Investigative journalists, Democratic state legislators, fellow bloggers, Government Accountability Board members, amateur muckrakers, and members of the Jeb Bush Opposition Research Team, this is for you...
In light of the news that Gov. Scott Walker's Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) gave a highly-questionable unsecured loan to a large campaign donor at the urging of his Secretary of Administration, I thought it would be useful to check on what other WEDC awards might also be worthy of further scrutiny.
I looked at the list of WEDC awards (available as a searchable database or as a spreadsheet) and cross-referenced it with large campaign donations and layoffs. Keep in mind that campaign contributions included in the list below should be considered low-end estimates as they do not include "dark-money" donations to groups like Club for Growth, and many large donors list their employer as "investor" or "homemaker," etc.
The list of, um, interesting WEDC awards is distressingly long, and not in any meaningful order. It's entirely too large for any single person to investigate, so this is where I need your help: Please review the list (bookmark it and come back if necessary), and pick out a few that are in your neck of the woods or otherwise pique your interest. Then forward them on to journalists or legislators you trust, or start digging on your own. While we can make inferences based just on the political donations, what we really need are records requests to determine what (if any) vetting was done and who may have been lobbying internally for each of these awards. If we can get to that level, I'm sure there's a compelling story or twenty in here.
Note that this list does not include WEDC awards that have already made headlines:
Without further ado, here's what I found...
Meijer, Inc. & Supervalu, Inc. - Pleasant Prairie, WI
02/25/2013 - $1.45 Million Economic Development Tax Credits to Supervalu
01/13/2014 - $5.25 Million Jobs Tax Credit to Meijer
These are 2 awards for the same distribution center in Pleasant Prairie. A full month before the Feb 2013 award, Supervalu had already announced it was closing the facility, laying off 117 distribution center workers and relocating another 155 office workers who were ultimately laid off about a year later. As far as I can tell, Supervalu never actually claimed any tax credit, but this would be worth confirming.
The distribution center was sold to Meijer, Inc., and rather than just transferring the Supervalu award to the new owner, WEDC awarded Meijer a separate $5.25 Million tax credit for creating up to 256 jobs (only 191 so far). So if everything goes to plan, the distribution center will employ 16 fewer people than it did in Jan 2013, but WEDC will call it 256 "created jobs."
It's also worth noting that Meijer executives and the Meijer family donated $40,000 to Scott Walker's campaign.
SHINE Medical Technologies, Inc. - Janesville, WI
12/12/2013 - $4 Million Business Opportunity Loan
05/19/2014 - $2 Million Jobs Tax Credit
Phoenix Nuclear Labs - Middleton, WI
09/19/2011 - $100k Technology Matching Grant
04/30/2014 - $250k Technology Development Loan
These two companies are related, but it is unclear to what extent. Phoenix Nuclear appears to be a supplier and an investor in SHINE, and there is some overlap in the leadership of the two companies.
Of SHINE's $4M loan (the only award of this size in the Business Opportunity Loan program), the 2015 audit has this to say on pg. 26:
Although Business Opportunity Loan Fund program policies did not list debt repayment as an allowable use of awarded amounts, in May 2014 WEDC executed a $4.0 million loan contract that allowed a business to use $1.6 million of the awarded amount in this manner.... We also noted that the award amount was four times greater than the maximum amount “generally” allowed by program policies.
…and pg. 47 of the same audit noted this free-ridership issue with SHINE's $2M tax credit:
A contract executed in May 2014 allocated one business $2.0 million in tax credits through the Jobs Tax Credit program for creating and retaining jobs from January 2012 through December 2017. Through December 2014, WEDC had awarded the business $130,000 in tax credits, all of which was for creating and retaining jobs before the contract was executed.
Also, Scott Klug, WEDC Board Treasurer, has
stock options in both SHINE and Phoenix Nuclear.
Larry Weyers, Phoenix Board Member, has contributed over $11k to Scott Walker.
