Alan Champagne – The Original Lampasshole

More Thoughts On Eco-Turd…

The more I think about it, the less sense it makes for Alan “private jet” Champagne to ship crumb rubber 2,200 miles to Lampasas just to stamp it into the exact same products he is ALREADY making in Alberta.

Like, why not just use the plant, equipment and labor you ALREADY HAVE up there in the Great White North to make all this shit and then ship THAT finished product 2,200 miles to your fellow weasel Mike Cour here in Lampasas?

The shipping costs should be approximately the same and you save millions by not building a second “manufacturing plant” in Lampasas. It makes no sense, unless…(and this is ALL conjecture on my part – I have no evidence for any of these musings. I’m just using logic and reason here – something lacking at the LEDC)….

#1 – The Alberta plant is about to go bankrupt. Maybe the Eco-Flex turd is about to go bust and Alan is covering it all up by saying he is “moving the headquarters to Texas”. This would maybe allow him to grab MORE free money. Mike Cour sure seemed eager to grab more money for “moving headquarters” back in 2020:

***Desperation is a stinky cologne, Mike***

Maybe all this “free” grant money comes with even more bonus cash if you “move a headquarters”. Who knows? But if the plant in Alberta was about to go tits-up, it would be a clever move to kill two birds with one stone.

#2 – There is some kind of huge tariff/tax on finished goods. Maybe the Canadian or U.S. government taxes the shit out of “finished goods” crossing the border but not so much on “commodity” inputs like crumb rubber. If the tax were big enough on Eco-Turd’s finished goods, it would save them a ton of money to just ship the crumb rubber to the U.S. and “manufacture” their stuff here.

If THAT is the case, then the LEDC should realize Eco-Turd is ALREADY getting a huge financial boost by avoiding these taxes and there is no need to hand them even more “free” stuff at the expense of the Lampasas taxpayer. These idiots will NEVER, EVER employ 200 people, so if THAT is the reason you’re throwing free shit at them, you better rethink your plan.

Eco-Turd Being Pushed Even Harder By LEDC. I Am About To Blow Them Out Of The Toilet Water…

Well, the LEDC is certainly throwing caution to the wind and ignoring ALL the past skulduggery with Mike Cour, Alan Champagne and the Eco-Turd plans. They are doubling down and risking looking like complete idiots when this all blows up in their faces AGAIN.

They even have a video up over at the LEDC Facebook page showing TJ Monroe and new council member Davis Keele touring the “plant”. LOL.

Unfortunately for scumbag duo Alan Champagne (Eco-Flex) and Mike Cour (Eco-Strong), I’m smarter than them and when I get hold of a bone, I’m not going to let it go until it’s all chewed up.

Since City council and the LEDC read here, I’ll give you a few big leads to check out and questions to ask these serial con-men:

#1 – According to all their presentations and Internet material, Eco-Flex is a tire recycler in Legal, Alberta – a dying town in very northern Canada:

They supposedly recycle 5 million tires per year.

But according to the website for the Alberta Recycling Management Authority, there are only three tire processors registered with the ARMA: Alberta Environmental Rubber Products (AERP), Crumb Rubber Manufacturers (CRM) and Liberty Tire Recycling Canada, Ltd.

Eco-Flex is NOT on the list.

However, they DO list “Champagne Edition Inc/Eco-Flex” as one of EIGHTEEN companies (Enviropaving, Rubberon, Rubber Stone, Dinoplay, Urban Rubber Paving, etc) that make products with the crumb rubber produced by those three ACTUAL tire recyclers.

***They make mats, stair treads, ramps, etc – they DON’T recycle shit***

So “Eco-Flex” is nothing special. LOTS of companies take crumb rubber and turn it into “green” products like sidewalks, playgrounds, mats, etc. The Alberta website lists SEVENTEEN other businesses that do essentially the same thing:

So Alan Champagne and his fake “tire recycling” company are just one of many, many outfits that get crumb rubber from those three REAL tire recyclers and turn it into “green” products. There is nothing “innovative” or special about Eco-Turd. Crumb rubber is a commodity like gravel or sand or aluminum. All this shit has been around for a looooong time.

#2 – In the LEDC video, it shows some guys prepping crumb rubber to be stamped into a mat or a wall or something. So, since Eco-Strong is the “distributor” for Eco-Flex in the U.S., I have to assume that all that crumb rubber comes ALL the way from Eco-Flex in the town of Legal, Alberta – which is a 2,200 mile trip ONE WAY. Considering the high price of diesel here and even HIGHER price in Canada ($8.65/gal) it seems to me it must cost a small fortune to ship all that crumb rubber here just to stamp it into a mat.

