Public records provide inside look at opposition to Yadkin Project relicensing

Alcoa Power Generating Inc. has launched a website, TheYadkinFacts.com, that makes public records related to the relicensing of the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project available online. Click here to view the website. 

“We believe transparency in government is important,” said Kevin Anton, Alcoa’s Chief Sustainability Officer. “The records included on this site will help make clear the activities of those pushing for a government takeover of Alcoa’s private property and dams, activities that to date have largely been kept from public view.”   

Documents contained on the site are organized around three categories — the $5+ million in taxpayer money spent by the Stanly County Commissioners to oppose Alcoa’s license; the missed opportunity to create 450 new jobs with Alcoa’s recruitment of Clean Tech Silicon & Bar; and the tactics employed by Alcoa’s opponents. 

Some of the documents on the website show that:

• Stanly County has spent more than $5 million since 2006. More than $3 million has been paid to Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein, a Charlotte law firm that has billed the county as much as $495 an hour. 
• The written agreements proposed by Alcoa and Clean Tech in December 2011 included a commitment to provide 750 jobs with an annual payroll of at least $30 million for the next 30 years. 
• The NC Water Rights Committee was a created by Stanly County. A public opinion poll and other information released under the name of the NC Water Rights Committee was actually paid for by Stanly County taxpayers. 
• A Stanly County lobbyist drafted legislation calling for a Yadkin Project Study in 2008. Alcoa’s opponents were encouraged to tell legislators “the simple bill you will be voting on just creates a study commission…," but the lobbyist had a different message for Stanly County Commissioners: “Remember that I drafted the bill and left plenty of holes wide enough to sail the recapture ship through the dams."  

This site will make available thousands of public records Alcoa received from the Stanly County Board of Commissioners, the NC Department of Commerce, and the Office of the Governor in response to public requests requests that began in 2008.  An initial set of documents is now available, and a searchable database of all public records provided to Alcoa is under development. New documents will be added frequently.

For more information, visit the website at www.theyadkinfacts.com. 

David Stickler: Clean Tech did its best

The Winston-Salem Journal published a guest column today from David Stickler, a member of Clean Tech's Board of Directors, about why the company was unable to reach an agreement with the Stanly County Commissioners.

"If there had been true interest by Stanly County in finding a path forward, I feel certain that Clean Tech and Alcoa could have mitigated all of the concerns that were raised — even those raised at the 11th hour," Stickler wrote

"But there was one fundamental problem: Every time we mitigated or structured around one concern, the county would simply present another concern that then needed to be addressed."

The entire article is reprinted below:

Clean Tech did its best

By DAVID STICKLER

Now that Clean Tech has abandoned its plans to build a $300 million manufacturing plant and create 450 new jobs in Stanly County, I see that there is already a lot of finger-pointing in the press about why we were unable to reach an agreement with the Stanly County commissioners. Having been directly involved in the process of trying to structure a transaction that met the county's concerns, let me share my perspective.

If there had been true interest by Stanly County in finding a path forward, I feel certain that Clean Tech and Alcoa could have mitigated all of the concerns that were raised — even those raised at the 11th hour.

But there was one fundamental problem: Every time we mitigated or structured around one concern, the county would simply present another concern that then needed to be addressed.

First it was environmental. Then it was jobs. Then it was the number of jobs. Then it was the length of the jobs commitment.

In a final effort to reach an agreement Thursday evening, Clean Tech teamed with Alcoa and committed to creating 750 jobs with a payroll and benefits commitment that started at $30 million a year and increased over time to more than $43 million a year. The commitment would have lasted 50 years.

But even after these commitments were put on the table and the previously identified concerns addressed, the county began raising new obstacles, some of which involved the most unlikely of business scenarios. So I asked the county directly: If we can resolve these latest concerns, will you create a path forward? Unfortunately, the response received led Clean Tech to conclude that there would always be one more challenge to overcome and that the process would never end.