Johnsonville Sausage, LLC - Sheboygan Falls, WI
01/23/2013 - $210k Economic Development Tax Credits
Johnsonville executives have contributed over $70k to Scott Walker.
Schuette, Inc. - Rothschild, WI
11/19/2013 - $5.76 Million Industrial Revenue Bonding (tax-exempt bonds)
Schuette, Inc. CEO John Peterson contributed $8,000 to Scott Walker's campaigns, including a $2,500 donation just one month after the WEDC award.
While the Schuettes who own Wausau Homes do not have a direct interest in Schuette, Inc., John Peterson is their cousin and Schuette, Inc.'s moving division is the company that transports Wausau Homes down the highway. It is worth noting that the Schuettes who own Wausau Homes have contributed almost $150,000 to Walker's campaigns and another $60,000 to other state Republicans.
Specialty Retail Shops Holding Corp. (aka, ShopKo) - Green Bay, WI
05/14/2012 - $2 Million Economic Development Tax Credit
The merger of ShopKo/Pamida was supposed to create 129 new jobs at their Green Bay HQ. WEDC says that so far 103 jobs have been created. That certainly doesn't take into account the 95 store workers who have since been laid off in Madison and Ashland. And it's unclear whether the 40 workers at the Green Bay HQ laid off late last year have been been factored in. They might be at negative-6 new jobs.
Also, this post at Jake's Funhouse from way back in the early days of WEDC shows how this and a larger tax credit for Spectrum Brands (Rayovac) were likely instances of parade-jumping -- throwing in a tax credit after a deal has already been struck in order to take credit for something that was going to happen anyway.
Kohler Co. - Kohler, WI
12/20/2013 - $2 Million Jobs Tax Credit
CEO Herbert Kohler is a well-known funder of WIGOP politicians, including $40,000 to Scott Walker. I'm sure it was planned in advance as a Christmas gift, but Kohler managed to donate $5k to Walker's campaign (and $1k to State Sen. Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau) on December 27, 2013 -- exactly one week after the WEDC award was finalized.
Green Bay Packaging, Inc. - Ashwaubenon
05/17/2013 - $1.97 Million Economic Development Tax Credit
06/24/2013 - $105k Economic Development Tax Credit
CEO William Kress and Director Donald Kress have combined to contribute over $70k to GOP candidates in Wisconsin, including nearly $30k to Scott Walker. On June 24, 2013, the date of the second WEDC award, Donald Kress made a $5k donation to Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch (R).
Printpack, Inc. - Rhinelander, WI
06/17/2013 - $1.7 Million Business Expansion/Retention Loan
09/18/2013 - $300k Economic Development Tax Credits
Curious timing here. Going by a timeline from pg 6C of the Aug 9, 2014 edition of the Rhinelander River News (this has recently disappeared from the internet, but Google has it cached here), by the time the $1.7M loan was awarded, construction on their new facility was almost complete. While I understand local government would need to get involved on a project like this for roads/zoning/utilities/etc., if a company has already broken ground on a new factory, and arranged for $78.3M in financing on their own, can anybody really say with a straight face that having the state step in with that last $1.7M really had any impact on their decision-making or job-creating?
Also, $15k in contributions to Walker from the Love family, who own Printpack. With a $5k donation coming just a week after Gov. Walker stopped by for the ribbon-cutting.
NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes, LLC - Madison, WI
03/13/2012 - $2 Million Qualified New Business Venture Investor Tax Credit
NorthStar Medical is part of Hendricks Holding Company, owned by billionaire Diane Hendricks. She is the likely the investor to whom these tax credits roll. You may recognize her from her infamous $500k donation to Scott Walker during the 2012 recall or her starring role in the "Divide and Conquer" video.
Connecture, Inc. - Waukesha, WI
02/01/2012 - $1.2 Million Jobs Tax Credit
The irony is strong with this one. The jobs the Connecture is creating? They're mostly related to developing and running the state ACA health insurance exchanges for Minnesota and Maryland. Of course, Scott Walker is ideologically opposed to taking the federal Medicaid expansion, setting up a state exchange, or cooperating with the ACA in any way-- even while he's giving tax credits to a WI company that's already doing that work for our more enlightened neighbors to the west. Oofta.