There happens to be a very REAL and very BIG (12 million tires per year) tire recycling plant in Houston called Genan. Genan has SIX factories that recycle 54 million tires between them. Houston is only about 180 miles away. The cost to acquire crumb rubber from them would be a fraction (less than 10%) of the cost of having that idiot Alan Champagne send it 2,200 miles from Alberta, right?

You might want to ask Mike Cour about that. Genan also produces all the same shit everyone else does – mats, asphalt replacement, etc. Again – nothing special there.

#3 – If “Eco-Flex” (or “Champagne Edition”) is a company that is such a boon to their town (Legal, Alberta) and this business employs SO many people that the LEDC is trying to copy it here, then why are neither of those company names listed in the business directory of Legal Alberta???

**Pretty sure “Eco-Flex” comes between Coastal and FABA in the alphabet**

Wanna know what I think? This is just my OPINION, but I think this Alan Champagne douchebag gets some kind of highly-subsidized deal for crumb rubber. Canada is very socialist and HUGE on handing out “free” stuff to “save the environment”. It is run by people even more greentarded than AOC and Clayton Tucker combined.

Maybe Alan gets taxpayer-subsidized crumb rubber so cheaply that it makes sense to ship it 2,200 miles to a fly speck on the map named “Lampasas”. Why do I think this? Because in the shitty Power Point Mike Cour presented to the LEDC two years ago, I found this nugget:

“Developed a program with the Alberta government“. Sounds like free shit to me! Notice there isn’t a WORD about him actually recycling a single tire – just “controlling” and “managing” the program.

This guy is a serial grifter, in my opinion. Only a serious grifter douche nozzle would put a picture of himself standing next to a private jet to project a false sense of success. I also wouldn’t be shocked if this dildo also legally changed his last name to “Champagne” for the same reason. I had some email exchanges with this anus 21 months ago, and he can barely string a sentence together – not to mention the completely amateurish Power Point piece of shit they presented the LEDC two years ago.

Anyways – there it all is for the LEDC to read, go over and ask the proper questions of this clown horn. I guess they didn’t learn their lesson the LAST time these charlatans tried to rip them off and spew lies:

***40 million little piles of bullshit***

Remember that time in 2020 the LEDC believed that these idiots were going to recycle FORTY MILLION TIRES in Lampasas when their Alberta plant only does 5 million? I pointed out how ridiculous that was back then when I wrote:

Also, your existing Canadian 35,000 square foot plant recycles 5 million tires per year, but in your bullshit PowerPoint you gave to the LEDC, you are going to recycle 40 million tires in Lampasas with 22,500 square feet. If anyone believes THAT nonsense I have some land to sell you on south 183.

…but I guess Mandy Walsh and Misti Talbert suck at math and logic.

LOL. Good times.

Alan Champagne and Mike Cour Caught Lying Red-Handed – Part I

When I started asking a few questions about Eco-Flex and Eco-Strong and their weird press releases last year, CEO Alan Champagne could not keep his stories straight.

Eco-Flex Can’t Get Their Stories Straight

His big whopper of a lie was that the joke of a press release I saw about breaking ground in Lampasas on June 2nd was actually sent out in February BEFORE Covid hit. I knew this was bullshit. Now I have proof:

Oh! Lookie there! In an email dated May 7th, good old Mike Cour is still working on his press release – which will hit “around Monday”. Monday would be May 11th. VERY close to the May 12th date I insisted was the ACTUAL release date.

Alan Champagne lied last September and told me:

“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.”

[It’s spelled BORDER you absolute moron]

Oops. Guess it wasn’t issued in February after all….was it, scum bag?

Also, the BORDER closure did NOT prevent Alan Champagne from traveling here to Texas to make his pitch (a lie he told Mandy Walsh over and over). The REALITY is he could have come for business if he wanted to. Canada and U.S. only closed their BORDER for NON-ESSENTIAL movement. This is from a press release on 3/21/20:

The border remains open for essential travel, which includes the transportation of goodsand travel for work, in order to not hamper trade and the supply chains between the two countries.

It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if the REAL reason Alan Champagne couldn’t come here is that (1) he has an ankle monitor on for being a serial bullshit artist in Canada OR (2) he knew this project was a giant pile of feces and couldn’t get through the pitch with a straight face.

His THIRD lie in just that one paragraph is “this is a private company which is not using any government funds or such”. Mike Cour ALSO repeated the exact same lie to me in a separate email, saying “we intend for this to be a private effort.”

Uh huh. That wasn’t my accusation, Alan. You might not CURRENTLY be scamming any government funds in Canada, but my accusation is that you were LOOKING to grab some free stuff down here in Lampasas and screw over our local government and LEDC. I was right about that too!

