April 28, 2010

Economy dooms tire-recycler's plans to bring 88 jobs to Racine

American Tire and Recycling isn't coming to Racine, a company official said Wednesday.

"We're still trying to find our direction," said Tom Tomaszewski, sales and marketing manager for American Tire and Recycling. "Racine as we initally identified it is not going to happen."

American Tire and Recycling had planned, with assistance from the city, to open a tire recycling operation at 2301 S. Memorial Drive. The company initially planned to hire 33 workers and 20 truck drivers with the intention of hiring 88 people within 18 months.

Tomaszewski said the economy prevented the company from expanding like it had intended.

"It's a simple fact that the current economic climate makes expansion, even with help, extremely difficult," he said.

The city had agreed to spend $39,600 to cover American Tire's rent for 18 months.

Tomaszewski said he worked with some "very impressive" people to try and make the Racine expansion possible. He complimented Jenny Trick of the Racine County Economic Development Corp. and her staff for their efforts.

"We appreciate the city's offer, but the bigger pieces weren't going to happen," Tomaszewski said.

"Money isn't available from any source," he added.

American Tire is operating at two sites. It's collecting tires in New London, located northwest of Appleton, and shredding tires in Niagara, Wis., which is located on the Wisconsin-Michigan border.

The company is owned by Keary Ecklund, who referred questions to Tomaszewski.

The city approved spending the $39,600 for American Tire and Recycling's rent in December.

44 comments:

  1. WOW! Kiss Good by another Term Mayor.

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  2. Wait til Graham, Downtown Brown, and Colt find this out! It'll be like Christmas for them! They revel in the stuff like this!

    The will be thrilled that Racine loses again! If we are all unemployed and miserable like them, then they can feel better about themselves!

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  3. Downtown Brown has a business,Colt is now a crony of the Mayor do not know about Graham.

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  4. BAHAHAHA WHAT A JOKE! After all the patting on the back self rightous crap this mayor spewed about this.....C-Ya later Dickert, we were all fooled by you, sorry we won't let it happen again! DICKERT=FAILURE

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  5. "10 Year Plan" - ROFLMAO!

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  6. Dickert says "getting jobs is my number 1 job" "I work day & night" FAILURE!!! What exactly has this clown done for this city?

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  7. When will we all realize EVERYTHING Dickert TOUCHES, TURNS TO SHI-T!!!!!!

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  8. He's like a Bizarro World King Midas.

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  9. All - better get used to the fact that no new employer will be relocating a business to Racine with such a hostile worker enviroment, even greater hostile resident envoriment (i.e. all Anonymous contributors), high taxes (real & personal prooperty), layers of government regulations (state, county, city) and on and on and on!

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  10. DICKERT IS GOOD AT ONE THING AND THAT IS FAILURE

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  11. Yes Bob, one of the factors in employers not coming here is anonymous, hostile comments on blogs. I'll bet thousands of people have sold their houses and left town due to these damn blogs.

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  12. Sounds like another Dickert Development. He should start a development company. Named:


    Dickert Land Development
    "Building Nothing Since The Begining Of Time"
    "Specializing In Failed Developments"



    Sounds about right doesn't it? Failure in Real Estate. Failure in Politics.

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  13. Well The City of Racine fear them so much that the Mayor is pressuring the Post to end that on there blogs.

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  14. Should this suprise any of us? Dickert couldn't grab his behind with both hands.

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  15. I believe that the city is pressuring the Post to remove comments. There is no reason for constituents to gather independently to discuss issues relevant to the running of their city. Just trust the politicians. Look how well trusting Becker worked out.

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  16. The whole thing just makes Dickert look so stupid. Between the overpaid unneccesary postions of Bach, Freidel and the Mr. Racine Public info officer....you would think these fools would WAIT to do press confrences heralding themselves on how great they are and how great this city is and look at me! I'm working so hard to create these jobs. ALL BEFORE THE COMPANY'S COMMIT TO COMING HERE! Just plain stupid. Treasures Books and now American Tire......DICKERT is a complete failure and has done absoultly nothing to better this city.

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  17. If the post removes the comment portion of their page, this site will be worthless and a sinking ship.

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  18. How's that new PR guy working out John? You can't wrap enough spin around these constant failures. Hope you kept your real estate license.

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  19. Tim the Shrubber4/29/2010 9:12 AM

    This is a shame. It was not a very glamorous business, but probably one that would have provided decent jobs.

    There is plenty to criticize about Dickert, but really do not understand what you all expect him to be doing on the job front. Seems like most of you are going to be critical of anything short of something like Intel building a microchip plant without any tax incetives of any sort.

    I would really like to hear what the über-critical people here think the Mayor should be doing. What actions (within the realm of the Mayor authority) should Dickert be taking to bring jobs to Racine? Or is writing "DICKERT=FAILURE" all you got?

