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Bret Mills readily recalls two maxims he learned while serving under Iowa Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald.

“One is, ‘Everything we do is public. So act accordingly.’ And two, ‘As long as you’re honest, people will forgive a mistake,'” said Mills, director of the Iowa Department of Economic Development (IDED).

The soft-spoken Clay County native, who began his career in state government in 1988 at the treasurer’s office, was appointed to the state’s top economic development post in late December by Gov. Chet Culver.

He took the job not only at a challenging time for the economy, but also at a difficult point for state government, becoming the leader of the agency in the wake of the Iowa Film Office scandal.

Mills succeeded interim IDED Director Fred Hubbell, who filled in after former director Michael Tramontina resigned in September after giving Culver the results of an audit of the tax incentive program to lure filmmakers to the state. The audit had found that the program was operating without oversight, and that money had been used for expenses unrelated to moviemaking, including the purchase of luxury vehicles.

Mills said the ongoing investigation of that program is not distracting his agency from its mission.

“We’re focused on initiatives that are under way to improve our communities and to help strengthen our economy,” he said. “The film office matter is being addressed by the legal system, the attorney general’s office, the courts, with the help of the (Iowa Department of) Revenue and with certain people in this agency. Time will tell. We just need to let it play out.”

Mills, who recently turned 50, said he is upbeat about the future of the IDED and its role as an economic development catalyst for the state.

“We have a very full agenda for 2010,” he said. As part of an effort to reach out to business organizations, “we’re going to take the board on the road for four of the board meetings in 2010,” he said, beginning with a visit to the Iowa State University Research Park next month.

Additionally, the department has multiple planning sessions scheduled as part of an effort to update its strategic plan, Mills said. Among the organizations with which it will work are the Iowa Business Council and the newly formed Iowa Innovation Council, which will convene for the first time later this month. The IDED has also begun working with the community colleges to review state job training programs that are offered to companies as development incentives.

Prior to his appointment as the IDED director, Mills served as executive director of the Iowa Finance Authority (IFA), a post he was appointed to in February 2005 after working for two years as the IFA’s chief financial officer. A certified public accountant, Mills has a liberal arts degree from the University of Iowa, and later earned a bachelor of science degree in accounting and a master of business administration from Drake University.

His wife of 22 years, Robyn, works as the office coordinator for St. Paul Presbyterian Church in Johnston and is a homemaker. She also serves as chair of the Iowa Board of Corrections. Their two children, Elizabeth, 16, and Andrew, 14, attend Johnston High School.

Mills grew up on his grandfather’s farm in northwest Iowa, which his father took over after working at a grocery store for 23 years. After graduating from the University of Iowa, Mills worked a variety of jobs before joining the state treasurer’s office.

“It was 15 very good years; I thoroughly enjoyed it and learned a lot,” said Mills, who served the last six of those years as deputy state treasurer. “It’s an agency that handles a wide variety of issues. So I worked for a very good man and I had a chance to work with very good people.”

While he was with the treasurer’s office, he helped launch the College Savings Iowa program. And in working with the Vision Iowa program, one of the most interesting people he worked with was Michael Gartner, who at the time chaired the Vision Iowa board. “That was an education in and of itself,” Mills said. “I have a great deal of respect for Mr. Gartner, and he was entertaining as well.”

During his time with the Iowa Finance Authority, “again, I was very fortunate that we had an excellent board, an excellent staff,” he said. “I think we did some very good things in terms of automating the office. We spent a lot of time planning and focusing on the affordable housing and community development issues.”

Mills said that as he has begun traveling around the state and talking with business people in his new role, “partnerships” has been a key word he’s hearing.

“I think they are looking for a partner who will listen, that can be flexible and nimble, and I think those are fair requests,” he said. “We live in an age where service that is professional and expedient has become the norm. I think this agency is up to that task.”

Though a primary goal in his first year as director will be to better determine the needs of the businesses that the IDED serves, Mills said he is also realistic about his agency’s role, given the size and diversity of the state’s economy.

“We’re not going to drive the state’s economy, but we can help set the pace,” he said. “We can help make connections. I think our real function is the marketing, and in cases where it makes a difference, providing the financial resources to leverage other resources. That’s all critically important. I say that because I think it’s important we keep the role of the agency in perspective. We have a very large, diverse, strong economy. Our role is to meet our constituents’ needs.”

Mills said he hopes to one day join the ranks of Iowa entrepreneurs who have started their own businesses.

“That would be something I would be very interested in doing,” he said. “Perhaps a small accounting firm; I would enjoy that.”