Another North Dakota Community Wastes Their Economic Development Money

• January 21, 2008

DEVILS LAKE – A cell phone refurbishing company that came to Devils Lake just a year ago is closing.
Q1W, also known as Quality One Wireless, had indicated it planned up to 80 employees in Devils Lake.
Denise Johnson, who heads the city-county economic development group, says the Florida-based company reported problems with shipments and personnel, and recently had just 12 workers in Devils Lake.
To bring in the company, city officials agreed to buy and then lease $220,000 worth of equipment. Under terms of the lease, the company will have to buy the equipment from the city for about half that.

I’m sure the Devils Lake economic development folks had good intentions but economic development as it’s now known is a failed concept.
Picking winners and losers just is not the place for government. If a business needs economic development money then they probably aren’t a good risk. If they are a good risk, then they don’t need free money from the taxpayers. The way they’re doing economic development across the state now we might as well be sending these guys to Vegas with our money.
The better method is to create a business growth friendly environment for all businesses. The winners will succeed and the losers won’t cost us a cent. Some of the winners will be companies that no one would dream to invest in. Older existing businesses will grow and become players in the regional markets. Other companies very well move their headquarters here.
Or we could just throw a lot of money at a Florida corporation and hope for the best while we’re sticking it to the existing and local businesses.

Tags: North Dakota News

http://Array Good Ol’ Boy

The point being there is a lot of money potentially going to be dumped into the project (I say potentially because they haven’t met the matching fund target yet)in what was somewhere along the way sold as some kind of economic development scheme. Note that three businesses may rent space. Really? Three?
I know this is one anecdotal piece, but this happens all over. For example, when MCI was threatening to pull out of Pembina, Gov Hoeven poured money in like there was no tomorrow.Turned out there was no tomorrow- most production moved to Winnipeg anyway. Grand Forks got everything all set up for New Flyer to build buses here, but when the incentives expired, New Flyer went to Crookston. Repeat ad infinitum, ad nauseum.
Rob is right- government has no business being in business.
As has been said before, local governments hike on the fishnet stockings, put on some lipstick, and go stand on the corner whoring for business. Along comes some horny business looking for a good time and no long term commitment. And the politicians whoring for votes get to look like they are doing something.
http://SayAnythingBlog.com The_Whistler_ofnd

Good Ole Boy, I don’t know what your point is but from what I can tell that’ll treble the property value in Mountain.
http://SayAnythingBlog.com The_Whistler_ofnd

Meanwhile the businesses that are operating in the state are forced to pay more than their share because of these give a ways.
Good Ol’ Boy

The whole town isn’t worth what this project will cost:
From the Grand Forks Herald-
“The government of Iceland has authorized a contribution of $75,000 toward construction of a $1.26 million community center in Mountain, N.D., a Pembina County town of about 133 people who celebrate the region’s deep Icelandic heritage each August. The contribution from Reykjavik which sounds even more generous in Icelandic money: about 4.5 million krona will go toward the public fundraising effort to match $676,000 in USDA and other grants approved for the project. So far, nearly $300,000 has been donated or pledged to the public capital. The 14,400-square-foot facility will house the Mountain Fire Department and quick-response units as well as offices for the regional Icelandic Communities Association, the city of Mountain and Pembina Hills Lutheran Church. Plans also call for a cafÃ© and catering kitchen, banquet seating for more than 300 people and three leasable spaces for businesses. ”
It goes on all the time,everywhere.
http://sayanythingblog.com robport

If venture capitalism were easy everyone would be doing it. The problem is that in order to be successful at it you have to have a very specific and well-honed skill set. You have to be able to recognize which business may work, and which won’t.

Our elected officials at every single level of government – who often seem barely capable of even balancing a budget – simply do not have this skill set.

If they did, they’d likely have real jobs instead of being bureaucrats and politicians.

SayAnythingBlog.com

Another North Dakota Community Wastes Their Economic Development Money

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