Lenovo announced yesterday that it was cutting 350 jobs in RTP after a 330-job layoff last year, leaving in doubt how much (if anything) they will benefit from the state incentives deals they struck just a year-and-a-half ago. Because of the cutbacks the company is in danger of missing out on Job Development Investment grants and some One North Carolina Fund money.
It is such a sharp contrast to the great certainty and unbridled optimism coming out of Gov. Mike Easley’s office when the incentives deal was announced. From his press release of Oct. 27, 2005:

Gov. Mike Easley announced today that personal computer manufacturer Lenovo (United States) Inc. will invest $84 million to build a research and development center in Morrisville, creating 400 new jobs during the next five years. The expansion is made possible in part by a $750,000 One North Carolina Fund grant and a Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG)….

?Lenovo exemplifies the type of company we want in North Carolina by providing sustainable, top-quality jobs for hard-working North Carolina families,? Easley said….

The new jobs will bring Lenovo?s total North Carolina workforce to more than 2,200 people…..

Under the terms of the agreement approved unanimously by the state Economic Investment Committee, an 11-year JDIG will be established. Over the life of the grant, the N.C. Department of Commerce estimates the project will:

?Generate a cumulative gross state product value of $3.1 billion;

?Produce a positive, cumulative net state revenue impact of $101.1 million; and

?Contribute $2.8 million to the state?s Industrial Development Fund for infrastructure improvements in rural North Carolina….

I’ve got a file drawer full of Easley jobs announcements filled with bold-faced b.s. like this. Good thing I haven’t been holding my breath waiting for the folks at The News & Observer and elsewhere to revisit the governor’s brash pronouncements to reveal him as a false prophet.