Zachary Mannheimer, the former New Yorker behind the successful creation and growth of the Des Moines Social Club, now wants to use arts and entrepreneurship to help small Iowa towns boost their economic development.

Mannheimer, 38, said he’s leaving the social club after eight years because he wants to create. Starting Jan. 2, he’ll officially start work as vice president for creative placemaking at Iowa Business Growth Co., a Johnston-based private company that mixes U.S. Small Business Administration cash with support from other public agencies and private investors to assist myriad projects, most of them on the small side.

Mannheimer’s new title is unusual, but everything about his conversion from New York bachelor to married Iowa father of three seemed to be out of the Des Moines norm. That’s why it created so much buzz.

Placemaking generally refers to planning for spaces, especially public ones, that take advantage of a community’s inspirations and potential to improve quality of life. 

On the grand scale, Mannheimer will be working to make Iowa’s small towns economic engines that attract new residents because they offer a great mix of jobs, activities and simplicity. As it stands now, and has for decades, those towns have largely been slowly dying, losing jobs, population and quality of life at the same time. 

Thirty years from now, those small towns will be vital and resurging, Mannheimer predicts. 

“The idea is to prove these towns are vital, and right now, they have not,” he said. “The future of Iowa is in the more rural areas.”

“We are interested in economic development by using cultural and entrepreneurial tools,” Mannheimer said. “It’s the opposite of saying, we’re going to try to open a manufacturing plant in this town that will create 60 jobs, which is great. But that doesn’t always lead to other economic development around it.”

The key may be to aim low, in a way.

“I want to go in on a much smaller scale,” Mannheimer said. “We are going to create these small pockets of things that only equal a few jobs, but if they are successful, getting other companies to come in there will be easier. We are looking for something for the employees to do.” 

Mannheimer wrote his own job description at the invitation of Iowa Business Growth President Daniel Robeson after the two dined on burgers at Americana Restaurant & Lounge in downtown Des Moines. Robeson had asked Mannheimer what he wanted to do after his planned departure as executive director of the Des Moines Social Club, then said Mannheimer’s goals sounded like a good fit for Iowa Business Growth.

Robeson said the pre-Zack staff consisted of “all banker types” who now will be joined by Mannheimer, a Prius-driving, Apple-loving Sherman Hill resident. Mannheimer is preparing to leave one of the trendiest offices in town — the Des Moines Social Club in the former Fire Station No. 1 in downtown Des Moines — for a desk in a strip mall behind the Price Chopper in Johnston. 

“Zack is the absolute opposite of our whole organization,” Robeson said with a laugh. “We’re driving big SUVs. We’re all banker types.”

Mannheimer wants to travel the state, not to tell communities what to do, but to launch successful projects that local leaders already know are needed. That could be developing a community playhouse, or an art gallery, or a medical facility, he said.

“I want to be able to work in regions that need economic development, that need creativity,” Mannheimer said. “I have some ideas where those places are, but I’m not sure.”

“My idea was, let’s see how we can effect change on a much larger scale,” he added. 

He’ll start with a cultural assessment because he believes in many cases what are solid communities merely need the types of activities that would give new workers something to do in the off hours. 

A good example of what he’s after is the Historic Park Inn in Mason City, the last remaining Frank Lloyd Wright-designed hotel, meticulously restored in an area that has seen other development, Mannheimer said. 

Robeson said the banker types will be loosening their ties for the ride when Mannheimer starts full-time work. They won’t try to hold him back.

“You have to dream big,” Robeson said

“I used to think if you get the manufacturer in there, then the restaurants and the dry cleaners would show up,” Robeson said. “What we saw happen with the Des Moines Social Club was that these large companies’ employees want something more than a Subway and a coffee shop. They want entertainment, and outlets for their creative side to come out. What Des Moines Social Club has done for Des Moines is huge for economic development.”

Mannheimer still gets backhanded compliments for founding the Des Moines Social Club, and then assembling the big-money backing it took to ensure that the operation was here to stay. “I didn’t think you could pull it off,” people tell him. 

Meredith Corp. Chairman and CEO Steve Lacy is a believer in Mannheimer, and a supporter of the Des Moines Social Club. “While many people may have a vision, Zach has done an excellent job both sharing his vision – and turning it into reality,” Lacy said.

