In this 23-page report, NLPC Associate Fellow Fred N. Sauer looks at Wind Capital Group (WCG), a St. Louis-based company that has been the recipient of Obama administration stimulus funding, as well as other significant tax credits and subsidies.
WCG was founded in 2005 by Tom Carnahan, son of the late Missouri Democratic Governor Mel Carnahan and his widow, former Missouri Senator Jean Carnahan. He also is the brother of former Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan and former Congressman Russ Carnahan.
The firm’s core activity is building and operating wind farms in the Midwest, with a focus on the northwest part of Missouri. But to really understand how the firm operates is to know who has become wealthy as a result. WCG is now almost wholly owned by an Irish company, NTR plc. The Carnahan family’s expertise is politics, not business. And Wind Capital Group, though touted as an investment vehicle, from the start has been driven by politics.
Click here to download the report.