The Monday edition of the Des Moines Register had a huge headline including the word “Convert.” It was a story of how the Des Moines Social Club transformed the life of Executive Director Zachary Mannheimer. The full story was amazing, but the lead defined the story and set the scenario of Mannheimer having the opportunity to sit down with the guy he was in 2007.
Mannheimer said the person he would be looking at in that conversation would not just hate him but hate everything he stands for. In the same sense, Mannheimer in 2007 would be looking at a person that would be launching the Des Moines Social Club this Saturday night. Mannheimer’s journey was filled with struggles and success, which has made him the man he is today.
Mannheimer’s journey is filled with fundraising efforts to many top executives in Des Moines and throughout Iowa. The journey was great, but most interesting was the way he described how his basic knowledge of fundraising came from his work as a waiter.
Mannheimer’s attention to detail with the creation of the Des Moines Social Club is one of the qualities that has given me an upmost respect for Mannheimer and many other young professionals like him. It’s that attention to detail that has made the non-profit business bigger than anyone could have dreamed.
Mannheimer’s success and attention to detail has defined his image. This image isn’t just a Des Moines thing, but is also seen in many business owners in Newton. The list of local business owners with this success and attention to detail is long and distinguished. For the sake of space, I am going to use two examples: Capitol II Theatre and Iowa Speedway.
In my 20 years of living in Newton, many businesses have came and gone. It’s just how the span of time works in a small town. The Capitol II Theatre is a business that was a major part of my childhood because it was one of the few choices we had for entertainment. It’s amazing to compare the Capitol II 10 to 15 years ago with the Capitol II of today. It’s a business that is more than a movie theater because it’s what the people have made it.
The Iowa Speedway was simply a blueprint during my senior year of high school. It was an idea that was about to come to life. The idea that Iowa Speedway today is owned by NASCAR and is getting set to launch one of the biggest weekends of the summer wasn’t something anyone could have dreamed of because it seemed to good to be true.
Since starting at the Newton Daily News, it has been great to see what that simple blueprint has evolved into. As the test laps kick off the fan-focused events heading into Wide-Opening Weekend on May 17 and 18, it will show the sport of NASCAR, now even more than ever, will always be for the fans.
The list of differences between Capitol II and Iowa Speedway on a business level is long and distinguished, but through it all a similarity appears, showing that, through the test of time, both businesses have become something more than any Newton citizen could have imagined.