Commercial lead generation and B2B appointment setting in Des Moines

Des Moines-West Des Moines has 1,840 business sites with 20 or more people on site in the categories commercial trades sell to, #77 of the 100 markets we cover, and 1.65 times the national concentration of colleges and universities. Private business establishments grew 0.2% from 2025 Q1 to 2026 Q1. Abstrakt's U.S.-based reps prospect those buyers by phone, email and LinkedIn and book meetings with the people who sign.

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Local B2B snapshot

How many businesses are in Des Moines-West Des Moines, and which ones buy

Des Moines-West Des Moines has 8,529 establishments in the categories commercial trades sell to, 1,840 of them with 20 or more people on site. Compared with the national mix it over-indexes on colleges and universities (1.65x), wholesale distributors (1.53x) and commercial property managers (1.53x). Added over the past year: medical, dental and outpatient offices (+40), apartment and residential property managers (+26) and grocery stores (+11). Down: trucking companies (-19) and manufacturing plants (-14).

  • 8,529 establishments in the 21 categories commercial trades sell to

    Source: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023

  • 1,840 of them with 20 or more people on site, where a prospecting list starts

    Source: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023

  • +0.2% private business establishments, 2025 Q1 to 2026 Q1 (26,669 now; U.S. +3.6%)

    Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, private ownership, 2026 Q1

  • 1.65x the national concentration of colleges and universities

    Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, private ownership, 2026 Q1

  • 2,194 decision-maker records Abstrakt can prospect for a construction and roofing program (territory: Des Moines-Ames-West Des Moines)

    Source: Abstrakt territory record counts, October 2026

An establishment is one physical location, so a company with three sites counts three times; decision-maker records are contacts, not companies; open programs are not reservations.

Largest buyer groups in Des Moines-West Des Moines

  1. Restaurants481
  2. Retail stores444
  3. Wholesale distributors 1.53x the U.S. mix213
  4. Medical, dental and outpatient offices176
  5. Manufacturing plants154
  6. Senior living and nursing79
  7. Bank and credit union offices 1.44x the U.S. mix73
  8. Grocery stores68

Sites with 20 or more people on site, U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023; concentration, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, private ownership, 2026 Q1.

All 21 categories, with establishments, concentration and one-year change
Business categories in Des Moines-West Des Moines: larger sites, all establishments, concentration and one-year change
CategorySites with 20+All establishmentsvs. U.S. mix1-yr change
Restaurants 4811,525 0.95x +10
Retail stores 4442,187 0.97x +6
Wholesale distributors 213958 1.53x +1
Medical, dental and outpatient offices 1761,438 0.92x +40
Manufacturing plants 154458 0.75x -14
Senior living and nursing 79150 1.05x +5
Bank and credit union offices 73449 1.44x -1
Grocery stores (also counted in retail) 68209 0.64x +11
Hotels 61143 1.01x 0
Trucking companies 50369 0.88x -19
Auto dealerships (also counted in retail) 42132 1.03x -4
Churches and religious organizations 40464 0.56x -5
Warehousing and distribution 1451 1.22x -3
Private K-12 schools 1428 0.88x +3
Hospitals 1015 0.80x -1
Hosting and data processing companies 1046 1.42x +1
Apartment and residential property managers 881 1.41x +26
Nonresidential building owners 589 1.33x +2
Golf courses and country clubs 528 1.49x +2
Colleges and universities 310 1.65x +5
Commercial property managers 040 1.53x +4
Total, each site once1,8408,529

Sites and establishments: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023; concentration (location quotient) and one-year change in establishments: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, private ownership, 2026 Q1, summed across the metro's counties.

Your industry in Des Moines

What Industry Are You Growing In?

Pick your trade to see the Des Moines-West Des Moines buyers, competition, decision-makers and projects for it. The estimator and the assessment form below follow your choice.

Choose an industry

Every trade in Des Moines at a glance

Largest buyer groups (sites with 20+ people)

  1. Restaurants481
  2. Retail stores444
  3. Wholesale distributors213
  4. Medical, dental and outpatient offices176
  5. Manufacturing plants154

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023.

