Governor Tom Vilsack kicked off the Iowa State Board of Regents this morning in Sioux City by announcing that a prime focus of this meeting will a new economic development plan. Vilsack said the plan, developed by Battell’s Technology Partnership Practice of Columbus, Ohio, says planned implementation will produce more than 16-thousand high-tech jobs by the state by 2014. The plan recommends boosting research and development at the state’s universities and then developing new bio-tech businesses with that research. Total cost of the plan: 302-Million dollars. The regents will discuss their role in the new economic-development effort.