Also, Great Point Partners has a large stake in Connecture, and their CEO Jeffery Jay contributed $10,000 to Scott Walker's 2014 campaign.
Green Box NA Green Bay, LLC - De Pere, WI
10/05/2011 - $1.1 Million Business Expansion/Retention Loan
03/19/2012 - $95k Workforce Training Grant
This one is a mess. If WEDC had done a simple search on Green Box chairman Ronald Van Den Heuvel before making this loan, they'd have found at least 8 six-figure judgements from 2008 to 2011 against him or the many, many companies he has registered at the same address as Green Box.
In 3-1/2 years, Green Box has created 41 of the 116 jobs they had planned, and just this month WEDC has elected to take Green Box and Van Den Heuvel to court.
So, one wonders how far along they are in paying off the loan. And what, if anything, WEDC's underwriters had to say during the review of their loan application. (This was in the very early days of WEDC, around the same time of the infamous Building Committee Inc. loan.)
Meanwhile, in 2014 Green Box was awarded $125M in bonding from the state of Michigan to acquire a facility in Cheboygan, MI and create "up to 331 jobs."
If that weren't enough, the 2013 audit of WEDC noted on pg. 30 that Green Box's loan exceeded program guidelines [note that Green Box was the only Business Retention and Expansion award greater than $100k awarded in Oct 2011]:
Business Retention and Expansion Grants and Loans program policies stipulated the maximum amounts that can be awarded for creating or retaining a job, purchasing equipment, and purchasing real property. In October 2011, WEDC awarded a business a loan for $100,000 more than the maximum allowed.
Menard, Inc. - Eau Claire & Iron Ridge, WI
07/22/2013 - $300k Economic Development Tax Credits
10/27/2014 - $1.5 Million Economic Development Tax Credits
Yup, billionaire John Menard gave $1.5M to WI Club for Growth in 2012 and a little while later got himself some tax credits.
Kwik Trip, Inc. - La Crosse, WI
07/23/2012 - $1.5 Million Business Expansion/Retention Loan
Kwik Trip executives have contributed over $40k to Walker. Kwik Trip has also been known to "educate" its employees with literature from Americans for Prosperity.
Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated - Milwaukee
04/30/2013 - $800k Economic Development Tax Credit
Former CEO G. Frederick Kasten has contributed $56k to Walker, and more to other WIGOP candidates.
And from pg. 44-45 of the 2013 Audit it looks like there was some bending of the rules and some double-dipping for tax credits on the same project:
Economic Development Tax Credit program policies indicated that tax credits should be allocated only for projects that would not otherwise occur or for capital expenses beyond a business’s normal capital expenditures, and that tax credits should not be allocated to financial institutions. In January 2013, WEDC committed in writing to execute a contract to allocate a financial institution $800,000 in tax credits to renovate its downtown Milwaukee offices. Because WEDC considers the business to be in an economically distressed area, it allocated more credits than it would have allocated otherwise. The business reported to WEDC that it had a strong net income and considerable cash on hand. Commerce had previously allocated the business tax credits to renovate its downtown Milwaukee offices. The business submitted information to WEDC indicating that it anticipated fully claiming the tax credits allocated by Commerce by 2015, at which point it would begin to claim the $800,000 in tax credits.
County Materials Corp - Turtle, WI
03/19/2013 - $750k Economic Development Tax Credit
The Sonnentag family that owns County Materials has donated over $50k to Scott Walker.
Sargento Foods, Inc. - Plymouth, WI
07/06/2011 - $674k Economic Development Tax Credit
01/22/2013 - $185k Economic Development Tax Credit
10/14/2013 - $723k Economic Development Tax Credit
Masters Gallery Foods, Inc. - Plymouth WI
10/12/2012 - $375k Business Expansion/Retention Loan
11/12/2012 - $9 Million Midwestern Disaster Bond
The Gentine family (owners of Sargento, Masters Gallery, and Dairyland Investor Group) have contributed over $100k to Walker's campaigns.
