Thank God For Mary Burke!

By Jeff Simpson

Uline Inc announced an expansion and future job creation of up to 500 Wisconsinites!  

Thank God that Mary Burke had the foresight as a Commerce Secretary to help bring Uline to Wisconsin!  

In January 2008, a couple of months after Mary Burke exited, Uline officials announced they were moving the corporate headquarters from Waukegan, Ill., to Pleasant Prairie and building a warehouse there. Uline said it would invest $100 million and employ 1,000 people at its 200-acre campus, which opened in mid-2010.
To help pay for the move, the company took state government incentives that were later calculated to be worth up to $18.6 million over nine years.

It was not surprising at all to see Scott Walker at Uline for the announcement, with a tied race and a failed jobs agenda, he needs to grab as much credit as he can, even if it doesn't go to him.

May I suggest a better use of the Governor's time?   I would suggest that instead of chasing Mary Burke's successes around the state, he head up to Superior, WI to collect on the $4,000,000 Wisconsin taxpayer dollars that he handed Kestrel Aircraft Company, that they defaulted on.  



Public education could sure use those $4 million dollars now!  

Here is another suggestion.   Voucher schools do not get a cent from public education budget, instead they can keep all of the money they can collect from the millions of dollars in defaulted loans that the failed WEDC has handed out!    

The Walker Agenda Is Still Working! Part CC

We've already discussed what a train wreck Scott Walker's WEDC is.  They've lost track of tens of millions of dollars. And they took the money that they could find and used it for Badger game tickets and iPods.

Another problem with Walker's WEDC is that they were too careful about who they gave money to, such as Kestrel Aircraft which they thought would bring in 600 new jobs:

Governor Scott Walker today announced that Kestrel Aircraft Corporation will establish its manufacturing and headquarters in Superior, creating up to 600 new jobs.

“I am pleased with the aggressive package we have put forth in conjunction with strong local support to make this major job creation contribution to Superior,” said Governor Walker. “This relocation will be a huge boost to the Superior-area economy.”

Two state agencies, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation and the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Develop Authority, partnered with local officials to bring Kestrell’s expansion to Superior.

“This combined effort by Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, Wisconsin Housing Economic Development Authority, the city and county shows how serious we are about Wisconsin’s commitment to supporting business development and the creation of good paying jobs,” said Paul Jadin, CEO of the WEDC.

The WEDC will create an Enterprise Zone in Superior to provide $18 million in tax credits to Kestrel Aircraft Corporation. WEDC will provide a $2 million loan and is working with the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA) to secure a $2 million State Small Business Credit Initiative program loan. The repayment of the WEDC loan and eligibility of tax credits are based on the capital investment, worker training and job creation by the company.

WHEDA has committed to work with Kestrel to obtain a $30 million allocation of New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC) for the Superior project. NMTC is a U.S. Department of the Treasury program that assists businesses that locate and grow in qualified low-income areas.

“I am pleased that WHEDA is partnering with local officials and WEDC to use our new economic development tools including SSBCI,” said Wyman Winston, WHEDA Executive Director. “It is a testament to the people of Superior that Kestrel Aircraft is committed to build the next generation of commercial aircraft utilizing the know-how and talent available in the state of Wisconsin.”

They gave Kestrel $22 million to create up to 600 jobs.

So how did they do? Well, about as well as anything that Walker touches.

In fact, they did so poorly under the Walker agenda that it hurt workers 1,500 miles away:

Kestrel Aircraft Co., a major tenant at the former Brunswick Naval Air Station, continues to face funding problems, leading to problems with vendors and an inability to cover employee insurance.

Kestrel CEO Alan Klapmeier confirmed Wednesday that his startup company is behind on rent payments, has been late with paychecks and that Kestrel employees in Brunswick are currently without health, life and dental insurance after the company failed to pay premiums.

Kestrel employs about 40 people at Brunswick Landing, where Klapmeier announced in July 2010 that the company would invest $100 million to design and build a new turboprop single-engine plane. At the time, Klapmeier said it hoped to bring 300 jobs to the former Navy base, although he later said as many as 600 jobs could have been created.

But in October 2011, citing difficulties obtaining financing — including New Market Tax Credits — in Maine, Klapmeier announced that the company would manufacture the planes in Superior, Wis., although composite components of the planes would continue to be made in Brunswick. The company employs about 60 people in Superior.

Not only were the workers not getting paid, their insurance was cut off and vendors were cutting the company off due to not getting paid.