The MDC (Midland Development Corporation of Midland, Texas) is captivated by the space industry, and who isn't? But they are in the business of doling out government money. So while we can look at the stars and dream, they should be looking at the economics.
When they granted a huge chunk of money to Xcor there was a lot of national attention focused on it. Midland was on the map and in the spotlight. That was the pay off -- all that national attention. Anything down the road would be gravy if anything actually did come of it.
However, the lesson was that there's money to be made from municipal development corporations if an applicant has a good story to tell.
Now we learn that they are at it again. See MDC explores possibility of vertical-launch rocket facility.
The folks at the MDC should watch the TV show "Shark Tank." If they did they could learn how real investors look at entrepreneurs and their ideas. And they would be asking the same questions the sharks ask. To wit:
What are your sales?
Do you own the patents?
Do you have a manufacturing facility?
How will you keep from being crushed by the big guys?
Maybe then they might focus on the steak, not the sizzle.
A new episode of Shark Tank is on each week, but if they get cable TV they can see a half dozen or more reruns of previous episodes per week. Do it for the tax payers. Learn to say, "I'm out."
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