WSMV Channel 4 Deal to bring 900 jobs to Nashville won't happen, says Dean

A deal that was supposed to bring 900 jobs to Nashville won't happen, according to the office of Mayor Karl Dean Tuesday.

IQT was supposed to relocate its corporate headquarters to Nashville and hire more than 900 employees.

In exchange, the city had pledged $1.6 million in taxpayer incentives.  Those included $500 for every job created, along with $500,000 for relocation costs and job training.

According to Canadian news reports, the company laid off 1,000 workers at call centers in Ontario and Quebec. On Monday, workers in Oshawa, Ontario took to the streets after the company refused to give them final paychecks or severance pay.

Questions arose after the layoffs, and after speaking with the company Monday night, Metro economic officials said they are no longer in talks to have IQT relocate to Nashville.

In a statement Tuesday morning, Matt Wiltshire of Metro Economic Development said,"We are disappointed these job opportunities won't be available to Nashvillians, but it is important to point out that no incentive dollars were expended.  We are dismayed about what happened in Canada and don't think workers anywhere should be treated that way."

Questions Began Monday

 "We were surprised and concerned to hear about the developments in Canada, and I was dismayed by the way the company treated its employees there," said Mayor Karl Dean in a statement Monday.

"Rest assured, Metro taxpayers are protected. Metro's agreements with IQT have not been finalized, and no incentive funds have been paid to the company. Consistent with my philosophy on economic development, the incentives offered to IQT are based on the company's ability to bring jobs to Nashville. If they don't create jobs here, they don't get incentives. We are not moving forward on this deal unless we get answers from IQT that satisfy my concerns."

Taxpayer watchdog groups say this is a perfect example of why more transparency is needed when dealing with taxpayer funded incentives.

"There's not much transparency for legislators and certainly for taxpayers to know: Are these companies legit? Are they worthy or this money and are they going to back up their statements and do what they said they were going to do?" said Justin Owen, with Tennessee Center for Policy Research.

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