EVENTS
Events
PDI offers professional development events throughout the year. Each is designed to equip members to succeed in today’s fast-changing environment.
LEARN from experts who will help you improve your skills and knowledge.
INTERACT with your peers who provide innovative solutions to your challenges.
NETWORK with members and colleagues to discuss best practices and stay up-to-date on legislative issues that affect you and the communities you serve.
PDI events are never your average conference.
2027 PDI Fall Conference Site Selection RFP
The Professional Developers of Iowa is a private non-profit voluntary association of economic development
professionals. Our membership of nearly 300 represents a wide variety of organizations and interests that are committed to promoting economic development growth throughout the state of Iowa.
Each year, PDI holds an Annual Meeting/Conference in late September/early October. Preliminary events are often held on Wednesday, and conference workshops and general sessions are held on Thursday and Friday.
PDI is currently accepting proposals for the 2027 Fall Conference. Host communities may submit bids for either one of the years or both. There are no predetermined policies based on region; however, consideration is given to locations of prior years.
Click the image or button below to download the RFP.
Legislative Roundtables features community/regions from around Iowa who share with legislators the importance of economic tools and how tourism helps grow the State of Iowa.
Spring Conference is an interactive one-day training conference, traditionally held the day prior to the SMART Conference. Whether a seasoned or new developer—urban or rural—the Spring Conference provides you with strategies, steps and solutions for working on key topics of economic development.
The Partners, the Profession and the Process Workshop (PPP) is generally held in the summer. It is designed to lay the foundation for those new to economic development in Iowa. This half-day session will introduce you to the statewide partners supporting economic development at the local, regional, and state level, as well as share how each contributes to supporting business and community development projects. You will also learn about local, state and national opportunities for training that will allow you to advance in your profession. Finally, the session presenters will serve as excellent on-going contacts for you as you navigate the economic development landscape in your community, region and state.
Fall Conference is PDI’s premier event! Join PDI for three-days of interactive learning, exploring Iowa communities and engaging networking receptions that will leave you with new-found relationships and ideas. PDI holds an Annual Golf Outing and an Annual Trap Shoot in conjunction with this event.
Business Retention & Expansion (BRE) Awards
The PDI Business Retention and Expansion (BRE) Awards Program recognizes the contribution of BRE to the success of local and regional economic development initiatives.
Heartland Economic Development Course
The Heartland Economic Development Course offers five days of intensive training in the basic concepts, information, methods and strategies of local economic development. Essentially, it is economic development boot camp. This multi-state basic economic development course ranks at the top of the IEDC accredited courses and fulfills one of the educational requirements toward professional certification. PDI offers scholarships to attend this event.
Sponsorship Opportunities
Does your organization provide value to the economic development profession? Sponsorship are a valuable resource to our members. If you’d like to be a sponsor for an event, please email us.
