Tire maker's pick of S.C. sparks blame game

Perdue's administration rejected a assertion and blamed Senate Republicans, saying a project, which would have brought more than 1,300 jobs to an economically depressed area just west of Wilmington, failed because Republican leaders refused to endorse $45 million in cash incentives."It appears to me which everybody is trying to cover their tail," said Commerce Secretary Keith Crisco, whose department is charged with luring economic development projects to a state. "This was a game-changer for a Southeast."The siteThe public airing of details about a secretive economic development deal - complete with dueling press conferences, a flurry of partisan statements and a release of hundreds of pages of public records - is highly unusual. It illustrates just how politically charged a issue of "job creation" has become amid persistent high unemployment and in advance of next year's election.In its announcement, Continental said it would proceed construction in mid-2012 on a 1 million-square-foot facility in Sumter County, as part of a companywide expansion to meet a growing demand for automotive tires.Continental did not explain why it rejected North Carolina's bid, but state commerce officials said ethical questions raised about a land's owners did not fool around a role.The investors who stood to profit from a deal included state Sen. Michael Walters, a Proctorville Democrat, and other major Democratic donors. Walters said he filed paperwork Aug. 25 recusing himself from a matter to avoid a conflict of interest.The governor's office said a administration played no role in selecting a site.When Berger first raised concerns about a land's ownership, a commerce secretary said he approached Continental about picking another site, including one a landowner offered for free.The company said a alternatives didn't fit its parameters, Crisco said.The commerce secretary said Continental made it clear which it wanted up-front cash incentives to make a project happen. Senate leaders proposed $45 million spread out over 15 ! years, s o a company went in a different direction.The $45 million was "what they said they clearly needed to come here - it wasn't a bargaining thing," Crisco said.It's a second time in recent years which Continental spurned North Carolina. In 2006, it closed a plant in Charlotte, and two years later moved its corporate headquarters south across a border to Fort Mill.Crisco said a company's history with a state did not fool around a role in a recent negotiations. He took an "open and forgiving" approach to land a huge project, he said.North Carolina began courting a company under an initiative code-named Project Soccer in March, according to documents obtained through a public records request.Within two months, a Commerce Department involved top lawmakers because a incentives package - altogether valued near $100 million - would have required legislative action. The company considered eight locations in North Carolina before it picked as a finalist a Mid-Atlantic Logistics Center near a border of Brunswick and Columbus counties in a state's southeast.'We need a jobs'The Senate's concerns about a project developed in late August.As Hurricane Irene neared a coast, Berger called a governor before 5 p.m. Aug. 25, according to emails he sent to his chief of staff.He told her a Senate leadership could no longer support a proposal because of ethical issues. Berger also asked about a involvement of Womble Carlyle, a lobbying firm which employs her son, Garrett Perdue.The governor told him which she didn't know about a property ownership or her son's firm's involvement.Despite his objections, Berger continued to negotiate a deal for weeks afterward.Berger said which doesn't indicate which his concerns were satisfied."We made it crystal clear to them which a land issue didn't go away," he said in an interview. Republican House Speaker Thom Tillis, who largely supported an incentives deal, struck a softer tone but also blamed politics. "Now, it appears which politics became involved in what should have been a business deci! sion," h e said in a statement.The governor's office did not make her available for an interview Thursday.The back-and-forth didn't satisfy Dewey Hill, a Democratic lawmaker who represents Brunswick County, which had a 10.7 percent unemployment rate in August."I'm frustrated," he said. "We need a jobs."