WD Parket, LLC - Laona, WI
09/04/2012 - $750k Business Expansion/Retention Loan
WD Parket is the flooring division of Nicolet Hardwoods, owned by the Connor family, who have spread over $100k around to WIGOP candidates over the years. They're also only about halfway to their proposed 150 new jobs, now almost 3 years in.
Perhaps most notable is their support for State Sen. "Taconite Tom" Tiffany (R-Hazelhurst, and fans of strip-mining everywhere). At one point the Connor family held the rights to the proposed Crandon mine.
SSI Technologies, Inc. - Janesville, WI
09/07/2011 - $650k Development Opportunity Zone Tax Credit
06/25/2012 - $635k Development Opportunity Zone Tax Credit
Owners David and Judy Baum have contributed over $38k to Scott Walker and another $21k to Lt. Gov. Kleefisch. In the 9 months between the two awards, they contributed $17,500 to WIGOP candidates.
Thermal Spray Technologies, Inc. (division of The Fisher Barton Group) - Sun Prairie, WI
12/15/2014 - $642k Economic Development Tax Credit
12/18/2014 - $108k Economic Development Tax Credit
The Wilkey family, owners of Fisher Barton, have contributed $61k to Scott Walker, and another $50k to other WIGOP candidates.
Polaris Industries, Inc. - Osceola, WI
03/06/2012 - $595k Economic Development Tax Credit
05/01/2014 - $234k Economic Development Tax Credit
Polaris CEO Scott Wine has contributed $15k to Scott Walker, including $5k just 2 weeks before the first tax credit was awarded.
These tax credits are for creating a combined 149 jobs, which is great, but this is coming after Polaris shipped about 360 jobs from Osceola to Mexico in 2010.
Rice Lake Weighing Systems - Rice Lake, WI
07/11/2014 - $570k Jobs Tax Credit
Owner Mark Johnson and his family have contributed over $33k to Scott Walker, including $11k in the 32 days prior to the tax credit being awarded.
Bradley Corporation - Menomonee Falls, WI
12/09/2011 - $540k Economic Development Tax Credit
Bradley Corp executives have contributed $34k to Scott Walker and $24k to Lt. Gov. Kleefisch.
Clasen Quality Coatings, Inc. - Watertown, WI
04/23/2012 - $500k Economic Development Tax Credit
CEO Jay Jensen and family have contributed $28k to Scott Walker. And 3 yrs in, WEDC shows zero jobs created.
Catalytic Combustion Corporation - Bloomer, WI
09/25/2014 - $587k Business Opportunity Loan
Catalytic Combustion owner Mark Ruff contributed $8,500 to Walker, including a $5k donation about a week after the loan was awarded.
Schreiber Foods, Inc. - Green Bay, WI
01/22/2014 - $4.5 Million Jobs Tax Credit
03/06/2014 - $500k Business Expansion/Retention Loan
A lot of Walker/GOP donations:
Larry Ferguson, Chariman - $9,100 to Walker; another $7k+ to other WIGOP campaigns
Mike & Leanne Haddad, CEO - $2,000 to Walker
Jerome Smyth, General Counsel - $3,600 to Walker
Robert & Carol Bush, Former CEO - $3,550 to Walker; another $38k+ to other WIGOP campaigns
John Meng, Former CEO - $5,000 to walker (<60 days from WEDC award); another $5k+ to other WIGOP campaigns
Nancy Armbrust, former VP - $2,750 to Walker
Ripon Foods/Heritage Wafers (Rippin' Good Cookies/ConAgra) - Ripon, WI
11/05/2012 - $400k Economic Development Tax Credits
ConAgra has already claimed the full $400k tax credit for (briefly) retaining 182 jobs and creating 128. Now, they're closing a factory and laying off 320 people in Ripon.
Also, WEDC Board member Scott Klug has a financial interest in ConAgra.
