Cumberland County’s latest attempt to use incentives to create jobs has hit a stumbling block. The effort is called “Project Starch” and is aimed at attracting the U.S. arm of a Chinese company that wants to make biodegradable tableware out of cornstarch. The Fayetteville Observer explains the difficulty:
County Manager James Martin said Project Starch has faltered because the chamber let the company file a state application for incentive funding in Chinese.
“They submitted a proposal in Chinese?” [County Commissioner Jeannette] Council repeated.
“That’s what we were told,” said Martin, who added that it took up to two months for the chamber to get the application translated into English for state officials.
“It’s not dead, I’m thinking?” [County Commission Chairman Billy] King asked of Project Starch.
“Nobody has declared it dead yet,” Martin replied. “It may be dead, but nobody has declared it.”
Priceless.
