Durham promises to stay another year as Iowa economic development head

DES MOINES - Debi Durham, the top economic development official in Gov. Terry Branstad's administration, has promised only to stay for the next year as director of the state's economic development board.

Durham told the Lee/Gazette Des Moines Bureau that she has not pledged to stay on as director of the Iowa Economic Development Authority for the next four years, but said she will remain at the post for the next year.

Branstad was re-elected in November to his second four-year term in his second stint as governor.

'I haven't signed up for four years, but I'll be here next year,” Durham said.

Durham, a Sioux City native and former president of the Siouxland Chamber of Commerce, has served as director of the Iowa Economic Development Authority since its creation in 2011. The board fosters economic development in Iowa and oversees the process of awarding incentive packages to prospective and expanding businesses in the state.

From January 2011 through November 2014, the board awarded projects that will result in 31,887 jobs and more than $9.3 billion in total capital investment, according to the board.

A spokesman for Branstad said the governor appreciates Durham's work in Sioux City and on the state economic development board, saying she led the latter's transition into 'an innovative public-private partnership.”

'Gov. Branstad appreciates the exceptional service of Dir. Debi Durham,” Branstad spokesman Jimmy Centers said in an emailed statement.