When I FINALLY got my hands on the pathetic Eco-Flex/Eco-Strong pitch that looks like an 8th grader did it, I got to see what they were REALLY asking for from the LEDC and the City:

***How can Lampasas help? Just hand us $1.85 million dollars, suckers!!***

Yeah. We don’t want anything! Totally private effort! Oh, besides the five acres of free land AND another ONE POINT SEVEN FIVE MILLION DOLLARS to build a plant! Besides that, we’ll handle everything!

Are you fucking kidding me?? This moron reminds me of Jerry Lundegaard in the movie Fargo trying to get his rich father-in-law to hand him cash in this classic scene:

“He’s saying we put in all the money and HE collects if it pays off!” [50 second mark]

I’m guessing Mandy and the LEDC were ready to hand over the land. Why not? They have 152 acres of it sitting there. They were also prepared to waste another $1.9 million on “Phase I” (really Phase II) construction. This is on TOP of the million they blew running water and electricity to the site in 2015.

But handing these retards $1.75 million?? That was a bridge too far. Only TJ Monroe would OK a ridiculous waste of money like that, and thankfully she’s not in charge. It’s my belief that Eco-Turd asking for such a ludicrous amount of money is what ultimately blew up the deal. I also think Mandy was starting to suspect this guy was a shit bag for other reasons and was maybe stringing her along. We’ll get to that in Part II.

Alan Champagne – CEO of Eco-Flex – is a Lying Sack of Shit

Oh, the things you find in 800 pages of crap the City hands you, eh?

It only cost me about $350 and 30% of the pages they handed me were useless crap I never requested. But one thing we DID find was TWO huge smoking guns. The first one proves Alan Champagne (CEO of Eco-Flex) is a lying sack of shit.

The second one proves Mike Cour is also a liar. No big surprises there, but I always love to find proof in black and white emails that the guys who seem like shady bullshit artists trying to scam some tax dollars ARE actually just that.

This 800-page pile of paper does not shed any light on WHY the LEDC/Ec0-Turd partnership fell apart. Probably because they used a black magic marker to black out some of the interesting stuff and keep it away from my prying eyes. But there is enough there for me to make a good guess.

Photo evidence tomorrow! Stay tuned!

Eco-Flex Can’t Get Their Stories Straight – PART III

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….

Somebody Has Some ‘Splaining To Do Regarding Eco-Strong, Mike Cour and the ‘Business’ Park Money Pit

[There is a LOT of nonsense and lies to sort through in this story. This will be PART I of III]

So it’s time to find out once and for all who is lying through their teeth. Is it the LEDC (Lampasas Economic Development Corp)? Mike Cour of Eco-Strong? Alan Champagne the asshole Canadian CEO? All of the above? With all the evidence I have here (press releases, minutes, emails, etc) I have DEFINITIVE PROOF that somebody is completely full of shit and got caught RED HANDED spewing falsehoods.

Oh my. THAT won’t look good on any federal application for free money, will it?

Let’s start with a brief recap of the LEDC’s ‘business’ park boondoggle and exactly when Mike Cour and Eco-Strong came into the picture.

2004: LEDC buys 152 acres on south 183 – $909,835 value on tax filings. I am not going off into the weeds, but I believe it was smaller to start and more land was added later. Makes no difference in our story.

2004 through 2013: land sits as unused weed patch but money is wasted on it CONSTANTLY as vultures feast on taxpayer’s asses [See: Business Park is Huge Piece of Pork]

2012: land appraised by Herbst Real Estate. Now valued at $817,978 or down 10% in value.

2014/2015: LEDC and City council convince themselves that if they just spend ANOTHER million, the business park will see “high paying jobs” come rolling in. LEDC and City spend over a million bucks for pipes in the ground and wires for electricity. I have covered this ad nauseam. Park is now “shovel ready” according to all involved. Money is spent to promote ‘business park’.

2015 through 2019: ZERO companies move into the ‘shovel ready’ ‘business park’ despite all the promises from politicians and City employees – many of whom are STILL sitting in those positions.

September 2019: Eco-Strong is incorporated in Texas (yes, it was just formed).

September 18, 2019: LEDC minutes show “presentation by Mike Cour of Eco-Strong. That’s it. ZERO details. This is the first appearance of Mike Cour.

February 19, 2020: Mike Cour and Eco-Strong are never mentioned again in LEDC minutes OR City council minutes until Feb 19th. The LEDC agenda shows Mike Cour to make another presentation [page 1, item III]. The minutes [page 1, item III] show ‘Mike Cour not present‘. Boy…he must REALLY be serious since he bailed at the last second and couldn’t be bothered to show up, eh?

March 18, 2020 LEDC meeting – cancelled due to COVID.

April 15,2020 LEDC meeting – ALL that is discussed is how to throw $100,000 in free money to any local business asking for it. ZERO mention of any Eco-Strong or Mike Cour items.

Here is where it all gets interesting. Mike Cour/Eco-Strong/Eco-Flex start sending out press releases that are outright lies.

