Des Moines named best in the nation for business expansion and relocation

For the second year in a row, the Des Moines metro area’s been named the best in the nation for business expansion and relocation. “Expansion Management Magazine” says lower costs for business and a well-educated workforce are the two things expanding companies want most. Martha Willits is president of the Greater Des Moines Partnership.Willits says the magazine’s read across the country, and that national recognition will be good for her business group at it works to attract business. Willits says the recognition should be good for the whole state.The Midwest did well altogether in the rankings, she says, adding that Iowa City ranked quite high, too. The magazine ranked 331 metropolitan areas across the country on a list of factors it considered.Willits says areas ranked by the magazine include those deemed important by Iowans — public schools, college-educated workforce, cost and availability of healthcare, quality of life, taxes, infrastructure. Those are in the group’s vision plan for the future so they won’t take them for granted. The Des Moines metro area was ranked number one, Kansas City second, in the magazine’s “Mayor’s Challenge” award.