EV startup Canoo has not turned a profit yet the company has commanded headlines in Oklahoma for its potential of receiving more than $100 million in incentives and tax breaks from the state and Oklahoma City.
So far, the manufacturer has not collected any state money because the funding is based on Canoo meeting certain required hiring and development goals.
Still, company executives as well as others at the Oklahoma Commerce Department remain excited about the prospects of receiving the funds, according to an in-depth report by The Frontier.
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he EV-startup Canoo Inc. says it can reap more than $100 million in incentives and tax breaks to manufacture its vehicles in Oklahoma, but three previous economic development deals with the state have fallen through in as many years.
Canoo’s latest deal for up to $7.5 million in cash from the Governor’s Quick Action Closing Fund omits an earlier requirement for the company to purchase a factory in Oklahoma City to collect any of the incentive money. The company had been facing a deadline later this month to purchase the facility or lose out on the incentives.
The Quick Action money is part of more than $113 million in incentives Canoo is eligible to collect through state tax breaks, economic development incentives and a Cherokee Nation job training program.
Oklahoma Department of Commerce spokeswoman Becky Samples said Oklahoma’s latest incentive package is only the first round of funding. Once Canoo meets all of the benchmarks in its most recent agreements, future incentives are not out of the question, Samples said.
Canoo has yet to collect any state money, because all of the deals have been contingent on the company hitting hiring and development goals that haven’t been met.
In 2021, Canoo announced that Oklahoma had pledged incentives valued at $300 million to help build a vehicle production facility at the Mid-America Industrial Park in Pryor and hire 1,500 workers. The state-run industrial park offered incentives including land and infrastructure for the factory. Canoo also said it would develop a tech hub in Tulsa that would create 700 new jobs in the fields of software development, research, customer support and financing.
Click here for The Frontier
