City of Lamar statement: Turner Report hindered economic development in city

O'Sullivan Industries, after a rapid fade in its last few years went out of business, costing the Lamar area hundreds of jobs. According to a statement issued this week by the city of Lamar, many of those jobs would already be replaced had it not been for The Turner Report.

The comments were included in a statement of support for Evan R. Daniels, a Texas businessman, who has been saying for more than two years that he plans to locate a business in the old O'Sullivan facilities.

The city of Lamar's statement was included in news release issued by Daniels Friday.

The news release and the city's statement are printed below:

Polymer-Wood Technologies, Inc. today released an official statement from the city government of Lamar, Missouri regarding its investigations into the career and business history of Evan R. Daniels, Polymer-Wood's CEO. The City of Lamar has been actively engaged with Mr. Daniels and other Polymer-Wood executives since 2009 to locate the company's new manufacturing headquarters in Lamar, a move that could result in the creation of up to 295 direct and 165 indirect jobs across the local area in the first 24 months, according to a recent independent economic impact report.

As a result of the importance of this potential move to the local economy, the City of Lamar provided financial assistance to Polymer-Wood, and undertook an extensive process of due diligence prior to doing so. Polymer-Wood proposes to manufacture fire-rated interior passageway commercial doors for domestic and international markets.

According to the statement issued by the city, its investigation found that "issues regarding Mr. Daniels were resolved in such a way that would not cast any negative light on Mr. Daniels' character," and that "that Polymer-Wood Technologies, Inc. presents the City of Lamar and the surrounding area with a very attractive economic development opportunity."

"The support of the City of Lamar is important to us, especially in terms of its recognition of the potential of Polymer-Wood to positively impact the local community for the long term with our robust business model," said Evan R. Daniels, president and CEO at Polymer-Wood. "Along with the anticipated approval of our participation in the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, it enables us to accelerate the development of the company. Our next step is to work within the EB-5 program to secure investment from foreign nationals seeking to make investments into the US economy for the purpose of economic development."

As part of its EB-5 application process, Polymer-Wood was supported by both Democrat and Republican U.S. Senators from Missouri and other state and local officials, who submitted letters requesting the company's application be expedited by USCIS. This expedited approval procedure not only resulted in a quicker review of Polymer-Wood's application, but also holds the potential to bring new jobs to Lamar and surrounding counties faster. The company is now working with EB5 partners, to secure $30 million in investment from foreign investors authorized to invest through the program.

Text of the full letter from the City of Lamar is included below.

Statement from the City of Lamar, Missouri

RE: Evan R. Daniels

The City of Lamar has been actively engaged with Evan R. Daniels, President and Chief Executive Officer of Polymer-Wood Technologies, Inc. since 2009 in an effort to locate the company's new manufacturing headquarters in Lamar to occupy the former O'Sullivan Industries plant. During this process, members of the city of government, Mr. Daniels, and members of his team have invested countless hours in an effort to see this project to completion. Admittedly, progress has been slow and may appear to someone outside of the process that progress has been non-existent at times. Mr. Daniels' efforts have been hampered by economic issues which have been weighing on the economies of this area, our country, and the world for the past three years. Unfortunately, there is nothing that we can do to resolve these issues except to be patient.

However, there have been other factors which have hampered Mr. Daniels' ability to locate his business to Lamar. I am speaking primarily about negative information relating to Mr. Daniels' personal history and relationship with Trio Industries. This negative information has mostly been produced by a local source, The Turner Report -- an internet blog written by Mr. Randy Turner. Mr. Turner is a resident of Joplin, MO, a school teacher, and former employee of the Lamar Democrat. While I am certainly supportive of Mr. Turner's rights to speak freely through his blog, I feel that it is in the best interest to correct the misinformation that is presented on the blog relative to Mr. Daniels past. We do live in a world where information that may be presented for our local residents is quickly picked up by readers half a world away. This has been the case with this information regarding Mr. Daniels, and unfortunately, it is now hindering the economic development goals of the City of Lamar.

The City of Lamar did provide financial incentives to Polymer-Wood Technologies, Inc. upon its purchase of the O'Sullivan facility in an effort to bring jobs and stimulate the local economy. As part of that process, we did perform significant due diligence on Mr. Daniels and Polymer-Wood Technologies, Inc. I would like to address a few specific issues raised by The Turner Report regarding Mr. Daniels and to also present the information that we considered to refute these claims.

There was a considerable amount of litigation involving Trio Industries. Mr. Daniels' role in the events leading to the litigation was a question that was considered. There were three primary lawsuits referenced. One of the suits involved Trio and Charter Capital Management. This suit involved a loan transaction from August 2005. Mr. Daniels provided a letter from Trio indicating that he was no longer with the company effective May 2005. Mr. Daniels was no longer employed by Trio and was not associated with the events that resulted in this particular suit.

A second lawsuit involved Trio Industries and Merit Capital. Court records were reviewed concerning this lawsuit. Ultimately, the lawsuit was not pursued by the plaintiff, Merit Capital. On March 19, 2009, prior to the City of Lamar finalizing any deal with Mr. Daniels, the case was administratively closed by the judge. The case is now officially closed and any further claims are barred.

A final lawsuit was filed against Trio Industries by an investor, Robert Margolin in 2004. Mr. Margolin did settle this lawsuit with Trio Industries CEO, Robert Gyemant. Despite this lawsuit, Mr. Margolin did go on to write a letter of recommendation for Mr. Daniels in November 2007 again well in advance of any agreements between the City of Lamar and Mr. Daniels. This letter went a long way in resolving any questions regarding Mr. Daniels' character.

While we do know from independent third party sources that the above issues regarding Mr. Daniels were resolved in such a way that would not cast any negative light on Mr. Daniels' character, there were other accusations made by former Trio Industries CEO, Robert Gyemant, against Mr. Daniels. A background search on Mr. Daniels revealed that there were never any formal complaints made against Mr. Daniels by Mr. Gyemant. It was apparent to city officials that the claims made by Gyemant against Daniels were mere finger-pointing and made in an attempt to distract Trio investors from the serious problems facing the company after Mr. Daniels' departure.

It is intended that this letter will accomplish the goal of addressing any negative information concerning Mr. Daniels. It is also hoped that local and area residents are confident that city officials did their homework regarding Mr. Daniels. It is the belief of this office that Polymer-Wood Technologies, Inc. presents the City of Lamar and the surrounding area with a very attractive economic development opportunity. We look forward to the jobs and overall economic revitalization that we believe that this project can bring with it.