Jan. 3—Canoo, an electric vehicle manufacturer, wangled $1 million out of Oklahoma’s coffers before closing its doors and furloughing all of its employees at the new plant in Pryor.
In 2023, Gov. Kevin Stitt and Oklahoma Department of Commerce leaders announced an award to Canoo of more than $100 million in performance-based incentives, reported KFOR in an articled titled, “Former employee with Canoo prior to Oklahoma relocation says state leaders missed signs company was bad investment,” published Dec. 20, 2024.
The deal was that Oklahoma would pay the company $100 million over a 10-year period to help get the company off the ground for a promise to bring 120 jobs to Oklahoma.
A former employee claimed no vehicles were made in Oklahoma, and the three vehicles delivered to the Oklahoma Office of Management and Enterprise were manufactured by AFV Services in Justin, Texas, reported the article.
Gov. Kevin Stitt was asked in an interview with KOKH Fox 25 on Dec. 19, 2024, if he would do anything differently in regard to Canoo.
“No, I don’t think so. We are always swinging for the fences and going for big projects,” Stitt said. “People don’t realize, starting a brand-new EV car company — that’s a difficult task. We hope they bring [the employees] back.”
Another deal gone bad made by Oklahoma officials involved a contract between Swadley’s Bar-B-Q restaurants and Oklahoma Department of Tourism for restaurants in state parks. In February 2024, Brent Swadley, the owner, and two other men involved with the company, were indicted for conspiracy to defraud the state.
Swadley’s Foggy Bottom Kitchen allegedly provided false invoices to the Tourism Department and told suppliers to create fake invoices with larger amounts for equipment. The last report on the case was in October 2024, with the information that Brent Swadley decided to waive his right to a preliminary trial.
On the Facebook forum Dec. 28, 2024, readers were asked if the state should invest more in Canoo to keep it in the state and what they thought of deals like Swadley’s restaurants in state parks, which was also engineered by Stitt and other leaders. They were asked if they trusted Oklahoma officials to negotiate these kinds of deals and whether they should be punished if the deals fall through.
Andy Williams said the governor is a “clown” and should be investigated. Robbie Frank’s cynical response was: “Gov. [Stitt] would never do a deed to line his own pockets.”
Eric Swanson said the state should not give Canoo more money to keep it in the state because Stitt doesn’t have a good track record when it comes to economic development deals: “witness Canoo’s closing and the Swadley’s scandal.”
“I can’t say that the Canoo and Swadley’s deals benefited Stitt and/or other state officials, as I have no evidence to back that idea up,” Swanson said. “However, I do wonder if the governor and/or lawmakers get so excited about the prospect of attracting new businesses to the state that they ignore any red flags.”
Unless there is evidence of corruption, Swanson said, he doesn’t see any reason to punish officials when deals fall through.
“An economic-development deal may fall through for reasons that are not necessarily the state’s fault,” Swanson said. “That said, state officials must be sure to vet a company that wants to come to Oklahoma thoroughly before pledging any financial assistance. I don’t know whether they did their due diligence before approving the Swadley’s and Canoo deals, but if they did, it may not have been enough.”
Patience Harris said she doesn’t trust Stitt, and doesn’t believe any more money should be given to Canoo, especially since the company is still strugglin,g and it should be let go.
“We don’t have the infrastructure to go all electric, not to mention the fact that it takes more oil and resources to make green energies and items that they don’t even balance each other out,” Harris said. “More oil is used than saved.”
Teresa A. Courtney said companies should be investigated before an investment is promised.
“I met the owners of Swadley’s; there was more to that deal than is being told,” Courtney said. “I trust our governor and those trusted business persons that he consults. I am Republican and all for free enterprise building the state of Oklahoma. That said, inevitably there will be bad apples that need recouping.”
Courtney said deal making is like horse races — risky business; some win some lose [and] for that bravery, “I see no need for punishment.”
Attempts were made to contact local legislators for comment, but most were unavailable due to the holidays.
What you said
In a poll on TDP’s website, readers were asked: “What do you think of Canoo’s decision to leave Oklahoma, even after being promised $100 million in startup fees by taxpayers?” The one with the most votes was, “Something fishy’s going on between that company and state officials,” at 38.5%; 30.8% answered, “state officials should pursue retrieving the $1 million already paid Canoo”; 22.6% voted, “state officials should not be allowed to offer incentives to corporations without direct voter approval”; 7.7% voted “I support state officials in any endeavor to boost employment, even if the deal falls through”; and 2.6%% voted “I have no opinion.”