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City Awards 2001/2002 Forbes 2002 Top 10 Best Places For Business And Careers
To reflect the changing times, we changed the way we compile our ranking of Best Places For Business And Careers, turning to analysts at Economy.com, the West Chester, Pa.-based economic and financial research firm. In this, our fifth annual survey, we still kept a careful eye on income and job growth. But we also gave special attention to the cost-of-doing-business, which includes the prices of labor, energy, taxes and office space. We looked closely at the qualifications of the available pool of labor. For the first time our rankings also characterized the attractiveness of a region by figuring in crime rates, housing costs and net migration.
Austin, TX
Boise, ID
Raleigh-Durham, NC
Atlanta, GA
Madison, WI
Provo, UT
Omaha, NE
Des Moines, IA
Dallas, TX
Washington, DC-Northern VA
8. Des Moines, IA
Population: 463,000
Job Growth: 1.1%
Income Growth: 4.9%What's not to like? Des Moines' per capita income of $33,200 is $4,000 higher than Iowa's mean, but business costs are still 12% below the national average. Unemployment: currently 4.1%.
(Curtesy of www.forbes.com)
First Place! The 2002 Digital Cities Survey by Digital Government and Technology Magazine
The Center for Digital Government is proud to present the winners of this year's 2002 Digital Cities Survey. Underwritten by Microsoft, the 2002 survey examines how city governments have progressed in adopting and utilizing digital technologies to improve the delivery of services to their citizens. This year's 1st place winners in their respective categories are Honolulu, Hawaii and Tampa, Florida, which tied for first place in their category; Des Moines, Iowa; and Roanoke, Virginia.
The mayors, chief information officers and city managers in over 300 of the nation's cities were invited to participate. The survey grouped cities into three categories based on population, which are communities with more than 250,000; populations of 125,000-250,000 and populations of 75,000-125,000. The following is the top 10 ranking cities for mid-size cities with populations between 125,000 and 250,000 residents.
Mid-Size Populations: 125,000-250,000
Rank City
"This ranking is a wonderful recognition of the tremendous strides the City has made in its use of technology during the past few years. It is due to the efforts of literally hundreds of people, from the Mayor and Council, to the IT staff, to the people who work with this technology every day that we have achieved this superb ranking," said Michael Armstrong, Chief Information Officer for the City of Des Moines. The city will receive its award on December 4, 2002 during the National League of Cities annual meeting in Salt Lake City.
The February 2003 issue of Government Technology magazine will contain an article on the results of the 2002 Digital Cities Survey. "This year we had a record turnout of cities participating in the survey," said Cathilea Robinett, executive director for the Center for Digital Government, "and we had many new cities appearing in the top 10 rankings. I think it shows that local governments are making digital government a top priority more than ever before."
City of Des Moines Web Site selected as Site of the Month by GovSpot.org
GovSpot.com, an nonpartisan government information portal designed to simplify the search for the best and most relevant government information online, awarded The City of Des Moines as Site of the Month for April, 2002.
GovSpot.com noted that connecting with the City of Des Moines web site is very simple. Citizens can keep an eye on their elected officials by watching webcasts of city council meetings as well as read about the city council budget. Residents can pay parking tickets and check traffic reports. The Mapping Center has maps of snow routes, neighborhoods, skywalks and area codes. Have a problem and don't know who to contact? Search the City Government Directory or the FAQs.
Finalists for GovSpot.com Site of the Month are judged on quality and richness of information, overall organization and accessibility. Judges also considered the regularity of updates and innovative use of technology in bringing government services online.
Recognized as One of CRM's Top 10 Implementations of 2001
FrontRange Solutions Inc., an international market leader in customer relationship management (CRM) and customer service and support software, announced that the implementation of its flagship product HEAT® at the city of Des Moines, Iowa has been identified by Aberdeen Group as one of the most significant CRM implementations of 2001. Aberdeen Group’s “Top Ten CRM Implementations of 2001”Striving to be recognized as one of the best-run cities in North America, the City of Des Moines, Iowa uses HEAT software to facilitate the smooth operation of a “Citizen Response System” (CRS) to manage and automate inquiries from 200,000 city residents. As many as 9,000 incoming calls are handled by the CRS on a monthly basis, then quickly and efficiently dispatched to twenty different City departments for action.
