Anyway, let's boil down the rah rah boilerplate to the essential elements of the story.
The fledgling Composite Recycling Technology Center will unveil plans by Oct. 31 to begin producing its first commercial product, CEO Bob Larsen said Monday.
Larsen predicted that income from total sales is expected to be $100,000 by Dec. 31.
Larsen said, “We have an idea, a design."
“We’ve got to nail down the sales and distribution network and got to get people outside of our organization to test and make sure the product does what we want it to.”
By day, he's Bob Larsen, bullshit baffler of boards...
Further funding came from a $1 million Clallam County Opportunity Fund grant and $1.35 million in Port funding in 2015-17 for economic development services.
The inability to obtain a government Clean Energy Fund grant “really hurt” the CRTC’s progress, Larsen said, adding it stalled development by three or four months.
Third-quarter goals include completing and validating a prototype of a product, finalizing a “market channel” for the high-performance sports-equipment item and hiring an engineer and a technician, according to Larsen’s PowerPoint.
But production efforts will encounter a “significant barrier” if no Clean Energy Funds 2 are awarded, according to the presentation.
...But by night, he's Karen Goschen,
a government grant grabbing good time gal.
I thought these Free Market, Trump-voting Republican business types hated government handouts...I guess it just depends on whose hand is sticking out, eh?
Whoa! No wonder Bob Larsen has such "good relations" with the port. That is creepy.
ReplyDeleteI don't know. $4.36 million is a lot of money, to me. And, they're out of money, already?
ReplyDeleteHow is it that all, and I do mean ALL, the "economic development" schemes here always rely on government funds?
ReplyDeleteMore to the point, how is it that these losers keep getting away with calling these schemes "economic development" when it is in fact really just begging for handouts?
We need a new, better definition of these terms, at least locally. I mean, come on people, Harbor Works was NOT "economic development," right? Neither is this.
You misunderstand. "Economic Development" is a magic buzz-word. Say it and all rational thought melts away and everyone goes into some somnambulist slumber and powers of discernment sleeps. If there was one person in charge of managing these grants he or she might be able to corral some of the graft and corruption but actually, there is no desire to do so. This has been the golden goose for corrupt politicians and executive directors for so long it is not standard procedure.
Deletenow standard procedure, not not,
DeleteThe game is to come up with some BS that will perk up gullible ears, get as many grants as possible right outta the chute, skim the hell off them, then turn the company over to a scapegoat, and go on the lam for a while. Works every time.
ReplyDeleteI'll bet they could make more money if they made recycled composite sex toys, and, it would go so well with all the smoke going up our asses.
DeleteThese guys are CROOKS. Wait and see.
So $4.35M in public funding gets $.1M of income by the end of the year from an idea/design with no sales agreements or contracts. Party time! And, Bob wants more in energy grants or they will struggle to operate. How about a detailed accounting report of the $4.35 thus far? Of course, being a non-profit doesn't require public disclosure of their money handling. Hopefully there is language in the grants and other awards to report their financial doings to those entities. Otherwise, someone should put a call into CNBC's American Greed to have them plan to mobilize a production crew for a future episode.
ReplyDeleteOnly if Cherie can be in it! Otherwise, no deal!
DeleteLets recycle her composite self.
DeleteZero comments on the feel good article in the PDN. Maybe the local rabble aren't buying the magic beans so readily anymore?
ReplyDeleteI don't think it's as much "feel good" as it is "creepy and cryptic".
ReplyDeleteWe're supposed to take this ding-dong's word for things, when it all sounds like utter and complete nonsense.
Yeah, easy to run out of money when you're pocketing it. FREE MONEY...more more more.
Blame your Clallam Board of Commissioners for so obviously wasting millions in taxpayer money. And knowing full well that OUR money will go to line the pockets of these criminal creeps, plus all the future kickbacks. The very essence of corruption.
ReplyDeleteThe feds have the False Claims Act for those who defraud the government by soliciting funds with false claims. There is built-in whistleblower protection.
Does Clallam County have anything similar?
Dare I even ask that?
Have you been to the County Treasurer's website lately? I think it's more like, no one cares enough to do anything, even when elected officials blow the whistle (by uploading public records, with bits circled in red, pointing right at the corruption), then those elected officials get tired of fighting it and just start posting about gardening.
DeleteMore info:
ReplyDeleteThe articles of incorporation for CRTC state that upon dissolution, the beneficiary of the assets is the Port.
The Port is part of the government. And governments are not supposed to be the beneficiary of non-profits. Is this a disguised kickback?
Also, the money from the Clallam "Opportunity Fund".
When you go to the Clallam web site, and under "Boards, Committees and Groups" there is a link for "Opportunity Fund Board". You'd think this is an actual county board, but the link goes direct to the EDC. WTF?
The more you look into this CRTC the worse it smells.
This is Port Angeles we're talking about. What did you expect?
DeleteIn the current issue of Port O Call is an article calling for a "White Collar Crime Task Force." Not sure how it would work but seems like a good idea. With all the skimming of grants and Opportunity Funds there should be plenty to prosecute--if anyone had the will to prosecute.
ReplyDeleteBob Larsen's speech to county commissioners:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sSeic3or-Y
Went by the 2016 Regional Baseball Tournament earlier, on my way to the landfill. The bleachers were all but empty.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your pulse-pounding report. I feel almost like I was there...
Delete"10 Teams, One Dream" said the banner.
DeleteNot that anybody cared!
A part of the bigger problem here is the very concept of government grant programs.
ReplyDeleteAt the state level, it's very difficult to steer who gives out money for what purposes.
But let's spell out what the local problem is. The county is engaged in what looks like a direct conspiracy to defraud the public. The county "grants" a large amount of public funds to a private nonprofit. Meaning that the only party that this corp. has to answer to is the county. Yet, the county asks for no accountings. No certified financials. Nothing but hot air. The term "deliverables" is thrown out there, but again a hollow word.
How is it that the county can even engage in such grossly absurd things? It strikes me that a large no-strings attached "grant", screaming out for corruption and theft, makes the county a party to the crimes.
This isn't really about "developing technologies" or "provide training" for the workforce (both of which are expressly stated in the corp's articles, at the top of the article on "Purposes".)
Rather, these buzzwords are used in the exact same manner as the EDC and other criminal fronts. They sound good to the gullible, but the words are hollow.
The words are a pretext to theft of public funds.
The pay, the benefits, the company expenses that are actually very personal. Etc.
I don't know who at the county has the final sign-off on the "Opportunity Fund", but whomever they are, it's not hard to see how they are directly aiding and abetting criminal activity.
Same thing with the prosecutor who turns a blind eye.
Where did this MILLION in taxpayer dollars go? Don't just shrug it off. Demand some level of accountability. The more you accept the theft of YOUR TAX MONEY the more YOU suffer. Can't you see that?
And now we have our new police chief, who was the interim chief, who had been the assistant chief...Why am I not surprised?
ReplyDeleteWhy do I suspect that the key thing to getting jobs like that here is to be willing and able to turn a blind eye to all the corruption and nepotism that goes on in Port Angeles?
Such an arrangement tends to very much favor the inside (versus from the OUTSIDE) candidates, being that they're already familiar with the local (criminal) culture.
6:08, plainly you haven't met the guy, or had occasion to work with him. He's got enormous community support. Every once in a while this city gets something right.
ReplyDeleteThis entire project was a facade to get the Ports partially completed building finished with money from other government sources
ReplyDelete