Iowa’s Department of Economic Development faces three million dollars in budget cuts. Spokeswoman Nancy Pederson says one area where cuts will show up is in the state’s strategic investment fund.The CIBA fund for loans to businesses is cut in half. It means three or four businesses that would have come, bringing jobs, won’t be funded. One area, job cuts, was easier to handle than in some other agencies.There were nine jobs vacant, so those nine jobs just won’t be filled. Pederson says funding’s down by more than 600-thousand dollars for the “Main Street” program of the agencies community and rural development.She says you can tell a “Main Street” town because of the refurbished buildings. She says the program will now be slower to take on new towns. Also being cut back are advertising for tourism, promotion of Iowa products overseas, financial aid and expert advice for Iowa businesses.
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