Most room per contractor

  1. Commercial Landscaping#49 of 100
  2. Commercial Cleaning & Janitorial#55 of 100
  3. Fire Protection#59 of 96

Larger buyer sites per contractor, ranked across up to 100 markets. Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, private ownership, 2026 Q1.

Trade panels: buyer sites, U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023; contractors, their one-year change and employment, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, private ownership, 2026 Q1; decision-maker records, Abstrakt territory record counts, October 2026; open programs, Abstrakt territory availability.

Compare all 11 trades in Des Moines

Ranked by larger buyer sites per contractor against up to 100 markets (only markets with 10 or more contractors in a trade are ranked; n/r means not ranked). A higher rank means more buildings worth calling for every competitor working them.

Commercial trades in Des Moines: contractors, buyer sites and rank
TradeContractors1-yr changeLarger buyer sitesPer contractorRankDecision-maker records
Commercial Landscaping
Largest buyer group: retail stores
 280 -7 1,018 3.6 #49 not counted
Commercial Cleaning & Janitorial
Largest buyer group: ambulatory health care: physician, dental, outpatient and urgent care
 186 -7 680 3.7 #55 691
Fire Protection
Largest buyer group: restaurants
 24 +2 937 39.0 #59 not counted
Commercial HVAC & Mechanical
Largest buyer group: medical and dental office buildings
 68 -11 561 8.3 #72 900
Commercial Construction
Largest buyer group: manufacturing companies
 164 -4 532 3.2 #79 2,194
Commercial Electrical
Largest buyer group: retail stores
 106 -1 843 8.0 #80 not counted
Managed Service Providers
Largest buyer group: construction contractors
 716 -9 1,058 1.5 #89 not counted
Commercial Roofing
Largest buyer group: retail stores
 22 +1 937 42.6 #80 2,194
Commercial Flooring
Largest buyer group: ambulatory health care: physician, dental, outpatient and urgent care
 14 +1 548 39.1 #65 not counted
Commercial Painting & Coatings
Largest buyer group: retail stores
 27 +4 976 36.1 #83 not counted
Paving & Asphalt
Largest buyer group: retail stores
 42 +6 995 23.7 #91 not counted

Sources: contractors and change, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, private ownership, 2026 Q1; buyer sites, U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023 (each trade's own buyer categories, each site counted once); decision-maker records, Abstrakt territory record counts, October 2026.

Growth and trends

Is Des Moines-West Des Moines adding businesses? Five years of counts

Private business establishments in the metro's counties went from 24,142 in 2021 to 26,635 in 2025 (+10.3%), while private employment moved +7.7% to 351,716. In the Census Bureau's latest count, 1,800 establishments opened and 1,568 closed in a year. New sites start without an incumbent vendor.

Private establishments and employment, 2021 to 2025

Private establishments, employment and average weekly wage by year, Des Moines-West Des Moines
YearEstablishmentsEmploymentAvg weekly wage
202124,142326,651$1,242
202225,639337,606$1,308
202326,032347,436$1,342
202426,531353,590$1,389
202526,635351,716$1,441

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (opens in a new tab), private ownership, 2021 to 2025 annual averages, 6 counties summed. n/a: BLS withholds the figure for at least one county.

Establishments opened and closed each year

Establishment openings and closings by year, Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA
Year to MarchOpenedRateClosedRate
20191,4369.0%1,2738.0%
20201,5759.7%1,3058.1%
20211,72010.5%1,4698.9%
20221,69810.2%1,5859.5%
20231,80010.7%1,5689.3%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Business Dynamics Statistics (opens in a new tab), 2023 release, Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA. Each year runs March to March; rates are per 100 establishments.

New business applications

10,740 applications for an employer ID number were filed in the metro's counties in 2025, +63.0% on 2019 (6,589): Polk County 7,953, Dallas County 1,508, Warren County 613, Jasper County 342, Madison County 224 and Guthrie County 100. Applications include sole proprietors and filings that never hire, so they measure new business activity, not new buyers.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Business Formation Statistics (county annual) (opens in a new tab), calendar 2025, retrieved 2026-10-15.

