The City of Anderson is taking legal action against Electric Vehicle International LLC (EVI, Santa Ana, CA) and CEO Bill Hardacre to obtain $1.1 million in unpaid loan payments. The city filed a lawsuit in Madison Superior Court seeking the money owed to Anderson and for Hardacre to make good on a $400,000 personal loan guarantee. Anderson is also asking the court to appoint a receiver to determine the fiscal condition of the company and what happened to any assets of the company, which are believed to be now located in Mexico.
In 1997, the city obtained a $1 million loan for EVI through the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). When EVI missed loan payments over the past eight years, HUD deducted the amount of the money the city would receive through Community Development Block Grants. EVI started operations in Anderson in 1998 with the hope of bringing 300 jobs to the city through the manufacturing of electric vehicles and people movers. Employment never exceeded 40 positions in Anderson.
Since that time, EVI has made only two principal payments on the loan, and earlier this year was forced to vacate its manufacturing facility on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard when the building was sold. The company had secured a $5.4 million contract to provide delivery vans to a company in Mexico, and a $1.6 million contract to provide people movers to the Honolulu International Airport. Records show that EVI is dealing with a cash flow problem and is borrowing funds to continue operations.
