I Am Sure the GOP Will Blame Obama For This Too

This is sad, unfortunate news for Aberdeen families.  It appears that more than 250 workers at Northern Beef Packers are out of work and may need to start collecting unemployment.  It seems that there are only six employees left in the factory.  The workers that lost their jobs are still waiting for a check.

"I'm just upset with the way the plant handled the situation. I think they could have been a little bit more professional about it, kind of given us a heads up," Marco Morales said. 

The plant didn't pay its hourly employees Friday. Laid off workers say they're still waiting for that check. 

Tanya Glodrey was a supervisor and found out shortly before noon she didn't have a job anymore either. 

"Management and supervisors on a salaried basis have not been paid the full month of July," Glodrey said.

 In 2012 third quarter, Northern Beef Packers LTD Partners received 1,116,000 in a federal loan from the Rural Business Cooperative Service.  

That wasn't the only government money that the company received.  It has relied for a long time on state and federal support.

Northern Beef Packers meanwhile used EB-5 to attract investors and spur the start of construction, and concrete was poured for the roads and basement. But by 2008, the company began falling behind on its property taxes, mechanics' liens started piling up and the economic downturn dried up financing options. 

Hellwig stepped down as general partner when the Korean investors asked to buy out his shares. The new owners recruited another round of EB-5 investors, but the new investment fund provided loan money instead of equity shares in the company. 

After the plant starts processing cattle, the company will be able to tap into a state economic development finance authority and a U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development guaranteed loan.

Remember it was Daugaard's administration that provided 2,000,000 in grant money to NBP.
Remember it was Mike Rounds that fought like heck to us special funding to back a program that never quite showed any stability.

Unfortunately, this appears to be a money-pit that no one in the state could get away from.  It brings up some interesting issues of the EB-5 program and how it was used. 

In December, five South Korean investors and their families sued USCIS claiming the agency wrongly denied them permanent residency. They received temporary resident visas, moved to the U.S. and faced deportation because of the agency’s “refusal to recognize normal business practices,” according to the complaint in federal court in Los Angeles. 

They put $2.5 million into a South Dakota dairy farm that went out of business while their funds were in escrow, and reinvested in another dairy farm marketed by the same regional center, now called SDRC Inc., according to the suit. USCIS denied their green cards, saying they should have reapplied before giving the second farm money. 

USCIS has agreed to reopen their cases and they’ve put their complaint on hold, their Miami-based lawyer, Ira Kurzban, said. USCIS officials declined to comment on the suit. 

Joop Bollen, president of Aberdeen, South Dakota-based SDRC, is a defendant in a civil case filed in federal court in Sioux Falls in October. It claims he provided “inaccurate and incomplete information” to Chinese citizens who put $500,000 each into the Northern Beef Packers cattle processing plant in Aberdeen in 2009 and 2010. He failed to disclose there were liens against the plant and that it was then about two years behind schedule, according to the suit.

 It seems that a lot of people will not be getting a return on Mike Rounds grand plan and what Daugaard called great news for Aberdeen.  I hope Daugaard goes out to Aberdeen to explain what he plans to do next.

List of to 20 unsecured creditors.

1. Oshik Song; Eden Prairie, Minn.; note payable: $1.04 million
2. Hanul Law; Santa Ana, Calif.; note payable: $1.025 million
3. U.S. Treasury; Cincinnati; payroll taxes: $903,028
4. Cryovac Inc.; Chicago; equipment lease: $800,373
5. DXP Enterprises; Dallas; Vendor: $538,496
6. Woo Song International; Seoul, South Korea; note payable: $515,000
7. Dakota Farm Raised High Quality Beef LP; Aberdeen; money loaned: $500,000
8. Polarway Investment Limited c/o Hanul Law; Santa Ana, Calif.; promissory notes: $500,000
9. Daesung Kyungkido-Hwasungsi; vendor: $478,924
10. Quality Value Excellent Sanitation Team; Greeley, Colo.; vendor: $342,572
11. Farnam Street Financial; Minnetonka, Minn.; lease/services provided: $266,764
12. Moss & Barnett; Minneapolis; legal services: $198,202
13. C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc.; Minneapolis; vendor: $185,896
14. City treasurer; Aberdeen; vendor: $182,263
15. IEH Laboratories & Consulting Group; Seattle; vendor: $145,065
16. Lift Solutions; Omaha, Neb.; vendor: $101,315
17. NorthWestern Energy; Butte, Mont.; services provided/gas and electric: $101,315
18. Avera Health Plans; Sioux Falls; Vendor: $94,812
19. Rock Tenn; Orlando, Fla.; vendor: $88,230
20. Avera St. Luke's Hospital; Aberdeen; vendor: $81,695