Sen. Pat Ward: Restoring Lost Iowa Jobs a Heavy Lift

By Sen. Pat Ward

Even in the best of times, creating 200,000 new jobs in Iowa by 2014 is a heavy lift.

However, Gov. Terry Branstad has made it clear that he expects it to happen and is not ready to accept anything less. No excuses. His directive is to improve the business climate, streamline the regulatory process, and create confidence in the business community so that Iowa becomes the best place to create jobs and expand a business.

As a state, we must rise to the challenge. Industry needs some degree of certainty regarding the regulatory and permitting process if they choose to expand in Iowa.

And there is no reason we cannot expedite permitting to get projects going, but to compete nationally, we need to pursue industry and do battle with other states in order to land jobs in Iowa. And not just any jobs – our goal is to bring jobs to Iowa that raise incomes by 25 percent.

How can Iowa lawmakers best promote jobs growth in the state? Tell us in comments.

So how do we accomplish this?

This session we approved legislation to expand the Iowa Economic Development Authority’s High Quality Jobs program which provides project completion assistance for new businesses that locate or expand in our state.

The Economic Development Authority works with businesses to help them make investments and create jobs in Iowa. These projects require a working partnership between the business, the local community, and the state so that everyone brings something to the table to make the project a success.

The High Quality Jobs program has been a highly effective economic development tool for Iowa. Since 2004, it has driven $7.4 billion in capital investment and incented 13,820 high-paying jobs across the state. Over the life of the program, the Economic Development Authority has estimated that $2 in tax revenues have been returned to the state for every $1 in tax incentives provided.

The legislation we approved this year also provides for loan-based assistance to complement the tax incentives currently available under the program. The High Quality Jobs program protects taxpayers by performing due diligence on all applications for assistance and by demanding accountability from the businesses that receive financial awards.

We continue to search for ways to create career opportunities for Iowans so that we can rebuild our local economies. If we are going to be in the game, we need tools so that Iowa can compete in a worldwide economy. We must fight to bring news businesses to our state and help to grow existing businesses, using tools like the High Quality Jobs program, so that more Iowans are fully employed.

Thank you for the privilege of serving in the Iowa Senate. I am your voice at the State Capitol and look forward to your input. You can reach me by calling the Capitol at (515) 281-3371 or emailing me at pat.ward@legis.iowa.gov.