IS IT TRUE that the most successful angel investment group in the United States was bombarded with just over 620 business plans last year from entrepreneurs seeking funding from their group?…that a full 500 (80.6%) of these plans were rejected without consideration?…that left 120 (19.4%) that were actually read in depth and given serious consideration?…that of these 620 business plans that only 16 (2.6%) or 1 of every 40 was selected to receive funding?…that 50% of those are expected by the investment group to fail during the early stages?…that the average investment is about $500,000 per business and that the largest of the investments was in the $1.5 Million range?…that nowhere in the investment criteria for this or any angel group of record is there a metric for the number of jobs created?…that the criteria is clearly that the investment needs to be within 50 miles of the investors, have a protected technical content, a coachable management team, AND a feasible exit strategy?…that the point we are making is that investing in start-ups is risky business that involves extensive technological vetting and financial vetting skills and even then the failure rate is over half?

IS IT TRUE that Evansville has no active visible angel or venture investor groups within 50 miles and thus local entrepreneurs are at a loss for where to submit a business plan?…that rightly so, that Mayor Winnecke made the formation of an angel investment group a priority during the campaign of 2011?…that angel investment groups do not access public money as a funding source and are not even particularly interested in government funding programs for their portfolio companies as such things often come with conditions and goals that are not compatible with a good business plan?

IS IT TRUE that it was announced yesterday that the City of Evansville is making a substantial loan with an opportunity at sharing in future profits of a start-up energy company from Texas named Earthcare Energy?…that the big part of the announcement are the 120 jobs that may be placed in the Park 41 complex by Earthcare Energy when and if manufacturing is established?…that the company website shows a fairly impressive management team but refers to no product installations whatsoever?…that there is a short “white paper” describing the technology proposed that was apparently written by a company from Nevada named Langson Energy who is referenced as a granting a license to Earthcare Energy in a July 2011 press release?…that a search of patents and trademarks at the website for the United States Patent and Trademark Office under the name Earthcare Energy yielded no results?…that you may confirm this at www.uspto.gov?

IS IT TRUE that the City of Evansville is making a loan of $5 Million, covering 2 years of rent on 60,000 square feet that is worth approximately $250,000, and that the State of Indiana is kicking in $1.16 Million of incentives for what looks to be a full out start-up company?…that is has been reported that the CEO still has a day job as an airline pilot?…that Mayor Winnecke is breaking new ground with this deal and will either come out of this looking like a visionary or a fool with little margin for anything in between?…that the CCO hopes that the VETTING done on this company was 1,000 times better than the VETTING done by the previous administration on downtown convention hotel development?…that we wish this venture well and hope to see it succeed?…that this type of daredevil investing is necessary in places where there is no private investment entity willing to support entrepreneurship?…that we would be most curious to know if Earthcare Energy attempted to raise capital through private channels and what the results of the private VETTING efforts were?

IS IT TRUE that a short 16 years ago that Senator Richard Lugar was all up in arms about negative campaigning and even ran an ad to encourage his then fellow Hoosiers to join him in taking a stand against negative campaigns?…that was then and this is now?…that the ghost of elections past should visit Senator Lugar’s Washington home and remind him of how he advocated for clean and honest campaigns back before he had become a Washingtonian?…that Senator Lugar’s latest round of commercials against his primary challenger Evansville’s favorite son Richard Mourdock are anything but positive?…that the City County Observer would like to encourage each and every person planning to vote in the Republican primary to give strong and thoughtful consideration to each of these men and to cast a ballot for the one that truly has the best interest of SW Indiana in his heart and mind?

IS IT TRUE that one of our beloved comment writers jumped on us yesterday for repeating a passage about the failure to fund and start an audit of the IT Department?…that this person should remember that one of our trademarks is to bring things up on a recurring basis and that our repeated reminders of the McCurdy Fiasco and the Executive Inn Dilemma lead to action on the part of the former Mayor’s Evansville Redevelopment Commission?…that maybe we should rephrase our repetition to something like “IS IT TRUE that it has now been 61 days since the 2012 editions of city and county government were installed and still there is no appropriation of the funds to begin the audit of the IT Department”?…that we could even name names and remind people that a new long term contract was handed out by County Commission during the waning days of the Weinzapfel Administration?…that we could also state that City Councilman and Chairman of the Finance Committee John Friend, CPA was all over this oversight in 2011 and may just be simmering to get on it again?…that there will be some reminder on a recurring basis until this necessary action is funded and done?

IS IT TRUE that the open seat in Indiana House of Representatives District 64 has a strong contender throwing his hat into the ring?…that sources tell the CCO that Tom Washburne who makes his home near Darmstadt will be making a strong push for this seat?…that Mr. Washburne brings with him the practical analytical skills of a Purdue engineering degree along with an understanding and interest in government from a career in law and banking?…that this guy worked his way up the old fashioned was as a kid from Princeton who bagged groceries and made his spending money in local retail?…that it will be interesting to see who the Democrat party will slate against Mr. Washburne in this newly bordered district that has long been receptive to practical people with conservative leanings?

IS IT TRUE that the CCO is wondering just what the fruits of the “all hands on deck” bus trip to the Crane NAVSEA Center will be?…that true to his expression during the 2011 election that Mayor Winnecke seems to be trying to muster some local interest in reviving the Partnership Intermediary Agreement between GAGE and Crane that seemed to have gone into hibernation after the 2009 Freedom Festival?…that between the renewed interest in the Crane deal, the realization that the Federal Lab Consortium is the real source of intellectual property, and the Kauffman Foundation running a seminar at USI that GAGE had scheduled for 2009 that GAGE seems to be encouraged to go back to its original mission during the early days of the Winnecke Administration?