Civitas Review OnlineNorth Carolina's Conservative Voice

November 8th, 2004 lest we forget:

RALEIGH, N.C. — Gov. Mike Easley signed into law on Friday an incentives package designed to lure Dell Inc. to build an East Coast computer manufacturing plant in the Triad. The bill, which provides for most of the $242 million deal being offered by North Carolina to the computer giant, was given final approval by lawmakers Thursday night. Easley called the legislators back to Raleigh just two days after the election because he said the targeted company wants to start building as soon as possible. Administration officials have said the plant could generate more than 2,300 jobs – 2,000 of them permanent.

Will anyone believe them next time?  Chris Hayes hit it on the head, albeit in his own snarky way.  But the failure of the Dell deal is HUGE!  905 jobs and $315 million according to the Winston-Salem Journal.

This is what Dell said in March:

The company told top Winston-Salem leaders that the cuts at the computer  plant would affect a small percentage of its 1,400 workers, Mayor Allen Joines said Wednesday afternoon.

And this is what Secretary Keith Chrisco over at the North Carolina Department of Commerce said in July:

Asked whether the Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) recruitment was a success, Crisco replied, “It has not been yet.” But, he said, “We need three to four years to judge it in total.” Of Dell, he said, “That’s the kind of company we need to be all over (recruiting) in this state.”

This is the deal that the NC Legislature worked on at taxpayer expense to make happen.  It was supposed to have a monumental impact on the job creation front with ancillary job creation to take place over ten years or more.  Dell even had threatening comments to make about how thankful North Carolina should be to have the plant built here.  An excerpt from the Winston-Salem Journal:

The plant is considered as the largest and highest profile incentive project in Triad history, with Dell eligible for up to $315 million in local and state incentives.  Dell said in a statement that it will continue to fully comply with the terms of incentive agreements with the citizens of North Carolina.

Once again, the Department of Commerce, the Governor and the Legislature look like fools for taking this one.  Don’t pick winners and losers, stay out of the private sector, pay attention to what government should be doing.  Truth is, government doesn’t create jobs or protect them, it just stands in the way.  Maybe we should conduct a ribbon cutting to celebrate government incentive failure.  Hey, what’s up with the Global Transpark again???