Another green company bumps into economic reality

Russ Steele

The city of Salinas invested $534,000 in a company called Green Vehicles Inc. to get the city into the high-tech car manufacturing business.

Green Vehicles founder and president Mike Ryan announced Monday that the company had collapsed, and was closing the companies operation at the old Firestone Tire & Rubber business park in East Salinas. It appears they had not paid the rent for months.

Ryan had promised Salinas city officials that the company would generate some 70 new jobs and that it would pump an estimated $700,000 in sales tax revenues into city coffers annually. However, reality over came the promises.

Reason for the collapse?  Green Vehicles ran out of other people money. In addition to the grants from the the City of Salinas, they received  nearly $2.8 million from California Energy Commission,  but could never get any investors to match this funding.