FEATURE In 2017, as much of the nation
was still nursing a major hangover following the election of President Donald Trump, there was a very real possibility that Michigan could have a celebrity-turned-politician of its own — with none other than Kid Rock, the performer from Macomb County once crowned “Boob of the Year” by Metro Times, threatening to run for one of Michigan’s Senate seats. Eventually, the “Bawitdaba” singer admitted on Howard Stern’s show that he had no intention of actually running, and the whole thing was just a joke to drum up publicity. But soon, a different selfdescribed “outsider” running to be the Republican candidate emerged: Army veteran and Detroit-area business leader John James. As a patriot, businessman, and rare Black Republican, James proved irresistible to Fox News, who gave him his first national television interview on Fox & Friends. “Some say he could be the future of the GOP,” fawned host Ainsley Earhardt. In the short segment, James touted the number of jobs his company created under his leadership — a line that would be repeated many more times on the campaign trail, more or less verbatim, in the following months. “I’m over there fighting for Iraqi freedom, and there are not enough people back here fighting for people here in the state of Michigan,” James said. “So I got out of the military and I joined my family business, a small automotive logistics company in Detroit, and grew the company from $35 million to $137 million in revenue and added 100 jobs in Michigan and east of the Mississippi.” James’s alleged business acumen likely helped catch the eye of President Donald Trump, who endorsed him in 2018. “Just met John James of Michigan. He has every single quality to be your next Great Senator from Michigan,” Trump tweeted. “When the people of Michigan get to know John, they will say he is a true star. Also, distinguished Military and a Combat Vet!” But Trump’s Midas touch did little to help, with James losing to incumbent Democrat Debbie Stabenow in November of that year, 45.8% to Stabenow’s 52.3%. This year, James is giving it another shot, this time against incumbent Democrat Gary Peters. Like Trump, James’s company appears
to be an excellent dealmaker — at least when it comes to looking out for itself. According to documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and reviewed by Metro Times, under his tenure James’s company took nearly $2 million in tax breaks from the state, a condition of which was that the company had to create 108 jobs. In fact, according to the documents, James’s company actually lost more than 30 jobs under his leadership, and the MEDC revoked its tax-exempt status after it failed to create the jobs it promised. Based on the documents available, the company does not appear to have been subject to a “clawback,” or being forced to return the money for violating its agreement. But the facts laid out in documents run counter to another claim that James has made repeatedly on the campaign trail: that he’s against “free handouts” from the government. “Send a job creator to Washington who understands that working-Michiganders are looking for a fair hand up, not a free handout,” he tweeted in 2017. The next year, he doubled down on the claim. “We believe at West Point that you don’t lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do, which is why I’ve gotten President
Engler’s “Renaissance Zones” initiative. Launched in 1996, Engler’s Renaissance Zones offered businesses in designated zones a break in paying property, income, and utility taxes for about 10 years, described as an “experiment” to see if it would spur development and investment in economically distressed cities. Renaissance Global Logistics was awarded a Renaissance Zone status in 1997 and broke ground in Southwest Detroit shortly after. Beyond that, the site was also located in a federal “empowerment zone,” making it eligible for additional tax credits for employees, including up to $3,000 against federal taxes per employee hired who lived and worked there. According to a 1998 report from the nonprofit Citizens Research Council of Michigan, the two-square-mile site located amid the overlapping zones was “among the most heavily tax-abated in the state.” As a cherry on top, James Group International also received $2 million of taxpayer money from the state to clean up the 16-acre site of its headquarters on Fort Street in Southwest Detroit, not far from the Ambassador Bridge. In 2006, a state law amended the Renaissance Zone Act to allow time extensions, and another amendment in 2008 implemented additional require-
Quicken Loans, which ranked second. Still, in the wake of the bailout of the auto industry, the company appeared to be having trouble generating the jobs it promised. In a Renaissance Zone report sent to the MEDC on Friday, Jan. 18, 2013, James’s brother Lorron, the company’s vice president of business affairs, sought to get ahead of the story. “Before you dive into it, it has come to my attention that, due to a clerical error, the number of employees we had in 2011 was 120, not the 129 that was originally reported,” he wrote. “Based on the reporting form, it will appear that we have had negative job growth. Because of the way the flow chart was set up in the reporting document and because of fluctuation of employment due to volatile volume forecasts from our customers, among other things, our result yielded a figure that was less than we started the year with.” In the email, Lorron said the company now employed 137, and in the report noted that the presence of Renaissance Global Logistics “had a positive effect on the area, decreasing crime, decreasing blight, and attracting other business opportunities in the immediate area, including a potential new automotive supplier park.” It didn’t work. Later in 2013, the Michigan Strategic Fund board revoked the
Trump’s endorsement,” he said on another Fox News appearance, adding, “I’ve never taken a handout a day in my life.” Bootstrapping is a big part of the John James story. James Group International was founded in 1971 by James’s father, John A. James, as a small transportation company. The elder James started the company after moving to Detroit from Mississippi with just one truck, one trailer, and one partner. Over the years, the company grew into a global shipping and logistics company, primarily moving parts overseas for the auto industry. By the late ’90s, it formed a subsidiary company, Renaissance Global Logistics, which appeared to have been created solely to take advantage of then-Republican Governor John
ments for extensions, including a job creation requirement. In 2010, Renaissance Global Logistics applied for and was eventually awarded an extension of the tax break — on the condition it create 108 jobs and invest $2 million in the Renaissance Zone by Dec. 31, 2015. According to the documents, those 108 jobs were to be added on top of a baseline of 119 jobs. By the time the younger James came on as director of operations in February 2012 following his stint in Iraq, James Group International was a global force. The next year, Crain’s Detroit Business ranked it as the biggest gainer of 200 privately held Michigan companies, with revenue growth of 266.7 percent — above even Dan Gilbert’s still-ascendant
company’s time extension designation. In the beginning of 2015, the year of the jobs creation deadline, James — the future Senate candidate — became president and CEO of Renaissance Global Logistics. But the promised jobs failed to materialize by the end of the year: according to the MEDC, the company lost 32 jobs. In February 2016, the state warned the company that they had 90 days to meet their end of the bargain, or else they would have their tax status revoked. The next month, the company tried to amend its Renaissance Zone status. “We respectfully request an amendment in order to adjust our requirements to match those suitable of a business serving the automotive
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