Louisiana-based company gets millions in corporate welfare — to locate where it already is
By Chris Butler / March 13, 2015 / 2 Comments
MAKE IT TIGHT: A pipe fabrication facility, similar to the one above, is scheduled to open next year in Livingston Parish.
By Chris Butler | Louisiana Watchdog
Louisiana taxpayers are giving $1.8 million to a company to open a state-of-the-art factory in Livingston Parish, but the money could be going to a firm already located in the state.
Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal seemed to brag in a recent news release the taxpayer money will keep the company, Epic Piping, from locating in another state.
Epic Piping planned to open a manufacturing facility and a corporate headquarters next year in Livingston Parish, a small parish of about 125,000 people 37 miles east of the state capital, Baton Rouge.
Evidence seems to indicate that Louisiana was the choice all along, especially since its corporate investors, Bernhard Capital Partners, are based in Baton Rouge.
Epic Piping officials acknowledged receiving Louisiana Watchdog’s emailed request for comment Monday, but by Thursday company officials had not responded to written questions.
Whether Epic Piping ever approached anyone about locating in Tennessee, Mississippi, or Texas, with or without corporate welfare, is unclear.
An official with the Tennessee Economic and Community Development, a state agency based in Nashville, told Louisiana Watchdog he knows nothing of the company’s supposed interest in his state.
“It appears the company’s search did not include Tennessee, and the department was not involved,” said ECD spokesman Clint Brewer.
“Our recruiters here were not approached by any site selection consultants on behalf of the company or any official from the company.”
Citing a Businessreport.com article, Brewer said the company is a Louisiana-based startup backed by a Louisiana based venture-capital fund.
“It therefore seems quite natural Louisiana would have the inside track,” Brewer said.
Photo courtesy of Flickr.
Photo courtesy of Flickr.
GLEEFUL: Gov. Bobby Jindal seemed pleased to announce that taxypayers would fund a new startup in Livingston Parish.
Jeff Rent, a spokesman for the Mississippi Development Authority, said he, by policy, could neither confirm nor deny discussions in order to maintain confidentiality.
No one at the Texas Economic Development Corporation returned requests for comment this week.
Officials with Bernhard Capital Partners did not immediately return a request for comment Thursday. And officials with the Louisiana Economic Development, which awarded the grant, had not responded to written questions submitted Monday.
“We’ve gathered background for your questions and have the responses in the approval process now,” LED spokesman Gary Perilloux said Wednesday.
Livingston Parish Economic Development Council President Randy Rogers said Thursday that, as far as he knows, Epic Piping “is a Louisiana startup, but some of the investors have been in the business before.”
“They are a startup with some experience,” he said.
Rogers’ comments are similar to what Jindal said in his news release about the new facility, which is supposed to have advanced-robotic equipment in 200,000 square feet.
“Epic Piping could have taken this state-of-the-art facility and headquarters to Texas, Mississippi or Tennessee, but instead the company’s leadership recognized the great advancement and opportunities taking place in Louisiana today,” Jindal said.
The governor’s news release, however, did say Epic Piping officials are developing another manufacturing plant in San Marcos, Texas.
The $1.8 million the company is receiving is part of an Economic Development Award Program grant to offset site infrastructure costs, the release said.
The company also is expected to take advantage of the state’s industrial Tax Exemption programs, the release said.
As previously reported, those programs involve an unelected board of 24 people saying which businesses interested in relocating to Louisiana can skip paying local property taxes for up to 10 years.
According to the rules specified on the LED’s website, the state’s governor appoints members of the board. Those board members review and approve applications for a variety of tax incentive programs, the website said.
UPDATE: In an email late Thursday, Epic Piping spokesman Jeremy Turner told Louisiana Watchdog that they did consider locating in Tennessee, Mississippi or Texas, but he would not say if those states offered incentive packages.
Turner also said the LED’s offer was more economically feasible than expanding their Texas facility or acquiring additional capacity in other states.
When asked if Epic Piping would have come to Louisiana without the incentive package, Turner said this:
“No project is possible without local and state development support.”
Turner would not address free-market criticism that this offer amounts to corporate welfare.
http://watchdog.org/205620/corporate-welfare/
