Dell Computers

A deal's a deal, except when it's not. You'd think with all the lawyers running around Raleigh, we could get a decent, transparent contract when millions of dollars are on the line.

As part of the incentives package that lured Dell here in 2004, the state granted the computer maker up to $6 million in tax credits, which are discounts to its annual tax bill. Dell says it took the credits it was entitled to but will not say how much it claimed. The state argues it can reclaim that money because Dell no longer meets the criteria that it once used to qualify for tax credits.

Close one door, open another.

With the promise of 1700 jobs the North Carolina General Assembly and Forsyth County promised up to $280 million in tax and cash incentives to lure Dell Computers to Forsyth County. Dell never lived up to that promise. In March of this year it was reported that planned layoffs would affect only a small number of the 1400 employees at the plant. Today it is reported that the Dell plant will close completely and it is unknown how much money the state and county will lose.

I'm sure it is nothing compared to what the 905 full-time employees stand to lose.

Winston-Salem Mayor Alan Joines said today the county won't lose much financially.

Joines said that the plant's closing will not have an adverse effect on the city's finances because Dell did not meet the goals spelled out in the incentives package.

North Carolina's unemployment situation looks grim. Our rate is the highest it has been since 1983 with manufacturing and construction taking the biggest hits. Our thoughts and best wishes go out to those who have lost their jobs.

Just this morning, 300 employees lost their jobs at the Dell plant in Forsyth County.

"I was going in as on a normal morning -- next thing I know, I look up and they come and walk me to the office and say I am no longer employed at Dell," an employee who would only identify himself as Keith said. "I was shocked, but I kind of felt it coming. There has been a whole lot of speculation. There was a bunch of rumors, but it eventually happened."

Hundreds of millions of dollars in tax liabilities were written off for Dell Computers with only about 10% being tied to their ability to employ 1700 workers - a number Dell never reached at the plant before layoffs started.