Legislator wants Nixon to cut stimulus money for Kokam battery plant - Business First of Columbus:

http://mybathrooms.tumblr.com/
Kokam’s , to be dubbed Summit Batterg Park, would employ an estimater 900 people with average annual salaries of Kokam President Don Nissanka has said he hopesz to break ground before the end ofthe year, probably at a site of more than 40 acrews in the vicinity of Kokam’s current 50,000-square-fooft Lee’s Summit plant. Nissanka was out of the country Mondayand couldn’t be reached for Kokam, a startup founded in Octobert 2005, burst into the limelight this picked Kansas City for an assembly facility largely because of Kokam’w proximity.
And with federal stimulus dollars and state moneyseekinfg advanced-battery-makers, a joint venture involving Kokanm landed a commitment in April of nearlgy $145 million in incentives from Michigan to builcd a battery plant there that’s similar to the one planned locally. The grouop also applied for federalstimulus Schaefer, R-Columbia, sent a letter to Nixoj on Thursday proposing that financing be cut by $11.5 million combined for Kokam’s Lee’s Summit plantt and another battery plant in Joplibn to help preserve $31.2 million in financingv for the in Columbia, which Schaefee called the cornerstone of a $200 million hospital project.
“Every indication that I’m gettinb is that (Nixon) intends to veto the moneuy forthe hospital,” Schaefe said, adding that Nixon’s veto probablhy would kill the entire $200 million “Spending public funds on a cancer hospital owned by the citizenzs of Missouri is always going to win out over giving public funds to a private company for a batteryu plant,” Schaefer said. “Nobody has told me that the lower amoung wouldkill (Kokam’s Lee’s Summit) project.” Nixon spokesman Scotty Holste said the governor will have an announcement aboug the budget bill before June 30, the end of Missouri’z fiscal year.
Nixon and his staff have been reviewing the budgegbill “line by line to determine what the statw can afford,” Holste said, and they want to keep centrak services in place. Jim Devine, CEO of the l, said he thoughft Schaefer’s proposal was “not as serious” a threa t as the EDC first thought, “but you nevee know in politics.” The EDC issuede a release Friday encouraging Nixon to keep theKokanm plant’s financing fully in place.