Whitmer Can Make Jobs in the Carolinas but Not Michigan
Scout Motors got $10 million from the state to build in Novi but is fleeing south for $1.3 billion in incentives
Novi — The Michigan Economic Development Corporation has become—or was intended to be—a slush fund for political donors and the elite corporate class types to leverage their connections to the Whitmer administration and receive hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars.
Already under intense scrutiny for the $20 million shopping spree by criminally indicted Faye Beydoun, the next shoe has appeared to drop.
Volkswagen subsidiary Scout Motors of Novi is allegedly moving over 200 jobs to Charlotte North Carolina and is set to begin production on a vehicle line in neighboring South Carolina.
Why should this matter to you?
Because Scout Motors received $10 million from the MEDC Strategic Fund in 2023. Based in Virginia at that time, they agreed to expand their Research and Development in Metro Detroit.
This was essentially a robbery. They dropped in, secured the bag, and bolted into the night. No, wait. That takes Whitmer and the MEDC off the hook. This is worse.
This is like getting friend-zoned on a really expensive date. Desperate to make Michigan look hot for businesses operating in new technologies, Whitmer made it rain with money all over Scout Motors looking for the permanent hookup.
The timing of the Scout Motors announcement couldn’t be worse for the Whitmer and the Democrat power column. It comes on the heels of the Beydoun scandal, and while every corporate and NGO hack in the state is bivouacked on Mackinac Island looking for ways to grift even more state “revenue.”
When informed of the Scout Motors announcement, an attendee of the conference speaking under the condition of anonymity said, “Jesus Christ, Michigan is in a mess. We’re in decline and every corporate interest is fighting for every single taxpayer dollar.”
Whitmer’s epic handling of the MEDC—an agency constructed to create jobs in Michigan—is so exceptionally effective we’re now creating jobs in the Carolinas. It might be time to discuss ending this decades-old institution.
There is zero evidence indicating the MEDC has actually helped Michigan compete economically against other states regionally or nationwide. Quite the opposite: Michigan has been in managed decline for the entirety of the Whitmer administration.
According to data published by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, Michigan was ranked 18th in the nation in GDP in 1999, when the MEDC came into existence. Today, Michigan ranks 41st. Clearly this baby is working wonders for the state.
With the Beydoun scandal revealing a severe lack of oversight in a state already grappling with breathtaking governmental transparency issues, MEDC has become politically toxic, and Scout Motors is just in the latest in a litany of questionable investments.
Their notice to now replace most of their Novi-based operations and employees in the Carolinas has become a political hot potato, specifically in the South Carolina gubernatorial race where the state’s 2023 commitment to spending $1.3 billion for Scout’s eventual product line has outraged voters.
Whether Scout can build an efficient EV is an open question. Adding fuel to this electrical fire is the $150,000 Oakland County added to the pot. Millions from the state wasn’t good enough for Scout, apparently. They needed an additional tip from County Commish David Coulter.
We badly need a house cleaning. The current MEDC board, most of whom were appointed by Whitmer, seems unable to achieve its mission.
Scrap the whole damn thing. Public/private management of the state’s economy has been a disaster. Unleashing growth starts by getting government out of the way.
Maybe the MEDC wasn’t meant to boost economic growth, but rather direct it. Picking politically favorable winners, unfavorable losers—and picking up some Tunisian rugs and a $4,500 coffee maker along the way.