Contractors by trade, 2021 to 2025
Contractor establishments by trade, 2021 and 2025, Des Moines-West Des Moines
Trade20212025Change
Commercial Painting & Coatings2125+4 (+19.0%)
Paving & Asphalt3339+6 (+18.2%)
Managed Service Providers606716+110 (+18.2%)
Commercial Flooring1214+2 (+16.7%)
Commercial Construction144167+23 (+16.0%)
Commercial Landscaping275286+11 (+4.0%)
Commercial Cleaning & Janitorial187192+5 (+2.7%)
Commercial HVAC & Mechanical7577+2 (+2.7%)
Commercial Electrical105107+2 (+1.9%)
Fire Protection23230 (0.0%)
Commercial Roofing2221-1 (-4.5%)

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, annual averages, the same NAICS codes as the trade comparison above. More contractors means more competition for the same buyers; fewer means more room for outbound.

When to prospect: the Des Moines calendar

Cooling demand peaks in July (304 cooling degree days in a normal year), and 65% of the 790 severe hail and wind reports from 2015 to 2024 fell in June, May and July. Start roofing and HVAC prospecting ahead of those months.

Average high temperature, cooling degree days and severe storm reports by month, Des Moines-West Des Moines
MonthAvg high (F)Cooling degree daysHail and wind reports
January3000
February3500
March48324
April62361
May7265172
June81201216
July85304128
August83242109
September769137
October64910
November48011
December35022

Sources: NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county monthly series, 1991-2020 averages (opens in a new tab); NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database (opens in a new tab), 2015 to 2024. Reports of hail 1 inch or larger and thunderstorm wind of 58 mph or more, by month, across the market counties.

Buying signals

Where the money is moving in Des Moines-West Des Moines

Federal contracts and building permits are early signs that a building is changing: new construction, a renovation, a re-roof.

Federal contracts performed in the metro

Federal agencies obligated $105.6 million in contracts with a place of performance in Des Moines-West Des Moines's counties in federal fiscal year 2026 (October 2025 to September 2026), against $227.5 million in fiscal 2025 (-53.6%). Construction (NAICS 23) took $16.2 million, 46% of it on one award: the Department of Veterans Affairs's 36C77626C0073 (opens in a new tab) in Polk County, $7.5 million obligated this fiscal year (the award record describes it as NRM - MODERNIZE ELEVATORS - VACIHCS DES MOINES, IA IMPLEMENTING EO 14398 DEI DISCRIMINATION).

Contract obligations by county
CountyFY2026FY2025
Dallas County$9.8 million$10.3 million
Guthrie County$0$0
Jasper County$1.7 million$740,928
Madison County$200,000$0
Polk County$92.6 million$219.1 million
Warren County$1.3 million-$2.7 million
Metro counties$105.6 million$227.5 million
FY2026 obligations in each trade's own NAICS code
TradeNAICSFY2026
Commercial Construction236220$7.9 million
Commercial Cleaning & Janitorial561720$581,312
Commercial Landscaping561730$381,780
Commercial HVAC & Mechanical238220$297,794
Fire Protection561621$82,679
Commercial Electrical238210$79,141

Source: USAspending.gov (U.S. Department of the Treasury) (opens in a new tab), contract award types A to D, obligations dated October 1, 2025 to September 30, 2026, by place of performance; data as of 2026-10-15. Defense contract actions are published 90 days late, so fiscal 2026 will still rise. Place of performance is coded by the contracting officer. A negative figure means deobligations (money taken back on earlier contracts) exceeded new obligations in that county.

Territory intelligence

Where the Des Moines buyers are

Polk County, Dallas County and Warren County hold 92% of the metro's 1,840 larger business sites, so most programs start there and add the rest of the metro for larger accounts, depending on how far your crews travel.

Larger business sites (20+ people) by county, Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA
CountySitesShare
Polk County 1,45079%
Dallas County 20411%
Warren County 462.5%
Jasper County 331.8%
Guthrie County 120.7%
Madison County 40.2%
Not assigned to a county by Census914.9%
Metro total1,840100%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023, metro and county files, summed across the buyer categories on this page (each site counted once). County files withhold some size-class counts that the metro file reports, so 91 sites cannot be placed in a county.

Abstrakt territories in this market

Des Moines-Ames-West Des Moines, IA. A strategist confirms which one your program would hold.

The owners that anchor Des Moines-West Des Moines

Each fact links to its source, checked 2026-10.

