APPOMATTOX COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — Appomattox Virginia is a historic town known for being a pivotal point in the Civil war, merely now another boxing looms, the boxing for jobs.

In 2014, Gov. Terry McAuliffe posed for a photo where he gave a Chinese company known every bit Lindenburg Industry $1.4 million in grant money. In return, they were supposed to create hundreds of new jobs in an old factory building that had sat empty for years. Eighteen months later, that town is now left asking where are the jobs and where is all that money.

"I come by here almost every morning to see if the gates were open," said Darrell Bryant, a resident of Appomattox,"I was expecting, hoping to go a chore here."

During a news conference in November of 2014, McAuliffe announced a new business organization venture coming to Appomattox.

"To bring this Chinese company over here and create 349 new jobs, this is exciting," said McAuliffe dorsum in 2014.

"I come past hither nearly every morning to encounter if the gates were open," said Darrell Bryant, a resident of Appomattox. "I was expecting, hoping to become a job here."

The new manufactory would be called Lindenburg. The annunciation from McAuliffe came with much fanfare in November 2014. The promise of a once again booming manufacturing plant employing local workers had the town buzzing.

"A lot of people went and they were hyped up about having new jobs coming in," said Matthew Grayson, a resident of Appomattox.

Many people in Appomattox say they struggle to find full-time work. Virtually driving a one-half-hour to Lynchburg or brand the longer trek to Richmond each day.

"To drive six miles to work and half dozen miles dwelling house is a big reward than driving 40 out and xl dorsum," said Bryant.

But now the governor's words announced to ring hollow on the now seemingly abased property.

"This is the first major jobs announcement we accept had in Appomattox in more than than xv years," said McAuliffe back in 2014.

8News wanted to observe out where all that coin went, the company got $i.4 1000000 dollars in incentives, no jobs ever came. Through a Liberty of Information Act Request, 8News received more than 3,000 memos, documents, and personal country official emails all detailing the inside workings of the failed Lindenburg venture.

One document we uncovered was a letter of the alphabet from August 2014 from Lindenburg's  CEO. In that letter, he says they take "been evaluating a number of locations for its new catalyst and industrial honeycomb manufacturing facility." He goes on to say, "If Appomattox County received an accolade from the Governor's Opportunity Fund (GOF) in the total amount of $1,400,000 to aid us with Capital Investments…we are prepared to select Appomattox County for this project."

The factory would get in the one-time Thomasville furniture establish.

"This is definitely the biggest employer that has e'er been hither," said Bryant.

The offer came over a year subsequently the state was first introduced to what became known as Projection Honey.

Fast forwards to September 2014 when word comes that the $i.4 one thousand thousand of GOF grant money had been canonical.

The post-obit month, in Oct, the governor is in Beijing meeting with visitor executives. Note that in the governor'due south confidential working papers for that event obtained by 8News, information technology states that Catalon Chemical Visitor, Lindenburg'south parent visitor, is based in Winston-Salem N Carolina. A check of Catalon Chemical'south website at the fourth dimension has their address at ninety Piedmont Industrial Drive.

Two weeks after that meeting in Prc, a news release goes out touting an declaration of 349 new jobs coming to Appomattox. A line in that press release reads, "Project is a Directly Consequence of governor's coming together with company officials in Beijing, People's republic of china." But if the project was a direct result of that China coming together, why was the grant money canonical more than a month earlier. The News release also mentions Virginia successfully competed confronting N Carolina for the projection. But, a former North Carolina economics development official say he knew something wasn't right when Catalon came knocking.

"Catalon gave u.s.a. an address in Winston-Salem, and because I had lived and worked in Winston-Salem, I was very familiar with the building," said Graham Pervier, the sometime Rockingham Canton Partnership for Economic and Tourism Development.

Here we are, a year and a half after the large annunciation and that ceremonial check presentation under the large summit and non one job has been created.

That address that he is talking about is the aforementioned i from their website, Pervier did what patently no Virginia official always did — he paid them a visit.

"When I visited the address I found that Catalon had no presence in that location, and through a third political party, I inquired through the leasing amanuensis for the building and they knew of no such company," said Pervier.

No sign of anyone who had even heard of Catalon Chemic, much less Lindenburg.

In improver, Lindenburg went to cracking lengths to keep the name of that parent company nether wraps. In more of those Governor'due south Confidential Working Papers we obtained, these from the twenty-four hour period the announcement in Appomattox, ane "Important Note" appears and information technology reads, "Lindenburg Industry LLC has stated that NO data virtually Catalon Chemic and their relationship exist mentioned." It goes on to say this is due to highly competitive bug in the Chinese market.

Pervier says not only did it appear the address was fake but some other problem was besides raised.

"The company could not give u.s. a corporate identity that was recognizable in North Carolina or for that matter anywhere in the US," said Pervier.

Hither nosotros are, a year and a half after the big announcement and that ceremonial check presentation under the big top and non i job has been created.

"I withal don't understand, it simply all fell through," said Ethel Franklin, an Appomattox Resident.

Residents at present left only hoping that one day the gates at the former Thomasville factory will swing wide open once again.

And as for all that money, $1.4 million of taxpayer money, all gone never has been returned.

Legal Counsel for the Virginia Economic Development Partnership tells me Lindenburg has said they have no plans to return the money. Merely information technology does appear the agency is taking some responsibleness for the botched understanding. An email from the COO that was sent to their staff that we obtained reads, "Although our existing procedure has served united states of america well in the by, it did not do so for the Lindenburg projection. Review of the Lindenburg projection makes information technology clear that VEDP did not fully vet this visitor. Nosotros take full ownership of this mistake."

Residents now left only hoping that one day the gates at the former Thomasville manufactory will swing wide open once again.

"I hope we can go it booming again because everybody likes to alive where it is prosperity and adept things going on," said Franklin.

"Information technology'due south not practiced, they demand big business concern to come dorsum, people are looking for jobs and they need large business concern to come back," said Grayson.

On Fri the governor's office provided the following statement:

"Gov. McAuliffe has made it his summit priority to build a new Virginia economy, and he's had more than 670 economic development announcements and then far in his term bringing in more than $11 billion in capital investment to Virginia. This is a strong demonstration that economic development incentives bring pregnant benefits to the Democracy'southward taxpayers. The Governor is committed to accountability for taxpayer dollars, as he has demonstrated with his reforms to the transportation funding process. Accountability measures for economical development incentives have been re-examined and strengthened this year, and the Governor will continue to demand thorough reviews and protections for public funds directed to economic initiatives."

Virginia Economic Development Partnership also sent the statement that reads, "VEDP is actively engaged in pursuing all means to recover the Commonwealth'south funds."

There are now legal proceedings underway to effort and recoup the state's money only still nothing notwithstanding has been recovered.

Every bit for the building, information technology was foreclosed on, bought for a meg dollars by a local human, no give-and-take on what he plans to practise with it. Also, Lindenburg never paid local contractors hundreds of thousands of dollars for work already performed. Country Law is now investigating.Discover 8News on Twitter , Facebook , and Instagram ; transport your news tips to iReport8@wric.com .