NORMAN OK (September 2, 2008) - Aircraft manufacturer asking city of Altus for $1 million to pay Kansas employees after spending $66.3 million in Oklahoma tax credits and only creating 73 jobs in Oklahoma before starting to leave Oklahoma for Kansas.

Nick Baker
Fax: 214-572-7260
Contact Email: nite@prowlingowl.com

Déjà vu, all over again -- Oklahoma taxpayers are the latest marks to be left holding nothing but the air just passed through by the well worn but lucrative "Milk Can Airplane Scam" proving suckers are still born every day.

Altus Ventures filed a claim with the state reporting the intent to invest $221 million in Quartz Mountain Aerospace creating 300 jobs, to justify taking $66.3 million in Oklahoma tax credits. Reports also state the City of Altus and Jackson county provided at least $9 million more. Quartz Mountain Aerospace reportedly only received $32 million the tax credit money. Now, with no prospect of near term revenue, broke and unable to meet this week's payroll QMA has ask the City of Altus for a $1 million loan.

While Quality Jobs reports show QMA has never filled more than 73 qualified positions, May 2008 news outlets reported QMA reached an agreement to move its sheet metal fabrication work, the bulk of an airplane's fabrication work, to Coffeyville KS. A former QMA employee stated at an August 31, 2008, Altus city council meeting, that QMA is already hiring at its Coffeyville plant and paying those employees travel and living expenses to temporarily work at Altus.

Anyone with experience in the business world using common sense can see the all-to-familiar pattern - QMA having exhausted the approximately $75 million Oklahoma officials gave, with no strings attached, is now in the process of moving to Kansas to repeat the same time worn promise of jobs for money. A routine that has been seen repeatedly in the aircraft manufacturing business since airplanes first took flight. A small amount of research would have quickly revealed this same airplane, the Luscombe Model 11, QMA is promising to build, was originally designed in the 1940's to carry six milk cans, and has been used over and over to raise money. Always the same result. Failure! See http://prowlingowl.com/AltusVentures/TheMilkCanPlaneScam.cfm

This venture cost Oklahoma tax payers over $1 million per job, few lasting more than a year. Now the entire investment is in the process of moving major functions to another state. Oklahoma citizens deserve the answers for what happened to the $66.3 million and why isn't Altus Ventures giving QMA the rest of the $221 million.

There are always risks involved with business ventures. Never is the venture allowed to free itself of all risk by shifting the risk to others, defeating the primary motivation that drives venture success. Oklahoma lawmakers failed to include, in the law creating the tax credit program, the most basic measures long practiced by all civilized cultures to protect against misuse of public funds. Even more telling was specifically including in the law language that would insure any found guilty of abuse could not be required to return public funds obtained in violation of the law. Further insuring the maximum possible penalty for any found guilty would be no more than the guilty party would not be allowed to further participate in the program.