Health system

MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center

Des Moines, Polk County

MercyOne says its Des Moines Medical Center, founded in 1893, is Iowa's largest medical center with 802 beds available, and MercyOne Central Iowa has more than 7,000 colleagues.

A large downtown hospital campus plus Central Iowa clinic sites carry steady HVAC, life-safety, cleaning and flooring work.

HVACfire protectioncleaningflooringelectrical

MercyOne (opens in a new tab)
Health system

UnityPoint Health - Iowa Methodist Medical Center

Des Moines, Polk County

UnityPoint Health says Iowa Methodist was established in 1901 and is one of two Level I Trauma Centers in the State of Iowa.

A teaching hospital campus that has grown from a single 1901 building needs ongoing mechanical, roofing, painting and life-safety work.

HVACroofingfire protectionpainting

UnityPoint Health (opens in a new tab)
Campus

Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC)

Ankeny, Polk County

DMACC's total spring 2025 enrollment stood at 20,788 students, including dual-enrolled high school students, according to Carroll Broadcasting.

Multiple campuses and career centers around the metro run classrooms, trade labs and parking lots that need cleaning, HVAC and grounds work.

cleaningHVAClandscapingpaving

Carroll Broadcasting Company (KCIM) (opens in a new tab)
4 more anchor owners in Des Moines-West Des Moines
Major employer

Principal Financial Group headquarters

Des Moines, Polk County

Business Record reports Principal's corporate campus on the northern part of downtown Des Moines includes four office buildings, parking garages and a child development center, and the company also owns the office tower at 801 Grand Ave.

Downtown office towers and parking garages need janitorial, HVAC, electrical, painting and parking-structure work.

cleaningHVACelectricalpainting

Business Record (opens in a new tab)
Major employer

Meta Altoona Data Center

Altoona, Polk County

Meta said its seventh Altoona expansion brings the campus to more than 5 million square feet, its largest operational data center, with more than 400 people working on-site in operations each day.

Data halls and support buildings this large run heavy electrical, mechanical, fire protection and roofing systems that need service.

electricalHVACfire protectionroofing

Meta Data Centers (opens in a new tab)
Logistics hub

Amazon fulfillment center, Bondurant

Bondurant, Polk County

KCCI reports the 645,000 square-foot fulfillment center, previously called Project Bluejay, will create 1,000 full-time jobs, according to Amazon.

A large distribution building with truck courts and employee parking needs roofing, paving, electrical and fire sprinkler service.

roofingpavingelectricalfire protection

KCCI (opens in a new tab)
Industrial park

SE Des Moines Industrial Park

Des Moines, Polk County

The City of Des Moines says the nearly 300-acre site near East Army Post Road and U.S. Highway 65 was certified development-ready by the Iowa Economic Development Authority in April 2025, with Ryan Companies as development partner.

A certified, industrially zoned site means new buildings to bid on: site work, paving, electrical and building shells for manufacturing and logistics users.

constructionpavingelectricalfire protection

City of Des Moines (opens in a new tab)
Projects and economic activity

What is being built in Des Moines-West Des Moines, and who it puts to work

Named projects from primary and local news sources, researched September 2026. Market intelligence, not open bids: confirm timing with the owner.

Des Moines International Airport new terminal

$557 million

Under wayUnder construction; opening January 2027

A new terminal at Des Moines International Airport opening in January 2027 with six new gates, with more gates phased in through 2030 for a total of 19.

Final 2026 months concentrate electrical, flooring and finish work, and the later gate phases in 2027, 2028 and 2030 bring more construction plus a much larger terminal to clean and maintain.

electricalHVACflooringcleaningpaving

Business Record, 2026-02-06 (opens in a new tab)

Microsoft sixth West Des Moines data center campus (Project Ruthenium)

$210 million

Under wayConstruction starting 2026

Microsoft's sixth data center campus in West Des Moines, at Veterans Parkway and Woodland Avenue on the Madison County side of the city, with a 245,000-square-foot first building and room for up to four.

Each data center building is a large electrical and mechanical cooling job, and Microsoft typically builds three to four buildings per campus over several years, so this is repeat work.

electricalHVACfire protectionpaving

WPR, 2025-05-15 (opens in a new tab)

Des Moines Christian High School

$32.7 million

Approved or fundedPermitted

A 133,670-square-foot high school near Northwest 42nd Avenue and 136th Street in Urbandale, permitted in November 2025 along with a separate $6 million early education center.

