A St. Cloud-based telemarketing firm abruptly shut down its facility in Eveleth this week, leaving 104 employees out of work. Fox 21 News has a good recap of what happened.
Meyer Telemarketing was founded in the ’70s as a fundraising contractor for mostly Democratic Party campaigns and causes. As a northern Minnesota resident with Democratic roots, I get calls from the all the time.
In the story, company officials cite the changes in campaign fundraising and the rise of the internet for why their contracts have been drying up. It’s also easy to see that with Caller ID and a more savvy phone customer, these calls just aren’t working anymore.
“with Democratic roots”? You’ve always claimed your Dad, being a business man, was Republican..
What, are you checking references? I was referring to my own past involvement in Democratic Farmer Labor Party politics, which is how I ended up on this company’s lists. My father was a generally conservative libertarian type when I was growing up. He generally voted Republican, though he did not then, nor does he now affiliate with any known political parties. As I’ve often written, he and my liberal mother cancelled each other’s votes throughout my childhood, when they voted — which was about half the time because politics was not the primary order of business in our household.
I stand corrected Aaron. I’m always been a “glass is half full” guy..
OK..back to the story at hand.
Taxpayers are footing the bill for a company that received taxpayer loans to run a fundraising operation for Democrats. The St. Cloud-based company is leaving behind a debt of about $250,000 to the Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation Board, which had issued two loans totaling $650,000 for its Eveleth facility. Why did the IRRRB make a SECOND loan to the company? They did so to keep the fundraising operation going through the last election.
It was clear the company was failing years ago and this information was known by the IRRRB. The owner even stated as much – “Land lines are decreasing eight to twelve percent per year. And because of court rulings we can’t, we can’t consciously dial cell phone numbers. And a lot of politicians are now using the Internet to raise funds,” Owen said.
Another costly cronyism project by the IRRRB exposed.