Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Kestrel Aircraft catches up on loan payments to Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation

Kestrel Aircraft — which is hoping to build a $120 million factory in Superior that could eventually employ up to 600 workers — has caught up on its loan payments to the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation.

The firm made a wire transfer of $26,536 on Friday, bringing it current as of Oct. 1 on two loans being administrated by WEDC. It had been over 90 days late.

“The WEDC is pleased it was able to work with Kestrel as the company brought its account up to date,” said WEDC spokesman Mark Maley. “We believe in supporting and assisting innovative startups like Kestrel because of the potential for significant job creation and economic development that exists with these types of projects.”

Kestrel has two loans through WEDC: a $2 million state loan and a $2 million State Small Business Credit Initiative loan, a federal loan. The state has also offered the company $18 million in Enterprise Zone Tax Credits 

The wire payments came the same day the Capital Times reported the company was delinquent on its public debt and follows a series of news stories out of Maine where the company headquarters are located.

Kestrel had reportedly been missing payroll and cutting health benefits for its workers.
The firm has about 100 employees, split between its operations in New Brunswick, Maine, and the Duluth-Superior area.

Kestrel, which has not responded to requests for comment, has also received a $2.5 million loan from the city that isn’t due for payments until 2015. In addition, the city is providing two building sites in its industrial park for production facilities.

In January 2012, Kestrel announced plans to open an airplane factory in Superior producing single-engine, turboprop planes made from carbon fiber. Gov. Scott Walker and other top state officials appeared at a news conference announcing the project, which was widely hailed as bringing badly needed technical jobs to northern Wisconsin.

Progress has been slow, however, with Kestrel in July telling the city council it was still trying to find investors to move the project forward.

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