From...

by Kim Fulcher Linkins

(IDG) -- Family values, a strong work ethic and friendly folk are all things you think about when someone mentions the Midwest. But one phrase people don't always associate with the region is "high technology."

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Des Moines, Iowa, and Omaha are welcoming a growing population of information technology professionals as people seek an area where they can not only hone their technical skills, but can also experience an environment conducive to raising a family.

The skills most in demand in Des Moines and Omaha include C++, Java, Cobol, programming, database administration, network engineering and client/server expertise, according to industry experts.

The area is dominated by insurance and financial services firms and is also host to companies in the food, telemarketing and health care industries.

"There's more high technology here than many people realize," says Dan Connolly (dconnoll@alegent.org), CIO at Alegent Health in Omaha.

"There is an incredibly robust telecommunications infrastructure that was initiated due to the Strategic Air Command being positioned here, just south of Omaha," Connolly says. "There are a number of national companies with their headquarters here, which would surprise many folks."

Fortune 500 companies in Omaha include ConAgra Inc., Mutual of Omaha Insurance Co., Berkshire Hathaway Inc., Inacom Corp. and Peter Kiewit SonsInc.

Fortune 500 companies in Des Moines include Principal Financial Group; nearby Newton, Iowa, is home to Maytag Corp.

American dreamin'

"The No. 1 draw for a person with a family is [that] the school systems are wonderful, and the general ethics and morals of the community and area in itself," says Dan King (kingdp@wellmark.com), group leader of IT services at Wellmark Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Des Moines.

"A lot of people think of Omaha as being out in the middle of nowhere and being a flat desert," Connolly adds. "That's not the case. It's hilly. It's generally lush and green [with] lots of trees in town."

IT professionals can enjoy the lush environment because the work environment is relaxed. "We're not quite as busy as New York. We don't expect people to be working around the clock," King says. "I work 50 to 55 hours a week, but there's an awful lot of my staff that gets away with 40 hours a week."

"People believe in a fair day's labor, a fair day's wage," says Bill Scales, chief technology officer at Principal Capital Management LLC, a subsidiary of Principal Financial Group. "I think the work culture is one that is a participatory culture. They will pitch in to get the job done. But IT professionals in Des Moines can expect approximately $41,000 for entry level, $55,000 for junior-level people and from $60,000 to $70,000 for senior-level personnel."

"If you can spell information systems, I think you can start out at about $27,000 to $30,000," Connolly says. "And if you are a very skilled, technically competent individual, it's not ... all that difficult to get a job in the $60,000 to $70,000 range, which is a pretty fair living in this town."

"In addition to trying to offer competitive wages, companies in the area try to employ retention strategies designed to invest in the career paths of the employees," says Carol Campbell (ccampbell@fnni.com), second vice president of service delivery at First National Bank of Omaha. "No one wants their skills to become stale or obsolete, so one of the big attractions is our robust training program to keep the skills alive." Her company just retrained many of its mainframe programmers to be Web programmers, she says.

Talent search

Hiring managers report mixed results in trying to find enough talent locally and in recruiting from out of state.

Marsha Blum, director of human resources and customer services at Union Pacific Railroad Co. in Omaha, says the company must go to metropolitan areas like Minneapolis -- and sometimes Texas -- torecruit more experienced IT people.

IT professionals also like a challenge. Mark Beckwith, senior vice president at Norwest Financial Information Services Group in Des Moines, says his company is going through a technology transition, the nature of which can also attract IT talent.

After recruiting people to the area, many companies have found that one of the best retention methods involves helping employees get to know one another in a relaxed setting. Midwest companies also offer signing bonuses, stock options, paid time off and flexible work schedules to recruit and retain IT professionals, Blum says.

Experts say the most important thing to remember when recruiting to the Midwest is that it isn't a one-way street.

Says Kurt Kline (kurt.kline@mutualofomaha.com), first vice president of human resources at Mutual of Omaha: "We want people to know about us and we want to know about them to make sure that this is the best possible match for them and for us."

Linkins is a freelance writer in Austin, Texas. She can be contacted at KPLinkins@aol.com.