O.k. So Where Can We Decide The Elio Owners Club Should Hold It's First National Meet-up?

[RUCRAYZE]

Put this up as a hopeful distraction.
Me, I'd go with the Shreveport !!! Great accommodations (many Casinos, large factory parking, great publicity, and the right time of the year for great weather. Although living in the PNW, I have no idea about the climate, there must be a few days a year that could work.

See ya at the National!

Best of luck to us all!!

 

[Karg]

Forget Shreveport, after they sued Elio, the last thing I'd do is give that Parrish, or Louisiana for that matter, any of my business.

 

[Ty]

Let's keep it in the center of the US!!! I believe Ohio actually holds the "shortest package delivery distance" for all addresses in the lower 48 but I vote for Omaha, NE!

 

[NSTG8R]

You guys can meet me in Saint Louie!

Actually, St. Louis is a Sh*thole of a city...but close. I'm going to toss Denver, CO in the hat as a meeting destination.

 

[RSchneider]

Forget Shreveport, after they sued Elio, the last thing I'd do is give that Parrish, or Louisiana for that matter, any of my business.

Why not have it in Bossier City? It's outside the Caddo Parish and really close to the plant. That gives people the option if they want to spend money in the Caddo parish or not, yet be close to the plant where they can see where their Elio will be born.

FYI: When you get your Elio, you are giving money to LA and the Caddo Parish. If you are so against that, then you cannot buy an Elio. Sounds like you are in quite the predicament.

 

[Trusting]

No matter where you put it, it will be too far for most people to go....

Unless Elio opened the plants for tours, I see no reason to go to Shreveport.

The most centralized local in the U.S. would be Kansas City.... but then it's a long way from both the east coast and California. And besides, it's Kansas City.

My home town of Houston is great for conventions. Half way between the east and west plus every thing you could want... including tours of NASA. But, again, it's a long way from the coasts. So, the bottom line is, there really is no ONE good location.

 

[Rickb]

If production Elio’s roll out the Shreveport EMP, assembled and are delivered by Caddo Parrish employees, I’ll happily show up just to meet RUCRAZE. Or better yet Sturgis, SD for the 1st annual autocycle Rally.

Elio had an agreement with Caddo Parrish. Elio did not live up to their end of that agreement and Caddo filed a lawsuit. Most any city, county, Parrish, or individual venture capitalist would have done the same. You’re angry with Caddo?

My guess is if Elio took your $1K non-refundable reservation deposit with a contract that ‘guaranteed’ delivery and EM didn’t follow through, there would be individual or class action lawsuits filed as well. I suggest you give Caddo Parrish a break. They deserve our support for providing Elio the manufacturing plant to begin with. The acquisition of a manufacturing plant was my incentive to become a reservationist, thinking that Elio was actually going to start production on schedule.

 

[larryboy]

I am on the record as promising to buy the first keg of beer if the meet-up is held in Omaha. Don't laugh. Omaha has a world class zoo. A lot of great restaurants and a lot of new hotels. Besides you will get to meet me and Ty and probably Husker1 too!

 

[Ty]

If production Elio’s roll out the Shreveport EMP, assembled and are delivered by Caddo Parrish employees, I’ll happily show up just to meet RUCRAZE. Or better yet Sturgis, SD for the 1st annual autocycle Rally.

Elio had an agreement with Caddo Parrish. Elio did not live up to their end of that agreement and Caddo filed a lawsuit. Most any city, county, Parrish, or individual venture capitalist would have done the same. You’re angry with Caddo?

My guess is if Elio took your $1K non-refundable reservation deposit with a contract that ‘guaranteed’ delivery and EM didn’t follow through, there would be individual or class action lawsuits filed as well. I suggest you give Caddo Parrish a break. They deserve our support for providing Elio the manufacturing plant to begin with. The acquisition of a manufacturing plant was my incentive to become a reservationist, thinking that Elio was actually going to start production on schedule.

Elio had an agreement with Caddo Parish?

The parish does not have, nor has it ever had, a lease with Elio Motors. The parish has a long-term lease with Industrial Realty Group LLC (IRG), a nationwide real estate firm with over 150 properties totaling 100 million square feet of rentable space across 28 states. Under the terms of the lease, IRG agreed to pay all maintenance and upkeep for the plant, pay a market-based rent that escalates over time, and proactively seek qualified candidates to fill the nearly 4 million-square-foot GM facility. Currently, this arrangement saves the parish over $1 million per year in maintenance costs, while generating $726,000 per year in net income through rental payments from IRG. The current rental rate approaches a 10 percent annual return on the parish’s original $7.5 million investment – a very good financial return on investment. (Hard to bitch about that)

While the aforementioned lease agreement has many benefits for the parish, it also has some drawbacks. Since IRG holds a long-term lease on the facility, IRG has the final call on whom it will sublease to. Some might ask how the parish could allow itself to surrender control over who occupies this key facility, but it is important to remember that the parish's three primary goals were to 1) preserve the facility; 2) recruit employers; and 3) protect the taxpayer dollars employed in the transaction. The IRG lease meets all three of these requirements.

 

[Rickb]

Yes, the Caddo Parrish arranged “skin the cat” agreement (their words in the 2013 Caddo Parrish Minutes) that helped to facilitate the formal IRG lease agreement you mention. I understand why Caddo Parrish is pissed and choose to give them the benefit of the doubt. I will gleefully spend a little money with the good folks of the Parrish when I pick up my Elio.