Idaho Gov. C.L. (Butch) Otter wants to create a “rapid strike team” made up of state experts who can help counties capitalize on new and expanding business opportunities.
Otter discussed his “Accelerate Idaho” concept at the Idaho Association of Counties annual convention in Boise Tuesday.
Whenever a company is looking to locate or expand in Idaho, he said, a team would be appointed to work with the company and help address its needs. The team would include members from the Departments of Commerce, Labor, Agriculture, Transportation, Environmental Quality and other relevant agencies.
Otter said he stole the idea from Magic Valley, after watching how successful its city and county governments have been at working together to attract new development.
“Each city and county wants (the new business) to locate in their jurisdiction, but it's equally important that it locate in the Magic Valley rather than someplace else,” Otter said. “Over the last 16 months, they've been able to attract more than $800 million in new capitalization. I believe we can duplicate that in the state with our agencies doing the same thing.”
The governor presented Accelerate Idaho as a successor to his Project 60 initiative, which was an effort to raise the overall state economy from $51.5 billion in 2007 to $60 billion.
“This year, we believe we'll be up to $62.4 billion,” Otter said.