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It’s that time of year again. Early Wednesday morning, about 190 Greater Des Moines A-list business and community leaders will board a chartered flight for Washington, D.C., on an annual three-day mission to lobby for federal funding for a lengthy list of regional projects. This year’s “ask,” however, is likely the largest in the 29-year history of the trip – more than $256 million for 62 projects – and a 40 percent increase over the total funding amount sought last year.

With nearly 200 people participating each year, the annual trip, billed this year as “DC DM United 2008,” may be the largest chamber excursion to Washington, D.C., second only to that of Sacramento, Calif. “At least that’s what we’ve heard,” said Jay Byers, the Greater Des Moines Partnership’s senior vice president for governmental relations and public policy. “We haven’t had anyone dispute that yet.”

Finishing up

Last year, the Partnership’s funding requests totaled slightly more than $182 million, of which approximately $36 million was approved for 15 major Greater Des Moines projects. The majority of the projects that received funding this fiscal year are being presented again this year for additional funding, along with many others that didn’t receive money.

“We’re trying not to come in with a lot of new things,” Byers said. “It’s all about trying to finish off a lot of the projects that have been priorities for us – transportation projects like the Southeast Connector or quality-of-life projects like the Riverwalk and the World Food Prize (Foundation headquarters) – that we’ve been working on for multiple years. We think it’s very important to finish what we’ve started.”

Some of the larger requests include $17 million to complete phase one of the Riverwalk construction, $15 million for a new transit center for Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority and an $18.5 million request for the Alice’s Road extension project.

Among other projects are a $2.7 million request from Drake University to launch a center for undergraduate research; a $1.9 million request by Broadlawns Medical Center for a magnetic resonance imaging machine and emergency department upgrades; and $1.5 million for an East 14th Street overpass for Grand View College.

Repairs to the Saylorville Marina, a $944,000 request, also made the Partnership’s list, as did a $947,000 request by the Blank Park Zoo to help pay for its visiting animal and conservation program. The list also includes a number of recreational trails projects, among them a $600,000 request for a pedestrian bridge over the Raccoon River to connect downtown with Gray’s Lake Park.

The largest request, $50 million by the city of Des Moines, would help the city defray the cost of an estimated $250 million sewer upgrade required by federal environmental mandates to help clean up the Des Moines River. Also boosting the total is nearly $40 million for eight research project requests by Iowa State University. Among those: a $3 million request for New Century Farm, a sustainable biofuels feedstock production project that Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc. seeded with a five-year, $1 million commitment in September 2007.

Fifteen highway projects are on the list this year, topped by these five designated as high-priority projects by the Des Moines Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO):

• Southeast Connector – $4 million

• Northwest Transportation Corridor Study – $1 million

• Northeast Polk County Beltway – $750,000

• Northwest 26th Street at Interstate 35/80 interchange – $1 million

• Southwest Connector – $3 million

Each of the projects was chosen because of its significance to the entire Greater Des Moines area, said Luke Parris, a transportation planner with the MPO. “They’ll fill a great need for the overall region, rather than just serving one community or county,” he said.

Repair work

Infrastructure renewal is top of mind for Des Moines City Manager Rick Clark, who plans to take part in the D.C. trip.

For the $250 million sewer project, which must be completed over the next several years, “the hope is that with some federal funds, we can hopefully minimize the financial impact that will have upon the ratepayers in Des Moines,” he said. “The $50 million is a request we think makes a lot of sense to help the city defray those costs.”

Another key infrastructure need is the Grand Avenue bridge repair project. The city is asking for $1.5 million in federal assistance for the $4.2 million project.

“I think the experience the country had with the bridge failure in Minnesota made us think about bridges a little more,” Clark said. “It’s perfectly safe right now, but we’re looking to the time when it needs to be addressed.”

Quality-of-life projects, such as the city’s request for $10 million to build a whitewater recreational course on the Des Moines River, are also important, Clark said.

“We’ve actually had great support from our delegation on quality-of-life projects,” he said. “They really do enhance the community, if you’re thoughtful about these projects, in terms of developing projects that people will like.”

ISU, like other universities, faces a tough environment for securing discretionary research funding from Congress, said Washington, D.C.-based Allison Rosenberg, a special assistant to ISU President Gregory Geoffroy. The pool of discretionary funds continues to shrink, and earmark reform legislation means institutions have to work harder to justify their requests, she said.

In many instances, the requests help fund equipment investments that enable ISU to secure competitive grants. “Typically, we view earmarks as seed funding, with the expectation that (the projects) ultimately will be self-sustaining,” Rosenberg said. “Rarely do you ever get the full amount requested.”

Seeking funding for regional projects is an important aspect of the trip, but not the only purpose, Byers said. The Partnership also puts forth its positions on a host of national issues, from education to immigration reform and energy policies.

More localized issues, such as Windsor Heights’ bid for its own ZIP code, are also on the agenda. An administrative proposal for that change is now moving forward, Byers said.

“I think by raising awareness on a regional level that it’s important to (Windsor Heights) as a community, it’s helped them,” he said. “The region stepped up and said, ‘If it’s important to them, it’s important to us.’ When you talk about the value of this trip, advocacy is extremely important. Obviously we’re creating results. If we weren’t, we wouldn’t be able to get people to go on the trip.”

A different twist this year will be a reception for former Iowa residents to be held the first evening of the trip at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The Partnership is using various “viral marketing” techniques to get the word out to professionals working in and around Washington who might want to consider coming back to Iowa.

Other Midwestern chambers have established similar Washington lobbying trips. The Quad City Development Group began hosting an annual trip in 1996, and the Omaha and Lincoln, Neb., chambers began a Federal Fly-in four years ago, with up to 125 people expected on the trip in September.

From the Partnership’s perspective, “the networking component is absolutely critical,” Byers said. “It really creates this unique retreat setting, where people from across the entire region can connect. You’re able to talk about a lot of regional, business and economic development issues that might otherwise be difficult to even find time in your schedules to get together. I think the work that gets done every year on regional issues is immeasurable.”

Greater Des Moines Partnership 2008 supported projects

Federal funding that Partnership projects received following the 2007 Washington, D.C. trip

• I-235 reconstruction – $1 million

• DMACC Iowa Employment Solutions Initiative – $268,000

• DMACC Project Employment – $243,000

• DMACC Electronic Crime Institute – $1.75 million

• DART Alternatives Analysis Design Project – $245,000

• Southeast Connector Extension – $2.345 million

• Des Moines River Greenbelt (includes Principal Riverwalk funding) – $4.124 million

• Southwest Connector Interchange on I-35 in Warren County – $550,000

• University Avenue Enhancements in Clive – $350,000

• Altoona Rail Spur – $1.17 million

• Des Moines Public Schools Universal Preschool Program – $585,000

• Simpson College Blank Performing Arts Center – $292,000

• Des Moines Art Center – $292,000

• AIB Captioning and Court Reporting Program – $390,000

• Des Moines and Raccoon Rivers Flood Protection – $295,000

• Midwest Agribusiness Trade Research and Information Center – $188,000

• Statewide bus replacement – $4.69 million

• ISU New Century Farm – $208,348

• ISU Mitigating Air Emissions from U.S. Egg Farms – $182,420

• ISU Virtual Reality Application Center – $63,000

Total $36,207,768