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Big Promises, Big Spending—Nothing to Show for It

The State of Michigan spent millions prepping land for a company that never showed up—now taxpayers are left holding the bag.

GENESEE COUNTY, Mich. — A state-backed project once touted as Michigan’s next big job creator is now under fire after the company expected to build at the site backed out, leaving taxpayers on the hook for $259 million — and no jobs to show for it.

The so-called “mega site” in Genesee County was part of a broader initiative to attract large industrial employers with taxpayer-funded land preparation. But as James Hohman, director of fiscal policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, told me in a recent interview, the state’s Strategic Site Readiness Program has quickly become an expensive gamble with little payoff.

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