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  20. Tim read the above posted comments......WHOULD YOU DO BUSINESS WITH DICKERT OR ANY OF THE FOLKS AT CITY HALL? Just look at the handling of the Tousis project. Look how the mayor failed on the Transit Center Development Deal, Holding press conferences to pat yourself on the back BEFORE any of these deals actually happened? It's just irresponsable and poor management. Not to mention the jobs to freinds etc...etc...etc.... Yes FAILURE is the proper term. How about you tell me just WHAT HAS THIS ADMINISTRATION ACCOMPLISHED? forced recycle bins that WE pay for?????? HAHAHAH what a joke!

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  21. Anon 4:18 and Anon 5:23 I don't know who Graham is either, But I do know Colt and while it's been over a year since he last blogged as "Colt". I know he's working with the Mayor on some projects and opposes him, and the Council on others. Sometimes Colt and I are on the same side, other times we are not. Same for the Mayor and myself. I don't believe I made any comments opposing American Tire or Treasures; and from the 2 articles I read I didn't see that A.T. had any reason to not come to Racine except economics. A.T. wasn't being blocked by power hungry Alderman, nor did they seem to afraid of bloggers! The jobs these 2 companies were bringing were exactly the sort of jobs to employ our most difficult to employ Racinians. Locations were ideal, near buses and lower income housing.
    My criticism of the Mayor and Council are when those entities take steps to block businesses from coming into our area. Like the Pantry/ pkg. Liquor store for 6th St., Like the West Racine development. I am fully invested in my business here in Racine, and welcome as many others to invest in our community. I believe the best way to attract new businesses to our city is thru a plan of lower taxes and less Govt control, let the free market work. If Racine can be the lowest Tax island in the Mid-west we will be the most successful place in America. I have opposed the Train and will continue to do so, until it's self-sufficient.

    I will continue to urge Mayor Dickert and the city Council to behave in ways that will improve our local economy. Big govt. Social engineering is not the answer; if it was Detroit would be utopia! Racine is a great place with some problems..It's getting better but let's make Racine a more welcome place to visit. Expand the Lake Parkway all the way to Waukegan, and Racine will become an economic success...we might have to build walls around the city to keep investors OUT!! LOL. libertearacine.blogspot.com for more of my ramblings!

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  22. The city isn't pressuring us on comments.

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  23. Tim the Shrubber4/29/2010 10:41 AM

    "Tim read the above posted comments..."

    I did read the comments prior to my 9:12 post, and they are pretty much without meaningful content.

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  24. Dear Downtown Brown, Although Detroit isn't Utopia, it's not that bad a place. I've lived there and survived. If our government were to bring back the Great Society's social programs, Racine and other poverty pits would be viable communities. As long as people know that their basic needs will be met, most of them will behave well. On the other hand, when people must deal with economic stress and distress, they turn volatile and violent. If our corporate oligarchs were smart, they'd consider high taxes to fund social programs a necessary expense similar to premiums on insurance policies.

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  25. Tim - I agree with you 100%. those comments above have very little content.

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  26. "Tim read the above posted comments......WHOULD YOU DO BUSINESS WITH DICKERT OR ANY OF THE FOLKS AT CITY HALL? Just look at the handling of the Tousis project. Look how the mayor failed on the Transit Center Development Deal, Holding press conferences to pat yourself on the back BEFORE any of these deals actually happened? It's just irresponsable and poor management. Not to mention the jobs to freinds etc...etc...etc.... Yes FAILURE is the proper term. How about you tell me just WHAT HAS THIS ADMINISTRATION ACCOMPLISHED? forced recycle bins that WE pay for?????? HAHAHAH what a joke!"

    The Tousis project is stalled because of Tousis. He should have hired development professionals instead of a PR man and a real estate agent. What Transit Center deal? That was a Becker deal that fell apart because WHEDA didn't come through. Dickert never announced anything on that. He did announce the Treasures deal because the deal had been made. Treasures experience more growth than they expected and needed a bigger building, which tanked that deal. The new building is in Mt. Pleasant and can still employ Racinians.

    How about this for an accomplishment? He cut spending over last year by over a half million dollars.

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  27. "Well The City of Racine fear them so much that the Mayor is pressuring the Post to end that on there blogs."

    Why would they fear someone who cannot string a sentence together? I suspect the city is more annoyed than fearful. A few dozen of the same idiots spouting uninformed crap is hardly something to be afraid of. Take a look at newspaper websites all over the country. Every village has their idiots. It's always been that way, except now the idiots have access to a forum other than the local barstool.

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  28. 11:45

    Be sure Dickert's check is good. Oh sorry you are the City of Racine PIO!

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  29. 11:49 All of the "few dozen of the same idiots" work at city hall.
    Dickert couldn't make a PB & J sandwich.

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  30. Tim the Shrubber4/29/2010 1:01 PM

    "Be sure Dickert's check is good. Oh sorry you are the City of Racine PIO!"

    Wow, such an impressive factual rebuttal...direct point by point refutation of the claims...logical discussion at its best! {sarcasm}

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  31. Hey Tim has the Mayor offered you a job?

