Posted on 09/16/2011 11:36:57 AM PDT by digger48
A Colorado-based solar panel manufacturer for which the nephew of U.S. Rep. Paul E. Kanjorski, D-11, Nanticoke, is vice president of marketing has received a $400 million loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy.
The loan commitment to Abound Solar Manufacturing - announced by President Barack Obama during his July 3 weekly radio address - is to increase solar panel production at an existing plant in Colorado and build a second plant in Indiana that will create more than 1,200 jobs, a company statement said.
Part of the management team of Abound Solar is the Democrat's nephew, Russell Kanjorski. But a campaign spokesman said the congressman did not have any part in the awarding of the loan commitment.
"His nephew works for the company, but is an executive and has nothing to do with securing federal projects, I don't believe," said spokesman Ed Mitchell. "The congressman doesn't know any of the executives of the company and has had no contact with them.
"The congressman has also had no contact with anyone in the administration to get the (loan commitment), and that's what it comes down to," he added.
Russell Kanjorski made headlines, along with his siblings, in 2002 when a company they owned received as much as $9 million in federal grants that their uncle helped obtain.
That company, Plains Twp.-based Cornerstone Technologies, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2006. It was created to use state-of-the-art water-jet technology to pulverize materials like aluminum, coal, glass and graphite, the byproduct of which would be transformed into industrial lubricants, electronic packaging and various applications in the military defense field, as reported at the time.
Abound Solar will use its federal loan to "produce millions of state-of-the-art solar panels," Mr. Obama said in his address. On its website, Abound Solar says it was founded in 2007 "to commercialize a proprietary process for manufacturing cadmium telluride thin-film photovoltaic modules."
A conservative-leaning magazine, The Weekly Standard, wrote about the link between Mr. Kanjorski's nephew and Abound Solar in its July edition, but did not indicate the congressman played any part in helping the solar panel manufacturer obtain the loan.
Efforts to reach Abound Solar were unsuccessful Saturday evening.
This video is about the case of Pennsylvania Democratic congressman Paul Kanjorski, who earmarked millions of taxpayer dollars for a company run by his family.
In a startling interview, Joe Yudichak, who ran the non-profit Regional Equipment Center in Kanjorski's district, says the congressman initially tried to bully him into helping Kanjorski direct the money to Kanjorski's family members. In the documentary, Yudichak recounts his conversation with Kanjorski: "He said, 'You're telling me I can't take care of my family?' He said, 'Well, I'm telling you, it's gonna be done. And it's gonna be done with you or without you.' And he said, 'I'll bury you. I'll destroy you.'"
Kanjorski later earmarked more than $10 million directly to the company run by his family. The money was supposed to fund the development of new technologies to help turn around desperate coal towns and make them prosperous.
The company, Cornerstone Technologies, went bankrupt.
Harold Shobert, head of Pennsylvania State University's Energy Institute, and a leading expert on anthracite coal, worked with Cornerstone on one project. Shobert said "It was clear that these guys were clueless as to how to do research and development," "It was sort of like trying to collaborate with the cast of Looney Tunes."
Kanjorski and his family declined repeated interview requests
Oh oh. There’s another 400 million in the toilet.
This is looking to be the most corrupt administration in history.
What is a Federal Loan Guarantee?
Is that like when I co-signed my stupid brothers car loan and ended up paying for it?
No you did that somewhat willingly
Even Bush gave this guy money!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1993700/posts
Kanjo’s nephew gets grant (another attempt to scam the govt by US Rep’s family?)
One of the principals in the failed Cornerstone Technologies LLC, a company that promised to create jobs while receiving more than $9 million in federal funds, has re-emerged at a start-up company in Colorado.
Russell Kanjorski, the nephew of U.S. Rep. Paul E. Kanjorski, D-Nanticoke, is the strategic planning director for AVA Solar Inc. The Fort Collins, Colo.,-based company has secured a $3 million federal grant and promises to employ up to 500 people next year.
Russell Kanjorski was a featured speaker at an alternative energy symposium March 13 at Colorado State University in Fort Collins. He spoke about the company’s technology and goal to mass produce a low cost solar panel based on production technology that’s an offshoot of Colorado State University research.
The solar-panel company received a $3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar America Initiative and has the support of local economic development leaders and the university.
A federal loan guarantee is when a borrower obtains a loan from a private entity (a bank etc.) and, as part of the loan agreement, the federal government (translation: the taxpayers) promises to reimburse the lender should the borrower than subsequently default. Of course, the government then attempts (not always successfully) to have the original borrower reimburse the government for any loses incurred. (Good luck in the case of Solyndra)
“loses”=”losses”
I’ll take “Who is Jack Abrams for 100” Alex.
Too bad the Obama's job bill doesn't include a huge expansion of Leavenworth. After 2012, there'll be a flood of new arrivals.
bump
Abound is probably the next Solyndra. They’re up the street from me and the last thing I heard, they were trying to talk the city council of their home town, Fort Collins, into buying and installing a whole bunch of their uneconomical panels and then upping the electricity rates for all Fort Collins utility users by 1% to pay for this boondoggle. You know, for the greenness of it all! And for only 1% more paid by everyone! Oh joy!
BTW, I don’t know if the Fort Collins city council fell for this monorail, uh, I mean solar panel, scam. Wouldn’t surprise me if they did. At any rate, pretty pathetic marketing by Abound if the best they can do is hit up their home down to buy some of their shitty product because no one else will and they can’t think of anyone else to try and trick into buying some.
Their new proposed plant in IN is just down the road from me.
We got stuck with a partially finished Getrag transmission factory when Chrysler went down, so our locals were desperate for anything to go in there.
Their big mistake was to turn 100+ acres of some of the best farmland in the country into building and parking lots in the first place when they approved the tranny plant.
Nothing has been done to the factory since it was bought last year by a private firm to lease to Abound. Only a guard and occasionally a single contractor tending to something.
Since it’s beginning, I’ve been betting that there will not be a single solar palnel ever produced here.
But we’re STILL getting stuck witha bunch of those @#$$%&* windmills!!!
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