At that point, Clean Tech finally had to say enough is enough. We had tried our best.

Issues surrounding the relicensing of Alcoa's dams were obviously a major sticking point for the county. It is important for everyone to know that Clean Tech never tried to infringe on Stanly County's or North Carolina's legal standing with respect to having a voice at the table regarding permits, 401 certificates or government authorizations. All Clean Tech was looking for was an assurance that the county and the state would allow the regulatory process to move forward in a timely manner so that we could begin the construction and hiring process.

As we prepare to move forward with our plans to locate the Clean Tech plant in another state, I feel terrible for the citizens of Badin and Stanly County who would have benefited from the investment that Clean Tech was trying to make. The support of the citizens for the Clean Tech project was overwhelming. I am sorry that things did not work out differently.

Clean Tech issues press release

Clean Tech distributed the following press release this morning.

Clean Tech abandons plans to develop its $300-million 

manufacturing plant in North Carolina

Clean Tech Silicon and Bar LLC announced today that it was abandoning its plans to invest $300 million and create 450 jobs in Stanly County, NC, in the town of Badin. A December 15 deadline to reach an agreement passed without an agreement being reached with either the Stanly County Commissioners or North Carolina.  

The Stanly County plant was to be located on an industrial site owned by Alcoa and would have created 450 new jobs. Clean Tech would have employed 250 people with an average wage of $55,000 per year and created an additional 200 support jobs with an average wage of $40,000 per year.

Key elements of the proposed Clean Tech agreement included:

• A 30-year commitment to Stanly County in terms of investment, job creation and related payroll. 

• A commitment to forego certain tax breaks available to all scrap metal recycling companies operating in North Carolina and pay full property taxes. 

• A pledge to provide $500,000 a year to educational institutions in Stanly County.

In a last effort to try and reach agreement with Stanly County and North Carolina, Clean Tech teamed with Alcoa and offered to commit to creating a total of 750 jobs with a payroll and benefits commitment that started at $30 million and increased over time to more than $43 million annually.  The jobs and payroll commitment would have lasted for fifty years.

In announcing that it was abandoning its plans to invest in Stanly County, Clean Tech noted that unlike almost every other economic development project recently announced in North Carolina, Clean Tech was not seeking government subsidies, incentives or tax holidays and was instead looking to benefit from a substantial package of incentives Alcoa was providing to support Clean Tech’s investment in the town of Badin at the site of its former aluminum smelter. 

The Alcoa incentive package included a direct investment in Clean Tech, a long-term purchase commitment, and an agreement to significantly lower Clean Tech’s cost of electrical power. 

John Correnti, Clean Tech’s chairman, stated, “I am disappointed that things did not work out differently and that the legal maneuvering related to North Carolina’s and Stanly County’s attempts to take control of Alcoa’s hydroelectric dams finally forced us to move on. We tried our best but in this case other agendas prevailed.”  

Correnti went on to state that “Clean Tech greatly appreciates the enthusiastic support for Clean Tech shown by the good folks of Stanly County and the town of Badin.  They deserved a better outcome.”

Clean Tech expects to announce its new location shortly after the year-end holidays. 

# # #

Commissioners walk away from deal to bring $300M investment, 450 jobs to Stanly County

Alcoa remains committed to attracting new jobs to Badin, obtaining new hydro license for Yadkin Project

  

Stanly County Commissioners failed to agree on a plan to bring a $300 million investment and 450 new jobs to the County, effectively walking away from a one of the largest economic development projects in the county’s history. 

Clean Tech Silicon & Bar LLC, led by former Nucor CEO John Correnti, had set a December 15 deadline for the company to reach an agreement with Stanly County that would have allowed the silicon and rebar manufacturing plant to move forward. After several meetings this week, the Commissioners failed to reach agreement with Alcoa and Clean Tech. 

