Some of the best ideas never come to fruition. Because of lack of commitment, planning or foresight, they wither on the vine.
It would be difficult to fault Bright Automotive, which is doing research and development at the Flagship Enterprise Center in Anderson, with any of these shortcomings. The folks at Bright, and support staff at the Flagship, are doing everything they can to keep their Idea — a plug-in commercial fleet van touted for its economy and environmental benefits — alive.
The folks at Bright have doggedly pursued financing to bring their vehicle to mass production, making repeated visits to Washington and lobbying government officials to take a chance on their startup company. But the $450 million low-interest federal loan they covet has not been secured. Instead, much of the pot of federal loan and grant money for clean-fuel vehicles and vehicle components has gone to established companies, such as Remy International.
Still, there are signs of hope for Bright. In early February, an Obama administration official visited Anderson and toured the Bright laboratory at the Flagship.
Afterward, the official, Teno Villareal, called Bright Automotive “a great company.” He said, “There’s real excitement about the possibilities at Bright.”
Villareal is a special assistant for the Office of Recovery for Auto Communities and Workers. Clearly, his office is designed to help localities like Anderson. Whether he has any real influence on decisions about grant and loan money is unclear. But it can’t hurt that Villareal visited Bright and came away impressed.
Other positive signs for Bright include contracts with the U.S. Postal Service and the U.S. military to adapt the Idea for potential use by those entities.
Should these contracts put Bright in a position of greater prominence on the national scene, the $450 million loan might come a little easier. With that cash, Bright would aim to produce 50,000 of its Ideas by 2012, employing as many as 5,000.
Bright has not fully committed to Anderson for production of the Idea. But the community certainly has a leg up, given its hospitality at the Flagship, which will soon be expanded by 2,600 feet to accommodate the fledgling company.
The bottom line for the local economy: This is one Idea that’s worth fighting for.
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