Here we are at Part III. We see what happens when poorly crafted stories unravel into a pile on the floor. We also see that you CAN become a CEO and not know how to write a coherent sentence.
Once Mary Sikora of Scrap Tire News gave me a contact at Eco-Flex named Alan Champagne, I emailed HIM hoping to find out why he was sending out false press releases. Perhaps the LEDC and City council will take the time to read all this so they can see who they are dealing with here.
Actual emails below. Lampasshole in blue. Champagne in red:
(9/3/20) Good morning Alan!
I was reading this article with great interest. I live in Lampasas and there has most certainly NOT been any ground broken on any tire recycling plant – not back in May and certainly not now in September, four months later. This information is patently false. Where did you actually get this “information” you sent out in a press release? Who submitted this press release?
As a citizen in the know in Lampasas, I can say with 100% certainty that there was never any “ground breaking” in the wings for Eco-Flex OR for Mike Cour’s Eco-Strong. Could you please inform me as to how this all came to be in your press release? Thanks
Alan Champagne, CEO of Eco-Flex responds:
Hello Our eco-flex is looking at setting up in Lampassas This release was done before Covid went rapid ,we are a Canadian company and the government has shut the boarders so until th boarders open and we are free too travel we have delayed the setup of the factory in Lampassas .
Thank you for your concern
Alan Champagne
President/CEO
alan@eco-flex.com
780 699-5134
www.eco-flex.com
This didn’t make sense to me. I responded back:
(9/3/20) Hi Allen, sorry, but your explanation below doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.
The U.S./Canadian border was closed around March 21st. You sent that press release out in early to mid May – which means you HAD to know it was totally inaccurate.
Covid “went rapid” here in Texas between roughly March 17th and April 30th. We were on total lock down for the entire month of April. Yet, you sent out that press release in May. You had to be 100% informed about any Covid effects at that point.
Furthermore, Mike Cour KNOWS that the Lampasas “business park” is nowhere near ready to be used. He made a presentation to them in September of 2019 – so he knows good and well what the situation is there. Mandy Walsh and the LEDC have stated REPEATEDLY and PUBLICLY that they need another $1.9 million to make the park “ready”. Thus, there is absolutely NO WAY anybody here in Lampasas or with the LEDC would have ever agreed to a June 2nd ground breaking – even back in September of last year LONG before your Covid excuse.
“Looking at setting up in Lampasas” as YOU just said in your email and “breaking ground on June 2nd” as your PRESS RELEASE said are worlds apart. One is vague and the other is quite precise.
I am CCing Mike Cour AND City Manager Finley deGraffenreid on this. By now, I am sure he is aware of my intention to go over all of this “Eco-Strong”/LEDC partnership with a fine toothed comb as a concerned citizen and taxpayer. The list of local governments being ripped off and scammed by “green” pie in the sky is too long and public for me to ignore and let happen to my own little town. Just ask Buffalo, New York about their Tesla dealings.
Finley: I’d love to hear the explanation from the LEDC about how this all went down and if they ever agreed to any “June 2nd ground breaking”. There is ZERO mention of it in ANY public record, minutes or LEDC agendas or packets. Or the local newspaper, for that matter.
Also Allen, no offense intended, but the email you sent me is so riddled with grammar, spelling and punctuation errors, I have a hard time believing it came from the CEO of a major corporation. Again….no offense.
Alan doesn’t like me asking questions and gets huffy:
The press release was issued late February , I dont feel I have to explain myself. With the boarder closure which was supposed to be temporary and now will probably be closed to the end of this year. This is a private company which is not using any government funds or such. We were to set up in a rental building while building the new complex. Plans change , but with letters like this form concerned citizens maybe it is best I set up in Houston or Dallas. I dont feel I owe you any explanation.
Lampasshole responds in kind:
Ah. OK. So you sent out a press release in late Feb and everyone sat on it for about 77 days and THEN published it all around the same time independently of each other. Now I understand! Makes total logical sense.
I’ve already asked Ewan Scott from Tyre and Rubber Recycling and Mary Sikora from Scrap Tire News exactly when they actually got the press release in their hands.
Ewan Scott emailed me this verbatim: ” I would say that it was probably issued within a day or two of the 11th of May”
Also weird that the Scrap Tire website reads “breaks ground on a 25,000-square-foot manufacturing, distribution, and sales center in Lampasas, Texas this month.” and was dated June 2020. Why would it read “THIS month” if it was sent out in February and the fantasy ground breaking was actually in June? A small hole in your story, to be sure.
Furthermore Weibold! Tire Recycling printed that: “This May, Eco-Flex announced it would establish a major manufacturing, distribution, and sales center in Lampasas, Texas to help tackle the problem. The new tire recycling plant is expected to bring up to 200 jobs to the area while supporting the state’s progressive economic growth plans. The construction of the 25,000-square-foot tire recycling plant is expected to begin on June 2, 2020.”
Says right there, you announced it in May. They published on May 14th. Two days after Tyre and Rubber.
As for your “I’ll take my ball and go to Houston or Dallas” attitude, I would suggest steering clear of Houston. You would be competing with Genan tire recycling and THEIR $140 million plant. I think they might squash you like a bug. I bet their CEO writes emails with flawless grammar as well.
Perhaps you could try Austin? I think Mike Cour has an office there or a business address. They are very much into the virtue signaling and money wasting that recycling entails. Although they are already losing about $2 million per year on their regular recycling program. Not sure they would fall for the same trick twice. But you never know!
But when you are pitching them your schtick, be sure not to say things like “I don’t owe you any explanations” if you decide on going the route of begging for public funds or sweetheart deals. Mmmkay?
Best of luck.
Unsurprisingly, that is the last I heard from Alan Champagne. BUT, Mike Cour certainly was paying attention now. Ah hell….guess we need a PART IV!!!
Coming soon….