Where do you want to work and live?

I spend quite a bit of time visiting with college age students in the Des Moines Metro area and I get quite a few questions from them asking why they should stay in the area after they graduate.  My reply - there has never been a better time to be young and working in the Des Moines Metro area.  Let's look at some of the recognition received by the metro area in just the last couple of years.

Some of the awards received in 2013:

• #2 Best City to Start a Business (March 19, 2013 The Street)
• Des Moines Ranks in Top Ten of Most Unexpected Cities for High-Tech Innovation (April 8, 2013 Techie.com)
• Des Moines Tops List Of The Best Places For Business And Careers (August 7, 2013 Forbes)
• Des Moines is #3 for Top Emerging Downtowns in US (March 25, 2013 Forbes)
• Des Moines Farmers’ Market ranked #2 on this list of 101 (August 29, 2013 thedailymeal.com)
• Waukee and Ankeny both land on CNN Money's "Best Places To Live" list (August 12, 2013 CNN Money)

Some of the awards received in 2012:

• Des Moines ranks top 6 for Cities where startups are thriving (November 28, 2012 CNN Money)
• Clive ranked in Top 10 Small Towns (September 20, 2012 Livability.com)
• Iowa is the #3 best state to be young in America (August 28, 2012 Business Insider) 
• Des Moines #1 best city for families (July 25, 2012 Kiplinger)
• Des Moines is the fourth best city for business and careers (June 27, 2012 Forbes)
• Des Moines is #2 for strongest local economy (May 31, 2012 POLICOM) 

That's a lot of awards, and there are more that I didn't include in the list.  This speaks to a strong, vibrant economy that provides great opportunities to young individuals looking to enter the professional work force.  You can find start-ups, thriving small business as well as some of the larger financial services and insurance companies in the United States.  There are successful small business incubators helping to build businesses around ideas.

On top of the professional opportunities, the communities provide abundant recreational opportunities for people of all ages.  Sports and concerts at the Wells Fargo Center;  Hockey; trail systems that connect all of the communities in the metro area;  mountain bike trails; the Iowa Speedway located less than an hour from the metro-area; the Des Moines Theatre; the Des Moines Performing Arts. 

I challenge each of these students to find something that they love and turn it in to a career!

Tags:Community; Location; Des Moines; Students;
 
For more information on David L. Collison: LinkedIn Profile