As Governor, Hoeven worked to build North Dakota's future by focusing on six pillars of growth- education, economic development, agriculture, energy, technology and quality of life. Under his leadership, North Dakota expanded and diversified its economy and gained nearly 40,000 new jobs. North Dakota's wages and personal income continue to grow faster than the national average, and in recent years, the state led the nation in export growth. While much of the nation is struggling through a recession and budget deficits, North Dakota has balanced its budget, set aside more than $1 billion in reserves for the future, cut taxes, and invested in priorities like education, health care, strong law enforcement, and quality infrastructure.

In addition to these, some of Hoeven's other initiatives as Governor include the Centers of Excellence, an initiative that combines education and economic development to create higher-paying jobs and new business opportunities for North Dakota citizens. The Centers of Excellence program has resulted more than $400 million in economic impact and thousands of new jobs.

Hoeven has also placed a strong focus on developing North Dakota's vast energy resources. Beginning in 2001, he initiated EmPower ND, a multi-resource energy program for the state with incentives in each energy sector, as well as a conservation component. North Dakota is one of the largest energy producing and exporting state in the nation, and Hoeven has worked to advance the state's traditional energy resources, like lignite coal, oil and gas, while promoting renewable energy opportunities, such as wind, ethanol and biodiesel.

Through his positions on the Senate Appropriations and Senate Energy Committees, Hoeven will work to implement the same kinds of policies on a national level that have helped grow and diversify North Dakota's economy and create jobs on the state level. This means creating a business climate that fosters job growth, developing a national energy policy that encourages development of both traditional and renewable resources and reducing our budget deficits and national debt. Hoeven believes that with a common sense approach that fosters free enterprise and empowers people, we can build our economy and create jobs for our country.

John Hoeven was born in Bismarck. He earned a bachelor's degree from Dartmouth College in 1979 and a master's degree in business administration from Northwestern University in 1981. He served as executive vice president of First Western Bank in Minot from 1986 to 1993 and established a strong position of service in many civic, community and economic development activities prior to elective office. From 1993-2000 he served as president and CEO of Bank of North Dakota (BND), which grew from $900 million to $1.6 billion.

Hoeven and his wife, Mical (Mikey), have two children, Marcela and Jack.