The board overseeing the state’s flagship job-creation agency has quietly approved a $6 million tax credit for Ashley Furniture Industries with a condition allowing the company to eliminate half of its state workforce.
WEDC board OK'd Ashley Furniture getting $6 million tax credit, cutting 1,900 jobs
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An Ashley Furniture official said the company has no plans for lay offs -- even though the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. board approved a $6 million tax credit for the company conditioned only on the company retaining half of its current employment levels. The money would help relocate part of a creek, which flooded the Ashley property and the nearby village of Arcadia in 2010.
Among the controversial deals OK'd by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. is a $6 million tax credit for Ashley Furniture that would have allowed the company to lay off half of its current employees and still retain the incentive. The money is to help relocate part of a creek, which flooded the Ashley property and the nearby village of Arcadia in 2010.
Federal regulators on Monday cited Ashley Furniture Industries for $1.76 million in penalties for alleged safety violations at its Arcadia manufacturing plant that caused more than 1,000 worker injuries in the past 36 months. This photo shows the outside of the plant after flooding 2010.
The Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. board approved a $6 million tax credit for Ashley Furniture, conditioned only on the company retaining half of its current employment levels. The money would help relocate part of a creek, which flooded the Ashley property and the nearby village of Arcadia in 2010.
The board OK'd a $6 million tax credit for a $35 million Ashley expansion that would allow 1,924 layoffs.
The WEDC board approved the award for a creek project a year ago with no guarantee jobs would be created.
The statement came after the State Journal reported the company had sought state subsidies with no job creation guarantee.
Irresponsible loans, a lack of oversight and personnel problems have plagued the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. since its creation by th…
