Every time we get a press release from the governor’s office like the one we got today about Fukoku Korea investing $18.9 million to establish a new manufacturing plant in Henry County, we’re going to point out how much the state is handing out in welfare dollars to billion-dollar companies so that they can make money off us.
To that point, Fukoku Korea’s market cap: $27.4 billion.
The $500,000 we’re giving them is the equivalent of $168 to the median Virginia household, which brings in $92,090 a year in income.
It’s almost like they just wanted us to chip in for a nice dinner out for them deciding to make their money here, as opposed to somewhere else.
Anyway, so, we’re giving them $500,000 to go toward their $18.9 million project in Henry County, in addition to an unspecified amount of funding and services to support the company’s employee training activities through the Virginia Jobs Investment Program, which, per the governor’s office, “reduces the human resource costs of new and expanding companies.”
That’s awfully nice of us to do, for a multibillion-dollar outfit, that seems to doing just fine on its own, thanks for asking.
No doubt, it’s good to get new jobs into the state, and in Henry County, where the unemployment rate in December, for some reason, the last month that we can get data on, was at 4.6 percent, a full percentage point higher than the state average, which was at 3.6 percent.
The press release from the governor’s office announcing the pending arrival of Fukoku Korea didn’t give details on the wage structure for the 60 new jobs said to be part of the new manufacturing facility project, which we are told will involve the manufacture of rubber damper pulleys for automotive engines and thermal gap fillers for electric vehicle batteries.
The most recent data has median household income in Henry County from the Census Bureau at $54,430 a year, which is 59.1 percent of the median household income statewide – the aforementioned $92,090 a year.
Without knowing for sure, we can hope that Fukoku Korea will help bump that up a bit – though 60 new jobs in a job market with more than 20,000 people employed, you know, probably not much.
You don’t look a gift horse in the mouth; I’m well aware.
Just pointing out here, this Fukoku Korea, which supplies products for major automakers including Hyundai, GM and Ford, probably didn’t need our help to establish its new U.S. operation, which it’s calling FKC America, would figure out how to get by without us having to grease the skids.
“This exciting investment will create 60 new jobs in Henry County and bring even more innovative manufacturing to Southern Virginia,” said Gov. Abigail Spanberger, in a statement in the press release from her office. “Fukoku Korea’s investment should serve as an example for all international companies: Virginia is ready to help you establish, grow, and succeed in the U.S. market.”
This is bipartisan nonsense, of course.
I’ve been doing these types of writeups about economic-development announcements dating back to when Mark Warner was governor.
Incidentally, his PR folks were the only ones to raise issue with my style of reporting.
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Chris Graham