May 15, 2020: I find ridiculous bullshit “press releases” that Mike Cour and Eco-Strong/Eco-Flex are about to break ground on June 2nd on a manufacturing plant IN LAMPASAS. This is a lie. Who made it up? Why? We’ll get to that in Part II. Press release was sent out around May 10th, according to Ewan Scott of Tyre and Rubber Recycling Magazine.

May 20, 2020: Mike Cour FINALLY appears before LEDC a second time – EIGHT MONTHS after the initial ‘presentation’. LEDC changes meeting time to NOON instead of the usual 5:30pm. This prevents prying eyes from learning anything about Mike Cour.

At this meeting, Mike Cour says “would like to begin manufacturing in August 2020” [see LEDC minutes page 2, item V at bottom]. This is bizarre because Eco-Flex has ALREADY sent out press releases 10 days earlier babbling that they “will break ground on June 2nd“.

It is ALSO bizarre because according to EVERYTHING the LEDC and City council have been discussing, there is NO WAY the ‘business’ park will be ready in three months (August 2020). They are talking more like 8 to 10 months – which REALLY means more like 1.5 years if history is any guide.

[Gee – here we are now.. WELL past the month of August…and NOTHING has happened. As usual. Better revise those bullshit timelines again!]

Mike also presents to the LEDC that he is interested in a “10,000 square foot manufacturing plant” but his press releases say 25,000 square feet. Which is it, Mike? HUGE difference. Also, your current business (Equicare) sits on a piece of land that is BIGGER than the entire Lampasas Business Park (199 acres versus 165 acres, roughly). So I’m wondering why you don’t just go ahead and build your killer plant on YOUR OWN property! Why get the LEDC involved?

Wait, don’t tell me….you want some free shit, maybe?

May 26, 2020: Joint City/LEDC meeting. City and LEDC lament that property is NOT ‘ready’ [video archive at 7:30 mark – “we have the land but it’s not ready to go into”]. Weird, since they have been touting “SHOVEL READY” for almost FIVE YEARS now. Councilman Mike White refers to the current state of the two million dollar project as a “goat pasture” [9:40 mark in video]

A portly fellow at the table on right side of video (no idea who he is) speaks of a ‘current prospect’ but never names names [10:35 mark]. This ‘current prospect’ is “ready to pull this trigger on their side if we’re able to help them on our side“

[Help them on our side? Sounds like “hand them a lotta free shit” to me. But I digress]

The portly fellow then goes on at the 11:34 mark: “from what I understand, if we are able to commit, I think it would fit their [Eco-Strong’s] timeline”

Ummm…what?? Ex-squeeze me? Mike Cour already claimed he’s breaking ground SEVEN DAYS from this meeting! LOL. THEN, he said August 2020 during his second presentation. NEITHER of those “fits your timeline” of 8 to 10 months, buddy.

Somebody is lying like a rug here.

I finally emailed Finley and asked point blank what all the secrecy was about. Was the prospect Mike Cour and Eco-Strong? Finley confirms that YES, it is Mike Cour and Eco-Strong they are referring to as their ONE and ONLY prospect for their business park.

In other words, the LEDC and City of Lampasas are ready to squander $1.9 MILLION DOLLARS to have this park be “ready” for Mike Cour and his ‘business’. The SAME Mike Cour who is telling the world in press releases something ENTIRELY DIFFERENT. The same Mike Cour who already sits on a piece of property bigger than the LEDC business park land….and all for a measly 10,000 square foot building?

LOL. Makes total sense!

To recap:

Mike Cour and/or Eco-Flex/Eco-Strong sends out a false press release around May 10th that they will be breaking ground on a tire plant in Lampasas on June 2nd…

THEN Mike Cour gets up in front of the LEDC a week later and says they want to start manufacturing in August 2020…

THEN this portly fellow at the joint LEDC/City meeting sits there and says that the time lines mesh. Sorry but 7 days isn’t the same as three months which also isn’t the same as 8 to 10 months. Finley also says “we are VERY very early in this process [18:33 mark]” YET Eco-Flex has ALREADY been spewing out press releases that ground breaking is imminent.

Lies, lies and more lies. And ALL of this before the grant application has even been submitted!!

Finley scrambled with some bullshit [11:50 mark] about how they can maybe make a ‘temporary’ spot in the park for Mike Cour to get going. Really? If that’s true, then why spend the $1.9 million at all?

I’m guessing the LEDC and the City REALLY need to show the Feds they have a “legit” prospect for their grant application and they’ll spin as many yarns and stretch as many truths as they have to in order to do it.

So of course….I went digging to trap these morons in their own lies. Parts II and III will cover all the emails between myself, Mike Cour, Eco-Flex, the moron CEO Alan Champagne and Ewan Scott, publisher of Tyre and Rubber Recycling Magazine