Victim of down-sizing? Here’s a little encouragement
Posted on February 24, 2009 in Business & Economy by DM
Des Moines received some good news recently in the form of a new economic ranking: BizJournals.com named us the 22nd best city in which to start a business, making us the highest-ranking Midwestern city on the list. (hat tip: Living in Downtown Des Moines blog.)
This is great news for those attending the “What Now” Lunch and Learn Series for recently displaced workers and entrepreneurial hopefuls, hosted by Impromptu Studio and created by LavaRow and 48Web . (This Friday’s session features Teri Woods TeBockhorst, formerly of East Village Books – truly a jaw-dropping entrepreneurial story there!)
Lest you think this is some sort of fluke, Des Moines has been ranking well in these kinds of things for a long time. Just in the past year, we’ve enjoyed the following bits of notoriety:
- Our current cost of living is 8.4 percent below the national average.
- “Top 25 Best Places to Find a Job” – CareerBuilder.com
- Second-best city (in the nation!) for affordable housing – CNNMoney.com
- Top 25 best-performing cities for job creation – Milken Institute
- Most affordable city (in the nation!) to hold a trade show – TradeShow Week (don’t snicker: conventions and trade shows are HUGE business – the more we can draw here the better!)
- Best Places for Business & Careers – Forbes Magazine
- Best Places to Raise a Family – Best Life Magazine and The Today Show
- Best Places to Live, Top 10 Best Cities (economy, jobs, cost of living, amenities) – Kiplinger Personal Finance
So you see, despite my whinings, there are positive underpinnings at least locally. (That “What Now” series is one of them – follow @ImpromptuStudio on Twitter to keep up with the details.)
If you are one of those struggling with employment issues, my heart goes out to you. My wish for you is that you will be able to see the open door of opportunity – no small feat in these challenging times, to be sure, but I can promise you: I’m with you in spirit, and so are many, many others.
Make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear? To borrow a phrase: yes, you can – especially in Des Moines.
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Thanks for sharing the series! We are excited to try to help people out anyway we can!
Andy, happy to help promote… it’s a great idea overall and featuring Teri is a stroke of genius plus much-needed reality check. Her story packs a lot of emotion. Best of luck with the continuation of the series!