A new high school this size needs roofing, mechanical, electrical and parking lot work during construction, then ongoing custodial and grounds contracts.

constructionHVACroofingpavingcleaning

Business Record, 2026-01-07 (opens in a new tab)
Market view

What we see in Des Moines

Des Moines is a hail market. The metro logged 790 hail and wind reports from 2015 to 2024, 65% of them in June, May and July. Roofing is crowded, at #80 of 89 markets on larger buyer sites per contractor, so the roofer who books a winter assessment with a building owner is the one called after a June storm. Building owners and property managers are where we would build that list, at 1.33x and 1.53x the U.S. concentration.

Data centers are the steady construction story. Microsoft is starting its sixth West Des Moines campus, on the Madison County side of the city, and each building on a campus is a large electrical and cooling job, which makes it repeat work rather than a one-off. Meta's Altoona campus is already its largest operational data center. Electrical is crowded, though, at #80 of 100, and fire protection and paving firms get packages on each building too.

The airport opens its new terminal in January 2027 with more gates phased in through 2030, which means electrical, flooring and finish work now and a much larger terminal to clean and maintain after. Des Moines Christian's new high school in Urbandale, permitted in November 2025, adds roofing, mechanical and parking lot work, then custodial and grounds contracts.

Landscaping has the most room of the trades we rank here, at #49 of 100. Federal obligations fell 53.6% to $105.6 million, so private buyers carry this market, and Polk County holds 79% of the larger buyer sites.

Abstrakt's reading of the sourced figures and projects above, written .

Decision-makers

Who signs, and how many of them work in Des Moines

8,370 general and operations managers, 2,050 computer and information systems managers and 1,330 medical and health services managers work in the Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA metro. Jobs across every industry, not a contact list.

Jobs and median annual pay by title, Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA
TitleJobsMedian payTrades that call this title first
General and operations managers
SOC 11-1021
8,370$98,780MSP
Computer and information systems managers
SOC 11-3021
2,050$164,840
Medical and health services managers
SOC 11-9111
1,330$101,550
Construction managers
SOC 11-9021
1,020$103,920
Buyers and purchasing agents
SOC 13-1020
1,010$73,710
Property, real estate, and community association managers
SOC 11-9141
730$60,600landscaping, painting, paving
Facilities managers
SOC 11-3013
590$103,860cleaning, construction, electrical, flooring, roofing, fire protection, HVAC
Education administrators, postsecondary
SOC 11-9033
370$83,180
Purchasing managers
SOC 11-3061
140$122,910

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) (opens in a new tab), May 2025, Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA, all industries. Each title is the closest BLS occupation to a role in the trade's playbook; titles BLS does not publish for this metro are left out. Each trade link opens the Des Moines guide's decision-maker questions.

Opportunity estimator

What Could Your Next 12 Months in Des Moines Look Like?

A planning model, not a forecast: put in your own numbers and it applies Abstrakt's national sales center rates for your trade.

Default 16.1%: Abstrakt national rate for this trade. Use your own if you know it.

Baseline, 12 months

12,000prospecting dials
86meetings set
22proposals
3.6customers won
$89,355first-year value of those customers
Scenarios
ScenarioDials per meetingMeetingsCustomers wonFirst-year value
Conservative190632.6$65,841
Baseline140863.6$89,355
Optimistic1081114.6$115,831
Get My Des Moines Opportunity Assessment

How it works. Meetings are dials divided by dials per appointment; proposals, customers won and value follow from the proposal rate, the win rate and your customer value. The rates are Abstrakt sales center, Performance Intelligence, national, October 2026, across all programs, not Des Moines results; the scenarios use the slower and faster quarter of buyer industries. Outbound results typically build over 6 to 12 months, so a first year rarely runs at a full year's pace. Benchmarks by trade and method.

Hiring locally

What an in-house SDR costs in Des Moines

  • 2,400people in the role locally, all competing for the same hires

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025. Sales representatives of services, except advertising, insurance, financial services and travel (SOC 41-3091).

