The BSA National Council and other supporters of locating the Jamboree in Goshen have touted economic benefits to the surrounding area as the most compelling reason to support this project. E-mails obtained through the Freedom of Information Act reveal quite the opposite. Since the secret phase of their plan, the BSA and their supporters have scrambled to find believable exaggerations to gloss over the reality that any net economic benefit to Goshen and Rockbridge County has not been shown…· Email from Robin Sullenberger (Shenandoah Valley Partnership) to Dominion Power notes: “Obviously we can’t make a strong case for job creation, taxes or any of the normal parameters…” September 10, 2008
· In May 2009, Mike Kaestner, Legislative Coordinator of VEDP asked Jay Langston of VEDP: “By some odd chance did we run an ROI [return on investment analysis] for Jamboree based on the few jobs and capital investment they’ll be making? I didn’t see anything in the ROI folders. [T]rying to grasp for straws and see about playing up some of the positive impacts of this project.” Reply from Langston: “….The Boy Scouts provided an economic impact statement,* but Ann looked at it and said it wasn’t worth the paper to print it because their assumptions were so erroneous as to render it meaningless.” May 1, 2009
Take a look at a longer summary (with links to documents) of this stunning lack of valid data and analysis. Those who supported this project on the basis of economic benefit and jobs creation were sold a bill of goods.
