By Betsy Rubiner

A likely worker shortage sparked by retiring baby-boomers has lit a fire under Des Moines’s civic leaders. The city is working to lure back young Iowans and attracting global talent by developing its downtown and promoting the jobs available in the many industries that flourish there. Other big draws: low-cost housing, plus the city’s long-touted reputation for family-friendliness and a “19-minute commute.”

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You want high-tech? Pioneer Hi-Bred International, a top agricultural-seed company, plans to invest $154 million on an expansion that will create 400 jobs over the next three years, including well-paying positions in scientific research. In the past two years, Pioneer has added nearly 500 jobs in central Iowa, where it now employs nearly 2,400 workers.

“We use Des Moines as a global hub for agriculture biotechnology,” says Bill Niebur, an executive who has overseen crop genetics research and development at Pioneer, which is owned by DuPont. Niebur thinks the tide has turned in attracting talent to Des Moines “It used to be that you’d go off and spend your twenties and thirties somewhere else and then come back with your children,” he says. Now, when Pioneer recruits recent college graduates for Des Moines biotech jobs, “we don’t feel we’re at a disadvantage.”