One of the 50 Sweetest Spots in America, by Hershey's Foods.
Des Moines ranks fourth out of 1,000 entries. The top-five awards were given to (1) Seattle, Washington, (2) Boston, Massachusetts, (3) Savannah, Georgia, (4) Des Moines, Iowa, and (5) Cleveland, Ohio. The criteria used in determining the "50 Sweetest Cities" are · Per capita spending on fun and recreational activities.Low crime rates- safe communities, i.e. low crime rates will be a solid indicator of quality of life within a community.
- Awards for community service; including heroic community members past and present, medals awarded to community members for military service, etc..
- Romantic settings- Flower shops, romantic restaurants, beaches. Clean environment; including cleanest air, water, community improvement groups.
- Celebrations/ Parades/ Outdoor Activities
- Historical settings, houses, museums.
The eight finalists included two cities from the United States, Des Moines and Rochester, New York and cities in Ecuador, Spain, Sweden, Australia, Canada, and England.
"Nations in Bloom" is an international competition of city beautification projects on public and private properties. The cities are categorized according to population and size. Des Moines competed with other cities worldwide that have populations between 50,000 to 300,000 people.The Arts Advocate Award 2002 from the Iowa Arts Council
The Des Moines Public Art Task Force received the Arts Advocate Award from the Iowa Arts Council Board of Directors in February 2002. The award is given every two years to recognize exemplary individuals, organizations, businesses or communities that have made outstanding achievements in the arts.
The Des Moines Public Art Task Force founded in 1999, has worked steadily to research national models for citywide public arts programs and to make recommendations to the City of Des Moines for the development and implementation of a Des Moines Public Art Program. This work resulted in City Council passage of a Public Art Ordinance in October
Des Moines was rated second in the country for its use of technology in the first Digital Cities survey conducted by the Center for Digital Government and Government Technology magazine.
Over 300 city government offices were invited to participate in the survey. Mayors and chief information officers responded to a set of 17 questions that were developed after months of preparation and input from recognized government IT experts.
The Digital Cities Survey examined which municipal services are online, what forms are available electronically, what information is offered to the public and whether the public can send online feedback to city officials. Cities were also asked about their IT management structure - specifically, if there is an executive IT position that oversees technology policies and operations, and much more.
Des Moines accomplishments are laced throughout city operations. The mayor, department heads and city council members communicate with constituents using e-mail. The city web site offers a host of online forms, including applications for city employment and certain permits.
A+ on the Kid Friendly Cities 2001 Report Card.
Des Moines received a ranking of 11th out of 140 cities as a top community that is "Kid Friendly" The rating is based on such factors as population, health, education, public safety, employment rate, environment, and community life are considered. The study looks at every city in America with a population of 100,000+. It creates a picture of conditions where our children play, learn, and grow. The Community Life factor was rated A-, with indicators such as 15.1 park acres per 1,000 persons and 6.1 library circulation per child. Extra credit was given for the Youth in Parks program. This program helps youth develop social and physical skills through positive relationships with adults and peers and community service projects.
Choice City for 2001 by Outlook Magazine
The criteria the magazine's editors used to make up this list included Department of Labor Statistics, U.S. Census Data, reports from the Federal Reserve and from the Conference Board and information from the U. S. Conference of Mayors. All of the data was analyzed by means of specialized software that ranks cities based on such criteria as crime, business development, etc.
"In the words of Ray Kinsella in 'Field of Dreams,' this isn't heaven, "It's Iowa." All clichés aside, today Des Moines - the capital of the state - is home to more than 200,000 people, and is the third largest insurance center in the world with nearly 60 life, health and casualty insurance companies located here. The climate-controlled skywalks system makes getting around easy, and the skywalks make up more blocks per capita in Des Moines than any comparable city in the U.S.
Currently, the city has low unemployment (2%), a highly educated workforce and a low cost of housing. Any business looking to relocate to Des Moines would also find workers interested in the average travel time to work, which is only 18 minutes.""Best Places to Live & Work" by Employment Review's ranks Des Moines Number 20
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City of Des Moines, Iowa
400 East First Street
Des Moines, Iowa 50309-1891
Phone: (515) 283-4500
E-mail: actionctr@dmgov.org
Web Site: www.dmgov.or
