North Dakota Governor's Budget to Focus on 'Smart Growth'

To build the state’s economy and create opportunity, North Dakota Governor John Hoeven is launching Smart Growth, a host of programs linking education, job creation and career development to build the state’s economy and communities. The Governor announced his plan with release of the 2003-2005 executive budget.

Smart Growth includes funding for these initiatives:

• Full implementation of the higher education roundtable, a forum for making recommendations that will enable universities to leverage state resources with private sector and federal research dollars.
• Three new venture capital funds:
  • Centers of Excellence Fund - a $5 million fund to help create job opportunities through research and education on North Dakota campuses;
  • New Venture Fund - a $10 million fund to help finance new and existing businesses; and,
  • Seed Capital Fund - a $1 million source of financing to help entrepreneurs in the earliest stages of business creation.
• An increase in teacher compensation of $4,500 for every teacher in North Dakota.
• A North Dakota Business Internship Program ($2 million) to place young people in career-track jobs that will reduce critical employment shortages in growth industries.
• Financial resources to more aggressively market North Dakota; and,
• A statewide high-speed voice, video and data network and ConnectND, a computer software project designed to place the state's universities and government on one seamless system.

In his budget, Gov. Hoeven notes the Centers of Excellence Fund could yield a $3 million incubator proposed by North Dakota State University. Administered by the State Board of Higher Education, the fund's $5 million could also lead to $20 million in new ventures, he says.

The New Venture Fund — in partnership with the private sector and federal Small Business Administration — and Seed Capital Fund both would be administered by the state's Commerce Department. The former includes $3 million for technical assistance. Through the Seed Capital Fund, the Governor plans to implement Ideafest, a statewide business-plan competition for creating "the best and brightest ideas North Dakotans have to offer."

Overall, the executive budget reflects less than one percent growth in General Fund expenditures, compared to an average of 8 percent growth in the previous six bienniums. Thirty of 45 agencies will be spending fewer General Fund dollars than in the current biennium, according to the Governor's plan. In addition, more than 100 full-time equivalent positions will be eliminated by not filling vacancies and through early retirement.

Gov. Hoeven's Smart Growth initiative is available in its entirety at: http://www.governor.state.nd.us/media/news-releases/2002/12/021204.html