The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "economic development" ...
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Frac sand mining booms in Wisconsin
An ongoing series looking at the recent growth in Wisconsin’s sand mining industry to meet the increased demand from oil and gas drillers. The frac sand industry has created jobs and economic development in Western Wisconsin, but many residents worry that the industry is not properly regulated. Concerns remain about the impact of the mining on human and environmental health, transportation, and land use.
Tags: Sand mining; oil; gas; human health; environment; transportation; land use
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Platts: Russian Gas Giant Mines U.S. Energy Data
Russia’s state-owned natural gas company says the U.S. shale-gas boom is economically unsustainable — and it’s buttressing its claim with financial data collected by an American consulting firm located less than 20 miles from the White House. Moscow-based Gazprom, the world’s largest gas company, is working with Pace Global Energy Services, a consulting firm in Fairfax, Virginia, to analyze how much money U.S. gas companies are spending on hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling. Gazprom, citing the Virginia company’s data, says the true costs of U.S. shale-gas production are upwards of 150% higher than the revenues its practitioners have been reaping in the last few years. Gazprom says this will ultimately lead to the demise of fracking-based shale-gas drilling in the US and other countries that are considering adopting it. But Gazprom’s critics say the company and its unlikely Washington-area ally are spreading “myths and misconceptions” about the U.S.-led shale-gas gas boom so that European and Asian countries will not develop their own shale plays, and will instead continue to buy conventional Russian gas.
Tags: Oil; gas; natural resources; fraud; oil wells
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Wayne County Confidential: Government Run Amok
In Michigan's largest counties, WXYZ-TV exposed a secret $200,000 severance paid to Turkia Mullin, the county's outgoing economic development czar in September while employees endured 20% pay cuts.
Tags: Severance
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Landing Electrolux
When Swedish company Electrolux announced plans to build a kitchen appliance factory in Memphis, many in the region hailed it as an economic development triumph. But it didn't come cheap. Government officials approved a massive package of money and perks for a company that has a history of leaving communities to cut costs and has made no guarantee to stay in Memphis for the long term. Officials performed minimal due diligence and signed away rights to recover most of the money if the company falls short of job-creation goals.
Tags: Electrolux; Memphis; job creation
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TIFs in Chicago
This investigation looks into Chicago's tax-increment financing (TIF) program, designed to promote economic development in blighted ares. However, what they found was that the TIF money was rarely being used the way it was intended.
Tags: TIF; Chicago; multimedia
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Reality Check: Where are the jobs?
As Indiana's unemployment rate soared, WTHR exposed how state leaders inflated official job statistics through a quasi-state agency shrouded in secrecy. Indiana's Economic Development Corporation claimed it had created 100,00 news jobs and billions of dollars in economic development deals for the state. When called upon to back up their numbers, the agency refused to grant detailed job information under the state's Access to Public Records Law.
Tags: employment; government; Economic Development Corporation; unemployment; jobs
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"Easy Money, BTO Business: The Truth of 'Tax Shield of Macquarie'"
In an attempt to develop the country of Korea during an economic crisis, the government established the Build-Transfer-Operate (BTO) system, which allowed a toll fee to be applied to many roads. However, in order for the system to work, an additional system, the Minimum Revenue Guarantee, had to be introduced. The MRG guaranteed companies receive a "minimal income level from the government" when the toll fee fell "short of projections." This angered many people who did not use the roads due to the high toll fee.
Tags: MKIF; Macquarie Korea Infrastructure Fund; Build-Transfer-Operate; BFO; Woomyunsan Tunnel; Seoul; National Pension Service
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"Buffalo economic development agency scandal"
The News exposed numerous economic blunders by members of Buffalo's economic development agency. The use of anti-poverty funds for employee health insurance perks and BlackBerry devices are just some of the misuses of city finances. The city also financed a failed restaurant that was owned by a "former pro basketball player" with the anti-poverty funds.
Tags: Leonard Stokes; Michelle Barron; Buffalo Economic Renaissance Corp.; Byron W. Brown; Brian C. Davis; Brian Reilly
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Grants, Graft and Greed at Workforce West Virginia
Mary Jane Bowling, an employee at the Workforce West Virginia office, secretly distributed federal grant money to her son's company, Comar, Inc. Martin Bowling then used the money to pay for travels to conferences that ultimately helped expand his company. Reporter Eric Eyre later exposed an attempted cover-up of the mishandled money by Mary Jane Bowling and her housemate, Christine Gardner, who ran the West Virginia State University's Economic Development Center in Charleston.
Tags: MetroValley Magazine; WVSU; Comar; Christine Gardner; Mary Jane Bowling; Martin Bowling; Albert Hendershot; Zi.ma; Mandi Felty
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Inside National Grid's Secretive $25 Million
The reporters exposed a secret fund controlled by local power company National Grid. An add-on charge to each customer's monthly bill built a $25 million slush fund for two utility officials to spend on favored economic development projects.
Tags: electric company; utility fee; energy; rates; no-bid contract; favoritism