In the wake of the 2008 recession, about four of every 10 of the jobs state officials hoped to lure to North Carolina with the promise of millions in taxpayer money failed to materialize, new Commerce Department data show.

A WRAL News analysis of grants from the state’s two largest incentive programs, the Job Development Investment Grant and the One North Carolina Fund, shows that more than one-third of the companies that announced relocations and expansions failed to hire a single worker. The analysis covers grants awarded from 2009 through 2012, under the administration of former Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue.

Almost all of the grants during that period have closed out or finished their hiring window. Yet companies aren’t getting paid for jobs they don’t create: North Carolina has paid out only about 25 percent of the taxpayer money initially committed under the programs.

Commerce officials say this shows the programs promote economic growth while holding companies accountable for achieving their job targets, unlike other states that award companies cash upfront. But critics of incentives on the left and the right say the programs do little to impact long-term job creation. Now, amid a multi-state battle for Amazon’s new headquarters, they say past missed targets are important to remember when calculating what to offer the tech giant in exchange for job promises.

“It’s not surprising that such a large percentage of these companies produce [few] or no jobs,” Joe Coletti, a senior fellow at the conservative John Locke Foundation, said. “For the companies, as it is for the state, it’s more about the appearance of doing something rather than actually doing something.”

Missed job targets on trend for state

In a report issued to state lawmakers every October, the Department of Commerce tracks the performance of each of its incentive programs and the number of jobs actually created by each company, according to payroll tax records.

JDIG and One North Carolina grants take two to eight years to fully pay out as companies ramp up production, build new facilities or relocate operations. So, for the past several years, WRAL News has analyzed the JDIG and One North Carolina projects announced by Perdue from 2009 to 2012 to get a complete picture of how the incentives perform.

Of the 279 projects Perdue’s administration announced, 97 of the firms haven’t created a single job.

In her announcements, Perdue promised the creation of 43,000 jobs during her tenure. Data show that 57 percent of those jobs – about 24,700 – have been created.

Commerce Secretary Tony Copeland said those results largely track with trends dating to the genesis of the incentive programs in the early 2000s. Because they’re based on company performance and not paid upfront, he said, even the creation of six jobs out of every 10 announced is a win for the state’s economy.

“In that regard, you’ve got 60 percent more of those jobs than when you started,” Copeland said. “I would call that a success.”

There’s much more to the story. read it all at:

http://www.wral.com/job-promises-miss-the-mark-but-come-in-under-budget/17022811/