In-house SDR, first year (illustrative)$124,700

An illustrative model, not a quote: in-house adds $15,000 commission, 25% payroll taxes and benefits, $550/month tools, $7,000 recruiting and training, 35% yearly turnover, and manager, QA and admin time, before ramp time. Abstrakt includes the SDR, management, tools and data.

Get a Des Moines program quoteRun the full numbers
Local sales intelligence

See how a Des Moines program is built in Abstrakt Intelligence

Ava walks through the platform our strategists use, set to Des Moines.

Abstrakt Intelligence

This demonstration showcases real Abstrakt Intelligence capabilities using fictional companies and contacts to protect client and prospect privacy. Ava is Abstrakt's AI guide. The screens are the demo set to the Des Moines territory; its territory counts come from the demo data, not the Census figures above.

Read the transcript of Ava's Des Moines walkthrough

Hi, I'm Ava.

Here's what an Abstrakt program looks like in Des Moines.

First, we size your territory.

The Des Moines area has about 16 thousand companies and 71 thousand business contacts.

Next, we pick the playbook for your industry.

Each playbook starts with criteria that have already booked meetings.

For roofing, that's roof size, roof age and who owns the building.

Then we build the list.

Anyone who isn't a fit comes off before a rep ever sees the name.

Every prospect gets a full profile.

The decision-maker, the building, and every touch so far.

Before the first dial, each rep practices in an AI role play and gets certified.

Now the calls start.

The dialer, the talk track and the follow-up all live in one place.

Every meeting is reviewed for quality before it reaches you.

And we track each one all the way to closed.

We take one client per trade per territory.

Once a spot is taken, it's gone.

Check if your trade is still open in Des Moines.

Client results

Results from programs like this one

Each story is labeled with where the program ran. Abstrakt runs every program from its St. Louis sales floor.

  • Commercial cleaningLocal program, Tulsa

    How Century Facility Services broke its referral ceiling: $415K closed in year one

    Century Facility Services

    After losing a sales rep, Century Facility Services outsourced outbound and booked 58 appointments and closed $415K in year one.

    • 58 appointments booked
    • 7 deals closed
    • $415K closed business

    First year of the program (case published April 2026)

  • Commercial roofingRegional

    How Schena Roofing booked 475 appointments and kept a seasonal calendar full

    Schena Roofing & Sheet Metal

    Schena Roofing booked 475 appointments and closed $1.69M from 2018 to 2024, with another $1.39M in proposals delivered.

    • 475 appointments
    • $1.69M closed business
    • $1.39M in proposals delivered

    2018 to 2024, from Abstrakt program records. Closed business and proposals delivered are separate figures.

  • Fire protectionLocal program, Philadelphia

    How Harring Fire Protection turned outbound and inbound into $200K in new business

    Harring Fire Protection

    Outbound appointment setting plus an inbound website produced 195 appointments and 16 closed deals worth $200K in 28 months.

    • 195 appointments booked
    • 16 deals closed
    • $200K closed business

    28-month partnership (case published April 2026); search figures within 12 months of the February 2025 site launch

See all client stories

Outsourced sales development

How Abstrakt runs a Des Moines program

Reps on Abstrakt's St. Louis sales floor work your Des Moines-West Des Moines list by phone, email, LinkedIn and direct mail after two weeks of training and certification on your account.

Contractor licensing in Iowa

Iowa requires all construction contractors earning $2,000 or more a year from construction to register with the state, which is a compliance registration rather than a competency license. Electrical, mechanical/HVAC, and fire protection contractors also need trade-specific state licenses.

Confirm with Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing (DIAL) (opens in a new tab). Checked 2026-09-30.

Free market report

The State of Outbound Sales in Des Moines, 2026

This page's Des Moines data in one report for your team, with the Iowa calling rules. No form to fill in.

Download the PDF (1.1 MB) Read it online
Free trade territory report · PDF

Get the territory report for your trade in Des Moines

One trade, one city, every page about your market: the account types that buy your work here and how many of each, Tier 1 sites, the counties to start in, who signs and what to ask them, the months that matter, federal contracts and permits, the Iowa calling rules, and whether the territory is still open. One client per trade per territory.

