USC Hired Con Man To Run Innovista

Just when you thought the complete and total implosion of the University of South Carolina’s Innovista “research campus” couldn’t possibly pick up any additional steam, today news broke that the school trusted a con man to manage the massive project – which has thus far produced nothing but empty government buildings and a mountain of unkept promises.

Funded with tens of millions of taxpayer dollars at the urging of S.C. Speaker Bobby Harrell, Columbia (S.C.) Mayor Bob Coble and University President Harris Pastides, Innovista was supposed to bring in millions worth of private investment and thousands of high-paying jobs to South Carolina.

The research campus was going to usher in the “hydrogen economy of the future,” we were told.

Of course, it has done precisely none of that … although these same politicians continue to pour millions of additional dollars into the project despite its abysmal track record and despite the fact that the U.S. Department of Energy recently announced that it was recommending further hydrogen fuel cell research be discontinued.

Oh, and all of that was prior to today’s bombshell regarding Kale Roscoe, the man tasked with building the next pair of empty government buildings at the “campus …”

From The (Columbia S.C.) Free Times:

Chosen in May 2008 to secure financing for private developers to construct Horizon II and Discovery II after the initial developer failed to produce, Roscoe, a Michigan native, was brought in to jump-start development on the recommendation of Innovista director John Parks, who worked with Roscoe on the University of Kentucky’s Coldstream Research campus while Parks was director there.

In short, Roscoe is the man hand-picked by the university to make Innovista — envisioned by former USC president Andrew Sorensen as a live-work-play “innovation district” that would expand the school’s footprint to the Congaree Riverfront while positioning cutting-edge university researchers alongside the high-tech private companies their research supports — a reality.

It’s a tall order, considering that Innovista currently lags three years behind its initial timetable for private development, leaving tracts of land empty and careers hanging in the balance. So, given the keys to the most important development USC has undertaken in decades — the failure of which could have negative repercussions for everyone affiliated with the project — one would think Roscoe’s credentials to develop it successfully would be impeccable.

A careful investigation of Roscoe and his background, however, paints a portrait of a disgraced former auto body shop owner and franchisor who has been involved in no less than 70 lawsuits in one Michigan county alone; pleaded guilty to federal felony tax evasion in 2002; and whose last attempt at developing a research campus project at the University of Kentucky with Parks has left one promised five-story building scheduled for completion in 2007 sitting unfinished to this day, another unbuilt and at least four pending lawsuits still active in Kentucky courts.

Roscoe’s history of breach of contract suits, spanning three decades and showing no signs of slowing, raises many questions. Among them are why was someone with a highly questionable record given the enormous job of saving Innovista? And why did no one check his background, especially when the very first hit on Google for “Kale Roscoe” is a link to an exhaustive two-part expose by a Michigan business magazine that details in depth a man the state of Michigan rebuked for “deceiving and defrauding his customers”?

Both Parks and Roscoe say USC officials were aware of Roscoe’s conviction for felony tax evasion and that due diligence was done in bringing him on board. When confronted with the entirety of his record, however, Parks acknowledged he was not aware of the extent of Roscoe’s legal troubles, troubles that began as early as 1984 and which continue to this day.

Bravo … bravo, you government-run economic development goons. Seriously, “bravo.”

Of course, as depressing (and expensive) as all of this is from a taxpayer standpoint – it makes perfect sense when you think about it. After all, who better to be in charge of a massive pyramid scam than a con man like Roscoe?

Now comes the fun part …

How in the world did a guy like this get such a high-stakes gig? And who – other than Parks – dropped the ball at USC? And from a media standpoint, who knew what when?

We’re getting some reports on that front we literally can’t wait to fill you in on …