Jay Byers was former CEO of the Greater Des Moines Partnership and President of Simpson College. The Partnership is the regional economic and community udevelopment organization serving more than 6100 businesses and 23 Affiliate Chambers of Commerce in Central Iowa.

Jay served on the Executive Committee of the Iowa Chamber Alliance, as Vice Chair of the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE), the General Council of the World Chamber Federation, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Committee of 100. He was also active with the Iowa Chamber of Commerce Executives, International Economic Development Council, Professional Developers of Iowa, Iowa Association of Business and Industry and Young Presidents Organization. He was a Certified Chamber Executive (CCE), a graduate of the U.S Chamber’s Institute of Organization Management (IOM), a graduate of the OU Economic Development Institute and a graduate of ACCE’s Ford Foundation Regionalism and Sustainable Development Fellowship. Jay was named to the ACCE 2009 “40 Under 40 Rising Stars of the Chamber World,” to the Des Moines Business Record’s “Forty Under 40” Class of 2006 and the Business Record’s “Forty Under 40” Alum of the Year in 2012. He served on the boards of Simpson College, Greater Des Moines Convention and Visitors Bureau, Greater Des Moines Committee, ChildServe, Balance Autism and Drake University’s International Advisory Council.

In the past, Jay served as the Partnership’s Senior Vice President, Government Relations and Public Policy. Before joining the Partnership, he worked as District Director for Iowa Congressman Leonard Boswell and as a corporate attorney at the Ice Miller Law Firm in Indianapolis, Indiana. He was a graduate of Simpson College and the University of Iowa, College of Law. Jay resided in Des Moines, Iowa with his wife Katie, and two daughters, Sophie and Charlotte.