It used to be, back in the early part of this century, that the Guilford County Board of Commissioners would engage in long, vigorous debates at meetings over whether companies should or should not be granted incentives for locating in Guilford County. Over the last decade and a half, however, the board hasn’t met a single incentives package it didn’t like, and, on Thursday, June 6, a request for money by Clearly Clean Products LLC was no exception.
The Board of Commissioners, just as the Greensboro City Council did earlier in the week, approved the company’s request for economic incentives – and an hour and a half later, the company made the official announcement that Clearly Clean had decided to locate a new manufacturing facility in Greensboro.
The company, which makes sustainable and environmentally friendly packaging products, is promising a capital investment of more than $25 million in the plant and the company expects to create at least 80 new jobs in the area.
Clearly Clean representatives say the Greensboro manufacturing plant to house some of the company’s new, state-of-the-art production machinery.
Chairman of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners Skip Alston said one reason the county wanted Clearly Clean here is that it shows Guilford County continues to attract “pioneering companies” that promote solid economic growth while also managing to be environmentally friendly.
Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan said the city values Clearly Clean’s efforts to develop sustainable products – and she added that it enhances the City of Greensboro’s efforts “to be responsible stewards of the environment.”
“This investment boosts our current economy and contributes to a brighter sustainable future for all Greensboro residents,” Vaughan said.
Jimmy Herring, the CEO of Clearly Clean, said the company really looks forward to contributing to the local community and calling Greensboro home.
The Board of Commissioners approved giving the company $373,855 of taxpayer money on top of other taxpayer money the city and state are giving it.
The Guilford County Economic Development Alliance, consisting of the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce and the High Point Economic Development Corp., worked with the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina, the City of Greensboro, Guilford County, Duke Energy, Guilford Technical Community College, Guilford Works, Piedmont Natural Gas and the North Carolina Department of Commerce to convince Clearly Clean to locate here instead of another site in Georgia the company was supposedly considering.
Clearly Clean’s promotional material states that the company offers “eco-friendly alternatives to traditional packaging materials – including its patented, 100 percent recyclable, smooth-edged [environmentally friendly and tough] trays which have been widely embraced as a drop-in replacement for non-recyclable foamed plastic trays. With a commitment to innovation and environmental responsibility, Clearly Clean develops products that reduce waste and promote recycling and sustainability.”
Meanwhile, County fire departments are having to explain to the Commissioners why they’re asking for more money in their budgets this year when salaries have increased due to minimum wage increases, cost of material increases in all areas, and the cost of a plain old fire truck now being about ONE MILLION DOLLARS. They were clueless. They had planned for NO additional funds to the County departments.
So they give away your tax dollars to a for-profit business, to non-profit charities, to groups that for eons have wasted your tax dollars and keep asking for more, but volunteer fire departments in the county (which only recently have hired paid help because of recruitment problems) are denied funds from your fire tax money to pay to protect your home, you, and your family. Go figure.
Mandate Mayor quotes about being “responsible stewards of the environment”?
What a joke. The city operates two golf courses that are by definition not responsible for a decent environment. Also the city operates numerous entertainment venues that encourage massive power and water usage and also by design encourage massive fossil fuels usage to bring “acts” to town and attract folks to cruise into Greensboro in their large gas guzzlers to see Broadway retreads and cartoons on ice.
City offices are filled with inefficient equipment and are large users of heating and cooling and water resources.
Mandate Mayor will also crow about Toyotas battery factory…….I’m sure battery manufacturers are “responsible stewards”…except they are not, they use strip mined rare earth minerals and extreme amounts of chemicals and energy with lots of waste chemicals that have to go somewhere.
That’s OUR money that our govt is dribbling away. Corporate welfare at the expense of other businesses (including competitors) who receive nothing.
Hey! Let’s give everybody some money! That would fixit. Or, just reduce the property tax rate, fee rates, etc. Everyone would benefit from that.
Make me King of the USA. No more Corporate welfare, just for starters.
Perhaps I should channel Chris here and tell you how fortunate you are that the money being bestowed on the company is a pittance compared to ehat has been spent on, say, Cure Violence and as a bonus, 80 new jobs will be forthcoming. We can now brag about how cosmopolitan we are like Charlotte… or even High Point ( once we get a professional soccer team, that is).
I still have fond memories of all the benefits we were going to accrue from the Triad’s sweetheart deal with Dell, and still waiting that medical equipment company to get here…