I've spoken glowingly of Maroney Commons, the remarkable LEED-certified hotel, restaurant, and conference center built by the Rural Learning Center in Howard. So has my neighbor Ken Meyer, who wrote on the Rural Learning Center's blog last month that Maroney Commons is a metaphor for rural.
"Rural" is going to need a new metaphor. A year after its grand opening, Maroney Commons is closing. The dream of establishing a busy conference center in a town with a population of less than 1000, 70 miles from the nearest regional airport, 30 miles from the Interstate, was just too ambitious.
Some members of the conservative peanut gallery can point to Maroney Commons as a mini-Solyndra. Stimulus dollars partially funded the building, and now the facility and jobs are defunct.
But wait: it may be Romney-Republican thinking that is undoing the good brought to Miner County by the stimulus and Maroney Commons:
In the past year, the conference center has had a variety of visitors, but one key component to its operation was being able to offer a training place for Airstreams Renewables, Inc., a company that offers accelerated training for employees looking to get into the wind industry.
Callies said Airstreams has currently backed off on its training schedule. One component in moving the industry forward is the production tax credit, which is currently set to expire and requires federal action to extend.
"It was an integral part of the business plan with that constant training," Callies said. "I see a lot of hesitancy to move forward" [Elisa Sand, "Maroney Commons to Close Sept. 3," Madison Daily Leader, August 27, 2012].
President Obama has been pushing for renewal of the production tax credit, saying that ending it now will cost thousands of jobs. So has Rep. Kristi Noem. Maroney Commons proves them right... and Mitt Romney wrong, at least for rural South Dakota.
Cory, I thought you were against corporate welfare via targeted tax cuts and crony capitalism.
So this is the time when someone swoops in and snaps up the place for 10 cents on the dollar. The business plan for this place must certainly have been suspect at best - as Cory points out in his recitation of facts. You have to wonder if it was all planned in advance as a scheme to transfer public money into private hands. How much taxpayer funding was involved?
"The dream of establishing a busy conference center in a town with a population of less than 1000, 70 miles from the nearest regional airport, 30 miles from the Interstate, was just too ambitious."
Too ambitious? Wow, thats putting a good lite on an extremely stupid busines plan.
So its the lack of boondoggled federal tax credits for a tax subsidized boondoggle thats the problem.
Of course we have to save these jobs that were artifically propped up by throwing more tax money at wind and LEED certified RURAL convention centers.
When does the mindless nonsense end?
And LEED certification is another mirage that is actually less green than non-LEED.
A red flag warning and fire wx watch have been issued for East River: watch yer fat ass, Pat.
I hope that the nabobs on this thread bothered to read Ken Meyer’s eloquent essay. What happened to pride and faith in rural South Dakota? I’ve noticed this “enthusiastic inferiority complex†in South Dakota getting louder and nastier in the last 10 years. If our state wants to move forward, the circular firing squad of contempt for big thinking must be replaced.
Without being in its board meetings and knowing every detail for the past few years, I believe the Maroney Commons’ failure was as much a victim of an ambitious business plan pitched against a deep recession as its location in a rural community that is 40 miles off the beaten path (I-29). It was a great idea that faltered from unfortunate timing. Its function as a training center hit the same roadblock as nonprofits and businesses that specialize in training during the Great Recession. Training is one of the first line items that get cut when a company’s bottom line is threatened. And that trend was felt throughout South Dakota since the recession hit.
Some commentary in this thread also displays an appalling ignorance of the LEED rating system, and causes me to think of another handicap for visionary projects like Maroney Commons: The deficit of self-esteem for success in rural South Dakota.
I’ve visited the Rural Learning Center twice, as well as the wind generation industries that existed in Howard when our nation was trying to focus on transitioning to a clean energy economy instead of a primarily fossil-fuel based economy. Big money from the fossil fuel lobby that bankrolled the Tea Party movement to completely poison any discussion on that famous GOP proposal of using cap-and-trade to incentivize this transition left its mark on Howard. Since then, the overlords in Big Oil and Greedy Coal began bankrolling a campaign of lies to strangle public support for wind, solar and other clean energy initiatives in their cribs.
