Governor Terry Branstad says it will take around a year and half for the South Korean-based C.J. Corporation to build an amino acids plant in Fort Dodge that was announced last week. The plant built in conjunction with Cargill, will create 180 new jobs, but the governor says that’s not the end of the economic impact.
He says there will also be a lot of construction jobs for Cargill and C.J. as they build the plant. And the governor says he doesn’t expect this to be the last plant built there as part of the bio-science project. The state is providing around $1.8-million in incentives for the company, which is investing $320-million in the plant.
The governor says his administration and Iowa Economic Development Authority director, Debbi Durham, are still reviewing the money they want to put into economic development in the next budget. Branstad says they’ve asked Durhan to look at all the programs out there and streamline them so that they are “very focused and user friendly.”
He says they anticipate using her recommendations when putting together the budget in January, and he says they have to fit in with the state revenue estimates. The governor announced the creation of the Iowa Partnership for Economic Progress Board today, which he says will lead the effort to bring in new businesses.
Branstad says they are putting together the partnership that has “visionaries” from the private sector to work with the economic development authority. The governor says he will announce the members of the I-PEP board at his regular meeting with the media next week.