Posted on 07/18/2011 10:51:45 PM PDT by artichokegrower
SALINAS, Calif.- Green Vehicles is empty and it's doors are locked.
The worst part, Salinas lost $540,000 in the closure and now it needs to find something else to hang its economic hat on.
$240,000 the city paid and $300,000 came from a one-time grant for new tech jobs.
Last year, Salinas mayor Dennis Donohue test drove one of the new green vehicle proto-types.
Salinas was beyond excited when start up company "Green Vehicles" wanted to come to their city, but, "This is disappointing as all get out," said economic development director Jeff Weir.
As of last week, and this blog from the president announcing green vehicles closure, a huge tax base and revitlization of the old Firestone Business Complex, being on the cutting edge of the alternative energy industry and 50 new jobs just to start, turned into a pipe dream.
"And then on top of that all the different suppliers we had them introduce us to brand new battery manufacturing company that's on the cutting edge of technology," said Weir.
But now that business won't come.
Green Vehicles was awarded nearly $2.8 million from Ca Energy Commission but could never get investors to match the funding.
"They were awarded this money from the CEC sixteen or eighteen months ago and it just begun to start to trickle out...The traditional investment community have just draw back from anything having to do with alternative energy. They're just waiting to see who survives."
It won't be Green Vehicles. Now, Salinas must re-evaluate what economic driver they will hang their hat on next.
"We just cannot not do this we have to go out and get new businesses to come, but we have to understand what we are committing ourselves to...We have 4,000 young people graduating every year, new jobs don't happen by themselves you got to participate, you have to help make it happen," said Weir. The city doesn't know if it will be able to re-coup any of the money it lost.
Salinas said it will review everything it did with the company and learn for the experience to be smarter next time.
We did not emerge from the stone edge because we ran out of rocks had more government regulations or government subsidies. We advanced civilization because man was free to imagine and risks were rewarded.
isn’t Castroville still the artichoke capial of the world?
or has brussels sprouts taken over?
btw these are two of the most noxious plants to let go to seed. smells like the divine wind!
Been a long time since I had one. They don’t make it to Japan very often. Not even at the really pricey specialties shops for the elite foreigners...
I always liked the Orson Welles quote: “Men created civilization to impress their girlfriends”
Was that it?
Because if it was, you couldn’t drive it in NY without a motorcycle permit. That really really narrows your market.
“You can’t cheat an honest man.” — W.C. Fields
Dapper 26: “We advanced civilization because man was free to imagine and risks were rewarded.”
Man was free to imagine, failure was punished, and success was rewarded.
I’ll go a green colored car if it’s a Boss 302, Camaro, Challenger, Vette, Ferrari, BMW
or anything under 14.5 seconds et. or under 7.2 seconds 0-60.
The full quote is, "You can't cheat an honest man. Never give a sucker an even break or smarten up a chump."
So maybe the next pitch should begin with "Green Vehicles only failed because it wasn't green enough!"
$540,000? That’s a drop in the bucket when you’re talking about building cars. Maybe Salinas should have gotten a clue when they were asked for only $540,000.
Next one will be Gore’s $81K electric car company and the the Delaware plant they are planning. A lot of RATs, including Biden, are going to have the spin machines going 24/7.
Too expensive to grow in California.
Too expensive to grow in California.
“They [liberals] invariably blame failures such as this to lack of scale”
Reminds me of a joke from the seventies. A couple of liberals go down to Mexico and fill up their pickup with marijuana they buy at $160 a pound. They took the weed up to Austin and sold it at $10 an ounce. After they sold the last ounce the first liberal turns to the other and says “I thought you said thi would make us rich. We didn’t make enough to pay for our gas.” The second one said, “It’s a matter of scale. We need a bigger truck.”
The thing was to cost $25K plus another $2.5K for air conditioning and $495 for an iPod docking cradle and $495 for a rear fender.
Why would anyone with a brain buy one of these when you can get a fully functional, reliable car like the Prius that’s only half as ugly for the same money?
But here’s the answer:
“yes, I am going to give progressive people a way to protect what they love; yes, I am going to be the most affordable solution for clean commuters; and yes, I am going to do it in a seriously handsome fashion.”
I want mine in either “Marigold Red” or “Green Fun”.
What’s in the water in California? Are they all that gullible?
It seems that the “touchy-feely”, warm and fuzzy greenies have gone wild there. Of course they don’t live in the real world and dreams replace reality.
This “flim-flam” man easily fooled the people of Salinas into thinking that the whole world would go crazy to buy these $30,000+ pieces of crap and the city would become the new mecca of green manufacturing enterprises.
Lack of investors was to blame? No, it was lack of fools who would invest........for example........the government.
By the way, that’s about the ugliest thing I have ever seen.
Ah California, the land of nuts fruits and flakes.
Ah California, the land of nuts, fruits and flakes.
Which way is it going?
I wan’t born with enough middle fingers to fully express how sorry I am that their utopian “green” dream hit the rocks of reality.
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