The last thing Iowa should do during an economic downturn is keep its sales force home, state economic development leaders said Thursday.
The Iowa Economic Development Board agreed to send Gov. Chet Culver a letter Thursday asking that the agency's business development team be allowed to continue traveling to other states and nations to sell Iowa's business opportunities.
"You won't do business unless your salesmen are out there selling," said board member Toby Shine, president of Shine Brothers Corp., a scrap-iron recycling business in Spencer. "When business is bad, that's when your sales team really hits the street."
Last week, Culver announced steps to shave $77 million from the state's current budget, including reduced out-of-state travel. On Thursday, he made another round of cuts, saying he would order agencies to slice their spending by $91.4 million.
Shine said he is concerned that a delay of a week or two in approving travel could hinder Iowa's ability to compete for development projects that create jobs and attract investment in plants, offices and equipment.
The trips range from meetings with business executives to industry conventions that provide leads to new projects.
The agency's total budget for travel is about $700,000 this year.
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