Centers of Excellence Cost Taxpayers More Than $42,000 Per Job
Monday, January 25, 2010
by Brett Narloch

On January 7th, Gov. Hoeven, along with NDSU professor Larry Leistritz, released a study touting the economic impact of the Centers of Excellence program. According to the study, the program has created 2,060 jobs in North Dakota.

Assuming that 2,060 were actually created because of the Centers of Excellence program - an assumption that is probably unrealistic - those jobs cost taxpayers $42,913 per job.

The state has spent $19.9 million on the program. According to an email received from the Commerce Department, the federal government, local governments, and local economic development corporations - which are largely funded by sales tax dollars - kicked in more than $68.5 million.

Federal	Local	EDC's
$64,594,829	$2,395,000	$1,536,083