Making the case for doing nothing instead taking on ambitious challenges like Maroney Commons is stupid easy. It’s stupid and it’s easy. As long as stupid and easy are the goals for rural development in South Dakota, this state will never achieve a leadership role to improve America’s economy. The wind energy revolution could find its centerpoint in South Dakota, but not without ambitious nationalized efforts to build a new national grid and a firm rebuke of the fossil fuel lobby whose mission is to keep milking money out of the pockets of American consumers by limiting the choice to more coal and more oil forever. Worse, keeping our nation shackled to fossil fuels will only make energy more and more expensive and it condemns our nation and the world to bankrupting ourselves paying for the growing mitigation costs of human-produced climate change. There are no cheap alternatives while time is being wasted. There is a smart, survivable alternative with clean energy, and there is a profoundly destructive alternative because of human-produced carbon pollution.
I applaud the attempt to make Maroney Commons work. It was very challenging because of its location and because of the failing economy. When the economy improves and can sustain creative projects like this, I hope people work together to try again. Big thinking and bold action are what move South Dakota forward. Pinheaded thinking can just stay in the saloon where it came from.
"What happened to pride and faith in rural South Dakota?"
They moved to Sioux Falls and RC for real & lasting opportunities.
"Big money from the fossil fuel lobby that bankrolled the Tea Party movement to completely poison any discussion on that famous GOP proposal of using cap-and-trade to incentivize this transition left its mark on Howard"
Its better to completely poison modern farming with endless and mutiple government subsidies that artificially prop up land prices and equipment prices so that young people cannot afford to remain in or return to places like Howard to farm.
Minnesotans fleeing income taxes are sucking up the land in Miner County for private hunting reserves and introducing invasive species like the Chinese Ring-necked Pheasant.
It used to be habitat for wild turkeys, well-known for their voracious grasshopper consumption. Restore it to its history as a wetlands and prairie.
I'd respond to RJ, but he's doing a great job of demonstrating my point.
RJ=PP
[CAH: Actually, RJ = JG(NE). Someone thinks I'm worth a lot of effort.]
With all the public money a full explanation is in order. Certainly they must have planned for it not running in the black for quite some time, if ever. This doesn't make any sense.
Pheasants were introduced in 1908 and they are tiling every pothole so don't hold your breath Larry. Everyone likes pheasants, don't they?
Elisa said "The stimulus helped move this project forward because it allowed the USDA to guarantee the final piece of financing for the project through the Miner County Bank. The vast majority of this project was funded through local donations and company partnerships."
There has never been a problem with transparency with this organization, and any report is probably going to show the obvious: An ambitious project bit the dust in a long-running deep recession.
Bonus question: What is the connection between pheasants being introduced to South Dakota and the Bramble Park Zoo in Watertown?
"when our nation was trying to focus on transitioning to a clean energy economy instead of a primarily fossil-fuel based economy. "
Billions of tons of concrete and rebar and fiberglass and rare earth for towers that pollute views and kill birds is not clean energy.
I'm still interested in knowing how much public financing went into this field of dreams.
"The deficit of self-esteem for success in rural South Dakota."
More likely it was to much self esteem that led to this doomed project and the waste of money.
Self esteem comes from real achievement and real reality, not some multi million dollar boondoggle in the boonies of rural SD. Self esteem rooted in mostly hope is soon to whither.
"Training is one of the first line items that get cut when a company’s bottom line is threatened"
Dont know much about buziness do you?
When the botom line is hurting, employees are the first to go. Theres no need to train employees when theres no need for the employee!
Exactly, John: that the chemical toilet believes it owns the surplus water in the dams of the toxic Missouri River that runs through it is indicative of the testosteronic hubris funding the Governors Club.
South Dakota owns the toxic silt that clogs the system borne by a century of waste laid to Lawrence County and the rest of a West ruined by cattle.
Ah, Larry Pheasants also eat grasshoppers.
Actually the analogy to Solyndra is quite accurate. Throwing millions of dollars at jobs that are not sustainable without more and more government assistance.
Also Larry there are still plenty of turkeys in SD
RJ, keep 'em coming, baby! Your place in the circular firing squad of tiny thinkers is now assured.
"Your place in the circular firing squad of tiny thinkers is now assured."
How small of a mind did it take to spend millions on this project ,and then lose those millions? When its not your money, its easy to have a small mind with few concerns about the prospects.
A tiny mind has little but hope; a wise mind sees the big picture.
"Actually the analogy to Solyndra is quite accurate."
Solyndra actually promised to produce something--what were the chances that this boondoggle would produce anything?
