Beebe Hopes Europe Trip Will Draw Business to Ark.

Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe said Monday he's cautiously optimistic that his recent eight-day trip to Europe will draw new industries to the state, including suppliers for a wind-energy firm.

Beebe told reporters that he met with 10 European companies already invested in Arkansas and with six other companies considering investing in the state. Beebe returned over the weekend from the trip, which included stops in London, Paris and Hamburg.

Beebe didn't announce any new deals with European companies and said it may takes months before the state will see whether his trip to Europe was worth its $94,142.92 price tag.

"Anything that creates a payroll and gives Arkansans jobs and exceeds what it cost for us to go over there would be a success," Beebe told reporters at a news conference at the state Capitol.

The state paid for $79,142.92 of the trip, and the Arkansas Economic Development Foundation paid the remaining $15,000. Beebe is the first Arkansas governor since Bill Clinton to travel to Europe on an economic development and trade mission.

"We think we have a lot to sell. Some of that we hope will come to fruition quickly, some of it may be seeds planted that will continue to grow over the next several years," Beebe said.

Beebe would not name the firms considering investing in Arkansas, but he said one area where he was hopeful was in the state's efforts to draw more wind energy firms. Beebe said he met with suppliers of Nordex, which last month broke ground on a wind turbine plant in Jonesboro, a $40 million investment that's expected to grow to more than $100 million when it adds a windmill blade section.

Beebe said he hoped to attract some suppliers for the firm near the Jonesboro facility.

Beebe last week told reporters that he had met in Paris with officials from Dassault Falcon, which recently announced it lay off 72 workers at its Little Rock facility and an unspecified number of employees would leave through an "early out" program. The aircraft manufacturer in June laid off 153 workers in Little Rock.