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Loss Of Solar Jobs Has Mass. Rethinking State Aid

tlmorg02

tlmorg02

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Loss Of Solar Jobs Has Mass. Rethinking State Aid : NPR

Hundreds of employees of a solar panel factory in Massachusetts are looking for new jobs after the company announced that it's moving the plant to China.

Three years ago, Massachusetts wooed Evergreen Solar to locate in a former Army base in Devens that had been converted into an office park, hoping it would help boost the state's reputation as a hub for green industry. Now, many are second-guessing if and how government should be in the business of helping private business.

On paper, it was a match made in heaven. Evergreen moved in and began to reap millions of dollars in fringe benefits, from tax breaks to free rent and cash grants. Evergreen grew from 100 to 800 employees. This month, the state woke up to what was basically a note on the kitchen table saying Evergreen was leaving.
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So, Mass. gives this company everything it can ask for and the company still is not happy, says that the Federal government is not doing enough for it, and moves to China. How can anyone argue that we can bring manufacturing back to this country?
 
tlmorg02 said:
Loss Of Solar Jobs Has Mass. Rethinking State Aid : NPR



So, Mass. gives this company everything it can ask for and the company still is not happy, says that the Federal government is not doing enough for it, and moves to China. How can anyone argue that we can bring manufacturing back to this country?
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Bringing manufacturing back is easy. You have to seriously bring the hammer down on privacy and property laws though.
 
tlmorg02 said:
Loss Of Solar Jobs Has Mass. Rethinking State Aid : NPR



So, Mass. gives this company everything it can ask for and the company still is not happy, says that the Federal government is not doing enough for it, and moves to China. How can anyone argue that we can bring manufacturing back to this country?
Click to expand...

From what I've read Evergreen already had a plant in China as well. I gotta tell you my gut reaction is they took Massachusetts money and ran with it.
 
tlmorg02 said:
Loss Of Solar Jobs Has Mass. Rethinking State Aid : NPR



So, Mass. gives this company everything it can ask for and the company still is not happy, says that the Federal government is not doing enough for it, and moves to China. How can anyone argue that we can bring manufacturing back to this country?
Click to expand...

Stop giving all those subsidies. Make them live off the market, just like everyone else in the real world does.
 
Before income tax our Government was run on tariffs they helped to offset low hourly rates of pay in other nations.

Today the hourly rate here is most likely close to what Chins pays for a days work.

We will never be able to compete and as long as we keep entering into agreements like NAFTA, GAT, WTO we will continue to suffer the loss of jobs, along with over regulation and punitive taxes we are screwed and sadly politicians will not face the facts and that goes for Democrats and Republicans and goes back a lot farther than President G.W. Bush.
 
Tax incentives should not come for free. I wouldn't mind a requirement that you don't get tax incentive unless you actually keep your operations on U.S. soil for a reasonable length of time (say 10 years). On a secondary note, I can't believe the stupidity of Evergreen in doing this. What does evergreen have to offer once the Chinese figure out how to duplicate their technology? Its amazing that so many companies sell their morals down the river to outsource, only to screw themselves offer in the process.
 
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