Friday, November 2, 2012

Jay Nixon's Failed Policies Led to Mamtek


Dave Spence is the Republican candidate for Governor in Missouri. He's running against 26 year career politician and current Governor, Jay Nixon. Spence is critical of Jay Nixon's failed leadership. One example Spence gives in the video is Missouri's Department of Economic Development (DED) and especially the role DED played in the Mamtek-Moberly debacle:
Mamtek received $39 million in industrial development bonds from Moberly and authorization for up to $17 million of state incentives to build an artificial sweetener plant in the central Missouri city about 30 miles north of Columbia. Construction was halted on the partially completed facility after the company missed a bond payment in August 2011.

Bruce Cole, the chairman and CEO of Mamtek, has been charged with theft and securities fraud and is accused of using bond revenues to avoid foreclosure on his home in Beverly Hills, Calif. The federal Securities Exchange Commission also has filed a lawsuit against Cole seeking financial penalties. Last week, the remaining assets for the plant were sold at auction by UMB Bank, the trustee for bondholders.

Nixon's administration frequently has said no state incentives were paid to Mamtek, but Spence countered that the state incentives helped prompt Moberly to issue its bonds.
In the video, Spence then talks about the role that government should play. As someone who turned a small business into a multi-million dollar operation, Spence believes that government has to have small business owners back by reducing the red-tape and creating an environment that encourages business in Missouri.

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