Obama's Visit to Manitowoc

The articles that I post is because I think they are of interest to someone else. By posting these articles doesn’t mean that I necessarily agree with every—or any—opinion in the posted article. ~~~~


Last week our president visited NE Wisconsin.  The purpose of his visit was to go to Manitowoc.  I believe it was more about trying to get re-elected than anything.  In either case it was yet another HUGE waste of Red Blooded - Hard Working taxpayer's money.

Figures… Obama Delivers Weekly Address From Green Energy Company That Lost $4.8 Million Last Year

Posted by Jim Hoft on Saturday, January 29, 2011, 11:25 PM

Barack Obama – He Knows Business.

Today Barack Obama gave his Weekly Address from Manitowoc, Wisconsin at Orion Energy Systems.

Obama said he went to Orion because they are showing us the way forward. 

Here is what Obama said about the Orion manufacturing plant.

I’m speaking to you today from Manitowoc, Wisconsin, where I’m at an innovative company called Orion Energy Systems.

Just a few years ago, this was an empty warehouse. A major employer had shut down this factory, moved its operations abroad, and took a lot of jobs away from this town.

But today, as you can see behind me, this is a thriving enterprise once more. You are looking at a factory where 250 workers are building advanced clean energy systems – state-of-the-art technologies that use solar power and energy efficiency to save farms and businesses thousands of dollars on their utility bills.

I’m here because this business and others like it are showing us the way forward. And in the coming days, I’ll be shining a spotlight on innovators across America who are relying on new technologies to create new jobs and opportunities in new industries.

That’s what companies like Orion are doing. And that’s how America will win the future – by out-innovating, out-educating, and out-building our competitors. We’ll win the future by being the best place on Earth to do business. That is what we are called to do at this moment. And in my state of the union, I talked about how we get there.

But, unfortunately, just like we’ve seen so many times before, there’s much more to the story.

MacIver Institute reported the rest of the story on Orion.

Despite millions in government grants and subsidies, the Manitowoc company President Barack Obama called a glimpse of the future lost $4.2 million last year and cannot promise shareholders it will be profitable in the foreseeable future.

Even Orion Energy Systems admits there are a lot of risks and uncertainties in the green energy industry.

“Many technologies do not become commercially profitable products, applications or services despite extensive development and commercialization efforts,”the company stated in its most recent 10-K SEC filing on June 14, 2010.

The last five years have been a rollercoaster for Orion. It lost a total of $3.9 million in 2005 and 2006, made $4.3 million in the next three years, and then finally lost $4.2 million in the 2010 fiscal year.

“We may continue to incur further net losses and there can be no assurance that we will be able to increase our revenue, expand our customer base or be profitable,” the report indicates.

Investors have responded to the company’s volatility, and Orion stock has plummeted in the past four years. It closed 2007 at $18.82 a share. By the end of 2010 it was $3.34.

Regardless, President Obama is putting his, and the U.S. taxpayers’, money on companies like Orion.

You’d think that we’d have at least one honest news network in the country that would have reported this, but sadly that is not the case.  Once again the former community organizer gets a complete pass from the state-run media.