I don’t have a problem with the office, most states have a department like this. But our version of GOED has been corrupt for years. In fact, I got a GOED director fired during the Huether administration. I have never trusted anyone in that office;
Steve Westra was South Dakota’s commissioner of economic development four years ago when the office first agreed to provide financial assistance for a CJ Schwan’s company project.
After leaving state government, he’s now a vice president for the company, which has benefited from state grant and loan approvals totaling $69 million.
All the while, the chairman of the state board that approved some of the aid, Jeff Erickson, has also been a member of the CJ Schwan’s board of directors.
Have yah met Steve Westra? I had the pleasure(?) one time. Doesn’t surprise me that him and his sidekick are cashing in, I think I would have been surprised if he hadn’t.
But corruption aside, why is the state giving millions of my tax dollars to a processed food plant? Look around the next time you are out in public, do you think we need more processed foods? Or more $16 an hour jobs? No thanks. Just look at these stats from one of their products;
Well at least there is some Potassium in there 🙁
The one thing that has always bugged me about the GOED office is the ridiculous crap they will bring in with our tax dollars even though these companies planned to move here anyway, provide crappy wages and send all profits out of state. Why are they not attracting more sustainable businesses that pay living wages? Because that work is hard, and you don’t get reach arounds from those companies (golden parachutes).
Some elected officials in the state seem surprised by these revelations. I’m just trying to figure out why it took the media so long to expose it. As I heard recently on a TV show, “We are just monkeys riding a dog in a circus.”
Well, at least monkeys eat a lot of Potassium (nanners).