Are you interested in building character throughout West Des Moines? Join members of the West Des Moines Chamber at this month's Membership Luncheon on Thursday, May 14th.

Representative Scott Raecker, Executive Director of Character Counts! in Iowa, will share how Character Counts! community coalitions across Iowa have put the six pillars of character to use in strengthening their communities, and how you and your organization can get involved! We are exploring ways to expand character initiatives by engaging community partners, and we believe our students and community would benefit from a consistent, community-wide emphasis on the importance of good character.

This event has been organized in partnership by West Des Moines Community Education and the West Des Moines Chamber. To register for this event, click here.

I Believe in Greater Des Moines

A new community campaign called "I believe" has begun. This campaign aims to celebrate Greater Des Moines, its opportunities, and the people whose conviction and spirit continually pushes this community toward greater success.

This endeavor is a group effort of media and community partners donating their time, services and ad space to launch this campaign. The "I believe" promotion will this week with a teaser campaign, and will launch full force the week of May 4th. We hope you will be a part of this movement.

Please join us at a kick-off event on Monday, May 4th from 4:30-6:30 p.m. at Principal Park for a celebration of Greater Des Moines complete with live music and entertainment. Food and drink are available. Following the kick-off, the Iowa Cubs will host "I believe night", with admission for only $1. The first 1,000 people will be given free tickets to the game.

The founding partners of the "I believe" effort include Clear Channel Outdoor, the Greater Des Moines Convention and Visitors Bureau, Des Moines Radio Group, KCCI-TV, Mediacom, The Business Record, The Des Moines Register, The Greater Des Moines Partnership and Trilix Marketing Group. Applied Art and Technology, Harvest Research Center, Bill Nellens of East Court Atelier, Darwyn Web Studios, the Iowa Cubs, Competitive Edge Advertising Specialty Mfg. Co., Authentic Records, the Des Moines Area Transit Authority, Smash, Catchwind Mobile Marketing and the City of Des Moines are also providing their in-kind services for campaign research and development.

This group of partners, many competitors in the marketplace, see the value of communicating, empowering and connecting with consumers on the economic realities facing our region. The campaign will share local economic indicators and feature the people of Greater Des Moines, sharing their individual stories of hope, opportunity and success.

The campaign hopes to unite the community of Greater Des Moines in these challenging times. Together, we believe we can create a better day and a brighter future for the metro area.

We hope you will join in this effort and share how you believe in Greater Des Moines!

To learn more or get involved, visit ibelievedm.com.

Get Your Zing On!

Only 1 week until you can put a little ZING in your step and join a 5K Fun Run/Walk on the West Des Moines trails system. The run/walk will be held on Saturday, May 9, 2009.

Registration will open at 7:00 a.m., 5K Run/Walk to begin at 8:00 a.m. All ages are welcome to participate. The routes being and end at West Des Moines City Hall.

This year's presenting sponsors are Prairie Life Fitness and LaMarca & Landry. Click here to learn more.

Need Employees? Sign Up For The 2009 Jobs Expo!