Governor Chet Culver is currently Founder of the Chet Culver Group, a renewable energy and infrastructure consultancy that works with individuals and public and private sector entities to provide strategic consulting, cut through red tape and promote cutting-edge ideas that will move the country forward. Under Governor Culver’s leadership as Iowa’s 40th Governor (2007-2011), Iowa was recognized as one of the “Best Run States in America.” Culver successfully managed a $6 billion dollar annual budget, improved the state’s bond rating to AAA, and worked to secure $5 billion dollars in federal and state funds to help Iowa recover from the worst natural disaster in state history.

Governor Culver has served the National Governors Association as Chairman of both the Governors Wind Energy Coalition and Governors Biofuels Coalition. He has also elected as the Federal Liaison to the U.S. Congress by the Democratic Governors Association, and served as a member of the Democratic Governors Executive Committee.

As Governor of Iowa, Governor Culver’s signature accomplishments were the creation of the Iowa Office of Energy Independence and the establish of the Iowa Power Fund. Since it’s creation, the Iowa Power Fund has invested more than $65,000,000 in 40 Iowa renewable energy research and development and early-stage commercialization projects. Iowa’s focus on all forms of renewable energy, including wind energy, biomass, algae-based fuel and feed stock, dry distilled grains, and energy efficiency innovations has made Iowa the renewable energy capital of the U.S. Under Governor Culver’s leadership and these efforts, Iowa now produces nearly 20 percent of all of its energy needs from renewable sources. The state’s investment in its energy future has leveraged more than $575,000,000 in additional investments in these projects. Power fund dollars are now helping secure American’s energy future, transforming Iowa’s alternative fuels economy into an integrated corn to ethanol and cellulose to ethanol biorefinery network. Further, these contributions will help develop more cost-competitive forms of solar energy to spur economic development and create jobs across the United States.

In 1998, Chet was elected as Iowa’s 29th Secretary of State and the youngest Secretary of State in the nation, and he was re-elected in 2002. Governor Culver is past Chairman of the Governors Wind Energy Coalition and Governors Biofuels Coalition.

Chet and his wife, Mari, live with their two young children, Clare Honour and John William, in West Des Moines.