The grand opening of MZM’s Martinsville facility was held on October 14, 2004. Rep. Virgil Goode was the guest of honor at the seventeen-minute ceremony. MZM COO Richard Berglund was the master of ceremonies. Joe Cobb, who was then mayor of Martinsville, and MZM CEO Mitchell Wade also spoke. The event concluded with a ribbon cutting.
It’s interesting to look back on nearly 22 months later, with MZM Martinsville just two days from shutting down, Goode having surrendered $90,000 in illegal contributions from MZM employees, Berglund facing a one year term after his sentencing in January and Wade facing an eleven-year term after his status conference in late August.
- 00:00-00:32 Introduction by MZM COO Richard Berglund
- 00:35-03:00 Flag ceremony
- 03:06-03:50 Invocation
- 04:00-04:28 Rep. Virgil Goode’s Introduction by Berglund
- 04:30-08:10 Rep. Virgil Goode
- 08:15-08:32 Mayor Joe Cobb’s introduction by Berglund
- 08:40-11:07 Mayor Joe Cobb
- 11:15-12:00 CEO Mitchell Wade’s introduction by Berlund
- 12:10-15:30 Mitchell Wade
- 15:38-16:40 The ribbon cutting introduction by Berglund
- 16:50-17:12 The ribbon cutting by Wade, Goode and Cobb
There are some quotes from this video that, if not useful now, may be useful to researchers to come.
Berglund said:
Virgil H. Goode was instrumental in MZM’s decision to locate its new facility here in Martinsville, and therefore was an integral link in the identification of which part of the United States that I personally and my family would retire to after leaving the military.
Goode described MZM as a “key part in the revitalization of Martinsville,” and says of Wade “we appreciate all of your personal involvement,” describing him as “a hands-on person.”
Cobb, like every other speaker, thanked Goode, saying:
Virgil, you’ve thanked everyone else — I want to thank you. Thank you and your staff for persuading MZM that our fiber optic infrastructure, available facility, low-cost energy, coming transportation improvements, and the outstanding quality of life of our community was worthy of their investment in our community.
Wade made an interesting remark:
Of the current staff of over 30 employees on board, 82% are local hires or natives who are returning to the area.
If there were “over 30 employees on board” on the day that they opened, and “employed about 30 people” as of December, that would mean that the company had zero growth, meaning that they’d done nothing towards meeting Martinsville’s performance deal with the state, in terms of the obligation specified in “Project Goode” that they employ 75 people by mid 2007. And that’s just half of the 150 jobs that they said they’d provide by then.
It’s almost like they weren’t even trying.
Thanks to Talking Points Memo for the link — the traffic is coming in at a pretty good clip for a Saturday evening.
There aren’t many times in this life that one gets to use the word “smarmy.” This is one of them.
Good God, I’ve never heard Virgil Goode talk before… Im speechless (and not in a good way).
About Virgil talking. In May (when the Immigration bill was winding its way through the Senate) Virgil had a long interview/conversation on the Diane Rehm Show which was quite possibly the most painful radio interview I have listened to. Now I realize she has spasmodic dysphonia, a neurological disorder, so I don’t want to be vilified for saying this, but between the two of them I almost ran off the road.
http://www.wamu.org/programs/dr/06/05/16.php#10587
(he isn’t speaking about Social Security – click on the first conversation “10:00 Immigration reform and the border” Virgil is the first guest on the program.)