Jan 29, 2021
For most West Virginians, losing track of $250 or, for that matter, even $25 would be a problem. It seems as though for the West Virginia Economic Development Authority, losing track of $25 million was not.
When the EDA was created during then-Gov. Bob Wise’s administration in 2002, one of the goals was the creation of jobs. So, the EDA borrowed $25 million from the Investment Management Board to fund seven venture capital firms, which were supposed to do just that.
“It is the Legislative Auditor’s opinion that the Loan Program did not achieve the intended outcomes and what was achieved is difficult to quantify,” said a report released this week by the West Virginia Post Audit Division.