“Opportunities like this don’t come along very often, and it’s incredibly disappointing that these 450 new jobs will not be coming to North Carolina,” said Kevin Anton, Alcoa’s Chief Sustainability Officer and the executive responsible for the Company’s recruitment of Clean Tech. 

Despite the obstacles that forced Clean Tech to abandon its plans in Stanly County, Anton says Alcoa will continue working to bring other businesses to town. 

“Alcoa remains committed to attracting new jobs to the Badin Business Park. We will follow through on our plans to improve water quality and protect the environment, and we will continue to vigorously pursue a new license for the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project,” Anton said. “Our goals remain the same, no matter how long it takes to reach them.”  

Recruiting Clean Tech

Alcoa began discussions with Clean Tech this summer, and the prospect of bringing hundreds of new jobs to Stanly County excited residents. Local elected officials and community leaders organized a “rally for jobs” in October that drew a crowd of 750 people. 

“The support of Mayor Harrison, Mayor Whitley, and other community leaders was overwhelming,” Anton said. “We appreciate the support of so many local residents and will continue working on their behalf to bring new jobs to Badin.” 

Alcoa offered a substantial package to Clean Tech as part of its recruitment efforts, including a commitment to invest in the company and purchase silicon for aluminum alloying. In addition, Alcoa offered economic incentives that would allow Clean Tech to obtain affordable power.    

Alcoa could only afford to offer those incentives if it obtains a new hydro license for the Yadkin Project, which it has owned and operated for nearly 100 years. Stanly County officials have delayed the relicensing with various legal challenges.  

Alcoa proposed a settlement to Stanly County in exchange for dropping its legal challenges and paving the way for Clean Tech to invest in Stanly County. The Company committed to attract approximately 750 new jobs within four years and attract $400 million in investments in the next five years — measures that would have spurred local spending and generated millions in new tax revenue. In addition, Alcoa pledged to contribute $6 million to Stanly County for education and other needs over the next two years.  

To address concerns that the jobs and investment would not materialize, Alcoa provided financial assurances that could generate more than $50 million for economic development in the region if Alcoa failed to meet its commitments.  

“We made our best effort to reach an agreement that would have an immediate, positive impact on the local economy and put these issues to rest,” Anton said. “Instead, it looks this process will continue for years to come.”  

Redeveloping the Badin Site

Alcoa has been working diligently to attract new jobs to Stanly County. Beginning in February, the company accelerated its plans to redevelop the former Badin aluminum smelter. It invested $10 million to turn the plant into the Badin Business Park and aggressively reached out to customers and business partners as part of its efforts to bring new jobs to North Carolina. 

Earlier this year, Alcoa successfully recruited Electronic Recyclers International, the nation’s largest electronic recycling company, to Badin. ERI began hiring this summer and will move into a larger, newly renovated facility early next year that will employ 200 people. Alcoa invested $5 million in building renovations to accommodate ERI.     

“The Badin Business Park is a great manufacturing site that is ready to come to life,” Anton said. “Clean Tech was an ideal fit in many respects, but we remain committed to redeveloping the Badin site and will continue to recruit companies to locate at the Badin Business Park.”  

Clean Tech sets December 15 deadline for Stanly County project

Stanly County stands to lose 450 high-paying jobs if an agreement to bring Clean Tech to Badin cannot be reached within the next month

Clean Tech Silicon & Bar still hopes to build a $300 million manufacturing plant in Stanly County that will create 450 high-paying jobs. But the company informed the Stanly County Commissioners today that it will eliminate the Badin site from consideration if an agreement cannot be reached by Thursday, December 15. Clean Tech is also considering sites in Mississippi and other states.

“Badin is an ideal location for our company and we are ready to move forward with this project immediately and create jobs. But we cannot continue to wait on the sidelines for the Stanly County Commissioners to act,” said John Correnti, chairman of Clean Tech and former CEO of Nucor.

The Clean Tech project would create 250 direct jobs with an average annual salary of $55,000 and 200 support jobs with an average annual salary of $40,000.

