Collaboration.. our greatest asset?

Please find the Friday Guest Blog below, this was written by Shawn Harrington

Several years back, one of those “motivational speakers” showed up in front of my teenage church group to talk about appreciating what you have in life.  His main message was simple: to truly appreciate what you do have, you have to sometimes look at what others don’t have.  While it may have fallen upon deaf ears at the time to an audience of 16 year-old’s who would rather have been anywhere else on a Sunday evening, those words can now make sense to even the most extreme optimists.  This week, a couple examples were on display to show that Des Moines does have RIGHT NOW what many other cities don’t have, or probably wish they had.

Nomade Sculpture at the Pappajohn Park - Courtesy of Jake Boyd Photo

One of my favorite artist/musicians, Matthew Good, had a recent interview on Q TV where he discussed his current city of Vancouver.  While the main theme of his conversation was standing opposed to the 2010 Olympics being hosted there, he dug deeper into how the growth of the commercial wealth in Vancouver he feels has now diminished his role as an artist within that city.  This is described by saying things such as the city has ”lost its soul” and then there’s reference made to Manhattan being viewed the same way.  It becomes obvious by Mr. Good’s thoughts that there may have been a lack of collaboration between the artistic and business community in Vancouver while building itself up to what it is today.  That’s a shame, wouldn’t you expect all residents of Vancouver to be speaking proudly of their accomplishments?

While it’s noted above that the collaboration may be missing in one community, one thing is for certain.. it’s stronger than ever here in Des Moines.  Among the most recent of acknowledgements from national publications was Tuesday’s New York Times Article discussing how our community has come together to build itself up.  What differentiates this article from the others we’ve been seeing is that the author, Keith Scheider, discusses much of the “private and public cooperation” that can be found here when it comes to building our future.  Here’s one excerpt that stands out:

Christopher B. Leinberger, a professor of real estate at the University of Michigan, said Des Moines was one of a growing number of cities that recognize the potential of downtown development, as well as the urgency of changing economic and political strategies to encourage it… Mr. Leinberger said that Des Moines was able to find a nonpartisan formula for making decisions on taxes, infrastructure, parks and housing that support downtown construction. “Des Moines is one of those places that recognized that to pull off being a special place they can be proud of, people have to work together”.

With all the focus on downtown growth and development, you would think that our leaders lost touch with the rest of the community while moving forward with these plans, right?  Not so fast, while the white-collared corporates have re-invested themselves within the capital city of a traditionally strong agricultural state, they have been sure not to forget about the cultural aspects that make their home so much more unique.  That mind-set has kept everyone in the loop and lets everyone know they themselves are contributors to Des Moines’ growth.

As one aspect of the community excels, another doesn’t have to feel left out.  Some of us can appreciate top Fortune companies like Meredith and Principal continually investing their resources in Des Moines, while others can take ownership of North America’s largest sculpture garden.  Is there many other cities pulling that off right now?

That may be what is separating us as a have from the have-nots.  While other cities may not have the collaboration to pull off what we are being praised for, we can continue to take advantage of this unique environment.  By the way, I think our celebrities would say the same.