As Louisiana’s deal with Bell Helicopter for a Lafayette manufacturing facility was falling apart over the past month, state officials offered up a last-ditch proposal to keep the deal alive, our media partners at The Advocate.
At a meeting on July 25, and in phone conversations in August, Louisiana Economic Development proposed restructuring the agreement, “substantially” reducing the incentives the company would get, according to correspondence obtained through a public records request by The Advocate.
The state economic development department is in litigation with Bell and is seeking to claw back at least $16.8 million for Bell’s alleged violation of an agreement for a once-promising economic development project, and for falling well short of its goal of 95 workers. Under the original agreement, the company was supposed to bring 115 jobs, and the state funded a $26 million hangar facility at the Lafayette Regional Airport for the company to operate in.
To read the Advocate’s full story, click here.