In a letter to the Stanly County Commissioners, Clean Tech officials expressed frustration that the commissioners have refused to meet with the company since July to discuss ways to advance the project. Clean Tech offered again to meet with county officials and discuss how to make this project a reality.

Clean Tech’s interest in Stanly County rests in part on incentives offered by Alcoa, including an investment into the joint venture and other support that will significantly lower operating costs. Key to making the incentive package viable is renewal of a federal hydropower license for Alcoa Power Generating Inc.’s Yadkin Project, which will help fund some of the incentives. Stanly County has filed legal challenges that have delayed the relicensing process.

In an effort to reach an agreement with Stanly County, Alcoa has offered a deal worth more than $50 million. The Company has committed to recruiting new jobs that will generate $30 million in annual compensation; has pledged to attract $400 million in investments that will generate more than $2 million a year in additional tax revenue for the county; and has offered to contribute $6 million to the county for public education and other pressing community needs. If Alcoa fails to meet those commitments, it will provide up to $1.2 million a year to Stanly County for the next 40-50 years.

The December 15 deadline is driven by the expiration of Clean Tech’s project development agreement with Alcoa and other business partners.

Stanly County has an unemployment rate of 10.9% and its residents are desperate for new jobs. A rally for Clean Tech jobs recently attracted a crowd of 750 people, and a local job fair for Electronic Recyclers International (ERI) this summer brought in more than 1,000 applications for 25 jobs, indicating a high degree of interest in employment opportunities.

Alcoa has actively worked to recruit new jobs to Stanly County since closing the Badin Works smelter in 2010. ERI, the nation’s largest recycler of electronic waste, opened a regional recycling facility in Badin in May 2011 and will move into an expanded building in January 2012. The company plans to hire 150 people by early 2013.

Stanly County business leader speaks out in support of Alcoa

A respected Stanly County business leader is speaking out in support of Alcoa's effort to recruit new jobs to Stanly County and obtain a new federal license for the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project.

Dick Storm, CEO of Storm Technologies in Albemarle, sent a letter to Inside Stanly and the Stanly News and Press outlining why he supports Alcoa.

He highlights the high unemployment rate in Stanly County and the availability of the Badin site as the best industrial site in the region.  "Alcoa is sincerely trying to rejuvenate industry in Badin," Storm writes. "If they are not able to relicense the Hydropower facilities, not only does Stanly County appear 'Anti-Industry' but no one else is better equipped to provide economic development."


The 450 high-paying jobs that Clean Tech Silicon & Bar will bring to Badin if an agreement can be reached could transform Stanly County."Most important to me, the Citizens of our County will be able to improve their incomes and employment opportunities," Storm says.

Click here to read a full copy of his letter.

Who is Clean Tech?

Who is Clean Tech? That's a question that has been on the minds of a lot of folks in Stanly County recently.

The Stanly News & Press recently printed a profile of Clean Tech. Some of the highlights:

• Clean Tech is led by a management team and investor group that has extensive experience building and operating industrial facilities across the United States.  Over the past 30 years, Clean Tech’s management and investment sponsors have helped create more than 10,000 jobs and invested billions of dollars in various projects in support of modernizing industrial America.  
• Clean Tech prides itself on (i) purchasing and installing the very best technology and equipment available, (ii) spending substantial amounts of time and money on employee training, and (iii) creating a compensation system that allows for wages well above the base wage level.  
• Projects include a $1 billion of scrap metal recycling investments in Arkansas; a $350-million “green renewable” investment in Hertford County, NC when Gov. Jim Hunt was leading efforts to create advanced manufacturing jobs; and an $880-million steel mill investment in Mississippi that created 450 jobs with guaranteed average annual wages of $53,000 per year.  (In some years, average annual wages exceeded $90,000.)

Clean Tech wants to make a $300-million industrial investment in Badin, North Carolina that would create 250 direct jobs (average annual wages of $55,000) and 200 indirect jobs (average annual wages of $40,000).  