  • Account tiers and a worked first-list example
  • Decision-maker roles, questions and objections
  • A 90-day calling plan sized to the Des Moines counts

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Territory assessment

See Your Des Moines Sales Opportunity

A Partner Sales Manager sizes your Des Moines territory for your trade, checks whether it is open (one client per trade per territory) and shows what a program would look like.

Program commitments, including activity and meeting expectations, are defined in your agreement before launch.

Talk With a Sales Development Expert: (314) 338-8865 Check my market Explore Enterprise Sales Development

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Outsourced sales development in Des Moines, answered

Does Abstrakt provide B2B lead generation and appointment setting in Des Moines?

Yes. Abstrakt runs outsourced lead generation and B2B appointment setting across the Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA metro from its St. Louis sales floor: U.S.-based reps prospect the buildings, qualify the opportunity and book meetings with the person who signs. We take one client per trade per territory.

How does B2B appointment setting work for a Des Moines program?

It starts with the list. Of the 1,840 sites in Des Moines-West Des Moines with 20 or more people on site, we keep the ones that buy your trade inside your service area, then a certified rep works them by phone, email, LinkedIn and direct mail. Meetings are booked with the decision-maker, reviewed before they reach you and tracked to a proposal and a close.

Which commercial trades have the most room to grow in Des Moines?

Measured by larger buyer sites per contractor across the markets we track (a market is ranked for a trade only where it has at least 10 local contractors), commercial landscaping (#49 of 100), commercial cleaning & janitorial (#55 of 100) and fire protection (#59 of 96) rank best in Des Moines.

What kinds of businesses are concentrated in Des Moines?

Compared with the national mix, Des Moines-West Des Moines has more colleges and universities (1.65x), wholesale distributors (1.53x) and commercial property managers (1.53x). Those industries are the best-represented buyers for trades that serve them.

Is the Des Moines business market growing?

Yes, on both counts below. Private business establishments across Des Moines-West Des Moines's counties went from 24,142 in 2021 to 26,635 in 2025 (+10.3%), and private employment +7.7% (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, annual averages). In the latest Census count, 1,800 establishments opened and 1,568 closed in the metro (U.S. Census Bureau, Business Dynamics Statistics, 2023, March to March), so openings ran ahead of closings by 232.

How much federal construction money is spent in Des Moines?

Federal contract obligations with a place of performance in Des Moines-West Des Moines's counties came to $105.6 million in federal fiscal year 2026 (October 2025 to September 2026), $16.2 million of it in construction (NAICS 23) (USAspending.gov (U.S. Department of the Treasury), retrieved 2026-10-15). Fiscal 2026 will still rise as delayed defense contract actions post.

When should Des Moines contractors pitch the new airport terminal?

Now for the finish trades, and around the opening for service firms. The terminal opens in January 2027, and its final 2026 months concentrate electrical, flooring and finish work. More gates are phased in through 2030, with gate phases in 2027, 2028 and 2030 bringing more construction, and the much larger terminal needs cleaning and maintenance once open. Cleaning and paving firms should treat it as a multi-year account rather than a single bid.

Is Microsoft's new West Des Moines campus worth pursuing for local trades?

For electrical and mechanical firms with data center experience, yes, because it is repeat work. Microsoft's sixth West Des Moines campus, at Veterans Parkway and Woodland Avenue, starts construction in 2026 with room for more buildings after the first, and each building is a large electrical and cooling job with fire protection and paving alongside. Electrical is crowded in the metro, ranked #80 of 100 markets, so expect competition.

Which counties make up the Des Moines market?

The metro covers 6 counties. Polk County, Dallas County and Warren County hold 92% of the larger business sites, so most programs start there.

What does outsourced sales development cost in Des Moines?

Starting at $5,000 per month for an Outbound BDR program, as a flat monthly program. The price depends on how many reps work your program, the channels, and how large a territory and how many trades it covers. For comparison, one in-house SDR costs about $124,700 in year one at a $55,000 base salary on our illustrative model, before ramp time.

Sources and method

Updated . Approved the local markets plan: the data sources, the method and the in-house SDR cost model shown on market pages: Scott Scully, Executive Chairman, October 15, 2026. Every figure is regenerated from its source by a script in the site's code, never typed by hand.

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