Every time a company is approved by the North Carolina Commerce Department for a Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG), there is 60 percent of chance that the company will fail short on its jobs, investment or wage promises. This astonishing statistic is contained in a new report by the North Carolina Justice Center that evaluates performance of this key subsidy program in the Tarheel State. The study comes at a time when the North Carolina legislature is about to debate Gov. Pat McCrory’s request to expand the faulty program.
JDIG provides performance-based grants to companies that create certain number of jobs in the state. If a company fails to deliver on the promised jobs within five to seven years, the subsidy is cancelled and in some situations money is recouped through clawback provisions (for example, the 2004 failed Dell deal ). The Justice Center found that 62 out of 102 projects approved for JDIG grants between 2002 (the year the program was created) and 2013 did not deliver on their jobs, investment or wage obligations and thus were canceled. This 60 percent rate would give you an F in school!
The report also found that out of only nine percent of JDIG grants that went to rural counties, 77 percent were canceled (90 percent of JDIG projects went to urban counties). However, “the most troubling trend in the state’s targeting mismatch,” as Allan Freyer, the author of the study, puts it, is the fact that 60 percent of all approved grants went to three counties with the fastest job growth: Durham, Wake and Mecklenburg. Freyer adds: “the state is investing the majority of its incentives resources in the counties that need it least.”
In recent months Gov. McCrory has been arguing that money in the JDIG program has dried up and is asking the legislature to allocate more resources. The report, however, shows that JDIG money did not suddenly run out. Rather, more than a half of the money earmarked for the program was granted to one “megadeal” for MetLife. In 2013, the insurance company was awarded $110 million over ten years, or $11 million a year. The yearly payments to MetLife constitute half of the money in the program, leaving only $11.5 million for all other projects.
Instead of expanding the JDIG program as requested by the Governor, the report urges lawmakers to strengthen performance measures and evaluation processes. It also recommends focusing on companies in growing industries and taking steps to bring about a more equal distribution of grants between urban and rural counties.