“Like many ‘No Coast’ states, Iowa has an issue with retaining and recruiting young people,” Lacy said. “Zach’s work in Des Moines proves you can change that. He has accomplished so much by being both a listener and a doer, by building coalitions as well as leading the charge.”

“I look forward to him tackling statewide issues with the same mix of inspiration – and perspiration – he brought to Des Moines,” he added. 

Mannheimer’s new job is likely to turn some heads in a state in which “pork producer” is considered a flowery title. But Mannheimer is used to it.

His coming role is already playing well in Oakland, where Mannheimer is working with local residents and leaders who want to save the old high school.

“Zack brings a wealth of skills and knowledge about transforming communities via arts and culture – but most importantly, he has capital ‘V’ vision,” said Michelle Wodtke Franks, executive director of Golden Hills Resource Conservation & Development.

“It also doesn’t hurt that he is someone from the outside who can affirm the value of these spaces and the potential for creative placemaking,” she added.

He’s been the outsider before.

Mannheimer came to Des Moines from New York as part of a personal 22-city tour and liked what he saw. Borrowing a bit from big-city ideas, he said he wanted to start a Des Moines center that would feature everything from local art to bands to professional wrestling.

You could see the eyes roll from Sidney to Strawberry Point, and there were more than a few doubters in Des Moines too.

Today, the Des Moines Social Club puts on plays, art shows, classes and serves up a fine seafood enchilada as it spices an unprecedented development push to the west and south of the downtown core. The place is a $6.8 million annual economic boost to the economy and has helped create 200 jobs.

And it has offered local art, bands and professional wrestling.

So Mannheimer isn’t new to economic development.

That may be part of the reason that Congressman David Young has been in touch with Mannheimer about the new efforts, including the Oakland project. “I admire Zack for this commitment and any other Iowan wishing and working to make it a better place,” Young said.

Mannheimer has weighed offers around Iowa, the rest of the Midwest and New York City before. He decided to stay in Des Moines and brush up on how to pronounce Nevada, Buena Vista and Madrid, Iowa style. 

“My network is here,” said Mannheimer, whose three children are native Iowans. “I love it here. I think it’s a fantastic community.”

Mannheimer already has been in touch with several cities to get a handle on their interests before he embarks on cultural assessments, if they decide they want one.

“We don’t want to say we’re going to do anything in particular,” he said. “I want to see what people say when they find out they have this opportunity. I hope we have a long line of municipalities that want to do this work. Each one will be different.”

Here are a few examples of areas where Mannheimer may have a role as he settles into the new job: 

Oakland: The Golden Hills Resource Conservation and Development office asked Mannheimer if he would start a Social Club-style operation there in a old high school building that is being vacated

“You have a town that is 30 minutes southwest of Omaha-Council Bluffs. Most people’s commute times in major cities are double that. My bet is there are 20 to 30 creatives, ag entrepreneurs, tech entrepreneurs — anybody who wants to build something — that need more space to create their work,” Mannheimer said. “Many of them probably would like to live where they create. So we could do live-work spaces at a fraction of the cost of Omaha-Council Bluffs. We could have the amenities in the building that they need to create their work. We could have woodworking, metalsmithing, hydroponics.”

Michelle Wodtke Franks, executive director of Golden Hills Resource Conservation & Development, buys Mannheimer’s vision. “We are working to build momentum in Oakland to support arts and culture as a catalyst for change and future vitality,’ she said. “Golden Hills is working to develop a Highway 59 cultural corridor that would link the small, rural communities along it with a unified emphasis to develop art, history and culture amenities along the route. 
Numerous studies have shown the positive impact art and culture can bring to small towns. We believe this is a critically needed element to improve the quality of life in Oakland, add the cool factor to this small community, and make it an enticing place for young people to live and work.

Cedar Rapids: The New Bohemia and Irish District in Cedar Rapids offer roughly 200,000 square feet of buildings that could be used as something of a phase two of the post-flood resurgence of Iowa’s second-largest city, Mannheimer said. “It’s a perfect place for incubation,” he said. 

Davenport: “Davenport probably has the most upside of any city in Iowa, in my opinion, because of Daytrotter,” Mannheimer said. “It’s a sound recording studio and a music venue. Almost any major band that’s toured across the country stops there to record, and the only way you can hear the recording is to be a member of the website.”