They Voted 'Yes' Without Knowing Company's Name

As evidenced by what could be a developing bidding war among municipalities to become the new home for Kestrel Aircraft, economic development has become a dog-eat-dog sport. To discourage poaching, the Horry County Council in South Carolina considered a motion to approve economic incentives for a company identified only by a code name. Now that the incentives have been approved, and the company's actual name has been revealed, some councilors who voted in favor wish they could reconsider.

The reason is that they already approved over a million dollars in incentives to AvCraft Support Services back in 2004, on the premise the company would create 80 new jobs. Only about 50 new jobs reportedly resulted. To be fair, any expansion of an aviation maintenance company in the economic environment of the past five years could be considered remarkable. Brad Lofton, a Myrtle Beach economic development official, notes some job creation is better than no job creation.

AvCraft collected about $500,000 of the incentives promised at the time, for which Lofton observes, "They’re growing. They’re working on new contracts. We’re confident in their new leadership team."

The company reorganized in 2010 as AvCraft Technical Services, and the new promise is 150 jobs in a five-year expansion as a return on a $200,000 incentive, with half coming from the state and half from the county. SCnow.com reports that the new company’s president, Mike Hill, also worked for the previous incarnation.

Councilman Carl Schwartzkopf tells SCnow.com, "You still have to think about the history of the organization, where they've been what they've done in the past, and the likelihood of it probably happening again in the future. I just think it would have been important for the council members to have more information than what they've received in the past."

FMI: http://avcrafttechnical.com/