WS Packaging Group, Inc. - Algoma, WI
05/03/2013 - $300k Economic Development Tax Credits
WS Packaging is mostly owned by investor John W. Childs, who has contributed at least $110k to Scott Walker.
Johnson Controls - Glendale, WI
03/28/2014 - $2.5 Million Economic Development Tax Credit
03/28/2014 - $1 Million Economic Development Tax Credit
This is a large company with political donations going both ways, but the bulk of executives' large contributions in the last 10 yrs ($47k) have gone to GOP candidates, with $15k going to Walker.
Also noteworthy is the possible free-ridership problem noted in the 2015 Audit on pg. 47:
Two contracts executed with one business in March 2014 allocated $3.5 million in tax credits through the Economic Development Tax Credit program for creating jobs from June 2011 through May 2014. WEDC indicated that after the business accepted a letter of intent in May 2011, it ceased communicating with the business for a period of time. The December 2013 staff review indicated that the business had already started the project. Through December 2014, WEDC had awarded the business $2.5 million in tax credits, including at least $1.6 million in tax credits for creating jobs before the two contracts were executed.
Bemis Healthcare Packaging, Inc. - Oshkosh, WI
10/20/2014 - $1 Million Business Opportunity Loan
10/22/2014 - $1 Million Business Opportunity Loan
Notable because Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) married into the Curler family that controlled Bemis, and his own company, Pacur, was set up as a captive supplier for Bemis located just across the street from a Bemis factory. It is unclear whether Sen. Johnson or his family still have an interest in Bemis, but may be worth looking into.
Sub-Zero, Inc. - Madison, WI
07/08/2013 - $1 Million Economic Development Tax Credit
The tax credit for retaining jobs came just a year after laying off 100 workers in Madison, part of a larger shift of work from WI to Arizona and Kentucky.
Also, Sub-Zero executives have made about $8k in donations to Walker.
North American Finishing LLC - Suring, WI
01/03/2013 - $1 Million Business Expansion/Retention Loan
This is another WEDC loan recipient that failed and now WEDC is taking them to court.
It would be interesting to see what the underwriters thought of this during the application process, and exactly who was listed on the application. The president and registered agent for North American is Tim Flaherty, but a construction lien on their factory also lists Gary Ort as a co-owner. Ort is the former owner of Aacer Flooring (Peshtigo) and Wolf River Lumber (New London), which went into receivership in 2010, were sold at auction to a bank, and then Ort was accused of defrauding the bank of $20 Million. Might have been a red-flag in there somewhere.
If WEDC had seen this 2012 article, they'd have seen that Tim Flaherty was somewhat involved in the Aacer litigation:
Ort was unable or unwilling to provide documentation explaining some $135,000 in "loan repayments" from Northern Premium Hardwoods (NPH), which is owned by what Judge Griesbach labels Ort's "longtime friend Timothy Flaherty…. Not only did NPH not loan any money to Ort, Flaherty testified at one point Ort's wife Cynthia loaned his company $200,000." What's more, "NPH paid Cynthia Ort some $6,000 per month for office space…."
In another instance, Griesbach described how Ort used NPH [Flaherty] to shield assets "through a number of undocumented oral arrangements.... And these could merely be the tip of the proverbial iceberg." He continued, "...Ort has repeatedly lied about his relationship with NPH. One day he would say he received a given amount from NPH as 'commissions' or for 'consulting,' and another day he would testify that the money he received (which would be a different total) was for repayments on undocumented loans."
A comment beneath the article from a "former Aacer vendor" seems prescient: "Pay attention! this kind of fraud could be coming to a town near you(Suring)."
Kerry, Inc. -Sturtevant & Jackson, WI
12/28/2011 - $1.5 million Business Expansion/Retention Loan
01/06/2014 - $597k Jobs Tax Credit
01/06/2014 - $300k Business Opportunity Loan
Since Kerry's 2011 award, WEDC reports that they have "created" 58 jobs. However, during the same timespan, Kerry has closed plants in Turtle Lake and Waukesha, eliminating 64 Wisconsin jobs. Looks more like consolidation than job creation.
