(DES MOINES) - Iowa is the victor in CNBC's "Top States Twitter Battle," garnering more than 35% of the vote using #TopStatesIA.
Tweets using the #TopStatesIA were sent from a broad spectrum of businesses, individuals, news organizations, public officials, associations, schools, and other interested parties. The #TopStatesIA Twitter stream was displayed multiple times this week on CNBC as part of their coverage.
"This week was a great exercise in Iowans coming together for a common cause and is a really positive way to showcase Iowa," said Gov. Branstad. "We saw thousands of Tweets from all across the state promoting Iowa, and it's clear that Iowans are proud of their state. The lieutenant governor and I are happy that we won this Twitter battle, and the credit goes to all Iowans who took part."
CNBC made the announcement immediately following today's closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange.
In addition to engaging on Twitter, CNBC offered each governor the opportunity to record an "elevator pitch" video and submit it as part of the campaign.
As of the stock market's closing bell today, Gov. Branstad's video was the most-viewed of any video submitted in the contest.
Produced in the Iowa governor's office, the brief video explains why Iowa is a top state for business. The video is found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?
The Twitter battle and video were a part of the CNBC "Top States for Doing Business" annual rankings show. This high-profile, yearly ranking of all 50 states on 43 measures of competitiveness was developed with input from business groups including the National Association of Manufacturers and the Council on Competitiveness.
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