On November 12, the Greensboro City Council voted 6-2 to convert a 20-year, $1.275-million loan to the Nussbaum Center for Entrepreneurship into a grant, citing the non-profit business incubator’s success at job creation as reason enough to allow it to renege on not one, but two promises it had made to repay the sum.
In an area almost completely bereft of new job opportunities—and where handouts and bailouts by city council are seemingly a monthly occurrence—the decision seemed justifiable. But a rushed hearing on the matter, coupled with what appeared to be dissembling by the Center’s President and CEO, left many feeling as if the issue had been decided even before a vote was called. And the issue highlights the increasingly blurred lines between the public and private sectors in Greensboro, and calls into question the longstanding belief that city government can divert taxpayer dollars intended for legitimate government expenditures into entities of its choosing in the private sector so long as it thinks jobs will be created—in short, the ends justifies the means.
Perhaps most importantly, however, is the example the Nussbaum Center sets for the startup businesses it mentors: if you can’t fulfill an obligation you took with full understanding of the risks involved, just ask that it be wiped away. Please continue reading...