Kenall Manufacturing - Kenosha, WI
02/04/2014 - $6.25 Million Jobs Tax Credit
02/04/2014 - $750k Development Opportunity Zone Tax Credit
Kenall CEO James Hawkins contributed $5,750 to Walker's campaign and another $1,250 to State Sen. Van Wanggaard (R-Racine).
There's also this, from pg. 43 of the 2015 legislative audit of WEDC:
Since June 2009, statutes have required project activities funded by the Jobs Tax Credit program to occur in Wisconsin. Through this program, WEDC allocated one Illinois business $500,000 in July 2013 and a second Illinois business $6.3 million in February 2014 [Kenall Mfg was the only Jobs Tax Credit awarded in Feb 2014]. The contracts stipulated that after the businesses relocated jobs to Wisconsin, the businesses would be awarded tax credits in amounts based on the wages they had paid to their employees while working in Illinois, and such amounts would increase the longer the jobs remained in Illinois. The contracts did not specify deadlines for relocating the jobs. As of December 2014, WEDC had awarded one of the two businesses $53,678 in tax credits.
The Shannon Family:
Okanjo Partners, Inc. - Milwaukee
09/11/2011 - $1.3 Million Investor Tax Credit
Aver Informatics, Inc. - De Pere, WI
10/05/2011 - $525k Investor Tax Credit
Somna Therapeutics, LLC - Germantown, WI
04/13/2012 - $781k Investor Tax Credit
HarQen, Inc. - Milwaukee
12/11/2012 - $500k Technology Development Loan
Shamrock Energy Corporation - Neenah, WI
06/05/2013 - $150k Technology Development Loan
I'm hesitant to mention start-ups, but the Shannon family are such huge Walker-backers that we should take note when their investments receive WEDC funding.
Michael & Mary Sue Shannon - over $121k to Walker
Tom Shannon - $16k to Walker (Side note- Tom Shannon actually wrote an op-ed criticizing the UW cuts. His reasoning is comically narrow, but at least he's on the right side. Now, if only he'd stop giving money to Walker…)
Susan Shannon Engeleiter - $10k to Walker
Wallace Shannon (uncle to the above siblings) - $8k to Walker
W.T. Walker Group, Inc. (Walker Forge) - Clintonville, WI
12/21/2011 - $1 Million Economic Development Tax Credit
Walker Forge executives have contributed about $12k to Walker and another $17k to other WIGOP candidates. CEO Willard Walker contributed $1k to Walker about 2 weeks before the tax credit was awarded, and another $1k about a month after the award.
Husco International - Whitewater, WI
04/30/2013 - $880k Economic Development Tax Credit
Husco Executives have contributed about $10k to Walker. They also support other WIGOP candidates, including a $5k contribution to AG Brad Schimel's 2014 campaign from CEO Agustin Ramirez.
Also notable, Michael M. Grebe is an executive VP at Husco. Walker recently appointed him to serve on the UW Board of Regents. He is also the son of Bradley Foundation and Scott Walker campaign chair, Michael W. Grebe.
KCS International (aka, Cruisers Yachts) - Oconto, WI
04/15/2013 - $820k Jobs Tax Credit
04/16/2013 - $180k Workforce Training Grant
Owner Kenneth C. Stock has contributed $22k to Walker, including a $1k donation on the same day the tax credit was awarded.
Serigraph, Inc. - West Bend, WI
01/25/2013 - $795k Economic Development Tax Credit
Serigraph CEO John Torinus is a heavy-hitter in the WIGOP scene, in addition to being a prominent conservative op-ed writer, he's also a Board member of WMC and an author for WPRI, part of the State Policy Network of conservative think-tanks.
FluGen, Inc. - Madison, WI
03/28/2014 - $500k Technology Development Loan
WEDC Board members Scott Klug and Paul Radspinner each have a financial interest in FluGen.
