INDIANA UNEMPLOYMENT RATE OF 10.2% IS 40TH IN THE U.S. AND 50% HIGHER THAN IOWA'S UNEMPLOYMENT RATE OF 6.8%
Today, Governor Chet Culver asked members of the Iowa Business Council why Terry Branstad wants to take our economic development efforts backwards by following the state of Indiana.
Culver asked IBC members, "Why in the world would we want to emulate a state with the 40th ranked unemployment rate in America? Iowa currently has the 9th lowest unemployment rate of 6.8% and Indiana's is 50% higher than ours is today."
Last week, Branstad said, "Indiana has done this. It's really working in Indiana and other states have done this too."
Also at today's IBC quarterly meeting, Governor Culver highlighted the fact that the Culver/Judge administration has worked successfully with more than 250 companies to bring 20,000 jobs and $5.2 billion of economic investment to Iowa in the last 36 months.
Governor Culver also noted Iowa has been recognized by CNBC as the 6th best place in the United States to do business and recently Business Facilities, a trade publication that tracks site-selection news, has ranked Iowa in the top 10 best places to do business in 6 different categories: education climate, wind power generation, employment, and a #1 ranking in alternative energy, biofuels manufacturing and research, and wind energy manufacturing.
Branstad's favorite state for economic development, Indiana, was nowhere to be found on any of these categories.