Chinese manufacturers financed by Bain Capital:
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/07/bain-capital-mitt-romney-outsourcing-china-global-tech
I'd suggest that the Department of Tourism step-in, fully fund the facility, and transform the Maroney to a fine arts-based resource, part education/part residency/part performance/part studio/part gallery in emphasis, and actually employ fine artists to create work for the region. From driving through Howard this past Sunday, and noticing several vacant buildings, the arts might serve to be the best fit for the current circumstances and structures in place, but it will take a total and permanent financial commitment from the state to see that through, as Howard is beyond a breaking point if this modern facility is allowed to fall into dismay and neglect in purpose.
As an aside, isn't Maroney the name of the angel who appeared to Joseph Smith at the founding of the Mormon faith?
Or is that being too mormonic?
Sibby, Sibby? Anyone? Buehler?
(Okay maybe it's a cross between Maroni the angel and Mahoney, an obscure Irish founding father of Howard. ...just spit-ballin' here.)
What is of continuing interests is reading the crying out by the anti-cronyism anti-corporate welfare big government liberals on this thread.
Bill: Cory's blogroll has the straight dope on Mormonisticism.
Larry-
Cheap silicon ingots killed Solyndra. Their technology was only competitive if silicon is expensive (they essentially focus light on small bits of silicon so if silicon is expensive their tech made cells less expensive). Silicon ingot prices plunged and so did the value of Solyndra's technological approach. The price of silicon literally dropped by 75% over 12 months, several huge new processing facilities came online at the same time. Child labor had nothing to do with it. The cost of silicon ingots comes from the recrystallization process which is energy intensive, not labor intensive. It's all done by machines.
Dr. Fleming - Perhaps you were thinking of the Archangel Bony Maronie:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdmuqYCf5Ik
Officially, anyway, Tony: individual components from suppliers don't include those manufactured within the black hole of Chinese law:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-02/solyndra-got-cheaper-funds-than-chinese-rivals-trina-solar-chief-says.html
Dougal, Killer! That's gotta be it.
Angels and ministers of grace, defend us... from Bill's punnery!
Dougal, your diagnosis of South Dakota's inferiority complex has me thinking. Robert, so does your bitter demonstration thereof. We cherish the pioneer daring of our rural origins (all our politicians in checked shirts and corn fields), but we are quick to dismiss, if not deride, daring efforts to reimagine rural (RLC's line). Do the majority of South Dakotans really believe that the only places offering "real and lasting opportunities"?
Doesn't capitalism also produce lots of failures? More small businesses fail than succeed. Many ventures succeed specifically because they gamble... and many succeed because they gamble at a lucky time. Many fail despite their good ideas and plans because they can't adjust to changing conditions, like Solyndra, as Tony notes, failing because silicon ingot prices plunged.
It occurs to me that politics is like that, too. More people run for public office and lose than win (e.g., presidential primaries). Some win by intellect and planning. Some win by daring. Some win without any talent but simply dare at a lucky time, like Kristi Noem.
Whether we win praise or scorn for our daring seems to hinge on caprice.
Cory, I'm still struggling to find the guiding principle(s) for when government should invest taxpayer money in a private sector project. Should government invest or back a private sector project in the first place? If so, should government weigh the odds of success? Or should government consider projects with longer odds of success but greater return "homerun" potential? Should government always take an equity position in the project rather than socializing the risks and privatizing the profits? What factors or combination of factors should government consider in taking an investment or surety role in a private sector project? I think we should all be able to agree that government must conduct some due diligence research in advance of making any decision.
Right from the beginning the business plan for this particular project doesn't appear to me to have been very promising. Nor did the Madison thrift store plan sound very promising. What is clear to me it that we have to depend on government officials to make these decisions, so we must make them accountable for bad ones.
Those guiding principles are not easy to write, as your questions suggest. Calculating odds on business plans is mostly a crapshoot, isn't it? Try the comparison R suggests, Maroney Commons versus the Madison thrift store. What data can we use to say that Maroney Commons had better or worse odds than the thrift store?
Maybe Maroney Commons illustrates one principle: we can justify public investment in private projects when we are not picking winners in a market. What other private actors were mounting major projects to rejuvenate the Miner County economy? Did funding Maroney Commons put any Howard establishments out of business or deny the people of Howard other important goods, services, or opportunities?
It has been a few months from the last post. I am wondering if any of the feelings have changed. Last week the building went on auction but the top bid was refused at $125K. what are people thinking now?
It's a great disappointment that the Commons failed and that now it can't even draw a competitive bid. Maybe White Oak could swoop in, buy it for pennies on the dollar, and turn it into a hotel for EB-5 investors?