Aviva USA Groundbreaking

Last Thursday, April 24, the City of West Des Moines elected officials and staff celebrated Aviva's future presence in our community by attending their groundbreaking ceremony.

Thankfully, the sun came out just in time for the groundbreaking and the tent Aviva had set up became a nice shade rather than a necessary shield from the anticipated rain. I was both proud and excited to welcome this premier development to West Des Moines. That ground will eventually support offices and employees--hopefully future West Des Moines residents.

In keeping with my previous entry about green building, Aviva has pledged that the new headquarters design will comply with guidelines adopted by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), a nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high-performance green buildings. Because they've had to clear so many trees to construct their facility, Aviva has also donated $50,000 to the Arbor Day Foundation to plant trees in West Des Moines. That gesture is already a sign of their good corporate citizenship.

Mayor Gaer had a chance to stand alongside Tom Godlasky, President and CEO of Aviva USA, and Governor Culver as they all made remarks commemorating the day. I think the facts Mayor Gaer presented about our development in West Des Moines are both interesting and meaningful, and I'll share some of them here. I consider this the backdrop to the story of Aviva USA and its arrival in West Des Moines.

This development has become a significant piece of a vision that is being carried out involving quality, excellence, and innovation, the driving forces of West Des Moines’ growth and improvement. West Des Moines’ population increased from 46,403 in 2000 to 51,744 in 2005, and today is estimated at 55,306. The represents a 19.2% increase in eight years.

Between 2005 and 2007, West Des Moines saw 6,105 new jobs created in the City. This represents a 12.9% increase during that two year period. That amounts to over 53,400 jobs in West Des Moines. It also brings our current daytime population to 117,500, an 8% increase from 2006. The City’s predominant employment sectors continue to be Finance and Insurance.

Since Jan 2006, the City has issued building permits with a value of over $439 million. Of that, $265 million is commercial construction accounting for over 2.8 million square foot of new commercial development. In terms of per capita property valuation, West Des Moines leads the ten largest cities in the State with just under $56,000 per person.

I’d like to thank the Mayor and City Council for their leadership in the process of bringing Aviva to West Des Moines; they continuously supported this development and were positive in our discussions with Aviva leading up to the groundbreaking. City staff should also be commended for their work with Aviva throughout the project and for their positive incorporation of Aviva into the City’s extensive planning process.

I’d also like to thank Aviva and Tom Godlasky for creating new opportunities for growth and high quality jobs--a highly sought after commodity--in our community. Many Aviva and Knapp properties employees were key players in what we felt was a very fair and positive process and also deserve thanks.

I’d also like to thank Governor Culver for the support and assistance the Governor’s Office and the State of Iowa’s Department of Economic Development, especially Mike Tramontina, provided in securing and accommodating Aviva USA in West Des Moines.

Aviva USA is a tremendous addition to West Des Moines, and the City looks forward to continued cooperation and growth. I am confident that Aviva’s presence in West Des Moines will advance the opportunities afforded to our current citizens and encourage more of the best and the brightest to live and work within our state.

Building "Green" in WDM

Green building, like everything else eco-friendly, has become a very popular topic that has generated interest around the country. Green structures are designed and built to adhere to the principles of sustainability and environmental best practices. These efficient buildings conserve resources like energy and water and have fewer negative impacts on the environment and human health.

In an effort to promote green building, the City has conveyed two residential lots it currently owns in Valley Junction to Home Opportunities Made Easy (HOME) Inc, a Des Moines-based nonprofit organization. HOME, Inc. will be the general contractor in building a single-family home on each lot. Both houses will be built using green concepts and eventually sold to low-income households. One home will serve as a demonstration house, which could take up to a year to build in order to stay open for educational purposes, and the other will be built within a normal time-frame.

Partners on this project include the City of West Des Moines, HOME, Inc., and the Center for Sustainable Communities (COSC). In addition to the key partners, the project will utilize representatives from our community at large including city and state government entities, community-based non-profits, funding entities, key corporations, key industry sector advisors, and individual volunteers. Ideally, this project will demonstrate how a green-build home can be constructed affordably and practically.

The project's partners got together in March to discuss the design and plan the educational sessions and on site demonstration workshops that will be held during the construction of the demonstration house.

This project should help us to measure a green building’s impact on the environment by tracking energy consumption, resource consumption, waste production, water use, and accessible community resources available. All options and decisions made during design and construction will be documented, and the performance of the homes will be tracked. Specific costs of materials, products, labor and services utilized will be compared to a standard build in a comparable neighborhood. I'm excited about this project and think it is a great way for the City to partner with expert organizations and take a lead in encouraging the creation of sustainable, energy-efficient homes in all areas of our City and beyond it.

A groundbreaking ceremony at 927 Maple Street will take place Sunday, April 20, at 11:30 am as part of Earth Day. Don't forget to stop by the 3rd Annual Earth Day in the Junction that day from 10 am to 3 pm for numerous activities for adults and kids as well.

Best Places to Live and Launch

FORTUNE Small Business (FSB) named West Des Moines in the Top 100 Places to Live and Launch a Small Business in a 2008 issue of CNN Money. To compile this list, FSB searched the nation for towns that "combine a great business environment with alluring leisure offerings."

With the help of ONBoard, a data-collection agency in New York City, and Bert Sperling, author of Cities Ranked and Rated, FSB ranked 296 Census-designated metro areas by "business friendliness" and "lifestyle offerings." Factors in the metro area rankings include tax rates, job growth, the number of airline flight connections nearby, the number of parks and arts venues nearby, health infrastructure, and climate. Based on strong population growth, low crime rates, and reasonable housing costs, they chose the town within each of the top 100 metro areas that "best blends business and pleasure." Interviews with local entrepreneurs, city officials, and business experts confirmed which towns had the strongest small business programs and best leisure resources within their metro areas.

I'm thrilled that our ongoing focus on economic development and small business, coupled with our excellent parks programs, leisure activities, and proximity to the ever-improving entertainment options in the metro area have put us on this list.

Iowa had three cities on the list: West Des Moines, Ames, and Iowa City--tying it with Minnesota for the most cities ranked in the Midwest. This is demonstrative of the headway Iowa metro areas are making in appealing to business interests and providing a desirable quality of life. This is a great accolade for Iowa and for our metro area.

New City Website

The City of West Des Moines has a new and improved website.

The site is still at http://www.wdm-ia.com/ but has a new look and feel, and tremendous new functionality. We began our redesign process last summer and selected a vendor from sixteen RFPs. Six months after the initial meeting, the new website is complete.

Because the site is so much easier for our employees to use, we'll be updating and adding information a lot more often. Basically, we have complete control over the site content including pages, photos, documents, postings, and more. Each department has representatives dedicated to maintaining and improving the website in addition to their other job responsibilities.

I invite you to take a look at the new site and check out our new functionality. You can sign up to receive updates on news and events via email; navigate through the site based on who you are (visitor, resident, or business), what you're looking for (see the How Do I? bar), or city department (Your Government). Soon, we will have a database for our bids and proposals up on the site as well.

There is a lot more out there. Please take a look and refer back whenever you need information on the City. I think you'll find the new site very user friendly.