Trying to find ways to save money as revenues drop, Gov. Brian Schweitzer on Wednesday announced the elimination of four regional economic development officer jobs in the Commerce Department for a $380,000 savings over the next two years.

He said the Commerce Department can provide the same services other ways.

Schweitzer said his concerns over reduced tax collections in the state general fund have prompted the cost cutting.

He earlier asked his directors to cut out-of-state travel in their departments by 35 percent. He also has urged state agencies to hold more conferences over the Internet instead of having employees travel.

“I’m looking for places where we can save money,” Schweitzer said. “We’re challenging our directors to find places where perhaps we have redundant services.”

He’s looking to find savings of “$50,000 here, $400,000 there,” Schweitzer said, and “that’s real money.”

Asked if he had a savings goal in mind, Schweitzer said, “We’re going to find as much as we can. I’m going to keep hunting and picking on that until we save ourselves rich.”

The state’s general fund budget for the fiscal year ending in mid-2010 exceeds $1.8 billion.

Schweitzer said a good part of the current state general fund surplus comes from “reversions,” which are funds appropriated by the Legislature to state agencies for the fiscal year that ended June 30, but which the departments under his control didn’t fully spend. The leftover money is reverted to the state treasury.

Throughout most of his tenure as governor, Republicans have criticized Democrat Schweitzer for being a big spender, not a big saver.

State Commerce Director Anthony Preite said there were five full-time jobs allocated to the rural development officer posts, but only four were currently filled.

The people now holding these jobs are based in Circle, Havre, Helena and Missoula and assigned to certain counties to help them create economic or community development programs and inform them what resources may be available, the director said.

These four employees were notified Oct. 16 that their jobs were being eliminated as of Dec. 31, Preite said. They may apply for any open jobs at the Commerce Department’s Helena headquarters, he said.

Since the rural economic development officer posts were created, the department now has certified regional development corporations funded by the state and some economic development districts paid for by the federal government.

Schweitzer said the state was “perhaps going into a period of austerity,” Preite said, and asked directors to find places “where we could pick up funds.”

To ensure that there will be no reduction in services locally, Schweitzer said the Commerce Department, along with other economic and community development agencies, will sponsor training sessions across Montana. Local, state and federal agencies, national foundations and the private sector are being asked to participate.