Good news. The Export-Import Bank has reversed itself, thus saving those 1,000 Wisconsin jobs:
The U.S. Export-Import Bank has agreed to reverse a decision to deny $600 million in loan guarantees for mining equipment that would be manufactured in the U.S. for a coal mine in India, saving up to 1,000 jobs, Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) said Wednesday.
Kohl said the bank would support the loan guarantees provided that the Indian borrower, Reliance Power Ltd., moves ahead with renewable energy projects that also could use U.S. made equipment.
“This would be more than acceptable to the bank,” Kohl said in an interview Wednesday morning.
The order for $600 million in Bucyrus International Inc. mining machines was at risk of falling through after the bank – citing environmental concerns – last week denied loan guarantees for the project.
Bucyrus said it would lose the orders, and the jobs, to an overseas competitor.
The company has more than 1,400 employees in the area. A study by the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce said the India contract would create and retain 326 jobs in the area and up to 1,000 jobs across 13 states.
Mayor Tom Barrett told the Journal Sentinel that he was ecstatic to hear the news that the Export-Import Bank had reconsidered its Bucyrus decision.





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