That Cumberland County Business Council study was completed in May 2006 by commercial real estate firm CB Richard Ellis. It looked at the economic and fiscal impact of keeping 2,500 jobs at a Plastics & Rubber Product Manufacturing company in the county. Goodyear is the only company that fits the bill, so apparently it was about Goodyear the whole time.
The indirect and induced impact estimates for such studies are always troublesome, as we’ve pointed out before related to the Randy Parton Theatre in Roanoke Rapids.
Lesson for legislators: If you get a letter from a chamber of commerce or county economic development agency or, worse, both under the same roof, ask a lot of questions. Those questions are even more important when the group will not release details of the study.
