Partnership Virtual Investor Briefing: April 15, 2020

The Greater Des Moines Partnership held an Investor and Member Briefing on Wednesday, April 15. This virtual seminar was an opportunity to keep Partnership Investors up-to-date on new initiatives and updates on how The Partnership is working towards its three key short-term strategies, including: how to keep businesses in business, how to keep people working and how to keep the community healthy and safe.

Updates on Key Short-Term Strategies

Keep Businesses in Business Strategy

For the next four to eight weeks, The Partnership will focus on the programming surrounding the strategies listed above. The Leading in Times of Challenge podcast continues to host Greater Des Moines (DSM) leaders, launching podcasts each Tuesday and Thursday. On Friday, April 10, a new DSM Local Challenge video was launched to encourage people to support local and small businesses. The Partnership’s Chief Strategy Officer Tiffany Tauscheck says the #DSMlocalchallenge hashtag has garnered 2,600 posts and 29 million impressions so far.

Keep People Working Strategy

The DSM Employment Ready podcast has launched as an effort focusing on keeping people employed. This is an opportunity to ensure people have the tools to increase their employability and value, as well as learn how to upscale during this time. The first two podcasts feature Brian Berry and David Leto, both of the Palmer Group.

Keep the Community Healthy + Safe Strategy

As the #DSMstrong initiative has continued to gain traction, The Partnership marketing team launched a new video, created in-house by Derek Lippincott, that has had tremendous feedback: 81,000 organic reaches and more than 27,000 views as of Thursday, April 16. More content is in the works when it comes to this strategy; however, Tiffany lays out the success of the initiative already, citing 3,100 posts and 22 million impressions for the #DSMstrong hashtag as of Thursday, April 16.

DSM Small Business Relief Grants

The Partnership is also working on launching DSM Small Business Relief Grants in the near future. This fund will fill the gaps for small businesses in the region not already receiving or approved for PPP or IEDA funds. Bob Brownell, with the Polk County Board of Supervisors, and Scott Sanders, the City Manager of Des Moines, speak on the ability to offer aid to the smallest businesses with 25 or less employees, including sole proprietors. The grant would be in the $7-9,000 range. Four communities in the region have committed dollars to the grants in an effort to support regional businesses. Bob explains that if a community commits to the DSM Small Business Relief Grants, their dollars will go to their specific community, with the potential to receive a county match and private sector match, enabling communities to leverage more money.

You can watch the entire webinar below:

 

You can count on The Partnership to continue to share accurate and fact-based updates as time goes on. See more on COVID-19 here, including employment resources for those impacted due to COVID-19.

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