The city of West Des Moines will be awarded the 2022 SBA Iowa Small Business Community of the Year Award from the Iowa district of the U.S. Small Business Administration. Three criteria are considered for the award: the presence of programs and incentives to attract and retain small businesses; leveraging community resources with other federal, state, county and local programs to benefit small businesses; and examples of how the community directly contributed to the success of its small businesses. In a 2021 West Des Moines survey, 70% of businesses had introduced new products or services in the last year and 92% of businesses planned to move forward with expansion plans made before the pandemic. “The city of West Des Moines, the West Des Moines Chamber of Commerce and the Historic Valley Junction Foundation have worked collaboratively with the Small Business Administration, SBA resource partners and the Iowa Economic Development Authority to provide the assistance, incentives and environment small businesses need to be successful and to thrive in West Des Moines,” said West Des Moines Mayor Russ Trimble.