Corporate Welfare

Records: SC offered Scout Motors far sweeter deal compared to MS

By RICK BRUNDRETT The $1 billion taxpayer-funded gift that S.C. lawmakers last year approved for the Scout Motors electric vehicle plant was seven times more than what officials in Mississippi, which lost out to South Carolina, were willing to offer in state grant funding through special legislation, records obtained by...

Rick Brundrett

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February 01, 2024

  • Records: SC offered Scout Motors far sweeter deal compared to MS

    By RICK BRUNDRETT The $1 billion taxpayer-funded gift that S.C. lawmakers last year approved for the Scout Motors electric vehicle plant was seven times more than what officials in Mississippi, which lost out to South Carolina, were willing to offer in state grant funding through special legislation, records obtained by...
    Rick Brundrett

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    February 01, 2024

  • Scout Motors threatens legal action against The Nerve

    By RICK BRUNDRETT Scout Motors is threatening to take The Nerve to court if it publishes “confidential and proprietary” information contained in an incentives wish list that the Volkswagen company submitted to the state of Mississippi, which lost out to South Carolina for an electric vehicle assembly plant. In a...
    Rick Brundrett

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    January 31, 2024

  • What S.C. officials don't 'really, really' want you to know about incentives

    By RICK BRUNDRETT Update: 12/13/23 - Several hours after this story was published, Envision AESC announced in a state Department of Commerce press release that it would create an additional 450 jobs at its electric vehicle battery plant under construction in Florence County, bringing the total promised new jobs to...
    Rick Brundrett

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    December 12, 2023

  • Electric bus maker required to do less for taxpayer-backed incentives

    By RICK BRUNDRETT When Proterra announced in February 2010 that it was locating a hybrid- and electric-bus assembly plant in Greenville, the then-CEO said the company selected South Carolina over some 30 states because of the “numerous benefits in terms of workforce capabilities and research and development support.” Former CEO...
    Rick Brundrett

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    November 14, 2023

  • Hidden currents: How S.C. officials kept electric vehicle project secret

    By RICK BRUNDRETT Update: 11/7/23 - Eight days after this story was published, voters in the town of Blythewood ousted incumbent Mayor Bryan Franklin, electing Town Council member Sloan Griffin as the new mayor by nearly 70% of the vote, according to state election results. Voters also rejected a re-election...
    Rick Brundrett

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    October 30, 2023

  • Under the hood: huge taxpayer tab, ESG mandates in Scout Motors deal

    By RICK BRUNDRETT Taxpayers in South Carolina likely will be on the hook for more than the $1 billion already dispersed to help a recently created Volkswagen company build its first electric vehicle plant near Columbia. On top of that, under a state incentives agreement obtained by The Nerve, Virginia-based...
    Rick Brundrett

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    June 06, 2023