More interesting drill down into the auditor’s report on the state’s new economy program’s performance. When the auditor’s report recommended that DCI “should produce annual reports that provide better information on the activities of the funded projects, as required by statute” the Cabinet for Economic Development responded with:

There will be many projects that have no information to report regarding return on investment because they are early-stage companies and are not expected to have a return during the formative years.

So because these companies are by nature ‘start-ups’ DCI can’t really provide information to policymakers and Kentuckians on whether or not the funds they are spending are producing anything? Haven't enough of these 'start-ups' been funded since the programs inception (seven years ago) so that it would be possible for some results to be reported?

These resources could go toward many, many other needs in a budget-constrained environment. Yet, it is too much to ask for DCI to tell us what their spending has produced for Kentucky?