The Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG) program started in 2003 and 34 of the 67 grants awarded are eligible for payments. But, the N&O reports, the Economic Investment Committee still has 14 grants from 2006 to evaluate, which means higher costs in the program.
[S]ome companies aren’t as thorough as others when they file with the state. That causes a processing delay that can drag on for weeks or months. Special situations come up — companies meet some, but not all of requirements, for instance — that suck more staff time. [Then there is] the growing complexity of managing the program, in general.
It also appears that the grants are not that important to companies.
[F]or some companies, getting data to North Carolina isn’t a top priority as they deal with marketing, finance, strategy and other issues that come with running a business.
It might come as a big surprise, but it is apparently true that companies don’t care as much about the incentives they are offered as they do about actually being productive. But what would the economic developers do?
