Like we couldn’t see this one coming…
Per the N&O:
Dell plans to close its computer manufacturing plant in Winston-Salem by January, and lay off 905 employees.
Dell opened the assembly plant in 2005 and was offered a massive incentives package valued at $305 million if it met hiring and investment goals. The project was seen as a major economic development victory by supporters and a huge waste of taxpayer money by critics.
Really? Incentives didn’t work. Gee, who woulda thunk it?
Funny thing, just in July NC Secretary of Commerce Keith Crisco said that Dell is “the kind of company we need to be all over (recruiting) in this state.”
http://triangle.bizjournals.com/triangle/stories/2009/07/20/daily58.html
This comment came even after Dell had cut jobs in May.
And let us not forget the comments of Jim Fain, Commerce Secretary in 2005 when the Dell deal was created:
“The use of smart, targeted incentives enables North Carolina to compete against other states and other countries for quality jobs and investments,” N.C. Commerce Secretary Jim Fain said in a prepared statement. “Without the ability to use these tools, North Carolina’s economy will wither.”
http://www.gossage.org/news/www-newsobserver-com-business-story-2530735p-8934872c-html.htm
“Smart,” “quality”? Really?
So now we have a thousand unemployed former Dell employees, a huge 750,000 square foot facility that will sit idle, and millions worth of equipment and other resources that were diverted from other uses.
Will the central planners ever admit to the economic chaos they cause?