Beebe: Plant closure directly tied to 'dysfunctional' Congress

Gov. Mike Beebe says he's fed up with a "dysfunctional" Congress whose tax policies he blames for contributing to the closure of a Jonesboro wind turbine plant.

Nordex said Friday that it was shutting its $40 million plant and laying off about 40 workers.

"Nordex's departure is directly related to Congress's inability to follow through on an alternative-energy policy they started and now can't agree on," Beebe said in a statement. "I have been saying for years that there must be stable tax policy with this kind of intense capital investment. Congress has totally failed to provide one, wavering year-to-year on the wind energy tax credit. This indecisiveness is costing Arkansas, and America, jobs."

Nordex cited the "unpredictable extensions of the Production Tax Credit," as well as global overcapacity and instability in the U.S. market, in a statement announcing the closure.

Beebe called Nordex a "model corporate citizen," and noted the company is paying back incentives the state provided when the plant opened in 2009. He added he is hopeful production can one day resume as the company is not completely leaving Jonesboro.

"I am so fed up with Congress," Beebe said in the statement. "I think the American people and Arkansans are fed up with them, too. This is just the most recent example of how dysfunctional Washington has become."