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  32. Dickert has not cut spending by "over half a million dollars", Racine is $2 million over budget.

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  33. To any Dickert supporters: What in the hell has this guy done to make this city a better place? What? He must be willing to accept the critizisim as he was the one accepting all the credit for this and treasures 3 months ago....I agree with the above FAILURE!

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  34. Tim the Shrubber4/29/2010 2:54 PM

    "Hey Tim has the Mayor offered you a job?"

    Gee, that is such a clever post. Still devoid of and substantive reasoning, you deploy what is now a trite ad hominem attack. (Even though is it really an attack? I mean it is being deployed like one, but inherently there is nothing wrong with working for the mayor, so it is a weak ad hominem attack at best.)

    But to answer your question, no. I have never personally spoken to Dickert, let alone been offered a job by him. Besides, I don't think I would want to take that kind of pay cut, so I will continue to work for an evil global corporation.

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  35. Tim the Shrubber4/29/2010 3:00 PM

    "Dickert has not cut spending by "over half a million dollars", Racine is $2 million over budget. "

    Those are not mutually exclusive statements. It is entirely possible to have cut spending by half-a-million and still be 2 million over budget. (The cuts could mean the difference between being 2 million in the red and 2.5 million in the red.)

    I am not saying that either or both of the statements are true (I don't follow the details of the city budget), but it is entirely posisble for both to be accurate statements.

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  36. Wait - another well known manufacturer reday to bolt Wisconsin - I'm sure it's not state and local taxes nor the hostile (and costly) labor market:

    http://www.jsonline.com/business/92418964.html

    Harley says it must cut $54 million in local manufacturing costs
    By Rick Barrett of the Journal Sentinel

    Updated: April 29, 2010 1:44 p.m. |(146) Comments

    Harley-Davidson Inc. (HOG) is seeking to cut millions of dollars in costs from its Wisconsin manufacturing plants, or those operations could be moved elsewhere, the company told employees Thursday.

    At risk would be more than 1,400 jobs at the company's plants in Menomonee Falls and Tomahawk.

    In a meeting with employees, company officials said there were significant "cost gaps" that must be filled, and that manufacturing costs must be reduced by $54 million a year.

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  37. Thank God we do not need Harley-Davidson Inc. in this State there are just so many companies pushing to come here. Just think soon all the office buildings on State Street be full! Just think of all the folks from Illinois coming to see the one of a kind Art Houses Downtown.
    Jobs Jobs Jobs coming to Wisconsin and Racine since the Democrats took power!

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  38. Anon 10:57. I am very acquainted with Detroit, Flint, Pontiac, Toledo. All former great manufacturing places that were filled in with union employees who then elected and filled themselves with Democrats at the city, County and State level. Passing tax increases, welfare programs etc. (Throw in years of Coleman Young's corruption), and eventually all of the productive businesses, and middle income, to wealthy folks moved to the Burbs, Up north and completely out of State. The only difference today between New Orleans and Detroit is that New Orleans was lucky enough to get hit by a Hurricane...Ton's of Federal money came in true..but the number one reason NO is improving is because all of the Welfare leaches moved to Houston. I believe the "hole" of NO will never be infilled with residences again, and that's a good thing. So in the next several years NO will compete with Vegas and Orlando as top destination for tourism..and if they are smart they will not return Social Dem's to power over their city or it will once again become a crime ridden toilet. i hate to speak ill of Detroit, it's my hometown..but fact's a stubborn things. I watched it happen for the past 40+ years. True that much of the Burb's area is still nice, but that is where the productive live.

    I will fight and continue to move Racine away from the mistakes Detroit has made. I want better schools, I want new investment, I want the City Govt. to welcome and not micro-manage new investment's into the city. We have succeeded in blocking KRM, for now, that is a huge savings of future tax-dollars. Now my fellow citizen's keep re-investing in your community and keep the pressure on the Mayor and the Council to control spending, Privatize or outsource whenever possible. I have heard some great ideas for improving education in our city that is light years ahead of where we are now and actually save money.
    Here's a great idea..extend the school day one hour a day and have students attend for 4 days instead of 5. Adjust staffing levels at the Central office and around the community. Save money, do a better job of educating and increase use of virtual schools. Let's face it the entire world is changing to a tele-commuting enviornment. Students spend hours playing video games etc. why not incorporate into the learning experience. We can improve our education options, and save money. Give children a leg up in the next decade, with real life skills that are employable.

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  39. It's getting really hard to start and run any kind of business with all the restrictions and such that government is putting on folk. Getting very frustrating. You would think they would desire to do everything they could to help get people working right now and people competing in the world markets.

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  40. Bob - and the union head at Harley came out and said they were not taking any concessions. The same old union mentality - no job is better than conceding as required.

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  41. Point Blue
    River Bend
    American Tire

    4 more years!

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  42. Tim the Dumb-Dumb4/30/2010 9:14 PM

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  43. Treasures Media.......just to add another to the list of mayoral failures

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  44. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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