Liberty Homes - Dorchester, WI
11/09/2011 - $500k Business Expansion/Retention Loan
According to this story from the Marshfield News-Herald, Liberty ceased operations in 2013. No information on whether the $500k loan was repaid. And now WEDC is helping Canadian American Homes purchase Liberty's assets with a $1M "low interest loan." The $1M loan does not appear on WEDC's database of awards. It is only referenced in this press release.
W.W. Grainger, Inc. - Janesville, WI
07/20/2011 - $500k Development Opportunity Zone Tax Credit
Principle owner David W. Grainger has contributed $16k to Scott Walker.
Hampton Products International - Shell Lake, WI
11/09/2012 - $420k Business Expansion/Retention Loan
Would be interesting to learn the status of this loan. They've created just 11 of the planned 140 jobs, and it looks like layoffs have either just happened or are on the horizon.
Sound Devices, LLC - Reedsburg, WI
04/19/2012 - $416k Economic Development Tax Credits
Investor Dennis A. Markos has contributed $9k to Walker and another $37k to other WIGOP candidates.
Ball Metal Food Container LLC - DeForest, WI
05/29/2014 - $400k Economic Development Tax Credits
The tax credits are for a planned 116 "new" jobs in DeForest. Meanwhile, in the last 2 yrs Ball has laid off 96 from its Milwaukee facility.
Ellsworth Corporation (Ellsworth Adhesives) - Germantown, WI
04/19/2012 - $375k Economic Development Tax Credits
The CEO Paul Ellsworth and family have contributed $11k to Scott Walker.
Charter Manufacturing Company, Inc. - Milwaukee
12/09/2014 - $300k Economic Development Tax Credits
The Mellowes family (owners) have contributed $40k to Scott Walker, and $30k more to other WIGOP candidates.
Rexnord Industries, LLC - Milwaukee
11/02/2011 - $500k Business Expansion/Retention Loan
11/02/2011 - $250k Jobs Tax Credit
From pg. 44 of the 2013 audit:
One $250,000 contract executed through the Jobs Tax Credit program did not require a business to create any jobs, as is statutorily required, but instead required it to train employees and retain jobs. Although the file indicates that WEDC initially planned to contractually require job creation, WEDC removed this requirement from the final contract.
Delavan Lake Lawn, LLC (Lakelawn Resort) - Delevan, WI
08/24/2011 - $200k Workforce Training Grant
From pg. 30 of the 2013 audit:
Workforce Training Grants program policies stipulated that awards may not be made for new employee orientation or basic skills training, that employees who receive training funded by a grant must be paid at least 150.0 percent of the federal minimum wage, and that hospitality businesses are ineligible for awards unless their proposed projects involve significant job creation. As of December 2012, WEDC had disbursed $34,200 of a $200,000 grant awarded to a hospitality business. The disbursed funds paid for new employee orientation, safety, and other training. Approximately half of the trained employees were paid less than 150.0 percent of the federal minimum wage.
Weather Shield Mfg., Inc. - Medford & Ladysmith, WI
10/31/2013 - $8 Million Enterprise Zone Tax Credit (Medford)
11/19/2013 - $1 Million Business Expansion/Retention Loan (Ladysmith)
The housing collapse hit window and door manufacturer Weather Shield Mfg., Inc (and its subsidiary SNE Enterprises) hard. Between 2009 and 2012, the company closed at least two WI factories and laid off over 600 workers.
Their $1 Million WEDC loan calls for them to create 247 jobs in Ladysmith. While it's certainly good that they're hoping to re-hire about 40% of the folks they recently let go, it's a stretch for WEDC to count this as "job creation." And although Weather Shield founder Edward Schield isn't anywhere near the top of Scott Walker's campaign donor list, it is interesting to note that he made a $500 contribution just 3 days after receiving a WEDC award.
RPM International (Rust-Oleum) - Pleasant Prairie, WI
05/20/2013 - $350k Economic Development Tax Credits
CEO Frank Sullivan and family have contributed at least $7,500 to Scott Walker.
