As I was meeting with Greg Edwards and Jay Byers recently for an interview, I asked them how they remembered former Gov. Robert Ray, who died July 8. 

Edwards, president of Catch Des Moines, recalled how he enjoyed sitting at Gov. Robert Ray’s table at Rotary Club of Des Moines meetings. “He never had a bad word to say about anybody. You could be having a really lousy day and you’d go sit next to Bob Ray at lunch, and you’d leave there just feeling refreshed — that was just the ambience he gave you.” 

Greater Des Moines Partnership CEO Byers added: “I’ve never heard anyone say a bad word about the guy — and he was governor for many years, Des Moines mayor, the CEO of an insurance company [Wellmark] — and yet, everybody loved him. It’s a special leader who can lead such a diverse group of entities and still accomplish a lot in a way that everyone still likes you. It’s impressive.”  

Of course, one of Ray’s biggest legacies was building Iowa’s reputation as a welcoming and open state for immigrants, and it’s an atmosphere that Iowa needs to retain, Byers said. 

“As we’re looking in terms of talent recruitment and retention, we’ve been the fastest-growing metro in the Midwest, but of course many areas of Iowa have been losing population. As we continue to grow our state and specifically Greater Des Moines, we’re going to have to continue to attract that top international talent. I think in many ways, we still look at Governor Ray as that shining example of how to do that, and that that American dream still needs to be possible.” 

Over the past few years, Greater Des Moines’ foreign-born population has actually grown twice as fast as the national average, he said. Des Moines has seen 25.1 percent growth in its foreign-born population, according to the American Community Survey for 2009-2014, compared with a 9.8 percent average nationally. “That’s been a big part of our growth, and it needs to continue to fuel our growth,” Byers said. “The No. 1 issue for our companies is talent, and international talent needs to continue to be a part of that.” 

The U.S. immigrant population reached a record high of 43.7 million in 2016, and by 2023 is expected to reach 14.8 percent of the U.S. population, which would surpass a level the country last saw in 1910, according to the American Community Survey. Between 2010 and 2016, the immigrant population in Iowa grew by nearly 15 percent, which was among the highest immigrant growth rates in the country.