have here. When you have CEOs of large companies saying they want to recruit new employees here from other cities, they’re investing in it. Polk County came to the table big time with the vision of building the events center. That was a game-changer. The whole community came together. West Des Moines developed the Jordan Creek area. In Altoona, Bass Pro Shop came on board and then Mike Whalen developed that whole area and now we have the outlet mall. Wherever you look in the metro, things just started popping, which made Des Moines a cool place.

Is there one event or organization that got away?

Yeah. We brought in the NCAA Wrestling Championships in 2013. I would love to have them back. We’re just not big enough. 

What are some things people should look forward to in the coming years?

I think the soccer stadium will be great for the community and that section of downtown. It will open some doors for us to bring in some small niche sports. We’ve talked to the NCAA and they said that with something that size we could bring in lacrosse regionals or maybe some soccer stuff.

What advice would you give to your successor?

My first advice, and I’ve already told my board this, is keep the team intact. It’s a great team. We’ve got a great record. There’s no need to change that. Be sincere. I think that was the big thing I learned from Marriott. Marriott’s philosophy was if you take care of your employees, they will then take care of the customers.

---

At a glance

Hometown: Grew up in Peoria, Ill.

Family: Married, four children, soon to be sixth-time grandfather 

Education: University of Northern Colorado, degree in speech and communication

Age: 69

Resides: Urbandale

Activities: Tinkering around the house, working in the yard, playing golf, spending time with family

---

What others are saying about Edwards

Angela Connolly, Polk County supervisor

“Greg has a passion for our community that can’t be matched. He leads with energy and integrity to ensure our hospitality industry is able to capitalize on every opportunity that we can. Greg has the ability to collaborate with others, he is approachable and his communication skills have helped elevate Catch DSM to one of the best Visitor and Convention Bureaus in the country. His values and his style have strengthened the organization and our community. We will miss him tremendously.”

Chris Connolly, general manager of Oak View Group, the operator of the Iowa Events Center

“I have had the pleasure of working with Greg for the past 14 years, serving on the Catch Des Moines board and the last two years as treasurer of the Catch Des Moines executive board. I don’t believe there is a greater cheerleader for Des Moines. Greg loves this area, and that love and heart is on full display at all times while serving in his role as CEO of Catch Des Moines. I can honestly say that I don’t believe Des Moines would have ever been chosen to host the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament, round one and two, if it weren’t for Greg’s persistence in pushing us to host as many NCAA championship events as we have hosted here locally. We don’t get that if it wasn’t for Greg, and that’s one of the many examples of Greg leading the way in landing big events for Des Moines.”

Tom Mahoney, retired CEO of ITA Group

“Greg Edwards’ retirement marks a profound moment for our community. His leadership at Catch Des Moines has been nothing short of transformative, shaping the economic landscape of Central Iowa in ways that will be felt for years to come. Greg’s vision and passion, combined with the dedication of the Catch Des Moines team, have cultivated a win-win relationship for the entire region. I had the privilege of serving on the [Catch Des Moines] board of directors with Greg, and working with him was nothing short of inspiring. Whether through laughter or heartfelt moments, Greg has a remarkable ability to bring people together and make them believe in something bigger than themselves.”

Ben Handfelt, director of creative and communications, Catch Des Moines

“Greg has nurtured a real family atmosphere, and that is why people like it here and that’s why people stay here. Greg is like the father figure, and we respect the hell out of him. It makes coming to work fun. He’s going to be there every day and he’s going to have stories and wisdom and insights. People love working with this guy.”