Mercury Loan Fails To Get Enough Votes From The FDL County Board

In a pair of votes tonight the Fond du Lac
County Board approved a resolution to amend an agreement with Mercury Marine to
loan the company $10 million for an expansion project then failed to pass the
resolution for the actual loan. Both votes were 17 in favor, 7 opposed and 1
abstention. But the board needed 19 votes in favor for the actual loan. Mercury
Chief Financial Officer Steve Cramer says tomorrow is another day and the
company still plans to do the $30 million project, but it will take more time to
set up. The project is expected to create up to 300 new jobs. County Executive
Al Buechel says he’s disappointed with the board’s vote. He says some
supervisors felt Mercury was going to the well once to often referring to the
$50 million loan that Mercury got in 2009 from the County as part of an
incentive package to keep the company from moving to Stillwater, Oklahoma. He
says two weeks ago the board approved a $6 million loan to Alliance Laundry
Systems in Ripon for an expansion project.  The new loan to Mercury would have
been paid off by the end of 2021 the same year the company has to pay off the
$50 million loan. Mercury had a little over 1,500 employees when the County
approved the loan in 2009. Today it has 3,033 workers.