This isn’t the first time Kevin’s been left in the dust.
Volkswagen recently chose a Canadian city instead of Oklahoma for its new electric vehicle battery plant despite state officials baiting the hook with $700 million in business incentives.
“State lawmakers said previously that they believed the Volkswagen deal could have resulted in 7,000 new jobs and more than $5 billion in capital investment from the company. Average pay for the jobs was expected to be $75,000 annually,” the Tulsa World reported
Could have. But it won’t. And neither will it bring jobs from Tesla or Panasonic.
“Oklahoma has never been in a position to compete with an entire country for a major project, but that’s exactly what we did, and it’s a testament to the hard work of state leaders in the Legislature and the Commerce Department who are making Oklahoma the most business-friendly state in the nation,” the governor’s office told the Tulsa World.
Oops. You said the quiet part out loud again, Kevin.
Pitching these massive projects has never been about getting one and the governor is about as prepared to actually land an enormous manufacturing deal or tech contract as a dog is to catch a car.
This is about Stitt being immortalized beside international brands in photo opps and using handshakes to leverage his “aw shucks” approach into whatever possible future business deals or elections he has up his sleeve.
Accomplishing modest and reasonable goals that move the state forward wouldn’t be as “aspirational” enough, but this isn’t about Oklahoma—it’s all about Kevin. Imagine that.