Alcoa and Jobs

The Salisbury Post published an editorial today supporting our efforts to reach an agreement with Stanly County and bring hundreds of high-paying jobs to Stanly County. We agree that it's time to work together to bring 450 Clean Tech jobs to Stanly County. The other option -- a protracted legal battle and the loss of the Clean Tech jobs -- won't benefit anyone.

Read the editorial below.

Salisbury Post Editorial
Wednesday, September 14

Alcoa and Jobs

Alcoa and Stanly County commissioners still stand on opposite sides of the river when it comes to Alcoa's hydroelectric relicensing efforts, but at least they've been talking to one another. We'll take that as an encouraging sign.

The latest volley in the public relations battle over the relicensing centers on jobs. Alcoa, which is seeking federal approval to continue operating its Yadkin River hydroelectric dams, says securing the license is necessary to recruit new businesses and replace the jobs lost when the Badin smelting operations closed. Standing in the way, however, is Alcoa's inability to get a water quality certificate, which the state has refused to issue, citing mistatements on Alcoa's application. Stanly has sided with the state, which opposes renewal of Alcoa's federal license in hopes of taking over the Yadkin dams and using cheap electricity as its own industrial recruitment tool.

Meanwhile, caught in the middle of this power struggle are Stanly County citizens, who like those elsewhere could desperately use new jobs to help lower a double-digit unemployment rate. Their hopes were raised a few months ago when Alcoa announced that Electronic Recyclers International would move into the site of Alcoa's former smelting plant in Badin, starting with a workforce of 20-30 employees that is expected to reach 200. Now, Alcoa says another company, Clean Tech Silicon and Bar LLC, could bring in several hundred jobs and $300 million in investment. But in return, it apparently wants Stanly to drop its opposition to the water quality certification and relicensing effort. Stanly Commissioner Tony Dennis contends Alcoa is holding the promised jobs "hostage" as a way to put pressure on the county. Which is probably true to the same extent the state is holding the water certification "hostage" to gain leverage against Alcoa.

In reality, both Alcoa and its relicensing opponents have played hard ball at times. But with good jobs on the table, the need to get past the war of words becomes more urgent. The takeover attempt has lost momentum as North Carolina copes with the economic downturn. At this point, it's hard to fathom state or county officials pursuing what would no doubt be a protracted and costly court battle against Alcoa. While the details of negotiations between Stanly and Alcoa haven't been divulged, the fact they've discussed a deal suggests possible movement in this standoff.

With takeover of the dams a distant possibility at best, better to drive a hard bargain with Alcoa and gain jobs and other tangible benefits now than to continue pursuing a costly legal battle that doesn't create employment for anyone other than lawyers and lobbyists.

Stanly County Jobs Rally Draws 750-800 People

A grassroots effort to rally support for new jobs in Stanly County drew a crowd of 750-800 people in Albemarle on Friday night.



The event was organized by Badin business owner Vanessa Mullinix and Albemarle Mayor Whit Whitley last week as word spread that Stanly County might lose the opportunity to attract 450 jobs from Clean Tech Silicon and Bar LLC.

Clean Tech has expressed interested in opening a manufacturing facility at Alcoa’s former plant site to produce silicon and rebar. A key aspect is reaching agreement on future economic development of the Badin Business Park and resolution of the 401 Water Quality Certificate with the Alcoa-owned Yadkin Hydroelectric Project. If Alcoa and the Stanly County Commissioners are unable to reach an agreement, Clean Tech will locate elsewhere.

At the Friday rally, Mayor Whitley read a letter from Clean Tech investor Dave Strickler: “In order for us to locate in Stanly County, what we need is a clear path forward so that we can make our investment and begin the hiring process. Let’s hope that the message tonight reaches the ears of the officials elected to represent your interests,” the letter said.

Click here to read more about the rally from the Stanly News & Press and Inside Stanly, and click here to see the thoughts of one local professor.