North American Corporation of Illinois - Yorkville, WI
04/19/2012 - $302k Economic Development Tax Credits
North American Corp executives have contributed $6,250 to Scott Walker, with donations about 6 weeks before and again 6 weeks after the tax credit was awarded.
And, from pg. 44 of the 2013 Audit:
One $302,000 contract executed through the Economic Development Tax Credit program required a business to create and retain jobs and make capital investments. WEDC’s program policies indicated that from $3,000 to $10,000 in tax credits can be allocated for each job created or retained, depending on a given job’s wages and the type of project. The total amount that WEDC allocated the business exceeded by $47,000 the maximum possible amount that could have been allocated, according to the program policies.
Pan Genome Systems, Inc. - Madison, WI
03/19/2014 - $937k Investor Tax Credit
WEDC Board member Paul Radspinner has a financial interest in Pan Genome Systems.
Alta Resources, Inc. - Neenah, WI
04/23/2012 - $1 Million Economic Development Tax Credit
Founder and CEO James Bere has donated $6k to Walker. Also, 3 yrs in they've added 243 jobs, a far cry from the 1,031 touted in the original WEDC press release.
Baptista's Bakery, Inc. (formerly, Gardetto's) - Franklin, WI
02/08/2012 - $2.26 Million Economic Development Tax Credit
Owner Nannette Gardetto Cherek contributed $5,425 to Walker's 2010 campaign.
Hypro, Inc. - Multiple Locations
03/04/2013 - $1.3 Million Economic Development Tax Credit
The Schildt family (owners of Hypro) have donated $5,800 to Walker, and another $17k to other GOP candidates.
The WMC Connection...
Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC) is the WI chapter of the US Chamber of Commerce. WMC has been very active in electing conservative justices to the WI Supreme Court and they are one of the groups alleged in the John Doe II case to have
acted as a de facto arm of Scott Walker's campaign in violation of state campaign finance laws.
Of all the business leaders in the state, the Vice Chair of the WEDC Board just happens to be Dan Ariens, who is also Chairman of WMC. The membership list of WMC is a closely guarded secret, but I noticed an awful lot of WMC Board member companies and recipients of the WMC Manufacturer of the Year Award receiving WEDC funds...
Current or Past WMC Board Members:
- Johnsonville Sausage, LLC
- Mayville Engineering Company, Inc.
- Ashley Furniture Industries, Inc.
- Kwik Trip, Inc
- Menard, Inc.
- Northstar Medical Radioisotopes, LLC
- Seneca Foods Corporation
- Serigraph, Inc.
- Skyward, Inc.
- Nasco International, Inc.
WMC Manufacturer of the Year Award Winners/Nominees:
- Amerequip Corporation
- EmbedTek, LLC
- Gamber - Johnson, LLC
- Green Bay Packaging Inc - Mill Division
- Plank Enterprises, Inc.
- TLX Technologies, LLC
- Vargo Tool & Die, Inc.
- Winsert, Inc.
- Husco International, Inc.
- Alliance Laundry Systems, LLC
- Plexus Corp.
- Wisconsin Aluminum Foundry Company, Inc.
- Signicast LLC
- Sargento Foods Inc.
- Standard Imaging
- Coating Excellence International, LLC
- Curt Manufacturing Inc.
- Universal Acoustic and Emission Technologies, Inc.
- Alto-Shaam, Inc.
- Masters Gallery Foods, Inc
- Realityworks, Inc.
- Schuette, Inc.
- W. T. Walker Group, Inc.
- Cambridge Major Laboratories, Inc.
- Hurd Window & Doors, Inc
- Neenah Paper, Inc.
- Mathews Manufacturing Inc.
- WS Packaging Group, Inc.
- Wisconsin Plastics, Inc.
- Menasha Packaging
- Miniature Precision Components, Inc.
- Non-Metallic Components, Inc.
- EMTEQ Aerospace, Inc.
- Fincantieri Marine Group LLC
- Kerry Inc.
Let the open records requests fly!!