The Washington Post reports that the Obama administration insisted that Solyndra postpone layoffs until after the midterm elections. Solyndra warned the Energy Department on Oct. 25, 2010, that it intended to announce layoffs on Oct. 28. Rumors of financial distress had prompted inquires from reporters and potential investors and the company wanted to make a public statement that it would shut down one of its two plants and reduce its workforce. Solyndra received word from its primary investor, Argonaut Equity, that the Department of Energy had urged it to postpone the announcement until November 3.
“DOE continues to be cooperative and have indicated that they will fund the November draw on our loan (app. $40 million) but have not committed to December yet,” a Solyndra investor adviser wrote Oct. 30. “They did push very hard for us to hold our announcement of the consolidation to employees and vendors to Nov. 3rd – oddly they didn’t give a reason for that date.”
On Nov. 3, 2010, Solyndra announced it would lay off 40 workers and 150 contractors and shut down its Fab 1 factory. The department agreed to continue giving Solyndra installments of its federal loan despite the company’s failure to meet key terms of the loan. No politics here.
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